Jialing Pass, Shrek Camp.
"Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus? What is that?"
Ma Hongjun scratched his head, looking utterly bewildered.
"Going by the name, it sounds like a plant-type Martial Soul?" Oscar guessed.
"No, the ranking explanation says it was forged from rare metals. It should be a weapon."
Ning Rongrong analyzed it, then turned to Tang San. "Third Brother, is this something of yours?"
Everyone's gaze snapped to Tang San.
Tang San's brow furrowed slightly.
The Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus was only ranked tenth?
It was the greatest Hidden Weapon of the Tang Sect in his previous life. He had risked his life, even betraying his sect, to recreate this supreme masterpiece!
In Tang San's heart, it was no less important than a Divine Artifact!
And now, it had only ranked tenth?
But when he saw the curious, admiring looks on everyone's faces, his displeasure vanished in an instant, replaced by a deep sense of pride.
He straightened his back, a mysterious smile appearing on his face.
"That's right. The Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus is mine."
"It's a Hidden Weapon, the most powerful one for attacking groups—and I'm the only one who can make it."
"Wow! Third Brother, you're incredible!"
"A rare treasure even the Heavenly Dao recognizes—and you made it with your own hands!"
"Anyone below the divine level dies on contact! My heavens, that's terrifying!"
The Shrek Academy group exclaimed one after another, their admiration for Tang San reaching new heights.
Listening to their praise, Tang San's smile grew broader.
Recognized by the Heavenly Dao!
That's right. This was the Heavenly Dao's recognition of me!
I, Tang San, am a peerless genius, whether in my past life or this one!
Meanwhile, atop Jialing Pass's city wall.
The Spirit Hall worshippers exchanged puzzled looks.
"Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus? Have any of you ever heard of it?"
Second Worship Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at those beside him. He had lived for hundreds of years and considered himself widely learned, yet this name meant nothing to him.
The other worshippers shook their heads as well.
"Never heard of it."
"Tang San is a devious fellow. We can't afford to let our guard down."
As they debated, the image on the Golden List high in the sky shifted again.
Line after line of small text began to explain the origins of the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus in detail.
[The Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus originated from the Tang Sect, a top-tier sect in another world!]
[It was the Tang Sect's most powerful mechanical Hidden Weapon. Its method of manufacture had long been lost, and its blueprints were nothing more than a legend.]
The whole Douluo Continent erupted!
Another world?
What did that mean?
Did other worlds exist beyond their own?
The Tang Sect, a top-tier sect?
It sounded extraordinary!
At Shrek Academy, everyone stared at Tang San in shock.
But a sudden, ominous feeling rose in Tang San's heart.
Why was the Heavenly Dao revealing such details?
Before he could figure it out, the image on the Heavenly Vault Golden List shifted, and a scene began to appear.
Then came the vast, emotionless voice of the Great Dao.
[The Tang Sect outer disciple Tang San was a peerless talent. After secretly learning the supreme inner-sect manual, the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, he devoted his life to successfully recreating three Buddha Wrath Tang Lotuses. Their power shook heaven and earth!]
Boom!
Those words crashed in the ears of everyone at Shrek like a thunderclap.
To Tang San, they were no less than five thunderbolts striking at once!
His face turned deathly pale in an instant!
Secretly learning!
The Heavenly Dao Gold Ranking had actually used the words "secretly learning"!
Those words stabbed straight into the deepest wound in Tang San's heart!
No!
I did nothing wrong!
Those old fossils in the Tang Sect clung to their ways, sitting atop a mountain of treasures without knowing it, letting countless secrets gather dust!
What was wrong with me for bringing them to light?!
I did nothing wrong!
But no one could hear the roar inside his heart.
His companions looked at him with a mixture of doubt and scrutiny.
"Tang San, a Tang Sect disciple?"
"Another Tang San?"
Dai Mubai murmured to himself. But he quickly caught on, fixing his gaze on Tang San. "Xiao San, this..."
None of them were fools.
Another world, the Tang Sect, Tang San, the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus...
Once those pieces were joined together—and they saw the terrible look on Tang San's face—the answer was unmistakable.
"Third Brother..."
Xiao Wu tugged anxiously at Tang San's sleeve.
Tang San drew a deep breath, ready to explain and deliver the story he had long since prepared.
But the Heavenly Dao Gold Ranking gave him no chance!
The image in the sky grew clearer still.
It showed a world utterly unlike the Douluo Continent.
A boy in coarse gray clothes knelt before a grand sect hall.
He was an orphan, taken in by the Tang Sect as an infant. The Tang Sect had given him a new life.
The scene raced onward.
In the dead of night, the boy sneaked into the Scripture Pavilion and pored over the inner-sect manuals—secrets an outer disciple like him had no right to access.
He neglected sleep and meals, committing every technique to memory.
At last, he made his way to the Tang Sect's forbidden grounds. That was where he found the blueprints for the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus.
The scene in the sky continued.
With the skills he had secretly learned, the boy named Tang San made a name for himself in the Tang Sect, hailed as its most outstanding genius in two hundred years.
He restored the Tang Sect's lost Hidden Weapons one by one, even creating ingenious devices the elders had never seen before.
He should have been the Tang Sect's hope for the future.
Then the truth came to light.
Secretly learning the inner-sect manuals was the Tang Sect's greatest crime.
"Tang San! The sect treated you well. Why would you commit such a treacherous act?"
"Hand over the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record and cripple your own martial arts. We might yet spare your life!"
Hounded by the elders, the Tang San in the image fled until he was driven to the edge of a sheer cliff.
That cliff was called Ghost Sorrow Cliff.
Clouds and mist swirled around it, and its depths were unfathomable.
The boy stood at the edge, his clothes snapping in the fierce wind. He held the three Buddha Wrath Tang Lotuses he had recreated high above his head, his expression resolute and proud.
"I, Tang San, swear to the heavens that I never intended to betray the sect!"
"I came to the Tang Sect not to steal anything, but to make it flourish!"
"Now, I return everything I have to the Tang Sect!"
With that, he hurled the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotuses at the elders, then leapt without hesitation into the endless abyss.
The image froze there.
No!
Impossible!
Inside the Jialing Pass camp, Tang San shuddered violently, rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning.
The Heavenly Dao Gold Ranking... had exposed every detail of my past life to the world?!
He wanted to stop it, to shout, to tear that wretched sky apart.
But he couldn't.
Tang San's face went from pale to livid, then from livid to ashen.
He could feel how complicated the looks his companions were giving him had become.
He was finished.
His "righteous and noble" image had completely crumbled in that moment!
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