Crossing into Douluo, I Split into Five People

"Hao Tian Sect disbands on the spot. All resources are to be turned over to Spirit Hall, and all affiliated..."

Escape

"That's impossible!"

"How could the Hao Tian Sect, the number one sect in the world, simply disband like this?!"

"Spirit Hall, don't go too far!"

Bibi Dong smiled. Shout! Scream! Fight! I want rivers of blood!

"Either hand over Tang Hao immediately, or disband the Hao Tian Sect. Choose."

Looking at Old Tang, Bibi Dong delivered her final words. Her performance was over. Even if An Lan wanted to resolve things as peacefully as possible, the framework for war was now unavoidable.

Yet An Lan wanted to fight as well.

The continent had enjoyed peace for far too long. This incident with the Hao Tian Sect had to be used to display Spirit Hall's strength, lest every stray cat and dog come crawling out to provoke them. Still, how to fight and how hard to fight required careful consideration.

Although An Lan and the others believed that, aside from Tang Chen's, the Clear Sky Hammers that called themselves the world's number one weapon Martial Soul were unworthy of the title, their Clear Sky Hammer secret techniques were formidable. If a real all-out clash broke out, the people they had brought might suffer devastating losses. Moreover, it was unclear whether Tang Hao's father knew Ring Detonation and the Great Sumeru Hammer. Chrysanthemum Ghost had already been traumatized by Tang Hao; seeing those two moves again might directly cut their combat strength by thirty percent.

They could fight, but it was best not to make these old bastards determined to drag everyone down with them.

Elsewhere.

The Hao Tian Sect's retreat party.

The Third Squad, acting on An Lan's orders, blocked them solidly. Tang Xiao and the others fought without pause, holding back the experts while the remaining disciples scattered in every direction.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xuefeng successfully "returned" to the Duke's Mansion.

As an essential component of the Hell White Tiger, the Zhu Family shared interests with the Dai Family. The conflict between the Hao Tian Sect and Spirit Hall would affect the situation in the Star Luo Empire, and the Zhu Family would naturally bear the brunt of it. The Netherworld Duke had therefore personally gone to the scene to gather firsthand information.

He had taken quite a few capable fighters with him.

Zhou Xuefeng used Blue Silver Grass's Second Spirit Skill, Split Weaving, then used the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's Second Spirit Skill to grant it vitality and transform it. He replaced one of the Duke's Mansion guards and infiltrated the estate.

The Zhu Family had always participated in the Dai Family's bloody competition, so their vigilance was naturally not weak. Although this generation's duke was not particularly strong, the people left behind by the previous generations of dukes were no pushovers.

Zhou Xuefeng made no rash moves. He played the role of that guard and carried out his daily duties.

Only after disguising himself for several days did he continue his operation. The first person he needed to deal with was the Duke's Mansion steward. But the steward was a Spirit King. With Zhou Xuefeng's current strength, it was impossible to take him down without a sound.

So he would drug him instead.

He slipped into the steward's room and placed sleeping powder in the water jug, the pillow, and the incense. Produced by Dugu Bo, quality was guaranteed. He did not use poison directly, afraid that the man might possess some inexplicable instinct. Sleeping powder that would not kill him outright had a higher chance of success.

At night, after the guards changed shifts, he used his spirit skill to send a miniature Little Grass Man to check on the steward.

The steward lay sprawled on the floor, sleeping like a baby.

Clearly, he had never expected anyone in the Duke's Mansion to drug him. Once Zhou Xuefeng confirmed that he had fallen for it, he immediately headed over.

He rolled the man on the floor onto his back and looked at his face. Zhou Xuefeng recalled the appearance of this body's birth mother. She had been a gentle yet stubborn woman. Even as a slave, she had never given up hope for life. Relying on her imagination, she often described to Zhou Xuefeng what it would be like if mother and son were one day free.

She wanted a small courtyard with a little pond, two yellow dogs, and a few chickens.

Squatting down, he severed the man's hand and Achilles tendons, released Blue Silver Grass, and sent it into his body. It grew swiftly along his blood vessels and occupied his heart.

The man's body convulsed violently on instinct, yet he still did not wake. Dugu Bo's drugs were truly excellent. Zhou Xuefeng controlled the Blue Silver Fine Thread inside the steward's body, absorbed the remaining sleeping powder, and woke him.

Feedback from every part of his body told the steward that something was terribly wrong. He wanted to cry out, only to discover that he could make nothing but weak sounds. Before his eyes was only a hazy layer of cyan light; he could see nothing else at all.

"Four years ago, you beat a female slave to death with a whip. Why?"

"Who are you? What do you want? I am—"

Not answering?

Zhou Xuefeng activated the Blue Silver Grass. The steward's body tensed like a shrimp, and his face flushed crimson. The twisting Blue Silver Fine Thread within him felt like countless ants crawling in and out, clinging to his marrow.

