It had been less than two days.
Yet everything that had happened inside the Listening Rain Pavilion in Heavenly Dou Imperial City had spread across the Douluo Continent at a terrifying speed.
He had blocked the Great Sumeru Hammer with one hand, crippled Clear Sky Douluo's arms, then put him up for auction in public like a pig or a dog!
He had shattered the Sea God Phantom with a single finger and subdued Bo Saixi, a level-99 Peerless Douluo!
And there was the Storyteller's tale of the Unique Cave Heaven, an invulnerable domain that fused ten Grotto-Heavens into one!
Then there was the second Supreme Bone, born anew through nirvana at the brink of death, capable of stripping away the years!
Any one of these astonishing revelations would have been enough to rock the entire Soul Master World. Now they had all come crashing down upon everyone at once.
The balance of power across the continent and centuries of accepted wisdom had been utterly overturned in that moment.
Spirit City, Pope Palace.
In the center of the hall, Yue Guan and Gui Mei looked as though they had just been dragged out of a river, their bodies drenched in cold sweat.
They lay prostrate on the icy tiles, not daring to raise their heads.
On the lofty Pope Throne,
Bibi Dong held the Scepter of Power. Her peerlessly beautiful and noble face was hidden in shadow, her emotions impossible to read.
But all around her, the frigid killing intent of the Rakshasa God was already rampaging through the hall like a tangible force.
"You're saying..."
Bibi Dong's voice was soft, yet it carried a chill that made one's scalp prickle.
"That Storyteller named Su Chen took Tang Hao's Ring Detonation strike with nothing but his body, without using his Martial Soul or Soul Power, and then auctioned Tang Hao off in public?"
Yue Guan trembled beneath her and hurriedly replied, his voice shaking.
"Your Holiness the Pope, it's absolutely true!"
"Not only that, the Grand Pontiff of Sea God Island, Bo Saixi, also came forward."
"But Su Chen merely flicked a finger and crushed the Sea God Phantom Bo Saixi had formed on the spot. He even sent her reeling backward, vomiting blood, and she didn't dare utter a single threat!"
At the words "vomiting blood and reeling backward,"
Bibi Dong's fingers tightened slightly around her staff.
She knew Bo Saixi's strength better than anyone.
She was a being even Qian Daoliu had to treat with great caution.
And she had been sent flying by a young man who didn't even possess Soul Power?
Before Bibi Dong could process this earth-shaking revelation, Yue Guan's trembling voice rang through the hall again.
"Your Holiness the Pope, there's something else..."
"After subduing Tang Hao and Bo Saixi, Su Chen continued his story."
"He spoke of Little One, who had lost his Supreme Bone. Little One didn't die. Instead, at the brink of death, he underwent nirvana and grew a second Supreme Bone!"
"Moreover, the precious technique that came with that second bone was called Samsara. With a single strike, it could strip away a person's years of life, instantly aging them until they died!"
"And there's the Cave Heaven Realm..."
Yue Guan swallowed, his eyes filled with horror.
"Little One actually fused ten Grotto-Heavens into one by force, creating the Unique Cave Heaven."
"According to Su Chen, as long as you're inside this Unique Cave Heaven, all arts are ineffective and all evil is banished. Any law or divine might will be devoured in an instant and turned to nothingness!"
The Samsara Bone that could strip away one's lifespan!
The Unique Cave Heaven that rendered all arts ineffective!
Hearing those two things, Bibi Dong was instantly overcome with excitement.
What had Bibi Dong feared most all her life?
The endless backlash brought by the Rakshasa God Trial, and the irreversible erosion of time!
If she could obtain the Samsara Precious Technique, wouldn't that be the same as grasping eternal life?
If she could open that so-called Unique Cave Heaven, why would she need to undergo the Rakshasa God Trial?
She could simply devour every last remnant of the Rakshasa God's soul and become the only god in all creation!
At the thought, Bibi Dong's breathing grew heavy.
"Excellent. What a Unique Cave Heaven! What a Samsara Precious Technique!"
Bibi Dong slowly rose, excitement written across her face.
"It seems Su Chen truly possesses some ancient inheritance that far surpasses this continent's limits!"
Seeing that Her Holiness the Pope wasn't angry but instead wore such a greedy expression,
Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance from the floor, both of them bitterly resigned.
The thing they had feared most was finally coming to pass.
"Your Holiness the Pope..."
Yue Guan hesitated, then steeled himself and stepped forward.
"That Su Chen also said..."
"What did he say?" Bibi Dong furrowed her brow and looked down coldly.
"He said..."
Yue Guan clenched his teeth, braced himself, and repeated Su Chen's exact words.
"He said he knew that back then, in the secret chamber, you devoured the flesh and soul of the previous Pope, Qian Xunji."
"He also said you deserved the backlash from the Rakshasa Divine Sense."
At those words, Bibi Dong flew into a rage.
Devouring Qian Xunji in the secret chamber!
