Bai He Offers a Map of the Clear Sky Sect; Tang Lie Has Been Missing for Two Days, Leaving the Clear Sky Sect Deeply Uneasy

Qian Daoliu slowly rose to his feet, the Angel Sword in his hand emitting a low hum.

He looked at Ye Xian, his gaze filled with unquestioning support.

"Everyone in Spirit Hall shall follow wherever Your Holiness's blade points!"

"This old man will hold the rear and await Your Holiness's triumphant return!"

Ye Xian held the Frost King Sword, while the Ice Crystal Crown reflected an eerie, frigid gleam.

He said nothing more and turned to look toward the outside of the hall.

A storm of war powerful enough to overturn the continent's balance had already gathered above Spirit Hall.

Its target was the number one sect in the world that had remained hidden for years—the Clear Sky Sect!

A day quickly passed.

On the second day, Ye Xian headed for Dragon Rise City.

Bai He possessed the exact location of the Clear Sky Sect.

Ye Xian wanted to receive this intelligence in person.

Before long, Qian Renxue and the advance party led by Bai He's Speed Clan arrived at Dragon Rise City.

More carriages carrying clan members followed behind. With Ghost Douluo personally watching over them in secret, there was no need to fear another ambush by the Clear Sky Sect.

The vast main hall of the Defense Clan had been temporarily converted into a command center for receiving the Speed Clan and Breaking Clan.

Niu Gao was directing the clan's able-bodied youths, efficiently arranging lodgings and distributing supplies to the arriving members of the Speed Clan and Breaking Clan.

The air was filled with the busy tension of a new beginning after surviving disaster.

Inside a quiet room at the innermost part of the estate, built from heavy black stone, the lighting was somewhat dim.

Ye Xian sat in the seat of honor, while Qian Renxue stood at his side. Her holy radiance gently dispelled some of the chill.

Bai He stood before Ye Xian. The Clan Leader of the Speed Clan no longer bore his former worry and inner struggle; only deep reverence and the calm relief of having set down a burden remained on his face.

He carefully took out a scroll from an inner pocket close to his body. It was made of specially tanned beast hide, its edges worn and yellowed with age.

"Your Holiness the Pope, Your Highness the Saintess."

Bai He's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor, yet it was exceptionally clear.

"This is a secret passed down through the Speed Clan. It was also drawn from memory and with the clan's secret methods after this old man risked his life to locate the Clear Sky Sect Mountain Gate years ago."

"It marks every dangerous pass along the route to the Clear Sky Sect's hidden location, as well as the extent of their outer sentry perimeter."

He held the scroll in both hands and respectfully presented it.

"The Clear Sky Sect Mountain Gate lies within a mountain range roughly three hundred li east of Heaven Dou City."

"At the foot of the mountain is a small village formed by hidden Clear Sky Sect disciples. It is the Clear Sky Sect's foremost sentry post."

"This old man knows full well how important this map is. Had Your Holiness's Divine Might not descended today, the entire Speed Clan would likely have fallen to the Clear Sky Sect's vicious hands and been reduced to ashes."

Bai He bowed deeply, his forehead nearly touching the ground.

"This old man and the Speed Clan are willing to offer this map to Your Holiness as a token of our sincerity and as proof of our clan's complete submission to Spirit Hall! We ask only... only that Your Holiness protect our clan's safety."

Ye Xian's icy blue eyes fell upon the scroll in Bai He's hands.

The scroll itself seemed to carry a trace of the coldness of passing years.

He did not speak, merely raising a hand slightly.

An invisible force lifted the scroll and sent it steadily flying into Ye Xian's hand.

"I accept this map."

Ye Xian's voice remained cold, though it carried a note of affirmation.

"Now that the Speed Clan has entered Spirit Hall, it shall naturally receive Spirit Hall's protection."

"Dragon Rise City shall be the place where you settle and make your stand. Bai He, you have done well."

"Thank you for Your Holiness's immense grace!"

Bai He's voice trembled with excitement, and the weight on his heart finally lifted completely.

Offering the map was not only repayment for a debt of gratitude; it also completely severed the last remaining possibility of reconciliation with the Clear Sky Sect.

He had firmly bound both his own fate and that of his entire clan to the Pope before him, a man who held absolute power and the authority over life and death.

Qian Renxue watched this unfold, a trace of complexity flashing through her golden eyes before turning to resolve.

Ye Xian's methods were cold and direct, but in this world where the strong devoured the weak, only this could protect the people and forces one wished to protect.

Bai He had made the wise choice.

"Xue'er..."

Ye Xian turned his gaze to Qian Renxue at his side.

"I'm here."

Qian Renxue nodded softly and looked at Ye Xian.

"I'll leave this place to you, Niu Gao, and Yang Wudi. Work together to guard it. Ensure the Three Clans are properly relocated and settled. Maintain strict vigilance; there must be no mistakes."

"When Elder Gui Mei arrives, remember to tell him that he must return to Spirit Hall in three days and assemble with the elders in the hall."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

Qian Renxue nodded obediently.

Ye Xian put away the map and exchanged a glance with Qian Renxue. Without lingering any longer, he departed.

A blue figure instantly transformed into a streak of light, piercing through the roof and speeding toward Spirit City.

Time was pressing. Although Spirit Hall held a tremendous advantage in terms of top-tier combat power,

he still needed to formulate a detailed and complete plan.

The Clear Sky Sect was located three hundred li east of Heaven Dou City.

Therefore, not only did they need to strike swiftly, accurately, and ruthlessly, they also could not alert the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, or the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan along the way.

The Upper Three Sects watched out for one another. Once they learned that Spirit Hall was attacking the Clear Sky Sect, they certainly would not stand by idly.

Two days later.

Clear Sky Sect, in the cloud-shrouded council hall.

The atmosphere in the council hall was even more oppressive and heavy than it had been several days ago, like the dead stillness before a storm.

Sect Master Tang Xiao sat in the seat of honor, his expression grim.

Four elders sat on either side, all with deeply furrowed brows. The air was permeated with anxiety and unease.

"Two days..."

Tang Xiao's hoarse voice broke the suffocating silence.

"It has been a full two days since Old Seventh left Heaven Dou City for the Speed Clan, yet there has been no word from him at all!"

He suddenly raised his head, his sharp gaze sweeping across the others. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with an almost devouring anxiety.

"The Strength Clan's destruction is a fact, and the Three Clans betraying us and joining the enemy is also a fact. Old Seventh may be hot-tempered, but he is by no means someone who does not know the gravity of a situation. Even if he had no opportunity to strike for the moment, he would never have failed to send even the slightest message back to the sect."

An extremely ominous premonition coiled around Tang Xiao's heart and the hearts of every elder.

An elder at the Titled Douluo level was a pillar holding up the sect, as well as a brother connected to them by blood.

Tang Lie's disappearance had truly left them in a state of panic.

"Sect Master,"

the Third Elder said hoarsely, his voice carrying a trace of fear that even he was unwilling to admit.

"Could Old Seventh... have encountered a Spirit Hall ambush within the Speed Clan? That new Pope is ruthless..."

"Impossible!"

Second Elder Tang Ming sharply interrupted him, though his tone betrayed a hint of bluster masking weakness.

"No matter how much that Pope favors the Three Clans, he could not possibly personally be stationed there. Even if there were elders at the Titled Douluo level, with Old Seventh holding the Clear Sky Hammer, even if he could not defeat them, who could stop him if he wanted to leave?"

"He must have been delayed by something, or perhaps... he discovered some earth-shattering secret and is tracking it in secret?"

Even he did not truly believe those words.

What could possibly require completely cutting off all contact with the sect just to pursue it?