In a few seconds, it felt as if decades had passed.

Zhou Xuefeng repeated the question, but the steward said:

"I don't know! I really don't know! Who are you talking about?!"

Ever since he had inherited the previous steward's position and become the Zhu Family's steward, he himself could not remember how many slaves had died by his hand. Zhou Xuefeng's brow twitched. He clenched his fist, then loosened it.

Tender blades of grass slowly pierced through the steward's flesh and grew out of his body.

"Her Martial Soul should have been Blue Silver Grass. She looked..."

He described this body's mother to the steward. The instinct to survive forced the steward to dig through his memories, and he finally remembered. Once Zhou Xuefeng learned the reason, he found it absurd.

It was only because, while pouring water, some had splashed onto the Little Young Master.

Such a ridiculous reason.

That young heir had already treated human lives so carelessly at such a tender age.

"So this is what nobles are like. Hehehe..."

After calming his emotions, he interrogated the steward for more information, mainly asking which members of the Zhu Family possessed the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul. Once he was done, he killed the steward. Zhou Xuefeng took over his identity and continued operating within the Duke's Mansion. If he wanted to uproot the Zhu Family, he had to wait for the duke to return. Otherwise, he would not be able to clear them out completely.

More than half a month later, the current Netherworld Duke, Zhu Yizhi, returned to the Duke's Mansion.

The conflict between Spirit Hall and the Hao Tian Sect also came to an end.

On the surface, the Hao Tian Sect still relocated to the Heaven Dou Empire, sealed off their mountain, and secluded themselves from the world. Direct-line disciples were forbidden from leaving the mountain. After the mountain was sealed, Old Tang waited several days without ever receiving news of Tang Hao. He died of rage.

After enduring countless hardships and restoring contact with everyone, Tang Xiao urgently became the sect master. However, the younger disciples he had led in retreat had all been scattered. Some were captured by Spirit Hall. Some died in battle, including the Seventh Elder's son. Others were missing without a trace. Though Tang Xiao searched desperately, the people he gathered back amounted to less than half of their original number.

Then there were the Hao Tian Sect's subordinate clans and forces. The elders led the Hao Tian Sect's core members out through Spirit Hall's encirclement and did not care about them at all. An Lan had already achieved his objective of spreading his name, so he did not bother with the rest.

He only paid a visit to the Breaking Clan.

The Soul Breaking Spear Martial Soul seemed to have some interesting qualities.

The Four Great Clans did not successfully flee after paying a price as they had originally. An Lan had sent people to surround them beforehand. Unable to determine Spirit Hall's attitude, they did not dare act rashly.

Only after news of the Hao Tian Sect's breakout spread did they learn the truth.

An Lan wanted to study the Soul Breaking Spear Martial Soul and gave the Breaking Clan only two choices: surrender, or extermination. Yang Wudi was a stubborn old mule, but his younger brother had a more flexible mind. Appealing to both emotion and reason, he persuaded Yang Wudi to "submit" to Spirit Hall.

But the main reason Yang Wudi agreed was that Spirit Hall had merely surrounded them and had not attacked them. It was different from before, when they had suffered heavy casualties and formed a blood feud. They had been given a way out.

Conclusion

An Lan had no interest in the other three clans.

The Strength Clan could also be called the Slave Clan. There was something wrong with their heads; bringing them into Spirit Hall would probably lower the average intelligence. The Speed Clan had marriage ties with the Tang Family, and that old man Bai Niao was also a stubborn sort. As for the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng, there were currently too many unrelated people around, so it would not be easy to openly seize it. If Chrysanthemum Douluo discovered it, who knew whose hands it would fall into.

The Defense Clan had some talent for construction, but Spirit Hall did not particularly need them.

After gathering in the Breaking Clan, there was nothing major left to do. An Lan led his people in sorting through all the valuable things inside the Hao Tian Sect's mountain gate and moved everything back to Spirit City. The onlookers nearby only dared watch and did not dare interfere in the slightest.

Only the White Tiger Knights, as the local hosts, stepped forward wanting a share of the spoils.

Neither An Lan nor Bibi Dong said much. Heng Ha Er Jiang merely stood there, and that said everything. In the end, the White Tiger Knights received a pile of empty buildings.

Everything came to an end. After a brief period of turmoil, the continent returned to peace.

Tang Yin had fortunately survived and "got his wish," ending up adrift with Tang Yuehua in Nuoding City.

Upon learning that the Netherworld Duke had returned, Zhou Xuefeng did not act immediately.

The Duke's Mansion was enormous. To resolve this matter without alerting anyone, he would have to take down everyone in the mansion in a short period of time. Yet Zhou Xuefeng was only a lowly Blue Silver Grass Soul Elder with cultivation in the thirties. Even ignoring the Duke's Mansion's several Spirit Douluo, there were plenty of people stronger than him. Though he had developed an extremely covert use for Blue Silver Grass, there was no guarantee that someone would not suddenly have a whim or possess exceptional instincts and notice Zhou Xuefeng's little actions.