That was the one Reverse Scale no one could ever touch in Bibi Dong's life!
Besides her, there was no way another person in this world could know that secret!
How could a mere Storyteller in distant Heavenly Dou Imperial City know about it?
"What else did he say?"
"He... he told us to pass on a message..."
Gui Mei, standing to the side, trembled all over and stammered.
"He said you wanted the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art and a way to resolve the backlash."
"Y-you should get off the Pope Throne yourself, crawl to the entrance of Listening Rain Pavilion, and kowtow every three steps as you beg him."
"Otherwise, in tomorrow's story, he'll make the secret chamber incident known to the whole world..."
Bang!
As Gui Mei finished speaking, Bibi Dong let out a cold laugh.
"Kowtow every three steps?"
"Good! Very good!"
"I've ruled Spirit Hall for so many years, and never have I seen anyone dare to provoke me like this!"
Bibi Dong swept her sleeve and strode down from the high platform.
"What of him subduing Tang Hao with one hand? What of him sending Bo Saixi flying with a flick of his finger?"
"He was just relying on some strange illusion and formation to put on a show in that Listening Rain Pavilion!"
Bibi Dong refused to believe it.
In her view, subduing a Peerless Douluo without Soul Power completely defied the laws of Heaven!
Su Chen had to be relying on some top-tier ancient formation left behind from the past, throwing his weight around in that little teahouse.
Once he left Listening Rain Pavilion, he'd be nothing but a helpless weakling!
"Bring me the Pope Token!"
Bibi Dong spun around, her crimson papal robes sweeping through the air.
"Order the Second Worship, Golden Crocodile Douluo, and the Third Offering, Azure Luan Douluo, to emerge from seclusion at once!"
"Gather every idle Titled Douluo elder in Spirit Hall and march with me to Heavenly Dou Imperial City immediately!"
At the sight of such an outrageous force, Yue Guan and Gui Mei were dumbstruck.
Her Holiness the Pope was leading the expedition herself, with two peak-level Offerings and several elders in tow?
That was nearly half of Spirit Hall's peak combat strength!
Such a force would be more than enough not only to capture a Storyteller but to wipe out any one of the Upper Three Sects!
"I'll see for myself."
"Can that so-called Unique Cave Heaven really withstand my Death Spider Emperor?"
"When I've flattened Listening Rain Pavilion and crushed him beneath my feet..."
"I'll personally smash every bone in his body and dig the secrets out of his head, piece by piece!"
At the same time,
Beyond the Tiandou Empire, deep in a perilous mountain range that stretched on without end, shrouded year-round in snowstorms and mist,
lay the secluded home of the Clear Sky Sect, once the greatest sect on the continent.
Bitterly cold winds tore through the cliffs, howling like wailing ghosts.
Inside the main hall at the peak of Clear Sky Sect,
the atmosphere was a hundred times colder than the frozen wasteland outside!
At the head of the hall,
a broad-shouldered old man with a shock of gray hair, as imposing as a lion in his twilight years, was gripping the armrests of his chair with all his might.
His wide chest heaved violently, the whites of his tiger eyes streaked with blood vessels. An oppressive, savage pressure radiated from him.
He was the current Sect Master of Clear Sky Sect, the level-97 Howling Sky Douluo, Tang Xiao!
Below him, the five elders of Clear Sky Sect stood in a line.
Every one of them wore a face of utter rage, killing intent surging from their bodies.
In the middle of the hall,
a Clear Sky Sect outer disciple responsible for gathering information outside the sect knelt on the floor, shaking violently like a leaf.
Just half an hour ago,
the disciple had risked his life to rush back to the sect and report, without leaving out a single word, what had happened at Listening Rain Pavilion in Heavenly Dou Imperial City.
Tang Hao's arms had been crippled by a Storyteller without Soul Power!
The power of the Great Sumeru Hammer's Ring Detonation had been casually blocked with a single bare hand!
And Tang Hao, the mighty Clear Sky Douluo, once renowned across the continent as a god of slaughter, had been put on display and auctioned off by a man named Su Chen like livestock, with a price set in plain sight!
In the end, Heaven Dou Crown Prince Xue Qinghe had bought him and dragged him away like a dead dog!
Boom!
The instant the report ended,
the incredibly sturdy stone chair beneath Tang Xiao crumbled into a shower of dust!
A terrifying level-97 peak Soul Power burst forth like a tangible hurricane, tearing a huge chunk from the hall's roof!
"Su Chen!!!"
Tang Xiao threw back his head and roared!
That was his own younger brother!
Though Tang Hao had been expelled from the sect over Ah Yin, forcing Clear Sky Sect to seal its gates and go into seclusion,
blood was thicker than water. In Tang Xiao's heart, Tang Hao would always be that exceptionally gifted younger brother who made him proud!
But now, the younger brother he had been proud of all his life had had both arms broken by a Storyteller, then been auctioned off in public and humiliated beyond measure!
This torment, a thousand times crueler than killing him, sent Tang Xiao into utter madness!
