Douluo: AFK to Become a God

With one command from Bibi Dong, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, Demon Bear Douluo, Ghost Leopard Douluo, Lingyuan Douluo, Snake Spear Douluo, Bloodthorn Douluo, and six more Douluo — thirteen in total — all shot into the sky to intercept the blood-red giant hammer crashing down from above.

Yes, Snake Spear Douluo She Long and Bloodthorn Douluo Cixue were also there. Since Qian Renxue was disguised as Xue Qinghe, the crown prince, representing the Heaven Dou Empire to oversee the finals in Spirit City, her two "bodyguards" naturally came back with her.

"BOOM——"

A deafening explosion, like the wrath of the heavens, shook all of Spirit City to its core.

Every Spirit Master below rank 70 instantly went blank in the mind; those who were closer directly fainted under the thunderous roar.

Besides the thirteen Douluo intercepting the hammer, Chu Chengzhou, Hu Liena, and the others were the closest. If not for Chen Xin and Bibi Dong reacting in time and raising a protective soul power barrier, someone would have died on the spot.

In the next instant, the thirteen Douluo were blasted backward by the impact, while Tang Hao's massive blood-colored hammer had its momentum finally dissolved.

Even though these thirteen Douluo hadn't used their true spirit forms and none of their spirit powers exceeded rank 95 — and some wielding tool spirits were even suppressed by the Haotian Hammer's innate dominance — it was enough to show just how terrifying Tang Hao's swing was.

"Old Ghost!"

Seeing that the thirteen of them combined hadn't gained any advantage, Yue Guan immediately shouted to his old partner Ghost.

After decades of working together (old partner? Old lover?), Yue Guan only needed to twitch and Ghost knew exactly what he wanted to do.

At once, the two of them rushed toward each other, four hands clasping tightly — like lovers reuniting after a long separation.

In the next moment, dazzling silver flames ignited from Ghost, while golden flames rose around Yue Guan.

Their nine spirit rings all lit up almost simultaneously, the gold and silver lights blending into a breathtaking spectacle.

"Slaughter God Domain! Great Sumeru Hammer — Detonate! DIE!"

Of course, Tang Hao saw the strange glow surrounding the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo.

With his experience, Tang Hao instantly realized they were about to unleash their Spirit Fusion Technique.

Though he was shocked that they had such a powerful trump card hidden away, his actions didn't slow at all. A blood-red domain manifested, his killing intent erupting. His nine spirit rings reappeared on the Haotian Hammer, then shattered one by one — pouring their massive energy back into him.

Tang Hao knew that at this moment, he had to go all out. Two rank-95 Title Douluo unleashing a fusion technique together could threaten his life.

In the blink of an eye, Tang Hao's already terrifying aura surged again. Like a blood-colored war god, his Haotian True Body raised the massive hammer and smashed down with even greater force.

Although the Haotian Hammer's tenth ring was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor ring, its compatibility with the hammer was low — so his two ninth skills were basically wasted. But with his Great Sumeru Hammer technique, Tang Hao didn't care. As long as the ring quality was good, after detonating his rings, every swing became a crit — even basic strikes could rival a hundred-thousand-year skill.

"Seventh Spirit Skill: Blood Demon Berserk Bear True Body!"

Seeing that Tang Hao intended to interrupt the Chrysanthemum-Ghost fusion, Demon Bear Douluo roared, his seventh ring shining as he released his true form, blocking in front of the pair.

At the same time, all the other Spirit Hall Douluo unleashed powerful ten-thousand-year attack skills, rushing up to block the falling hammer again.

As long as they could hold Tang Hao off long enough for Chrysanthemum and Ghost to release their fusion skill — the Polar Ban Domain — then Tang Hao would be like meat on a chopping block, ready to be slaughtered.

"BOOM——"

The blood-red hammer smashed through the incoming skills, crushed Demon Bear Douluo's true form, and finally struck Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo just as they were merging.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM——"

Three thunderous crashes echoed. A giant blood-red bear and two figures — one gold, one black — were slammed heavily onto the square in front of the Pope's Palace.

It wasn't that ten Douluo working together couldn't stop Tang Hao's hammer — but they simply didn't have enough time to unleash their ultimate moves.

Even so, their attacks did weaken the hammer's force. Despite Tang Hao's Slaughter God Domain boosting himself and suppressing them, by the time Demon Bear Douluo was blasted away and the hammer landed on Chrysanthemum and Ghost, it probably only had a fraction of its original power left.

