Flender was the first to rush into Xia Ran's room. He saw Xia Ran curled up on the bed, with Zhao Wuji right behind him.
Having just recovered from the excruciating pain, Xia Ran clenched his fists and smashed the bedside table beside him to pieces.
"Damn it, that stupid* Tang Hao!"
"Tang Hao?"
Flender and Zhao Wuji looked visibly startled when they heard the name. What did this have to do with Tang Hao?
"What exactly happened?"
"Wait here. Don't leave!"
Too furious to bother explaining things to them, Xia Ran couldn't contain his anger.
A dignified Titled Douluo had actually used a mental attack to ambush a Soul Ancestor. If Xia Ran's spiritual power hadn't far surpassed that of ordinary people, he would have been left in a vegetative state.
[Second Soul Skill: Shadow Escape]
His figure vanished. When he appeared again, he was already at the academy's Back Mountain.
Towering trees blocked out the only moonlight. An eerie silence filled the pitch-black forest; even the insects that usually chirped at night had gone quiet.
"Tang Hao! Get out here!"
Xia Ran didn't bother with pleasantries. As soon as he steadied himself, he roared into the darkness.
The moment his voice fell, a powerful pressure of Soul Power bore down on the center of the clearing, as if it meant to crush him to pieces by sheer force.
Xia Ran immediately unleashed his Void Domain and vanished into the night, leaving the pressure without a target.
A disheveled middle-aged man emerged from the darkness, his clothes in tatters and his beard unkempt.
He had no Martial Soul and no Soul Rings, yet the space around him warped ever so slightly as soon as he appeared. It was pure killing intent.
"You've got some nerve. You not only recognize me, you dare speak to me like that!"
He had been lying low in this forest for several days, and had witnessed everything that happened today.
When Tang San had attacked Xia Ran that day, trying to kill him, even Tang Hao had been shocked.
He couldn't understand why his son had such a strong desire to kill. Xia Ran wasn't even an enemy; they had merely exchanged a few words, yet Tang San had wanted to kill him.
As the son of the Clear Sky Sect's head, one of the Upper Three Sects of the Seven Great Sects, Tang Hao had been taught from childhood to lead by example, root out evil, and punish wrongdoing. So in his eyes, Tang San had clearly been in the wrong.
Xia Ran hadn't gone straight for the kill. That was already quite merciful of him.
"Come out! Are you planning to hide here forever?"
Seeing Xia Ran effortlessly counter his probing attack, Tang Hao refrained from making another move. He reined in his killing intent, once again looking like an ordinary middle-aged man.
A figure slowly materialized in one corner of the dark domain, then another, then a third. Three figures emerged, enveloped in thick fog, and spoke at the same time.
"You're the dignified Clear Sky Douluo, yet you resort to sneaking attacks against a Soul Ancestor. Have you spent all these years living in a dog's belly?"
Chapter 8: I Am the Divine Envoy
Tang Hao felt a little embarrassed by Xia Ran's words. He hadn't expected the young man to greet him with anger instead of respect.
Still, Tang Hao had long since learned to ignore verbal attacks.
Back in the Clear Sky Sect, no one in the entire sect had stood by him. He had weathered the accusations of the family members he once called his own. He could endure this, too.
If he had cared at all about saving face, he wouldn't have caused such a huge disaster and then run off to hide in Holy Soul Village.
"I ask, you answer."
"Otherwise, you die!"
Xia Ran's assessment of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul that day had made Tang Hao suspect that his son might be cultivating along the wrong path.
He had seen Ah Yin's Blue Silver Emperor. Its abilities weren't as muddled as Tang San's.
It had been a pure life attribute Martial Soul, and its quality had even surpassed his Clear Sky Hammer.
He had left Tang San in Yu Xiaogang's care because he valued that good-for-nothing's theories.
But judging by what Xia Ran had said, there really might be a problem with Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.
Watching Tang Hao put on airs, Xia Ran laughed in fury. This bastard had nearly turned him into an idiot, yet still dared to put on such an arrogant front.
"Tang Hao, I suggest you show me some respect. You're nothing but a cripple."
"And you know better than anyone whether your son is an ordinary person. Dare you claim you didn't come looking for me because of him?"
Xia Ran's tone was completely disrespectful, even tinged with arrogance.
After being provoked repeatedly by a junior, the last trace of guilt in Tang Hao's heart was swallowed by anger.
He had thought that if Xia Ran could solve Tang San's cultivation problem, he could offer him some compensation. He hadn't expected the boy to be so ungrateful.
"A mere Soul Ancestor, mouthing off like that. If you're relying on those two Soul Saints, you're going to die horribly."
