Douluo Dalu:Breaking Clan

After a fierce battle with the Slaughter King, Yang Podi gradually gained the upper hand by using his full-body martial soul. Even though the opponent wielded the Asura Demon Sword, the disparity in strength and speed between them was overwhelming.

Given the situation, the Slaughter King's defeat was only a matter of time.

Yang Podi, lacking the Sea God's Trident and the Sea God's Light, was unable—and unwilling—to awaken Tang Chen.

Though the Slaughter King could wield the Clear Sky Hammer, he appeared incapable of utilizing its soul ring abilities, relying primarily on the Asura Demon Sword.

At this moment, the Slaughter King's expression became even more ferocious as a blood-red Clear Sky Hammer reappeared in his hand. Suddenly, nine soul rings emerged around him, only to shatter instantly. It was clear he was going all out in a desperate, self-sacrificial attack.

As the nine shattered soul rings exploded, the Clear Sky Hammer grew to the size of a mountain, descending upon Yang Podi with immense force. It exuded a powerful suction force, as if attempting to immobilize Yang Podi entirely.

Gritting his teeth, Yang Podi prepared to face the desperate strike of a Rank 99 Ultimate Douluo, especially one as formidable as Tang Chen, who had mastered the Clear Sky Hammer.

In response, the eight soul rings on Yang Podi's Breaking Soul Spear began to dissolve, their energy flowing into the ninth soul ring—this was the unique technique of the Breaking Clan: Ring Fusion.

As the energy merged into the ninth soul ring, it unleashed Yang Podi's ninth soul skill: Shooting the Sun.

A massive golden Breaking Soul Spear appeared, radiating a divine aura capable of piercing through anything. Simultaneously, the six soul rings on Yang Podi's full-body martial soul activated, channeling infinite power into the golden spear, which gleamed with multicolored light.

When Yang Podi launched his ultimate attack, the Breaking Soul Spear traced a straight line in the air, meeting the mountainous Clear Sky Hammer head-on. The spear shattered the hammer into countless fragments and pierced through the Slaughter King's body, pinning him to the ground.

This was Yang Podi's all-out strike, leaving no reserves. It was a life-or-death gamble, as killing an Ultimate Douluo was no easy feat.

The Breaking Soul Spear had penetrated the Slaughter King's chest, leaving him severely injured and on the brink of death.

Yang Podi glanced at the fallen Slaughter King and casually fed him a pill. "You're not allowed to die just yet—I have some questions for you."

However, an unexpected change occurred. The Slaughter King's body began to writhe unnaturally. Suddenly, a massive blood-red bat emerged from his body. This enormous creature, emanating a powerful crimson aura, had nine heads—it was the infamous Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King.

The nine heads of the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King let out a deafening screech, releasing an energy wave that seemed capable of shattering space itself—this was its signature attack.

A beam of crimson light shot toward Yang Podi's forehead, and the bat king itself charged at him, attempting to take over his body.

But Yang Podi had anticipated this move. His body radiated golden light, with metallic energy protecting him, especially his head.

At the same time, his sixth soul ring lit up, activating the soul skill: Inferno Prison. The space around him turned into a sea of flames, evaporating the blood-red aura and forcing a pained cry from the bat king.

The Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King roared in anger: "Human! You were prepared for this?"

Yang Podi gazed coldly at the massive crimson bat in the sky. "A beast is a beast. No matter how powerful you become, bats are still afraid of fire. This move was specifically designed for you."

"You possessed Tang Chen's body and now want to use the same trick on me? How naive."

Enraged, the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King hissed, "Even if you prepared for me, you're just a mortal! There's a vast difference between humans and gods. No matter how strong you are, you can't surpass Tang Chen!"

With that, the bat king transformed into a massive crimson sword and shot toward Yang Podi's forehead, aiming to possess him once more through the power of the Asura God.

Yang Podi's sixth soul ring lit up again. His right hand transformed into a fiery dragon claw, engulfed in blazing flames. The claw grabbed the crimson sword, its heat dispelling the blood-red energy.

This was Yang Podi's full-body martial soul's sixth soul skill: Flame Dragon Claw.

The claw gripped the bat king's true form, reducing it to a massive bat struggling desperately in its grasp.

Sensing its demise, the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King pleaded, "God of Slaughter, spare me! I can give you many things—I'll even give you control of the Slaughter City!"

Yang Podi smirked. "I just want to know: are you a servant of the Asura God or the Rakshasa God? Or are you a double agent, serving both?"

The bat king's giant eyes widened in shock, unable to believe that Yang Podi had uncovered its deepest secret.

Seeing its reaction, Yang Podi sneered, pouring all his strength into the Flame Dragon Claw and tearing the bat king apart.

The Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King let out one final scream before being obliterated. A blood-red soul ring, adorned with four golden edges, emerged from its corpse—this was the ring of a 400,000-year-old spirit beast.

Yang Podi sighed as he gazed at the soul ring. "They claim there are no spirit beasts in the Slaughter City, but weren't you one of the finest examples? A rare spiritual-type beast, no less."

After a brief moment of thought, he decided to absorb the soul ring.

Though the bat king's actual age might not have been 400,000 years, its ability to parasitize successive Slaughter Kings and absorb endless blood and energy had inflated its power to this level.

Its unique abilities—parasitism and control—were immensely tempting. Even Tang Chen had fallen victim to it, proving how extraordinary it was.

After setting up a poison array and partially recovering, Yang Podi began absorbing the soul ring.

