Chapter 177: A Crushing Battle

"We are both blacksmiths, both God Craftsmen.

Although your technique is far inferior to my master Tang Hao, in this era, the two of us can be considered rare confidants.

Must it really come to drawing weapons against each other?"

Tai Tan's voice was extremely coarse; although he said he did not want to cause trouble for Lou Gao, the soul power and aura on his body did not restrain themselves in the slightest, and as he spoke, his eyes stared coldly at Lou Gao's face, not at all like he was looking at an old friend.

Facing Tai Tan's pressure, Lou Gao lifted his neck and, bearing Tai Tan's pressure, retorted without hesitation.

"Hmph, old ape, you are the one who stirred up this matter.

You, a Vice President who hasn't returned to the Blacksmith Association in years—why you have returned to the Blacksmith Association at this moment, we both know clearly; as for who wants to draw weapons, everyone knows in their hearts.

There are new realms of forging, but there are no treasures, and certainly no soul bones.

If you want to learn technique, I will teach you. But if you want to fight, I, this old bag of bones Lou Gao, am not afraid!"

"Is 'old ape' something you can call me?"

Tai Tan had originally only intended to go through the motions and had no intention of truly arguing with Lou Gao.

Without waiting for Lou Gao to continue, he casually found an excuse to interrupt Lou Gao's words, roared, took a step forward, and his palm, the size of a palm-leaf fan, reached out to grab Lou Gao.

Just as Lou Gao was about to unleash a soul skill to resist, the palm Tai Tan had extended seemed to suddenly suffer a heavy blow from an invisible force, instantly being repelled at several times the speed, and a cold snort followed in the air.

"Hmph."

This cold snort had no source, or rather, it had sources everywhere.

This sound was not emitted from any person's mouth, but was produced by the resonance of the surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Qi in an instant; it was as if the world itself had opened its mouth to speak.

"Who is being presumptuous?"

Tai Tan, whose palm had been repelled by an invisible force, felt the strange gazes around him and immediately became enraged.

The Strength Clan did not have good tempers, and Tai Tan's temper was even worse; as an eighty-sixth level Spirit Douluo, he had sufficient confidence in his own strength.

Therefore, even facing such a bizarre situation, not only did he have no fear in his heart, but the soul power on his body surged even more intensely.

"First soul skill: Rock Defense! Second soul skill: Explosive Giant Strength!"

Tai Tan shouted in a low voice, his first and second soul rings flashing together, and two enhancement-type skills were added to his massive body.

The enhancement of pure strength caused his already huge body to expand further, becoming even more exaggerated; his arms, originally full of muscle, had become disproportionate to his body under the effect of the soul skills.

That giant hand, which had grown nearly half in size compared to just a moment ago, reached toward the top of Lou Gao's head, intending to grab Lou Gao's head and lift him up directly as if pulling a radish.

And just as his palm reached halfway, Tai Tan suddenly felt the soul power in his body begin to riot uncontrollably; the massive soul power surged backward through his meridians in a way he had never experienced before, wantonly impacting every part of his meridians and internal organs.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Tai Tan retreated several steps as if he had been heavily punched by an invisible person; his complexion, which had been like the bottom of a pot, quickly flushed red, and with a 'wah' sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His entire body, which had been inflated by the effect of his soul skills, shrank rapidly, and because of the injuries he had sustained, it even became smaller than it was before.

"Where is the Spirit-type Soul Master playing tricks?!"

Tai Tan roared, and although he felt some unease in his heart, on the surface he still maintained an angry appearance.

He gathered soul power into his thighs and stomped heavily on the ground; the stone floor shattered and flipped up rapidly, a crack split open from his soles, and the entire fourth floor shook slightly because of this angry stomp.

Seeing the ground that could be shattered, the unease in Tai Tan's heart eased slightly, and the expression on his face became even more ferocious.

Not knowing much about Spirit-type Soul Masters, he felt that as long as he could cause damage to things, it proved that this Spirit-type Soul Master hiding in the shadows was not as powerful as he had imagined.

Ignoring the opinions of those around him, Tai Tan gathered his soul power and punched toward Lou Gao; with his physical strength, which was no less than a Title Douluo due to his extreme stat allocation, if this punch landed squarely on Lou Gao, Lou Gao would likely vomit blood and be seriously injured immediately.

Facing this punch, Zhou Heng sighed, his toes tapped lightly, his figure flickered like Guimei to stand before Lou Gao, and then he extended his palm, directly catching the fist that looked about the same size as his own head.

His mental power had now reached the level of being tangible and substantial, and he could already block many attacks, but to say he could directly form a barrier to withstand Tai Tan's punch—which had power comparable to a Title Douluo—was not a matter of whether he could withstand it, but that the consumption would outweigh the gains.

Zhou Heng's height was one meter nine, which could be considered tall among ordinary people.

Yet, in front of Tai Tan, whose body had surged to three meters after his Martial Soul Avatar, he still looked like a young child.

But precisely in a situation where their body sizes were so vastly different, Zhou Heng still used his own palm to stop Tai Tan's fist in a light and breezy manner, without any sign of soul power fluctuations on his body.

Despite Tai Tan's face turning beet red, his palm did not shake in the slightest.

Watching this scene, Tai Tan activated his fourth soul skill without a second thought; a purple soul ring wrapped around his other arm, and the entire arm instantly expanded to become even thicker than his thigh.

"Fourth soul skill: Giant Spirit Fist!"

Tai Tan's punch was extremely fierce and powerful, and combined with that strength comparable to a Title Douluo (excluding the Ninety-first Level Dugu Bo), the power of this punch was something even an average Title Douluo would need to dodge or counter.

However, Zhou Heng's expression remained very calm, and there was no sign of him dodging or defending.

Just as the giant fist was about to smash into his face, Zhou Heng's other arm raised rapidly, his fingers forming a blade, and he slashed directly at Tai Tan's wrist.

The power of this hand-blade was not enough to compare to Tai Tan's fist enhanced by his fourth soul skill, but it precisely struck the point where Tai Tan's soul power was gathered at his wrist during the execution of his soul skill.

The force was not powerful, and the soul power was not worth mentioning, but this force pierced through Tai Tan's skin and flesh in a tricky manner, stabbing into the meridians at Tai Tan's wrist like a needle; with a very minute force, it penetrated Tai Tan's soul power, causing the soul power at his wrist to instantly run wild, exploding in his meridians like a bomb.

Tai Tan's face twisted instantly; his arm, which had been inflated to a huge size, began to bulge as if it had been inflated with air, and then the skin burst open like a balloon that had been over-inflated; a large amount of blood splashed out, and his entire wrist and forearm bent to a somewhat bizarre angle under the massive impact.

Zhou Heng slightly loosened his palm that was restraining Tai Tan's fist; Tai Tan's strength lost its balance, and he involuntarily retreated several steps, one foot stepping into the crack he had just created, and he tripped over his own feet, falling directly to the ground and landing hard on his backside on the shattered floor.