"Looks like I really do need to teach you a lesson today!"
" Tang Chen! Slaughter City! God Trial!"
The three figures spoke in succession from three different directions, each uttering a different phrase. The words echoed through Tang Hao's mind like a series of explosions.
His angry expression turned to shock. He stared at the young man before him in disbelief.
"Who exactly are you? How do you know about my grandfather?"
Tang Hao was about to attack when Xia Ran interrupted him.
At the sound of Tang Chen's name, light returned to his murky eyes.
The Clear Sky Sect! Tang Chen! For many years, as he traveled the continent, he had been searching for a way to heal his hidden injuries, and had also been asking around for news of Tang Chen.
That legendary figure had lived in the same era as Qian Daoliu. If Tang Hao could find his grandfather and bring him back to lead the Clear Sky Sect, the mistakes he had made all those years ago would mean nothing.
But the young man before him looked no older than his teens. How could he know about events from that era?
"I'm your grandfather!"
Xia Ran spoke with an almost awe-inspiring solemnity, his imposing air touched with the disdain of someone accustomed to authority.
"You worthless piece of trash! You tricked your wife into sacrificing herself, angered your father to death, and forced the Clear Sky Sect to withdraw from the world. You live like a rat, and now you're using your mental power to ambush a junior. If you're tired of living, hurry up and die. Return those lousy Soul Bones of yours. Maybe the Clear Sky Sect can still raise Tang San for you for a few years."
After that tirade, Tang Hao was so ashamed that his old face flushed red.
Even the Clear Sky Sect didn't know that he had tricked Ah Yin into sacrificing herself. Why had this young man exposed it?
Shame gave way to even greater anger. Someone had ripped away his disguise right in front of him—and that someone was a mere Soul Ancestor.
"Die!"
He unleashed the might of a Titled Douluo on the spot. All nine rings appeared, and he prepared to kill Xia Ran outright.
"Kneel!"
Just as he was about to strike, all three shadows shouted in unison.
Their voices carried boundless authority and even a hint of the power of law.
Even the crimson Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring dimmed slightly. This was the suppressive effect created by Xia Ran's Void Domain.
"Have you forgotten who taught you the Ring Detonation Technique? Who taught you the Clear Sky Nine Arts?"
At the mention of the Ring Detonation Technique and the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, Tang Hao regained his senses.
His mind filled with the image of his grandfather's upright figure, along with memories of following him through the Back Mountain of the Clear Sky Sect and practicing with the Clear Sky Hammer.
"That's impossible. How do you know this..."
"Could you really be my grandfather?"
"I'm not!"
"You insolent brat! You dare toy with me again..."
Seeing Tang Hao about to erupt like Little Scumbag, Xia Ran brought the three figures together into one and used his domain to hover in midair.
"I am the Divine Envoy of the Asura God, ordered to seek out the successor to the Asura inheritance. Even your grandfather, Tang Chen, must address me as Lord Divine Envoy. You're a mere Titled Douluo. Why haven't you knelt before me?"
"Kneel!"
The command, infused with the Void Domain, landed heavily in Tang Hao's ears and made his heart tremble.
"This is the suppression of the power of law..."
"The Divine Envoy of the Asura God?"
Tang Hao's heart surged with shock. This man knew all his secrets, as well as the truth about his grandfather, Tang Chen. Even the force of his words could suppress him. Could he really be a Divine Envoy?
Seeing Tang Hao begin to hesitate, Xia Ran turned up the pressure.
"Tang Hao, after traveling the continent for years, this Divine Envoy has seen countless good and bad people. You're the first I've met who's betrayed everyone around him."
"He really knows everything!"
Apart from Tang Hao himself, no one else knew these secrets in such detail.
Even more surprising, aside from the Qian Family in Spirit Hall, there were other Divine Envoys in this world.
"Your Divine Envoy commands you—kneel!"
For the third time, Xia Ran drew on almost all the darkness law within his domain.
Tang Hao, still weighing his options, dropped to his knees before Xia Ran with a thud. His knees slammed into the dead leaves.
"D-Divine Envoy!"
Tang Hao managed to force out the words, his expression utterly respectful.
"If your grandfather saw what you've become, he'd want to cripple your Martial Soul!"
"Look at yourself. You're nothing like one of the Clear Sky Twin Stars."
The kneeling Tang Hao was as meek as a quail under the scolding. But even now, Xia Ran wasn't satisfied. He still wanted to keep pressing him.
"Well? How have you been treating the son you abandoned from the day he was born?"
The moment Tang San came up, Tang Hao immediately grew agitated.
Before you continue