The raw impact wasn't fatal. After all, they were rank-95 Title Douluo — it was still within their endurance. The real trouble was the backlash from having their fusion technique forcibly interrupted.

Yue Guan was fine; his Chrysanthemum spirit might be a plant-type tool spirit, but it was inherently tough and yang-based. His physique wasn't worse than an attack-type beast spirit Douluo of the same level. The hammer plus backlash left him unable to keep fighting but didn't cripple him.

Chu Chengzhou: So, Dai Mubai ate the Chrysanthemum to gain diamond-hard skin, yet Yue Guan, who has this spirit, turned out so flamboyant?

Ghost, however, wasn't so lucky. He didn't have Yue Guan's resilience — plus, he'd already been hit once. This time, he nearly lost half his life.

Demon Bear Douluo wasn't spared either. He underestimated Tang Hao and got his true body shattered. He wasn't dead but couldn't stand back up.

"Hmph~ So what if you have the numbers? Still worthless trash!"

Having gained the upper hand, Tang Hao mocked them mercilessly while swinging his hammer at the remaining Douluo like he was playing a giant game of Whac-A-Mole.

Sword Uncle, Ning Fengzhi watched the godlike Tang Hao in the sky and couldn't help but ask Chen Xin through voice transmission, Could you handle him if you faced him?

Chen Xin's expression turned grave as he shook his head. If I'm not mistaken, Tang Hao's spirit power is at rank 96. With his years of accumulation, I could only barely match him in a normal duel. But if he uses the Clear Sky Clan's Great Sumeru Hammer, I wouldn't stand a chance. Fengzhi, with Tang Hao's strength now, he's one of the very strongest on the continent. Unless Qian Daoliu shows up, no one in Spirit Hall can keep him here.

Sky Invincible, huh?

Hearing Chen Xin mention Qian Daoliu made Ning Fengzhi frown.That "Sky Invincible" Angel Douluo had long been an immovable mountain weighing on the entire Spirit Master world.

Spirit Hall's dominance wasn't just about numbers — it was because they had this peerless powerhouse. Otherwise, when Tang Chen of the Clear Sky Clan was around, the old king would have stepped down for the new.

Ning Fengzhi shook his head, pushing aside these unreachable thoughts.To the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Qian Daoliu was an unsolvable problem. For now, he could only hope that Tang Hao — with his blood feud against Spirit Hall — would keep making trouble for them, so they'd stop pestering his clan for once.

Even while facing the combined attacks of eleven Douluo, Tang Hao grew fiercer. But after smashing Chrysanthemum, Ghost, Demon Bear, Bloodthorn, and Snake Spear into heavy injuries, he finally felt the urge to withdraw.

He'd shown off enough. If he didn't leave now, once the Worship Hall's old monsters showed up, he might not escape at all.Besides, detonating all nine rings gave him a temporary boost, but the backlash was huge — no point dying for a moment of glory.

With that, Tang Hao swung his hammer to knock back the remaining Douluo, retracted his Haotian True Body, grabbed Tang San, and soared straight out of Spirit City.

The Haotian Hammer wasn't a flying spirit — staying in true form wasn't helpful for escape.

"Hmph~ You think you can wreak havoc in my Spirit City and just walk away? Soul Devouring Spider Emperor, Possession!"

Seeing Tang Hao shamelessly flee with his son, Bibi Dong snorted coldly, unleashing her Soul Devouring Spider Emperor.

If Tang Hao got away unscathed, where would that leave her dignity as Pope?

Dark green soul power flared. Bibi Dong's elegant queenly image twisted: green web-like lines crawled across her forehead, three pairs of green spider legs sprouted from her back, her arms became jade spear-like limbs, and her lower body was wrapped in emerald light — turning her into a green humanoid spider.

Unlike the usual nine-ring configuration — yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black — Bibi Dong's second spirit didn't have nine rings, only seven.

But the shocking part was that her rings were six black and one red — meaning she had a hundred-thousand-year seventh spirit ring, and even the other six were at least fifty-thousand years each.

"Sixth Spirit Skill: Eternal Wound!"

With a fierce shout, Bibi Dong's sixth ring flared. The giant jade sickles that were her arms slashed upward, crossing to form a huge green X-shaped wave that sliced through the sky toward Tang Hao.

Eternal Wound: Physical defense is useless. Energy defense is halved. If struck, the wound will endlessly spread. The victim has only two choices — purge the invasive energy or die drained of soul power in agony.

Fully focused on Tang Hao, Bibi Dong didn't notice Xiao Wu glaring at her with hatred. When she saw that red seventh ring, Xiao Wu's eyes filled with sorrow. She knew it — Bibi Dong's second spirit's seventh ring was her mother's hundred-thousand-year spirit ring!