Unless he poisoned everyone indiscriminately. Dugu Bo's poison, even without Dugu Bo himself using it, could accomplish that without much trouble.

But the people within the Duke's Mansion who actually held grudges against him were limited. Indiscriminate killing would be too much.

He continued lurking for over a month, gradually figuring out the activity patterns of everyone in the Duke's Mansion.

Only then did he prepare to carry out his plan.

The plan was crude, the operation simple, and the results outstanding.

The Second Spirit Skills of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and Blue Silver Grass worked together to weave miniature Little Grass Men carrying sleeping powder, which he spread through every inhabited area of the Duke's Mansion.

As always, Dugu Bo's products were guaranteed to be top quality.

The small amounts of sleeping powder easily brought down everyone, including several Spirit Douluo of the Zhu Family.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the Duke's Mansion was as silent as a ghost domain. Not even the livestock made a sound.

Zhou Xuefeng found the Little Young Master, Zhu Zhuhai.

This generation of the Zhu Family's ducal line had four children: Yun, Hai, Yu, and Qing—three daughters and one son. Zhu Zhuhai was the boy, so he became the heir. The eldest, Zhu Zhuyun, the third, Zhu Zhuyu, and the newly born fourth, Zhu Zhuqing, were girls.

He studied him for a moment.

He's about the same age as me, maybe a year younger at most. Yet he treats people as less than human.

He twisted the boy's neck and sent this Little Young Master to meet his Zhu Family ancestors.

The duke? Dead.

Every male who had awakened the Hell Spirit Cat and could pass on the Spirit Cat bloodline? Dead!

Aside from a few servants who bore no grudge against him, the Duke's Mansion's main members, including several unprepared Spirit Douluo and the capable people accumulated by the Zhu Family over previous generations, were all sent to meet their ancestors amid the sleeping powder.

Then, openly and without restraint, he sent out a number of Little Grass Men to gather the Zhu Family's treasures and inheritances, along with the three big and little cats, and packed them all away.

The Zhu Family's foundation was the Hell Spirit Cat girls who could perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with the Dai Family. With the males removed, the three girls became the priority. Killing them like the Little Young Master suddenly seemed rather wasteful to Zhou Xuefeng. It was better to pack them up and take them away.

He had once thought Tian Rui's mind contained nothing but Martial Souls and women, but he had failed to notice that he was no different from Tian Rui now.

After all, they were souls split from the same origin.

As for the Zhu Family's collateral branches, he would deal with them once girls capable of performing Martial Soul Fusion Skills with this generation's Dai Weisi and Dai Mubai appeared. The Zhu Family women from the previous generation who had already entered the palace were beyond his reach for now, so the same applied to them.

He hurriedly left Star Luo City with the Three Sisters. As for the Duke's Mansion, it was only days later, when the servants panicked and fled in all directions, that people noticed the anomaly of the Zhu Family members not appearing for so long. The emperor came personally and mobilized people to search and investigate, but they only discovered some remaining bones underground.

Before leaving, Zhou Xuefeng had used Bone Corroding Poison to destroy most of the corpses. He had even kindly let them rest in peace beneath the earth.

Cold. Shaking.

Zhu Zhuyun regained consciousness and felt that something was wrong. She carefully opened her eyes a sliver and surveyed the surroundings.

A carriage? And Third Sister?

She saw Zhu Zhuyu lying beside her.

There was no one else. Quietly rolling over, she got up. Outside the carriage, there seemed to be a figure.

There was also faint humming. Judging by the sound, it seemed to be singing...

"Just like Yang Guo passing through the night."

"Your sister quietly streaks across the horizon..."

"Whose moans weave through the cycle of reincarnation, treacherous!"

"Don't turn your back to the mountains, don't be afraid..."

Suddenly, the indistinct song stopped abruptly. Two tender blades of grass pulled open the carriage door, and Zhu Zhuyun frowned deeply.

A child about my age?

"Awake? Come over and let's talk."

"Who are you?!"

She checked on her Third Sister, who seemed to be fine. Zhu Zhuyun helped her up and shielded her behind herself. But she did not approach, instead demanding sharply from a distance.

"Me? I used to be an insignificant slave in your household."

A slave?

Zhu Zhuyun's head buzzed, and she had a bad feeling. Zhou Xuefeng's next words confirmed it.

"You three are now the only survivors of the Duke's Mansion. Everyone else has already been sent down to meet your ancestors. Come over and talk. Your answers from here on will determine the fate of all three of you."

The stronger party held the advantage. Zhu Zhuyun had no choice but to obey. As she walked over, she saw Zhou Xuefeng holding a baby in his arms, and her mind exploded with a roar.