Haotian Sect (4)

Three hundred li east of Tiandou City, amidst a cluster of mountains, a massive stone structure stood like a fortress. Its main gate reached five meters in height, and above it, three stone-carved characters stood bold and vigorous, carrying a grandeur capable of rivaling the surrounding peaks: Haotian Sect.

No one knew why the Haotian Sect, having been forced into seclusion, still insisted on putting on this "I am the best in the world" airs.

However, since they had already sealed their sect, no one could see this behavior of being poor and tacky yet still trying to put on a show, so naturally, they let them be.

Inside the Haotian Sect at this moment, the current sect master, Tang Xiao, was drinking with an old man.

"Hahahaha, refreshing! What Brother Hao did was so satisfying. If I weren't the sect master, I would have left the sect too just to smash up Wuhun Hall."

Tang Xiao held his wine cup, speaking with a heroic air. It was clear that the news of Tang Hao smashing up various Wuhun Hall branches had reached the Haotian Sect.

"Indeed. Although Tang Hao has already left the sect, I must say, his actions are very much to my liking."

The old man opposite Tang Xiao was none other than the current second elder of the Haotian Sect, Tang Jin.

Tang Jin was stroking his long beard, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Since Brother Hao's actions are to your liking, Uncle Jin, then what about the matter of him returning to the sect?"

Tang Xiao asked tentatively.

"Let's talk about Tang Hao returning to the sect later; now is not the time. Not to mention that a portion of the sect opposes it, if Tang Hao were to return now, it would be bad if it attracted the attention of Wuhun Hall."

Hearing Tang Jin say this, Tang Xiao stopped laughing and took another large gulp of wine.

"It's mainly Wuhun Hall, isn't it? If Wuhun Hall were destroyed, there probably wouldn't be many people opposing Brother Hao's return."

"You are right, Xiao. The opposition within the sect is a minor matter; the most important thing is still Wuhun Hall."

Mentioning Wuhun Hall, both of them fell silent, simply continuing to drink heavily.

"Sigh, I really don't know when my Haotian Sect will be able to reopen its gates and restore its former status as the number one sect in the world."

Seeing that there was no follow-up on the matter of Tang Hao returning to the sect, Tang Xiao proceeded to bring up another topic.

"Soon, soon. Now our Haotian Sect already has seven Title Douluo. In at most another hundred years, we will have dozens."

"By then, once Qian Daoliu dies and those titled elders of Wuhun Hall die of old age, that will be the time for our Haotian Sect to emerge once again!"

"It's just a pity that I probably won't live to see it."

Tang Jin comforted Tang Xiao this way, his words filled with regret that he would not see the Haotian Sect grow strong.

Yes, the Haotian Sect had not fallen into silence as Qian Daoliu had predicted; instead, they had cultivated seven Title Douluo in this remote mountain corner.

It couldn't be said that Qian Daoliu was blind or unable to see the potential of the Haotian Sect, but under normal circumstances, a sect in seclusion, especially in a remote mountain corner, would have no resources to cultivate and break through.

If cultivation only required talent, why would the major powers on the continent struggle against each other and scramble for benefits?

Everyone could just dive into the deep mountains and forests and rely on their talent; no need to fight, no need to worry about worldly affairs—how wonderful that would be.

How the Haotian Sect managed to cultivate seven Title Douluo in a mountain corner, heaven only knows.

In any case, it couldn't be that the people of the Haotian Sect all had world-shaking talent and could reach this point without consuming resources. If the Haotian Sect's genes were truly that strong, would they have been forced to hide in a mountain corner?

While Tang Xiao and Tang Jin were drinking and sighing about the future.

Outside the Haotian Sect, in a small village about the size of Holy Soul Village—this small mountain village was the outpost for the Haotian Sect's territory.

"So this is the Haotian Sect? Not much to look at. It's really boring to hack through."

A young girl with golden hair reaching her shoulders and an heroic face evaluated the combat power of the Haotian Sect disciples while pulling a short spear from the body of a middle-aged man lying on the ground.

The middle-aged man on the ground had a sunken chest, and a trace of disbelief still lingered on his lifeless face.

