You're Right, but This Is the "Stand Tall and Firm" Clear Sky Douluo

"Please forgive him, Pope. Fengzhi was simply a little agitated. After all, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is truly..."

Sword Douluo Chenxin spoke up to explain Ning Fengzhi's obvious lapse in etiquette.

Pei An raised a hand and chuckled. "There is no need to say more, Sword Douluo. This Seat understands."

"Sect Master Ning has held this obsession in his heart for many years. Such a reaction is only natural."

Of course, he understood Ning Fengzhi's urgency.

However, Pei An had never intended to give him the Aromatic Silk Beauty.

Although Ning Fengzhi had already pledged allegiance, his thoughts were far too complicated. He could be used, but not trusted.

Compared to him, Ning Rongrong, the Young Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect who had followed Pei An since childhood, was clearly the better choice.

As for Ning Fengzhi...

Chrysanthemum Douluo would give him an illustration of the Aromatic Silk Beauty. Whether he could find one would depend on his own fortune.

Still, Pei An felt that he probably would not find it.

After all, in the Original Work, Ning Fengzhi's martial soul remained the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to the very end. There had never been any news of the Aromatic Silk Beauty.

Across this continent, there was likely only that one Aromatic Silk Beauty growing within the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.

Oh, Pei An still had some seeds in his possession.

He could use life energy to hasten their growth, but even then, it would still take quite some time.

He planned to wait until Ning Fengzhi had searched fruitlessly for several years before revealing this matter.

By then, Ning Fengzhi, having gained nothing, would be even more eager for the grand promise Pei An had laid before him. The results would undoubtedly be better as well.

After all, one only craved something more deeply after understanding how rare it was.

The contrast would make it stand out all the more.

Sword Douluo was only worried that Pei An would be displeased by Ning Fengzhi's earlier impatience. He overlooked the fact that someone else's attitude had changed because of it.

Though Ning Rongrong was young, her Thoughts were extremely sensitive.

Ning Fengzhi's perfunctory remarks and hurried departure further diminished the familial affection in the heart of this little girl, who had already left her parents' side at a very young age.

She had been happy studying at Pei An's side over the years and liked Pei An, her Teacher, very much. Yet Ning Fengzhi's purpose in sending her here had not actually been so pure.

Sending the Young Sect Master Ning Rongrong to Spirit Hall to study under the Pope had merely been Ning Fengzhi's means of currying favor with the Pope of Spirit Hall.

Although the outcome had been good and Ning Rongrong had not minded the process, as she grew older and gradually guessed Ning Fengzhi's original intentions, a rift had already formed in her heart.

Today, this small detail from Ning Fengzhi only widened that rift further.

Her biological father now held an even lower place in Ning Rongrong's heart.

Not to mention compared with Pei An, her favorite Teacher—even compared with Sword Douluo, he likely fell short.

This had not been within Pei An's expectations, nor was it part of his calculations. It was purely an accidental effect.

Meanwhile,

in some remote mountain village,

a plain-faced boy dressed in tattered cloth was walking home with a Wild Chicken he had hunted.

He pushed open the wooden door. With an unpleasant creak, sunlight streamed through the open doorway into the dark room.

An unfinished wine bottle rolled by his feet.

The room reeked of mingled alcohol and sweat.

As though accustomed to all of this, the boy's expression did not change. He reached down and placed the bottle by his feet atop a battered counter.

"Father, you drank again."

"Can't I drink? Now you're trying to tell your old man what to do?" The bearded man on the wooden bed turned over, his voice listless and utterly dejected.

He picked up a wine bottle and gulped its contents down.

Some of the wine ran down his face and dripped onto the bed beneath him.

Yet the man did not care. He merely opened his murky eyes and glanced at the Wild Chicken in the boy's hand. "Mm, not bad today. We have meat."

After saying that, he turned over again and immediately began snoring.

No wonder the room smelled so nauseating.

Yet the boy seemed to have no objections to the man's behavior. Carrying the Wild Chicken, he headed toward the kitchen beside them.

Tang San had been an orphan in his previous life. After stealing and learning the inner sect's techniques, he had jumped off a cliff and been reborn.

After his rebirth, having never experienced familial affection before, he treasured Tang Hao, his father and only family, immensely.

Although Tang Hao's behavior over the years had been unbearable, even leaving Tang San, who had no ability to support himself, on the verge of starving to death several times, Tang San did not mind.

He even rather liked this feeling, as though the more indolent Tang Hao was, the more filial he could be.

Mm...

There was a bit of Stockholm in him.

Tang San had once asked about his mother and why Tang Hao had become so despondent, but he received no answer.

Still, he keenly noticed Tang Hao's emotional reaction whenever he mentioned Spirit Hall.

Tang San immediately understood that his father's current state must be related to Spirit Hall.

Although everyone in the village said that Spirit Hall was wonderful, Tang San's opinion of Spirit Hall instantly plummeted to rock bottom.

Spirit Hall, you reduced my father to this state. You have earned your death!

"Father, don't worry. One day, I will seek justice from Spirit Hall for you!"

Tang San's words reached the ears of Tang Hao, who had not actually fallen asleep.

Seek justice from Spirit Hall?

Tang Hao felt lost.

Even he himself had little confidence in that.

Everything the new Pope, Pei An, had displayed over these years was simply too terrifying.

A twenty-one-year-old Title Douluo—even Tang Hao, who had always thought highly of himself, could not help but find that frightening.

It made Tang Hao lose even more of his desire for revenge.

You're right, but this was the Clear Sky Douluo.

In the Original Work, after losing his wife, he chose to rot away, leaving his only son to fend for himself. Only after Tang San awakened Twin Martial Souls did he begin to take him seriously again.

He placed his hopes for revenge upon his young son, completely forgetting that he himself was a Title Douluo and a renowned genius of his generation.

Now that he had likewise lost his wife, his sect had been forced to seal itself away because of him, and even his Younger Sister had been sent to Spirit Hall as a hostage because of it.

Overwhelmed by grief and indignation, our "Stand Tall and Firm" Clear Sky Douluo resolutely chose once again to rot away and lie flat.

He constantly spoke of a blood-deep grudge, yet for years he had never even entertained the thought of working toward revenge himself.

He truly deserved to be the idol of Great Master Yu Xiaogang. The two of them were indeed cut from the same cloth.

When it came to avoiding problems, deceiving themselves, and cowardice, they were practically identical.

Shaking his head, Tang Hao treated Tang San's words as a joke and ignored them.

If Spirit Hall were so easy to deal with, it would have been gone long ago.

His life would probably just pass by like this...

As for the sect and his Younger Sister's plight, he had the will but lacked the strength.

If there were a next life, he would surely work like an ox or horse to make amends.

The Stand Tall and Firm Clear Sky Douluo once again found himself a perfectly justified reason for his decadence and cowardice.