Not good! Tang Hao sensed the deadly threat behind him. Eyes narrowing, he activated the three-thousand-year Black Armored Tyrannosaurus trunk bone — a layer of dark translucent armor formed instantly.

Next moment, the green wave struck. It passed right through the armor, cutting deep into Tang Hao's back in an X shape.

"Puh—!"

His protective soul power shattered instantly. The slash nearly snapped his spine. Blood gushed out as Tang Hao gritted his teeth against the agony and flew even faster — he knew he couldn't slow down for even a second.

In a flash, the figure of Tang Hao carrying Tang San disappeared into the night sky.

"Hmph~!"

Seeing this, Bibi Dong let out a cold snort and retracted her Death Spider Emperor spirit.

Although her spirit power level was still higher than Tang Hao's, due to the restrictions of the Rakshasa God's trial, her strength wasn't at its peak — so she didn't bother chasing him down to keep him behind.

As for the other Douluos present — sure, maybe the Ghost LeopardDouluo, an agility-type, and the Lingyuan Douluo, a flying-type, might be able to catch up — but with Tang Hao's strength, chasing him would be no different from handing him their heads on a silver platter.

"Tsk~"Chu Chengzhou clicked his tongue.

One second Tang Hao was acting all mighty, the next second he was fleeing, and then the next he got put in his place by Bibi Dong. Truly, the world was fickle and ever-changing.

Of course, even if that all-powerful Tang Hao had been humbled this time, no one could deny his terrifying strength.

If you made a power ranking of all the Spirit Masters on the continent, Tang Hao would definitely make the list — and be very near the top.

If it hadn't been for the Eternal Spear's ability to ignore defense, it was hard to say who would have won in a real duel: a restricted Bibi Dong vs. Tang Hao detonating all nine rings at once.

Say what you will, but the Rakshasa God's trial really was a trap — not only did its rewards fall short of the Sea God's trial, but it also imposed limits on her power.

Otherwise, in the original story, when Bibi Dong hunted down Da Ming and Er Ming, even if those two were far stronger than ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, they wouldn't have lasted more than a few moves in her hands.

——

Meanwhile, in the Spirit Hall, inside the Worship Hall —

Before the solemn Angel God statue stood a figure clad in a blue robe and golden armor.

For his real age, he looked young — only about thirty or forty, with striking good looks, neatly combed golden hair, and a faint, serene smile.

Though he wasn't tall or burly, the vast, ocean-deep aura he exuded made it so that just standing there quietly, he commanded instinctive reverence.

This was none other than the Spirit Hall's Grand Worshipper — the Angel God's Guardian, the true master behind Spirit Hall's throne, famed as "Unrivaled in the Sky." In his prime, he had been known alongside Tang Chen of the Clear Sky Clan — the "Unrivaled on Land" — and together they were called the "Two Peaks" of the Spirit Master world: the previous Angel Douluo, Qian Daoliu.

Standing behind Qian Daoliu were six other imposing figures — the six other Worshipper Elders of Spirit Hall, each at least rank 96 Title Douluos.

"Grand Worshipper… we're really just letting Tang Hao escape like that?"

Seeing that the fight near the Pope's Palace had ended with Tang Hao fleeing, the Second Worshipper, Golden Crocodile Douluo, frowned and asked Qian Daoliu, who stood facing away from them.

"Let him go," Qian Daoliu said with a wave of his hand. "Back then, what happened to Jier — that was our fault to begin with."

Qian Daoliu might not have been a "good guy," but no one could deny that he knew right from wrong.

If he hadn't, the true murderer of his son Qian Xunji — Bibi Dong — could never have become Pope of Spirit Hall.

As for pinning the blame on Tang Hao — that had been a necessary lie. What were they supposed to do, announce to the entire world that the previous Pope was actually killed by the current one?

Family disgrace shouldn't be aired in public. And for the sake of his beloved granddaughter Qian Renxue, Qian Daoliu had chosen to wrong Tang Hao instead.

It was also precisely because of this that Tang Hao had been able to remain at large for so long.

Otherwise, with Spirit Hall's power and influence, if they'd really wanted him dead, Tang Hao would have been found and ground to dust years ago.

"Grand Worshipper… but Tang Hao's talent is extraordinary. It only took him a few decades to reach Title Douluo, and now he's grown this powerful. He might well become a second Tang Chen one day," said the Third Worshipper, Azure Luan Douluo, hesitantly.