"Calm your fury, Sect Master!"
Below, the short-tempered Second Elder stepped forward, his black Clear Sky Hammer already rumbling faintly in his hand.
The Second Elder gritted his teeth, naked killing intent written across his deeply wrinkled face.
"Though Tang Hao is a sinner of the sect and no longer worthy of setting foot in Clear Sky Sect,"
"the blood in his veins is still the blood of Clear Sky Sect! And the Martial Soul in his hands is the Clear Sky Hammer, the greatest Tool Spirit in the world!"
"Su Chen auctioned Tang Hao in public and even called our Clear Sky Hammer scrap metal!"
"This is no longer just about Tang Hao!"
The Second Elder's gaze burned as he swept his eyes over everyone present.
"He's tossing the dignity of our entire Clear Sky Sect on the ground and trampling it into the dirt!"
"If we can still cower on this snowy mountain and swallow our humiliation,"
"then what face does Clear Sky Sect have left to call itself the greatest sect in the world?"
"From now on, can any stray cat or dog just climb on our heads and piss and shit on us?!"
The Second Elder's impassioned words instantly ignited the fury in the hearts of the other elders.
These old men had been cooped up on this snowy mountain for years. In that moment, the arrogance and might buried in their bones surged back to life.
"Elder Second is right!"
The Seventh Elder raised his arm and shouted:
"What Unique Cave Heaven that renders all arts ineffective? What ridiculous power of a hundred thousand jin at the extreme limit?"
"I'd like to see whether his mortal flesh can withstand the Clear Sky Array when we old men join forces!"
"Tang Hao's a useless piece of trash who couldn't even beat a Storyteller. So we'll go find the sect's honor ourselves!"
Seeing the five elders below, riled up and seething with killing intent,
Tang Xiao took a deep breath and slowly quelled the roiling blood and qi inside him.
Then he abruptly raised his right hand.
Hum!
A Clear Sky Hammer even larger than Tang Hao's materialized in his palm, its head engraved with intricate dark-gold demonic patterns!
Fierce black arcs of lightning leaped wildly around the hammer.
"By my Sect Master's command!"
Tang Xiao's voice rumbled like thunder, echoing across the mountains of the Clear Sky Sect.
"Clear Sky Sect, lift the lockdown immediately!"
"All elite disciples at Soul Saint rank and above, arm yourselves!"
"Elders, the five of you will leave the mountain with me!"
Tang Xiao swung the giant hammer in his hand, pointing toward Heaven Dou Imperial City below.
"I'll go meet that brat called Su Chen myself."
"I'll smash his Listening Rain Pavilion to pieces with my own hands, then wash away the terrible humiliation my Clear Sky Sect suffered today with his head!"
Meanwhile, deep within the imperial palace in Heaven Dou Imperial City.
The magnificent Imperial Study was filled with the finest calming incense.
Yet the fragrance that usually soothed the mind couldn't dispel the oppressive atmosphere hanging over the study.
Smack!
A thick memorial was hurled onto the imperial desk.
Emperor Xue Ye sat on his throne in a gold-patterned dragon robe, his face livid and his chest heaving violently.
"Absurd!"
"This is utterly ridiculous!"
Emperor Xue Ye gave a cold snort, his furious gaze sweeping over the assembled ministers standing below.
"A common Storyteller who hasn't even awakened a Martial Soul caught Tang Hao's Ring Detonation with one hand?"
"And then sent Grand Pontiff Bo Saixi of Sea God Island flying with a flick of his finger?"
"You officials draw your salaries from the empire, yet you bring me this kind of folk tale—not even a three-year-old would believe it—and expect me to swallow it?"
At Emperor Xue Ye's rebuke,
the dozen or so high-ranking imperial officials below trembled in fright and hurriedly knelt, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Prince Xue Xing, standing at the very front, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, please calm down!"
"We also think these rumors are utterly absurd."
Prince Xue Xing spoke with disdain:
"Who is Tang Hao? Back then, he was a killer who dared to take on Spirit Hall itself."
"Even if his cultivation has declined over the years, there's no way some brat without Soul Power could cripple both his arms."
"In my view, Listening Rain Pavilion must have set up some kind of exceedingly sophisticated illusion array. That Storyteller was just putting on a show inside it, trying to draw attention!"
Hearing Prince Xue Xing's words, Emperor Xue Ye gave a slight nod.
That was the only explanation that made sense.
What ten-thousand-jin power at the extreme limit? What Unique Cave Heaven?
It was all utter nonsense!
"Pass down my order."
Emperor Xue Ye waved his hand, his expression cold.
"Have the Royal Knights seal off Listening Rain Pavilion and arrest that Storyteller for spreading heresy, so the truth can be made clear!"
"I won't have people from Spirit Hall and the Star Luo Empire laughing at Heaven Dou!"
But just as Emperor Xue Ye finished speaking,
a sudden, urgent announcement came from outside the Imperial Study.
"His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"
Before you continue