Chapter 52 – The Petal and the Hammer
The air inside the Yin Yang Well grew heavy, thick with the suffocating pressure of a mountain. Tang Hao stepped into the valley, his tattered cloak fluttering. Every step he took left a cracked footprint in the sacred earth. He ignored Dugu Bo entirely, his eyes fixed on the Immortal Herbs.
"So, the rumors were true," Tang Hao grumbled, his voice like grinding stones. "A treasure land hidden by a snake. Dugu Bo, move aside. My son has a use for these plants. Consider it a mercy that I don't flatten this valley with you in it."
Dugu Bo didn't flinch. He simply tilted his head toward the mist. "I'm not the one you should be talking to, Hao-tian."
From the iridescent vapors, Yue Guan stepped forward. His usual flamboyant demeanor was gone, replaced by a cold, sharpened focus. "Tang Hao. It's been a long time since the forest where the Blue Silver Empress fell. You haven't changed. Still loud, still arrogant, and still smelling of cheap ale."
Tang Hao froze, his eyes narrowing. "Yue Guan? What is a lapdog of the Spirit Hall doing here?" He paused, a sneer forming. "Ah, I see. You've occupied this place. But it doesn't matter. It's just you—the weakest of the elders. A sissy who hides behind flower petals. Do you really think you can stop me?"
Tang Hao summoned the Clear Sky Hammer, the massive black iron weapon thrumming with a dark, violent energy. "Begone, flower freak, before I break every bone in your pampered body."
Yue Guan looked at the Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum floating in his palm. "We can't fight here, Tang Hao. These herbs are the Holy Son's property. To spill your filthy blood on this soil would be a sacrilege."
Tang Hao laughed, a boisterous, mocking sound. "You think you have the right to negotiate with me? You think your flowery tricks can—"
"Eight-Gate Overdrive: x2 Ignition."
*BOOM*
The sound wasn't an explosion; it was the air itself snapping. Before Tang Hao could even finish his sentence, Yue Guan was gone. To Tang Hao's eyes, it looked as if the world had glitched.
*CRACK*
Yue Guan's hand—reinforced by the Heart-Pulse Ignition—slammed into Tang Hao's face. The grip was like a vice of heated steel. Tang Hao's eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated shock. He hadn't even seen the movement.
Yue Guan didn't strike; he simply lunged forward, dragging Tang Hao by the face. They tore through the mists of the valley, a sonic boom echoing behind them. Yue Guan soared into the sky, crossing miles in seconds, before slamming Tang Hao's head directly into the side of a granite mountain peak.
The mountain shattered. Tang Hao was sent tumbling through the rock, crashing through two more peaks before he finally managed to stabilize himself in a crater of his own making.
Tang Hao stood up, blood trickling from his nose, his face twisted in a demonic rage. "You... you dare touch me?!"
He didn't hesitate. He swung the hammer, and his spirit rings began to pulse with a terrifying light. "Great Sumeru Hammer: Ring Explosion!"
One by one, Tang Hao began to "explode" his rings, converting his soul rings into raw, destructive power. The air around him turned into a vortex of black lightning.
Yue Guan landed on a jagged rock opposite him. "The 'Explosive Rings'... the ultimate gamble of the Clear Sky. Let's see how it fares against the Severing Rhythm."
"Eight-Gate Overdrive: x5 Surge!"
Yue Guan's aura turned a deep, vibrating crimson. His muscles rippled with explosive pressure. As Tang Hao lunged with a strike that could level a city, Yue Guan moved into the Prismatic Compass: Diamond Glide.
He didn't retreat. He zigzagged forward, his body a blur of red light.
"Severing Rhythm: Tapyas!"
As the massive hammer descended, Yue Guan manifested a blade of soul power from his Chrysanthemum. Instead of meeting the hammer head-on, he tilted his blade at a 45-degree angle. He "shaved" along the side of the hammer's handle.
The friction generated a high-frequency vibration—the Blade's Pulse. The shock traveled up the hammer's shaft and directly into Tang Hao's hands.
"Gah!" Tang Hao's grip loosened. The vibration numbed his nerves, disrupting his soul power flow.
Yue Guan didn't stop. "Gunting!" He delivered two rapid strikes to Tang Hao's forearms—not to break them, but to strike the meridian points. The impact sent a jolt of discordant energy through Tang Hao, causing his "Ring Explosion" to flicker and stall.
Tang Hao, sensing his defeat, went for his final card. He gathered all his remaining soul power into a single, vertical smash. "Clear Sky Shattering the Heavens!"
The hammer grew to the size of a building, radiating a pressure that flattened the trees for miles.
Yue Guan closed his eyes for a microsecond, entering the Center-Point Stillness.
"Daloy ng Tubig (Flowing River, Still Water)."
As the hammer struck, Yue Guan didn't dodge. He moved with the wind of the strike. His soul power flowed around the massive weapon like water around a boulder (Still Water). He absorbed the kinetic energy of the impact into his own "Flow" and redirected it instantly.
He spun his body, his Chrysanthemum petals forming a continuous, circular loop—the Tuloy-Tuloy.
A web of razor-sharp soul power erupted. It wasn't one cut; it was a thousand. The "Endless Thread" slashed through Tang Hao's defense, his cloak, and his skin.
Yue Guan finished the motion with a palm strike directly to Tang Hao's chest, fueled by the x10 Crimson Flash.
BOOM!!!
The shockwave blasted out of Tang Hao's back, clearing the clouds for miles.
The dust settled.
Tang Hao was on his hands and knees in the center of a scorched crater. His Clear Sky Hammer lay cracked on the ground beside him, its black iron dull and lifeless.
He was gasping for air, his chest heaving. His face was a mask of utter confusion and shattered pride. He, the man who had killed a Pope, had been dismantled by the man he called a "Sissy." He hadn't just lost a fight; he had lost his understanding of the world.
Yue Guan stood five paces away, his crimson aura fading back to his normal iridescent glow. He wasn't even panting. He looked down at Tang Hao with a cold, regal pity.
"The Hammer is heavy, Tang Hao," Yue Guan said softly. "But the world has grown faster than you. You rely on the past. We... we have the Future. The Holy Son warned me that you would be stubborn. It seems he was right."
Tang Hao looked up, his voice a broken rasp. "Who... what did you do to your power? This isn't Spirit Hall... this is something else."
"It is the Sovereign's gift," Yue Guan replied, turning his back. "Go back to your shack, Clear Sky. If you ever set foot near the Yin Yang Well again, I won't just grab your face. I'll erase your lineage."