"Word is, you have a younger sister?" Nan Feng said.
"She's quite pretty, huh?"
Tang Xiao's expression stiffened. "What do you mean, Senior?"
Tang Yuehua wasn't a Soul Master and had never been involved in Clear Sky Sect affairs. The matters of the Soul Master World had nothing to do with her. Besides, she had left Clear Sky Sect for Heaven Dou City after coming of age. Since this incident had happened so suddenly, Tang Xiao had worried something might happen to her on the way, so he hadn't asked Tang Yuehua to return to Clear Sky Sect.
After all, that girl wasn't even a Soul Master. There was an unwritten rule in the Soul Master World: fights between Soul Masters wouldn't involve ordinary people who weren't Soul Masters!
Could Spirit Hall really have sunk to such shameless depths?
"I don't mean anything by it. I said your sister was pretty. Is that not allowed?" Nan Feng said.
"Senior, Yuehua isn't a Soul Master!" Tang Xiao reminded him.
"And I'm sure you know very well who's right and who's wrong in this matter!"
They'd clearly failed to rob someone, and now they were trying to turn the blame around!
Did they really think everyone was an idiot?
Had Tang Hao gone crazy? Had he gone alone to attack three Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall?
"I know." Nan Feng sat up.
"I know Qian Xunji started this whole thing. He was simply outmatched, and I even know how he died."
"Then why, Senior...?"
"But so what?" Nan Feng said with a laugh.
"Sect Master Tang, you need to understand one thing. Spirit Hall didn't attack Clear Sky Sect to avenge the Pope. They'd already planned to take you down!"
After Bibi Dong succeeded to the position of Pope, she naturally gained access to the files Qian Xunji had kept.
Whenever he was bored and stood guard by Bibi Dong's side, he'd flip through those classified documents as if they were sect gossip. One of them detailed Spirit Hall's plans for dealing with Clear Sky Sect.
Back then, when Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo attacked Tang Hao to seize the 100,000-Year Transformed Spirit Beast at his side, it wasn't only out of greed for its Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone. He'd also been looking for a fight!
To put it bluntly, Clear Sky Sect's Old Sect Master was a coward.
And there was a reason for that. In his day, Tang Chen of Clear Sky Sect had been overwhelmingly powerful. He and Spirit Hall's Grand Priest, Qian Daoliu, were known as the two great mountains of the Soul Master World—peaks no one could surpass.
But behind all that glory lay tremendous risk.
Qian Daoliu was strong, but he wasn't the only one. Spirit Hall's elders and High Priests were just as powerful, and Qian Daoliu cared most of all about Spirit Hall's growth.
Tang Chen was different. His strength was his alone, with little to do with the rest of Clear Sky Sect. Below Tang Chen, the sect's strength fell off a cliff.
With Tang Chen around, Clear Sky Sect was invincible.
Without him, Clear Sky Sect could fall apart in an instant!
On top of that, Tang Chen had left so suddenly that no one—not even Clear Sky Sect itself—had time to react.
Tang Chen had been wild and unrestrained, and according to those who knew him, he'd had abysmal social skills!
For all his strength, Tang Chen had wandered the Soul Master World for years without making a single friend. He'd made nothing but enemies!
The only person he could call a close friend was Qian Daoliu.
According to the records he'd found in Spirit Hall, Tang Chen had gone wherever he pleased, fighting whoever he came across!
And the man was terrifyingly strong!
He'd never lost to an opponent at the same level. That brash temperament had earned Tang Chen countless enemies in the Soul Master World. He'd knock someone down or cripple them with a single swing of his hammer, then walk away.
Qian Daoliu was nothing like that. Once he decided to strike, it was never a sparring match. He meant to determine both who was stronger and who lived.
Qian Daoliu never left trouble behind. The only person who'd fought him and walked away alive was Chen Jianjun, Chen Xin's father.
That wasn't because Qian Daoliu had shown mercy. Chen Jianjun had only had a few days left to live, and the Seven Kill Sword had been passed down through a single line. Qian Daoliu knew better than anyone what a swordsman from that lineage was like.
If you were outmatched, you were outmatched. Even in death, you wouldn't hold a grudge.
