Chapter 42 – The Shadow of the Clear Sky
At Midnight.
The night in Shrek Village was thick with the scent of damp earth and the distant, rhythmic chirping of insects. After the humiliation at the gates, the academy was silent, but the air felt charged, like the moments before a thunderstorm.
Deep in the woods behind the dilapidated school buildings, Zhao Wuji, the Motionless Bright King, stood with his arms crossed. He had just finished the entrance tests, nursing a few bruises from Tang San's hidden weapons, but his mind was elsewhere.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped. The insects went silent.
A tall figure wrapped in a tattered gray cloak materialized from the darkness. He carried no weapon, but his presence was so heavy it felt as if the forest itself were bowing.
"Who goes there?" Zhao Wuji growled, his Vigorous Vajra Bear martial soul manifesting instinctively.
The man didn't speak. He simply raised a hand, and a massive, coal-black hammer- the Clear Sky Hammer - manifested. Nine spirit rings descended: Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black, Red.
The Red ring - the 100,000-year ring - pulsed with a chilling, bloody light.
"Tang Hao..." Zhao Wuji whispered, his knees nearly buckling.
High above, perched on the thick branch of a towering tree, Lakan sat perfectly still. He was invisible to the naked eye, his Batong-Pilak skin absorbing the moonlight and his Eyes of the Origin God dialled to their lowest frequency to avoid detection. Beside him, Zhu Zhuqing held her breath, her hand resting on the hilt of her dagger.
Lakan watched the scene below with clinical detachment.
"The hero's father," Lakan thought, his silver sun-pupils tracing the "flow" of Tang Hao's soul. "A man who lived in a cave while his son ate porridge, only appearing now to bully a Rank 76 Spirit Saint to 'protect' a boy who already won his fight. What a curious definition of fatherhood."
Below, Tang Hao began to "teach" Zhao Wuji a lesson, pummeling the Spirit Saint with his bare fists, refusing to even use his hammer. It was a display of raw, arrogant power—the same "Might Makes Right" ideology that Tang San had exhibited at the gate, just on a grander scale.
Zhu Zhuqing watched the Titled Douluo's movements, her eyes wide. "He's... incredible," she whispered. "So this is a Titled Douluo."
"He is a relic," Lakan replied, his voice a ghost of a sound. "Look closer, Zhuqing. Use the focus I taught you."
Through the Eyes of the Origin God, Lakan saw what the world didn't. Tang Hao's internal meridians were a mess of scar tissue and lingering poison. Every time he exerted his soul power, he was burning his own life force. He was a dying star, holding onto his past glory through sheer bitterness.
"His soul power is stagnating," Lakan analyzed. "He relies on the 'Weight' of the Clear Sky, but he has no 'Flow.' If he faced my Octagon Prison, his internal injuries would shatter him before I even landed the final blow."
As Tang Hao finished his "lesson" and Zhao Wuji lay panting in the dirt, the Titled Douluo suddenly stopped. He turned his head toward the tree where Lakan and Zhuqing were hidden.
His eyes, sharp as eagle talons, scanned the darkness. He felt it—a faint, iridescent ripple in the air. It wasn't the spirit power of a beast, nor was it the presence of a Spirit Saint. It felt like... an eye. An eye that was judging him.
"Come out," Tang Hao growled, his voice like grinding tectonic plates.
Lakan didn't move. He slowed his heart rate to once every minute, his 36 Heavenly Stars entering a state of absolute "Void." He used the Song of the Adarna: Silent Verse to vibrate the air around them, canceling out their physical presence.
Tang Hao stood there for a long minute, the Clear Sky Hammer trembling slightly in his hand. He found nothing. With a frustrated huff, he vanished into a blur of gray, leaving the forest in silence.
Lakan stood up on the branch, his silver eyes glowing brighter in the dark.
"The Clear Sky is heavy, but it is brittle," Lakan said to the shivering Zhu Zhuqing. "Tang San thinks he is protected by a god. He doesn't realize his protector is a broken man clinging to a hammer."
Lakan looked toward the Shrek dormitories, where he could sense Tang San's spirit power.
"Tomorrow, they head to the Star Dou Forest for the third ring," Lakan smirked. "And the 'Great Ape' is waiting. Let's see how Tang San handles a situation where his father's hammer can't reach."