The process took over a day. Once complete, his soul power remained at Rank 99, with the gap to Rank 100 still insurmountable.

Among the bat king's remains, Yang Podi found a crimson skull bone brimming with potent spiritual energy—a rare and invaluable piece.

While absorbing the skull bone, he encountered resistance. A fragment of the bat king's soul tried to take over his mind, laughing maliciously: "God of Slaughter, you fell into my trap! With enough blood and energy, I can resurrect endlessly. Your body is mine now!"

But within Yang Podi's mind, a massive golden figure wielding the Breaking Soul Spear appeared. "A mere dead bat. Without a body, what makes you think you can possess mine?"

The golden figure unleashed its three domains simultaneously: the white Slaughter God Domain, the golden Breaking Domain, and the black Gravity Domain. The combined power crushed the bat king's soul.

The golden figure then struck with the Breaking Soul Spear, utterly destroying the bat king's last remnant.

As the skull bone fully fused with Yang Podi, his spirit and soul power underwent a transformation. He viewed the world as if all beings were ants—this was the pinnacle of Rank 99.

Unfortunately, even upon reaching this realm, the barrier of Rank 100 and becoming a god still loomed insurmountable. The more his strength grew, the more he realized how difficult it was to become a god independently. It was no wonder that even the mighty Sea God spent a thousand years at Rank 99 and ultimately relied on the faith of all the living beings in the sea to achieve godhood.

The Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King truly lived up to its reputation as a top-tier spiritual-type soul beast, granting Yang Podi four exceptionally powerful skills.

Martial Soul Seventh Ring Skill: Martial Soul True Body. Fully activates the true form of the body martial soul, greatly enhancing attack, defense, and spiritual power. Additionally, it can absorb the blood energy of nearby individuals to recover and enhance one's strength. It comes with an attached skill called Blood Prison.

Blood Prison creates an independent space where the user's strength increases significantly. Enemies dragged into this space will see their soul skills and soul power greatly reduced, leaving them at the mercy of the user. The only way to escape is to shatter the space itself.

This additional skill is somewhat reminiscent of Bibi Dong's eighth soul skill, Dream of Life and Death, though it is even more formidable. It also bears some resemblance to the Killing Field domain.

Head Soul Bone Skill One: Blood-Red Control. This allows the user to use spiritual power to control a target, turning them into a slave who obeys orders. Additionally, the user can probe the target's past memories.

This was likely the ability the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King used to control Tang Chen. It was highly effective, even against an Ultimate Douluo, and the ability to delve into memories meant no enemy could hide secrets from Yang Podi anymore.

Head Soul Bone Skill Two: Blood-Red Wave. This skill emits a peculiar energy wave, akin to the sound wave attacks the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King used earlier. The energy functions somewhat like a shockwave combined with a bat's unique ultrasonic attacks. It is both a single-target spiritual attack skill and a group spiritual attack skill.

Yang Podi was very satisfied with these three skills, which significantly enhanced his spiritual attack power. The seventh soul ring, in particular, added many properties, including a bloodthirsty aspect.

Now possessing the head soul bone, Yang Podi felt he had compensated for a minor weakness in his abilities. At least in battles against Ultimate Douluo with head soul bones, his spiritual power would no longer be a disadvantage.

Yang Podi also surmised that the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King's abilities were what allowed it to control the entire Slaughter City. With these same abilities, he believed he could now dominate the Slaughter City as well.

Glancing at Tang Chen lying on the ground, then at the Asura Demon Sword stuck in the earth, Yang Podi knew these were the biggest rewards of his conquest in the Slaughter City.

Not only did he gain a top-tier soul ring and soul bone, but he also acquired the Asura Demon Sword and a barely alive Tang Chen, who still had some use left in him.

Yang Podi stared at Tang Chen on the ground and immediately activated the first skill of his head soul bone, Blood-Red Control. A red light shot out from Yang Podi's eyes, piercing into Tang Chen's head.

Although Tang Chen was an Ultimate Douluo, years of being controlled had left his body and spiritual power extremely weak, making him an easy target.

Yang Podi closed his eyes and began carefully exploring Tang Chen's past, including his fortuitous encounters, the rise of the Clear Sky Clan, and the process of developing his soul skills. After all, in theory, Tang Chen was the true number-one genius in the entire Douluo Dalu series.

After a full day, Yang Podi finally obtained the information he sought: the Great Summurai Hammer and the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, the essence of the entire Clear Sky Clan.

Once everything was settled, Yang Podi thrust his spear through Tang Chen's head, ending him outright.

A formidable figure like Tang Chen, already a fully grown powerhouse, was far too dangerous to leave alive. Eliminating him outright was the only way to ensure no future troubles. If Bo Saixi or someone else were to restore him, it could lead to serious consequences.

Tang Chen was not like in the original story, where he was deeply poisoned. Here, he had practically completed the Asura God's eighth trial. Whether it was Bo Saixi or the Star Dou Forest, many means existed to restore him. Even Yang Podi himself had multiple ways to do so. Rather than risk leaving him as a hidden threat, it was better to eliminate him.

Yang Podi dealt with Tang Chen's corpse. As expected of the once-world's strongest expert, Tang Chen was equipped with a full set of soul bones, all over 60,000 years old. Among them, four were over 80,000 years, and there was even a 100,000-year soul bone. The value of these surpassed all the loot Yang Podi had previously stolen from the Upper Three Sects.