As Spirit Hall's Third Worshipper, Azure Luan Douluo was no spring chicken either — he was old enough to remember the "Two Peaks Era," so he understood the true power of the continent's strongest far better than an ordinary Title Douluo.

"Heh — another Tang Chen?" Qian Daoliu let out a small laugh but didn't say any more.

He knew well enough that he'd lived his whole life under Tang Chen's shadow. For decades, he'd always been half a step behind; even the goddess he loved had never stopped thinking of Tang Chen.

But so what?

So what if Qian Daoliu couldn't defeat Tang Chen, and his son Qian Xunji hadn't been able to beat Tang Chen's grandson Tang Hao? He still had his precious granddaughter!

As long as his dear granddaughter Qian Renxue inherited the God Seat and restored the Angel Clan's divine glory, Tang Chen and the like would be nothing more than ants.

Tang Chen: Ants? If not for that damned Rakshasa God, I'd be a Supreme God-King by now — forget you, Qian Daoliu, even if your Angel Ancestor showed up, he'd still have to kneel before me!

As for little Tang Hao — he'd be left as a good training partner for his granddaughter.

After all, the path to godhood was long and difficult. Having a halfway decent opponent was better than none.

And as for Tang Hao being her "senior"?Qian Daoliu didn't think any Spirit Master of the same generation could ever stand as a true rival to his granddaughter Qian Renxue.

Did they even understand what innate rank-20 spirit power meant? Did they understand the value of the Angel God's trial?

——

The next day, more than a thousand people left Spirit City in a grand procession.

The Spirit Master Tournament had ended. Though it had ended with a bit of a "minor" — or major — twist, it didn't stop the Heaven Dou Empire's teams from beginning their journey home.

However, Chu Chengzhou and Xiao Wu weren't among the main group returning to Heaven Dou City. They were already riding the Fire Phoenix "Little Red," heading for Star Dou Forest.

Chu Chengzhou's spirit power had broken through to rank 50 even before the finals began, and they'd already delayed half a month. With Spirit City so close to Star Dou Forest, he decided to make the trip there first to get his fifth spirit ring before heading back.

As for safety — he wasn't worried. The only ones who had it in for him were the Star Luo Empire, and maybe Tang San — who, by now, probably had him labeled as "public enemy number one."

But the Star Luo assassins wouldn't know to look for him in Star Dou Forest, and Tang San was probably still busy running and recovering with his "unstoppable" dad, so he definitely wasn't coming for revenge anytime soon.

——

As the sun set and the moon rose, night fell over the outer edge of Star Dou Forest.

Under the towering Sky Azure Trees, a campfire crackled, sending up tiny sparks as it burned through firewood.

Beside the fire, Chu Chengzhou sat quietly, watching Xiao Wu absorb the medicinal power of the Yearning Heartbroken Red — her spirit power aura rising rapidly.

Earlier, to avoid drawing too much attention, Chu Chengzhou hadn't let Xiao Wu take the Yearning Heartbroken Red yet. Otherwise, having a six-ring Spirit Emperor in the competition would have been far too conspicuous.

Even if you knew how to hide your spirit power and disguise your rings, a Spirit Emperor was still a Spirit Emperor — true experts would see through it immediately.

But now that the tournament was over, Xiao Wu could finally take the flower and push her strength ahead by leaps and bounds.

After a long while, Xiao Wu's aura suddenly spiked, breaking past another limit.

Minutes later, as her spirit power gradually calmed, Xiao Wu finally opened her eyes.

"Not bad, Xiao Wu. Your spirit power's already far ahead of mine again~" Chu Chengzhou said, sounding half helpless, half pleased.

You had to admit, the "King of Flowers" really lived up to its name. Xiao Wu had only just reached rank 53 Spirit King, but after taking the Yearning Heartbroken Red, she'd jumped straight to rank 60.

And that was no small feat — in the five-ring stage, each level required so much more accumulation than it did at three or four rings.

"Hehe~ Xiao Wu-jie will always be Xiao Wu-jie! Mwah~ that's your reward!"

Xiao Wu giggled and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Alright, go get your sixth ring. Once you're done, we'll find my fifth ring."

Wiping the kiss off his face and giving Xiao Wu's rabbit ears a playful rub, Chu Chengzhou chuckled.

"Hmph! Always playing with my ears — what's with that weird habit of yours?"

Xiao Wu slapped his hand away with a pout.

"Habit? Xiao Wu, if you think that's weird, wait till you see the rest of my habits~" Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow teasingly.

Xiao Wu: "…"

T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on most of my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle