"Where is he?!"
Seeing Lin Mu vanish instantly, Tang Hao frowned and immediately searched the surroundings with his senses.
Soon, he saw Lin Mu standing on a large tree a hundred meters away.
When he saw the cyan armor, his eyes twitched.
Previously, Lin Mu, with only his Soul Saint cultivation, had been able to fight the Sword Douluo to a standstill thanks to this wind-attribute armor. It granted him near-instantaneous speed, making his movements almost impossible to track or defend against.
"I must take Ah Yin away today!"
With that, Tang Hao attacked again, throwing his Clear Sky Hammer with terrifying force, attempting to strike Lin Mu down from a distance.
However, facing such a heavy and direct attack, Lin Mu easily dodged it, appearing behind Tang Hao in the blink of an eye.
"Right Leg Bone Skill: Scarlet Demon Sealing Slash!"
In mid-air, Lin Mu switched back to the Nava Flame Armor, then unleashed a scarlet energy slash at Tang Hao with a kick. Its power was comparable to a full-force attack from the Scarlet King itself!
"A hundred-thousand-year soul bone skill!"
Tang Hao's pupils dilated. Only then did he realize that although Lin Mu's eighth soul skill was disabled by the rules, it didn't mean he couldn't use his soul bone skills.
Without time to think, Tang Hao hurriedly swung the Clear Sky Hammer that had just returned to his hand via magnetic force.
"Clear Sky Nine Absolutes: Absolute Shield!"
With a heavy shout, the massive Clear Sky Hammer slammed directly into the scarlet slash in the air. Tang Hao used the defensive technique of the Nine Absolutes, attempting to deflect and seal the energy of the attack.
"BOOM!!"
A huge explosion rang out. Tang Hao and the Clear Sky Hammer were sent flying dozens of meters, crashing through two large trees before he barely regained his footing.
The next moment, Tang Hao coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face filled with shock and disbelief.
Just now, he had clearly used the Clear Sky Hammer to block the slash, but the moment of impact, he found that he couldn't mobilize the soul power within his body properly, as if his meridians were momentarily sealed.
Although the effect lasted only for a moment, it caused his internal energies to recoil, aggravating his old injuries significantly.
In mid-air not far away, Tang San saw Tang Hao coughing up blood. A flicker of pity crossed his eyes.
Although he was utterly disappointed in Tang Hao, the man was still his biological father.
However, he didn't intend to end the match early; ensuring his mother's safety and proper care was more important right now.
A moment later, a resolute glint flashed in Tang Hao's eyes. Dragging his wounded body, he flew into the air again, swinging his Clear Sky Hammer to smash down.
Unlike before, this time each strike was imbued with Tang Hao's raging fury and killing intent.
"Clear Sky Nine Absolutes: Absolute Pierce!"
Taking advantage of Lin Mu's momentary pause before switching armors, Tang Hao slammed the Clear Sky Hammer down with piercing momentum.
This unstoppable force seemed ready to shatter Lin Mu completely.
Seeing this, Lin Mu decisively used his left arm bone skill.
"Titan Skybreaker!"
He unleashed a beam of dual-attribute energy, fire and earth, imbued with immense gravity at the incoming Clear Sky Hammer.
Under the bombardment of the Titan Skybreaker, not only was the Clear Sky Hammer's attack neutralized, but Tang Hao was also sent flying back several meters by the shockwave.
However, Tang Hao used this recoil to spin and swing the Clear Sky Hammer at Lin Mu again with even greater force.
"Clear Sky Nine Absolutes: Absolute Break!"
Facing an even stronger attack designed to shake him to his core, Lin Mu decisively switched back to the Hurricane Armor, transforming into a streak of azure light and disappearing instantly from the impact zone.
By the time the Clear Sky Hammer's attack hit empty air, he was already standing atop a large tree fifty meters away.
Enraged that this guy had escaped yet again, Tang Hao roared, "Lin Mu! If you've got the guts, don't run!"
"Ridiculous! If I don't run, am I supposed to just stand here and let you hit me?"
"Then what kind of contest is this, with you dodging and weaving?!"
At this moment, Tang Hao felt extremely aggrieved. He shouted in a deep voice, "Lin Mu, even if you win by running out the clock, it's nothing more than opportunism! You dare not face me head-on!"
"I'm too lazy to reason with you. You're not worthy to listen!"
With that, Lin Mu directly summoned the Mad Kite Bow and began to continuously wear down Tang Hao with wind arrows from a distance, giving him no chance to close the gap.
Faced with a hail of high-speed arrows, Tang Hao could only continuously swing his Clear Sky Hammer to defend himself.
During this time, Tang Hao tried desperately to get closer to Lin Mu; if he could land a single solid blow, he could turn the tide of the battle.
However, the speed difference between the two was too great. Even with all his might, Tang Hao couldn't catch the wind.
"For Ah Yin... I cannot lose!"
Seeing that the half-hour limit was approaching, Tang Hao disregarded his numerous internal injuries. His nine soul rings began to swirl violently.
Then, the first five soul rings exploded one after another.
"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"
The instant the soul rings shattered, a surge of immense power flowed into the Clear Sky Hammer in Tang Hao's hand. The original black giant hammer instantly transformed into a massive weapon over ten meters long, unleashing an extremely terrifying aura of destruction.
Due to his internal injuries, Tang Hao dared not explode all his rings at once. But exploding too few might be ineffective against Lin Mu's defenses, so he chose to sacrifice five.
"Great Sumeru Hammer! Lin Mu, take THIS!"
With a loud shout, Tang Hao unleashed his full power, swinging the massive energy hammer toward Lin Mu. This strike surpassed even a typical hundred-thousand-year soul skill in raw power.
Facing the immense pressure of the Great Sumeru Hammer, which locked onto the space around him, Lin Mu clearly felt the restriction, similar to the gravity field of the Titan Giant Ape but much more aggressive.
However, this pressure was insufficient to completely restrain him.
"BOOM!!"
As the Great Sumeru Hammer crashed heavily onto the ground, a violent tremor shook the area within a ten-mile radius, creating a massive crater at the impact site. The surrounding trees were flattened and shattered, a scene of utter devastation.
Under the backlash of the exploding rings, Tang Hao's aura weakened considerably as he panted for breath.
However, he didn't immediately check his own injuries. Instead, he turned his gaze to the crater, wanting to confirm Lin Mu's defeat.
But the next second, he was dumbfounded.
Lin Mu wasn't in the crater. There wasn't even a trace of blood or fabric inside.
Clearly, Lin Mu had escaped the impact zone of the Great Sumeru Hammer entirely.
Just as Tang Hao was questioning reality, Lin Mu quietly reappeared at the edge of the ruins, looking completely unharmed. He checked an imaginary watch and said calmly, "Half an hour has passed. You lost."
"I... didn't lose! You clearly cheated! How could you dodge that?!"
Seeing Lin Mu appear unharmed before him, Tang Hao almost choked with rage.
He had desperately used the Great Sumeru Hammer, sacrificing his rings, yet it hadn't caused Lin Mu any harm, instead nearly costing him his own life through backlash.
At this moment, Tang San also flew over from a safe distance. Looking at his wounded father, a hint of pity flashed in his eyes, but he remained firm. "Father, since the outcome is decided, according to the previous agreement..."
Hearing the word "Father," a hint of emotion appeared on Tang Hao's stiff face, and most of the anger in his heart was extinguished by shame. He couldn't help but begin to doubt himself.
'Could it be that I really made a mistake?'
After only a moment's hesitation, Tang Hao dismissed the thought. 'No. All of this was caused by Spirit Hall. It has nothing to do with my choices!'
"Lin Mu... if anything happens to Ah Yin, I will absolutely not forgive you!"
Tang Hao knew very well his physical condition and that he was currently no match for Lin Mu. Even if he exploded the remaining four rings, he would likely die, and at best, he could only drag Lin Mu down with him, leaving Ah Yin unprotected.
He absolutely could not die before destroying Spirit Hall!
Therefore, he could only choose to back down. After all, Ah Yin had already become a Blue Silver Grass; a new growing environment wouldn't change the fact that she was gone for now.
Watching Tang Hao's departing figure stumbling away, Tang San opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent.
With the healing ability of the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone, he could have healed Tang Hao's injuries. But thinking of Tang Hao's previous actions, the slap, the stubbornness, he didn't want to help him right now.
Leaving aside whether Tang Hao was responsible as a father, his insistence on taking his mother back to that dark cave was unforgivable.
After thinking it through, Tang San turned to look up at Lin Mu. His gaze was sharp and filled with trust as he solemnly said:
"Master, I entrust Mother to your care from now on."
"What?"
Hearing his disciple's request, Lin Mu was taken aback. 'What is going on in this kid's head?'