In the Sky Screen, blood-red light clashed with holy light, unleashing a force of destruction that swept across the eight directions.
For dozens of miles around, mountains collapsed, rivers were cut off, trees shattered, and the earth split apart... All life fell silent.
Everyone was horrified. They cried out that the battle between Titled Douluo was terrifying beyond belief. Even the several Titled Douluo watching from the sidelines felt their hearts pound with fear.
Ghost Douluo trembled all over, shaken to his core. "Tang Hao... Tang Hao! How terrifying! Heh heh hahahaha!"
Sword Douluo said, "The Clear Sky Douluo truly lives up to his name. With power like that, even I would be badly injured."
Qian Daoliu nervously stroked his tightly clenched beard. "My son, I hate that I cannot avenge you myself. Tang Hao is no less of a threat than his grandfather."
At that moment, everyone across the Douluo Continent learned the truth.
Just how terrifying the so-called Clear Sky Douluo was.
Clear Sky Sect.
The sect had long since withdrawn from the world, but seeing Tang Hao's valor filled them with pride.
Seated high above, Tang Xiao tightened his grip on the stone chair and thought, Brother Hao, I never knew you and Ah Yin had endured such a brutal battle back then. No wonder you never dared show your face...
He could imagine it.
Under such overwhelming power, an ordinary Titled Douluo would be badly injured at best, if not killed.
Perhaps Qian Xunji had died in that decisive battle?
"So this is the power of the Clear Sky Nine Techniques? No wonder ordinary disciples can't learn it. Its power is so terrifying that no ordinary person could withstand it."
"Although Tang Hao brought disaster upon us, even forcing us to seal off the mountain, there's no denying that the Clear Sky Nine Techniques are truly terrifying!"
"Exactly. He also made our Clear Sky Sect's name known!"
"..."
That was the effect of having a powerful figure on your side.
Even if there was no connection between you, as long as you were on the same side, in the same camp, the more impressive the other person was, the prouder you felt.
Of course,
Some people were worried, while others were pleased.
Heaven Dou Empire.
Xue Qinghe and the others stared in stunned amazement.
Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, looked horrified. She thought in shock, No wonder my father lost. With power that terrifying, anyone who took that attack would be badly injured at best, if not killed.
Could my father have died in that battle?
She understood now. Tang Hao must have been badly injured back then, too. But he had the Blue Silver Emperor, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who could continually heal him. That might have kept him from dying on the spot.
Atop the mountain.
Li Xuan looked up and smiled.
"This battle was indeed spectacular and shocking, but compared with what happens next, it's nothing."
He had already guessed as much.
The system had told him that the Sky Screen played events as a narrative, showing the secrets and the causes and consequences behind them.
Fortunately, all ten secrets on the list he had compiled had scenes that could be shown.
And each one was more explosive than the last.
"Let's hurry up and finish showing the first Sky Screen. I wonder what reward the first God Examination will give?"
"A boost in cultivation?"
"Or a God-Bestowed Soul Ring?"
"Or perhaps an increase of ten thousand years to a soul ring's age?"
Li Xuan had read about the various deities' trials in Douluo Continent. They were generally focused on improving one's strength. Aside from the final few trials, which involved the responsibility of maintaining peace in the world and sent the successor to eliminate evil, that was about it.
"Forget it. No point thinking about it."
Li Xuan looked up at the Sky Screen.
At that moment, the Sky Screen changed again.
On the screen, both Qian Xunji and Tang Hao fled in a sorry state.
Tang Hao held a small blue plant and a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. He fled at incredible speed until he disappeared from view.
Meanwhile, Qian Xunji and the other powerful Spirit Hall members also retreated.
The battle had only just ended, and countless soul beasts came rushing over as if drawn by some kind of signal.
Everyone saw it clearly.
Tang Hao carried the baby in his arms and first put the Blue Silver Grass, Ah Yin, inside a cave. Then he said a few angry words.
After that, he fell unconscious for three days.
Tang San nearly starved to death during those three days. Fortunately, the Blue Silver Emperor was still conscious and sent energy to Tang San, keeping him from starving to death.
Everyone around the world laughed when they saw this.
"If Tang Hao doesn't wake up soon, his own son will starve to death. Good thing his wife is the Blue Silver Emperor. She can draw on the surrounding Blue Silver Grass to provide life force."
"Is this what they mean when they say a father is a child's strongest support in times of danger, but the greatest danger when everything is safe?"
"That's terrifying. I'm never letting my child's father look after the kid alone."
"..."
Everyone watched, half laughing and half crying.
But just then, the scene shifted.
After returning to Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji and the others immediately went into seclusion.
Qian Xunji retreated to a secret chamber. Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo were also badly injured, and the whole of Spirit Hall was thrown into an uproar. No one could believe that their pope had been so badly wounded.
For a time, many people began to speculate.
"Could these injuries have been what ultimately caused Qian Xunji's death?"
"Who knows? The battle we just saw was replayed in such vivid detail, its terrifying power practically spilled out of the screen."
"..."
But when Bibi Dong, seated on the papal throne, saw this scene, she instantly grew restless.
"Damn it!"
She gripped the Pope Scepter in her hand and roared inwardly, Who is doing this? Why expose something like this? Vast heavens, why have you been so cruel to me?!
"Kill! Kill! Kill!!!"
Endless malicious intent poured from Bibi Dong.
The Spirit Masters throughout the Pope's Palace felt their bodies tremble. A bone-deep chill swept over them, as if they had fallen into an icy abyss.
Boom—!
But no matter how furiously Bibi Dong raged,
the Sky Screen still showed that scene.
At the time, Bibi Dong was still Spirit Hall's Saintess. Wearing a purple gauze dress, she said she was bringing medicine to her teacher and slowly entered the secret chamber that had once broken her.
Inside the chamber,
Bibi Dong closed the door.
Qian Xunji, who had been healing, slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Bibi Dong, he spoke softly:
"Dong'er, what brings you here?"
Bibi Dong forced a faint smile. "I came to bring you some medicine, Teacher."
Everyone watching thought it was a scene of deep affection between teacher and student.
But just as they thought Bibi Dong was about to give Qian Xunji the medicine, something unexpected happened.
The instant she approached Qian Xunji, the External Soul Bone behind her shot out. With a wet thud, it pierced through his body, spraying blood everywhere.
The sudden turn of events left Qian Xunji stunned. Everyone outside the screen froze, too.
Bibi Dong... had killed Qian Xunji?!
"W-what just happened?!"
"Bibi Dong... she killed the previous pope?!"
"How could she dare kill the pope? This is Spirit Hall, and the Qian family rules this place. She actually dared to assassinate him?!"
"..."
Countless people were stunned.
Yu Xiaogang was stunned.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Hao, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan... The world seemed to freeze. They all stared wide-eyed, as though they had witnessed something momentous.
And of them all, Qian Renxue was the most shocked.
The chess piece in her hand clattered to the ground. Her body trembled as she stared at the Sky Screen in disbelief.
All along, she had thought her mother disliked her simply because her father had died young. But she had never imagined...
Her mother had personally killed her father!
How could that be?!
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