Haotian Sect (2)

After hearing Qian Daoliu lay bare his heart, the various elders no longer felt the complex mix of emotions they had experienced just moments ago.

Qian Daoliu's choices could not be called wrong; it was simply that they were not inheritors of the Angel martial soul, and they could not truly grasp the weight of his obsession with inheriting the godhood.

Yet, it could not be said that the elders were wrong either; in their hearts, the strength of Wuhun Hall was the most important thing of all.

"Little Liuer has already explained the reasons for his past actions. Little Crocodile, is there anything else you wish to ask?"

Qian Chongling looked toward Tian'e. As the Blood Pope who had led Wuhun Hall to prosperity, he had seen such disagreements many times before. Everyone had their own reasons and their own motives.

There was no right or wrong; in this world, there were only suitable choices, not choices that were one hundred percent correct. Once a choice was made, one inevitably had to pay a price in certain directions.

"No, I can understand Big Brother's choice."

Sighing, Tian'e did not continue to press Qian Daoliu.

As he had said before, there was nothing wrong with Qian Daoliu's choice; it was just that he and Tian'e had different priorities.

"Since no one has any objections, then this matter is settled."

"In the future, it is best to explain the reasons for your actions to one another. You are all elders, and you are all the foundation upon which Wuhun Hall stands on this continent."

"Having different views and opinions, or even arguing, is perfectly normal. As long as the goal remains the same, these are not problems."

Qian Chongling swept his gaze over everyone present. Just as his words implied, it was normal for an organization to have disagreements and differing opinions. Only with such friction could an organization continue to develop and grow, provided that people were not opposing for the sake of opposition or dragging each other down.

"Yes, Ancestor."

All the elders, including Qian Daoliu, nodded in agreement.

They understood the meaning behind Qian Chongling's words: if there was resentment or complaints, they could be voiced, but after venting, everyone remained brothers striving for the strength of Wuhun Hall.

There was no need for Qian Chongling to say this; the elders themselves knew that even after a heated argument, they were still brothers.

They were not some black-and-white binary thinkers incapable of hearing a dissenting opinion. The elders were all people of advanced age; they understood this point very well.

"Then, Little Crocodile, continue. What happened afterward?"

"After Big Brother lost to Tang Chen, the Haotian Sect became even more unscrupulous. In the past, one could at least say that no matter how arrogant the Haotian Sect was, they would still weigh the consequences when facing Wuhun Hall."

"Since then, the Haotian Sect has completely disregarded Wuhun Hall, frequently engaging in bloody conflicts with us."

"Yet, we could do nothing about the Haotian Sect because they had the 'invincible on earth' Tang Chen. We could only limit the conflicts to a small scale to avoid triggering a large-scale war."

"At the same time, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, which previously had a decent relationship with us, gradually reduced their interactions and began to sit on the fence, watching the situation on the continent."

"As for the Earth Dragon Sect, one of the original Upper Three Sects, they already harbored resentment toward the Haotian Sect for seizing the title of an Upper Three Sect. As the Haotian Sect's oppression grew, they eventually chose to join Wuhun Hall."

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, an Upper Three Sect that Wuhun Hall had personally fostered, kept making small moves. Eventually, after recruiting Sword and Bone, they expelled the two Title Douluo we had stationed there—who were there as much for protection as they were for surveillance."

"Afterward, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi, even had the audacity to shout the slogan, 'The Upper Three Sects are of one mind'."

At this point, Tian'e paused. It was clear that the fence-sitting behavior of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect infuriated him, and the Fourth Elder, Qing Yu, couldn't help but chime in with a snide remark.

"Tsk, a fickle, treacherous man. Does he really think the title 'Wisdom of the Continent' is a compliment? We were the ones who spread that name to mock him, yet he actually had the thick skin to accept it."

Composing himself, Tian'e continued his account for Qian Chongling.

"This chaotic situation lasted until nine years ago."

"Nine years ago, Wuhun Hall suddenly received an anonymous letter stating that the Haotian Sect's next sect master, Tang Hao, was traveling the continent. During his travels, he had met a woman, married her, and that woman was a 100,000-year soul beast."

"Of course, we didn't believe a baseless letter at the time. We assumed it was an enemy of the Haotian Sect trying to incite a war between us."

"But over the next period, Tang Hao frequently appeared in our line of sight with his wife, even going so far as to provoke Wuhun Hall."

"This struck us as strange. Although the Haotian Sect is full of lunatics with questionable judgment, the heir to the sect shouldn't be poking Wuhun Hall like this. After all, if a war really broke out, the Haotian Sect wouldn't necessarily come out on top."

"And he was doing it while bringing along a wife who was only a Soul Saint. What would Tang Hao do if something went wrong?"

"This forced us to recall that anonymous letter, and we began sending Title Douluo to investigate Tang Hao's wife."

"At first, we found nothing. The Title Douluo who returned told us that Tang Hao's wife was indeed human, just a Soul Saint with a strange martial soul—a Blue Silver Grass."

"We were about to let it go, but then an accident occurred at the Blacksmith Competition held in Gengjin City. The Soul Douluo who went to observe the ceremony returned and told us that the aura of Tang Hao's wife was that of a 100,000-year soul beast."

"This time, we sent Title Douluo to investigate again and discovered that Tang Hao's wife was pregnant, and we also confirmed that she was indeed a soul beast."

"At this point, even a fool could see it: that anonymous letter had been written by the Haotian Sect, perhaps even by Tang Hao himself."

"Perhaps Tang Hao still wanted to save face, or perhaps he had some other scheme and couldn't bring himself to kill his wife directly, so he thought of us."

"He didn't expect that we wouldn't take the bait, so he began appearing frequently before us, even provoking us to take action against him."

"At the time, we mostly just despised Tang Hao for such behavior, but we weren't going to pass up the opportunity. After all, a 100,000-year soul beast is a rare find."

"We subsequently began secret negotiations with the Haotian Sect and reached a deal: Wuhun Hall would do the killing, Tang Hao would take the soul ring, and we would take the soul bone."

"On the day of the transaction, Xier took his men and left Wuhun City."

"Two days later, a heavily wounded Xier returned with his men, and he also brought back Shuang'er."

"According to what Xier told us at the time, just as they were about to strike, the soul beast suddenly initiated a sacrifice—a sacrifice to Tang Hao."

"After the sacrifice was complete, just as Xier and his men moved in to claim the soul bone, Tang Hao suddenly launched a sneak attack and fled with the bone."

"Xier, who returned severely wounded, passed away not long after. There is no need for me to explain the cause of his death; we couldn't announce it publicly, so we had no choice but to pin the blame on the Haotian Sect."

Tian'e paused once more and looked at everyone present. It was true; the elders knew exactly why Qian Xunji had died, but that was a scandal within Wuhun Hall.

Family scandals should not be aired in public, but many people had seen Qian Xunji return in such a state, and the death of a Pope could not be hidden from the world. The Haotian Sect had to be the one to take the fall.