Hearing the exclamation, everyone turned their gaze toward the source of the light.
"Who! Who awakened the Clear Sky Hammer? Is it that Tang San?!"
"Seems not. The location is wrong."
At this moment, the attention of everyone on the field was drawn to the radiant glow, even Yue Guan's eyes followed the direction of the light.
A young boy stared in shock at the hammer-shaped Martial Soul that had appeared on the back of his hand, momentarily speechless.
The nearest recording disciple hurried over and, for accuracy, even took out a special detection crystal to examine it. He announced, "Tang Guang, Martial Soul: Clear Sky Hammer, Soul Power level eight, superior talent—can become a Soul Master!"
"Good, good. This year, we at least have one disciple with the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul as a baseline." An elder on the Clear Sky Sect's elder seat stroked his beard, looking very satisfied.
The Sixth Elder glanced at the Seventh Elder beside him, whose face was flushed with joy and whose lips curled into a smile. He chuckled, "Old Seven, isn't that your direct grandson?"
The Seventh Elder, Tang Lieyang, grinned widely. "Hahaha, not bad. Although that brat A-Lie's Soul Power cultivation is average, at least he fathered a son with potential. Hehehe."
The Sixth Elder rolled his eyes, not wanting to engage with this show-off. The Seventh Elder's eldest son, Tang Lie, though not as talented as Tang Hao in cultivation, had already reached Soul Douluo level. His chances of advancing to Titled Douluo in the future were not small. Now, with a son who had awakened the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul, there was no doubt that the Seventh Elder's lineage had firmly secured its place in the Clear Sky Sect.
Subsequently, another boy and girl awakened the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul, though their Innate Soul Power was inferior to Tang Guang's, only reaching level seven.
"Speaking of which, Tang San's Martial Soul awakening seems to be taking quite a while."
As time passed, the burning Soul Incense dwindled to its last remaining segment.
"It does seem unusually long. Everyone else has finished awakening—why hasn't his Martial Soul appeared yet?"
"Could something have gone wrong?"
Witnessing this, the envoy from the Star Luo Empire and an elder from the Elephant Armor Sect, one of the seven great sects, sneered. "If Tang Hao's son fails to awaken his Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Sect might as well rename itself a branch of the Spirit Hall."
For a moment, many eyes were fixed on the figure at the forefront of the square. Tang San sat cross-legged, eyes tightly shut, enveloped in a glow of Soul Power, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his hands tucked into his sleeves, fists clenched tightly.
Only he knew the truth—he had already awakened his Martial Soul. Tang San could clearly feel the presence of a hammer-shaped Martial Soul emitting black light in his right palm: the Clear Sky Hammer. But the problem wasn't his right hand—it was his left!
A surge of scorching energy suddenly erupted from the palm of his left hand. This peculiar force was so powerful that it even suppressed the Clear Sky Hammer, a supreme Martial Soul, preventing it from manifesting visibly to the crowd.
Unbeknownst to Tang San, a purplish-red mark had appeared on the back of his left hand. Rings of crimson light, like the growth rings of a tree, pulsed and rotated in layers. As the light swirled, the Soul Power within his body ebbed and flowed.
At this moment, strange scenes flashed through Tang San's closed eyes—a dark place filled with blood and slaughter. A figure entirely wrapped in dark red demonic patterns observed everything, surrounded by a dark red glow. Clad in armor covered with the same dark red patterns, the figure possessed a pair of blood-red eyes.
The stench of rotting flesh invaded his nostrils, and thick blood seeped over his shoes. He heard the sound of dragging chains in the void, as if a pair of crimson eyes pierced through time and space to gaze upon the mark on his left hand.
"Slaughter City... Rakshasa, Asura? What are these?!" Tang San's heart sank. He had never seen such scenes before—not in the scrolls of the Clear Sky Sect, nor even in the world recorded by that Soul Guidance Device. He had no idea where these images came from.
Tang San's consciousness seemed to plunge into a scene where he stood high in the sky. A cold wind blew as he looked around, his vision filled with corpses and flowing blood. Mountains of bodies and rivers of blood stretched before him, the overwhelming stench of gore making him want to vomit.
Above this sea of corpses, two figures stood in confrontation. Beneath them, a true dragon wailed in sorrow, and a divine phoenix cried tears of blood. Anyone who witnessed such a sight would never forget it for the rest of their lives.
Seeing his son remain motionless, Tang Hao frowned deeply and muttered to himself, "Could it be... Xiao San inherited his mother's Martial Soul? If so, that would be disastrous."
Just as everyone grew puzzled, Tang San's Soul Power suddenly surged!
With a snap, Tang San's eyes flew open as he abruptly raised his right hand, palm facing the sky. A dark red light shot straight into the heavens. In his grasp was an entirely pitch-black hammer. The handle was about half a foot long, and the hammerhead was cylindrical, resembling a scaled-down version of a forging hammer. Yet, the hammer's black surface shimmered with a peculiar glow, and faint purple-red patterns coiled around the cylindrical head.
For some reason, the moment this hammer appeared in Tang San's hand, the air in the entire plaza grew heavy.
Boom! In an instant, a storm centered around the Clear Sky Hammer erupted, whipping up a fierce gale.
"Soul Power level ten!! Innate Full Soul Power!" The quick-eyed recording disciple shouted hoarsely, the Soul Power-measuring crystal in his hand shattering mid-yell. The flying shards formed the characters for "Level Ten" in the air.
The Soul Power released by Tang Xiao suddenly surged like a torrent, only to be devoured by the Clear Sky Hammer in Tang San's grasp. The hammer's body swelled to over three meters long. The elders and stewards of the various sects attending the ceremony unconsciously crushed their armrests, eyes widening in shock—this was unmistakably a sign of Martial Soul mutation!
"Could it be... a mutated Clear Sky Hammer?!"
Witnessing the aura of the mutated Clear Sky Hammer, Yu Yuanzhen, the clan leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, crushed his jade cup, lightning flickering between his fingers. Even Chen Xin, the Sword Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, showed a trace of solemnity in his gaze.
Innate Full Soul Power and a mutated Clear Sky Hammer—as long as he didn't die young, Tang San was guaranteed to become a Titled Douluo in the future, possibly even reaching the level of a Peak Douluo at rank 95. The Clear Sky Sect already had two Peak Douluos. If another one emerged, the sect's strength would undoubtedly surpass the other seven great sects by an insurmountable margin.
It wasn't just them who were restless. The elders from the four lower sects of the Seven Great Sects, as well as the envoys from the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire, all furrowed their brows. The Clear Sky Sect becoming even stronger was certainly not good news.
Having Tang Hao emerge was already troublesome enough, but who would have thought his son's talent would be no weaker than his father's? If this continued, even if the Spirit Hall didn't make a move, the Clear Sky Sect might take the initiative first.
"Hmph." A cold snort, like rolling thunder, sent chills down everyone's spines. In the next moment, the God of Slaughter Domain enveloped the entire awakening plaza—it was Tang Hao, seated in the high position!
"God of Slaughter Domain!"