Tang Chen was different. If someone withstood one blow from his hammer, he hadn't lost, so Tang Chen would swing again. If they couldn't take it and lost, whether they died or ended up crippled, Tang Chen would just dust himself off and leave.
Those who survived became potential enemies of Clear Sky Sect. After Tang Chen disappeared, their families—or the survivors themselves—had been harassing the sect for decades.
That was why the Old Sect Master, who had taken over Clear Sky Sect amid such internal and external troubles, dealt with everything so cautiously. You could even say he was a coward who was afraid of causing trouble.
Tang Hao had been attacked by a Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall. He'd acted in legitimate self-defense. Was there anything wrong with that?
Nothing at all! He'd done nothing wrong!
But the Old Sect Master still thought Tang Hao had been in the wrong. He shouldn't have hurt a Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall, because that would bring trouble to the sect.
When he'd seen those records in Spirit Hall, he'd nearly laughed himself to death!
His son had been hunted down, and after the incident, instead of worrying about whether his son was all right, he'd worried that the other side might retaliate. In the end, he'd worried himself sick and died of it.
What a piece of work!
"Already planned to?" Tang Xiao's expression grew grim.
So they weren't even pretending anymore!
"Honestly, I don't think Tang Hao did a single thing wrong," Nan Feng said.
"Whether or not that 100,000-Year Transformed Spirit Beast was the love of his life, it was still a treasure in his hands. Whether someone coveted its beauty or its value, the moment they attacked, they should have been ready to be killed in return."
"Even if Qian Xunji died, he got what he deserved."
"But, Sect Master Tang, do you think right and wrong matter?"
Tang Xiao furrowed his brow. "They don't?"
"Of course they don't," Nan Feng said.
"Tang Hao was in the right, but if Spirit Hall says he was in the wrong, then he's in the wrong. That's what most people on the continent believe now. And plenty of people in Clear Sky Sect probably think the same way, don't they?"
You could tell from the elders' attitudes when Tang San returned to Clear Sky Sect. They were furious with Tang Hao, because he'd caused the sect enormous losses and forced it to seal its gates and withdraw from the world for twenty years.
As for why Tang Hao had killed the Pope, they didn't care. Or rather, in their eyes, even if Qian Xunji had tried to kill Tang Hao for no reason, Tang Hao should have taken it without fighting back. Any resistance would bring disaster down on Clear Sky Sect.
They didn't care whether Tang Hao was right or wrong. They only cared that he'd brought enormous losses upon Clear Sky Sect.
"Then what are you here to do today, Senior?" Tang Xiao's expression was bleak.
Of course he knew the other man was telling the truth. Lately, all anyone in Clear Sky Sect did was curse Tang Hao, asking why he'd dared to fight Spirit Hall if he wouldn't step forward and take responsibility when Spirit Hall came knocking.
Not one of them had stopped to think about what it had cost Tang Hao to face three Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall alone—or whether Tang Hao was even still alive.
No one cared. All they knew was that Spirit Hall's army had arrived.
Did right and wrong matter?
They really didn't.
Anyone who wasn't blind could see that Spirit Hall had grown more overbearing in recent years, treating the Two Great Empires and Seven Great Sects with ever more arrogance. Tang Hao's actions were merely an excuse. Even without that incident, Spirit Hall would have found another chance to start a war with Clear Sky Sect.
Because Clear Sky Sect was the strongest of the Seven Great Sects—the greatest sect under heaven.
Defeating Clear Sky Sect would raise Spirit Hall's prestige, influence over the Soul Master World, and control over it to an even higher level!
But no one wanted to admit that, whether or not they saw the truth.
They all complained, asking why Tang Hao had disappeared. If he showed up, he could surely calm Spirit Hall's fury, and Clear Sky Sect wouldn't have to face a war.
But the truth was?
He knew perfectly well that even if Tang Hao showed up today—even if Tang Hao died here—Spirit Hall would keep attacking Clear Sky Sect!
The Pope had died, and Clear Sky Sect was implicated. What better excuse for war could there be?
It was such a justifiable reason that even he, their enemy, couldn't refute it.
With an excuse like that, how could Spirit Hall possibly give up?
Spirit Hall wouldn't withdraw until Clear Sky Sect had been utterly weakened!
From the very beginning, there had been no peaceful way to resolve this war!
Before you continue