Perhaps until his death, he could not believe that he had been killed by a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl.

Or perhaps he could not believe that anyone would dare to attack the Haotian Sect.

"This is just the outer perimeter guard post of the Haotian Sect. The Second Ancestor let us come here to practice; the tricky ones were left for Uncle Di Tian to handle, so the ones left behind are naturally not much."

The girl's companion, a girl wearing a knight's battle skirt, was unimpressed. It was normal for the disciples guarding the perimeter to have mediocre strength.

The two girls speaking were none other than Tian Yao and Qian Ningshuang.

Qian Ningshuang felt no discomfort regarding the dead, or even the act of killing someone with her own hands. The archives in Wuhun City recorded that before the Haotian Sect sealed itself, the blood debts they incurred from their tyrannical behavior filled more than ten archive shelves.

Flipping through them, they were all: "Wuhun Era, Year X, Month X, Day X, Location X: Haotian Sect disciple XXX, because XXX insulted the Haotian Sect, angrily wiped out their entire family. Haotian Sect disciple XXX, because XXX showed no respect in their words, killed them on the spot..."

Although spirit masters were inherently a violent profession that would draw blades at the slightest disagreement, the Haotian Sect's "mad dog" style of biting whoever they caught was truly one of a kind.

In any case, Qian Ningshuang had no psychological burden about killing people from the Haotian Sect. Since they didn't know how to restrain themselves and committed crazy evils when they were strong, they shouldn't blame others for coming to collect debts when they were weak.

"Young Miss, it's been taken care of."

A black-haired middle-aged man carrying a corpse arrived in front of Qian Ningshuang; the man was none other than Di Tian.

Ever since Qian Ningshuang healed Di Tian's injuries and learned some things from Gu Yuena, Di Tian's attitude toward Qian Ningshuang had become fanatical. In his daily actions, he treated Qian Ningshuang's words as imperial edicts. Although Qian Ningshuang was somewhat speechless about Di Tian's behavior, she couldn't refuse him and could only let him do as he pleased.

The corpse Di Tian was carrying was the only Spirit Saint at this Haotian Sect guard post.

As a perimeter guard, the strength of a Spirit Saint was usually enough, but unfortunately, he encountered Di Tian, a fierce beast whose strength could rival or even exceed a Limit Douluo. The result was that this Spirit Saint died without even being able to send out a warning message.

Whether this Haotian Sect Spirit Saint had sent out a warning before he died, or whether he had any regrets, Qian Ningshuang did not care. In any case, Wuhun Hall had already blocked the door; even if the Haotian Sect knew someone had already reached their doorstep, what could they do?

"Old Ancestor, the field is cleared."

Calling out toward the sky, Qian Ningshuang reported the mission status to Qian Chongling and the various elders hovering in the air, effectively notifying Gu Yuena and Gu Qiu'er, who were clearing the field on the other side.

"You handled that quite well, Shuang'er."

Dressed in a blood-red battle robe, Qian Chongling descended slowly from the sky, took a glance at the cleanup progress in the surrounding area, and then looked at Qian Ningshuang, nodding with satisfaction.

The reason he had chosen to let the younger generation, such as Qian Ningshuang and Tian Yao, clear the field instead of having the Title Douluo simply flatten this Haotian Sect perimeter outpost with a single strike was primarily to give them a taste of bloodshed.

After all, in Wuhun City, not to mention the others like Tian Yao, some of Qian Ningshuang's behaviors and thoughts seemed strange, or even overly soft-hearted, to a group of old veterans who had carved their way through life-and-death struggles.

Qian Chongling feared that this descendant, upon whom he had pinned such high hopes, might turn out to be a pedantic moralist, which was why he had conceived the idea of having her handle the outpost.

Fortunately, at least when dealing with this outpost, Qian Ningshuang had struck without hesitation, even against the ordinary Haotian Sect disciples who possessed no cultivation.

"Alright, the main course is next. I will have to trouble you, Lord Di Tian, to protect Shuang'er and the others when the time comes."

Looking at the mountain peak that towered into the clouds behind the mountain village, a cold light flickered in Qian Chongling's eyes.