The Upper Three Sects, the Imperial Emperor, Gather at Listening Rain Pavilion!

Along with the sound, the heavy nanmu doors of the Imperial Study were slowly pushed open by two guards.

Crown Prince Xue Qinghe walked in from outside, dressed in a magnificent python robe with a calm expression on his face.

Behind him, two royal guards dragged a blood-soaked man in black robes inside, one on each side, as if they were dragging a dead dog.

Thud!

The two guards tossed the man directly onto the mirror-smooth floor tiles of the Imperial Study.

Also thrown onto the floor was a massive black hammer, covered in cracks and looking like nothing more than scrap iron.

"This son greets Imperial Father."

Xue Qinghe walked to the center of the hall and bowed slightly toward Emperor Xue Ye on the dragon throne.

The Imperial Study was deathly silent at this moment.

Everyone's gaze was locked firmly onto the bloodied figure sprawled on the floor.

Emperor Xue Ye also frowned, looking at Xue Qinghe with some displeasure.

"Qinghe, what is the meaning of this?"

"You are the dignified Crown Prince of the Empire; dragging a half-dead beggar into the Imperial Study in broad daylight—what kind of decorum is this?"

Hearing Emperor Xue Ye's reprimand, Xue Qinghe straightened his body unhurriedly, a faint smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"Imperial Father, did you not think the rumors about the Listening Rain Pavilion were nonsense?"

"This son has brought you the evidence."

As he spoke, Xue Qinghe pointed to the man on the ground, whose arms were twisted in a grotesque, unnatural posture.

"He is Tang Hao."

What?!

As these two words were uttered, The entire Imperial Study erupted as if a pot had boiled over!

The high-ranking officials of the empire, who had been kneeling on the floor, all jumped up in fright and scrambled backward.

Prince Xue Xing's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets; he stared fixedly at the face hidden beneath the man's messy hair, then looked at the iconic Clear Sky Hammer.

Although the hammer was battered and broken, there could not possibly be a second hammer of this design in the world!

"Tang... is it really Tang Hao?!"

Prince Xue Xing gasped, feeling his scalp go numb.

Emperor Xue Ye on the dragon throne also stood up abruptly, his face full of disbelief.

He hurried down the steps, ignoring the pungent smell of blood, and came directly before Tang Hao.

As the ruler of a nation, Emperor Xue Ye possessed a certain level of cultivation himself.

After a brief inspection, he instantly drew a sharp breath.

He was crippled!

The Clear Sky Douluo, who had once shaken the world, had his internal soul power completely suppressed and locked away by an incredibly tyrannical blood energy.

The bones in his arms were shattered to dust, and his meridians were severed inch by inch!

This was no illusion! This was a genuine, physical crippling!

"This... this is actually true..."

Emperor Xue Ye muttered to himself, his cloudy eyes filled with shock.

"Qinghe, what exactly is going on here?"

Emperor Xue Ye turned his head sharply to look at Xue Qinghe, his tone urgent.

"How did this Tang Hao fall into your hands?"

Xue Qinghe's expression remained calm as he replied indifferently:

"Replying to Imperial Father, this son spent eighty million Gold Soul Coins and three supreme treasures from the treasury to purchase him from that Mr. Su at the Listening Rain Pavilion."

Eighty million Gold Soul Coins!

Three national treasury treasures!

Hearing this astronomical price, Emperor Xue Ye's vision went dark, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

"You are insane!"

Prince Xue Xing jumped up from the side, pointing at Xue Qinghe and shouting angrily:

"Eighty million Gold Soul Coins! Do you have any idea how many legions that could arm!"

"And you used it to buy a Tang Hao whose cultivation is completely gone? You are squandering the treasury of our Tiandou Empire!"

Facing Prince Xue Xing's accusations, Xue Qinghe did not even spare him a glance.

He looked at Emperor Xue Ye with extreme solemnity and spoke slowly:

"Father, whether Tang Hao lives or dies, or even the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone on his person, is of no importance at all."

"The reason your son paid such an exorbitant price was not to buy Tang Hao."

Xue Qinghe paused, his tone becoming incredibly firm:

"What I bought was the favor of that Mr. Su."

"Because I have made my decision."

"I intend to take Mr. Su as my master!"

Xue Qinghe's words were even more shocking than the revelation of Tang Hao's identity just moments ago.

Everyone within the Imperial Study was left completely dumbfounded.

Taking a master?

The dignified Crown Prince of the Tiandou Empire, the future heir to the throne, actually wanted to apprentice himself to a storyteller in a teahouse?

If this were to spread, where would the face of the Tiandou Imperial Family be left!

"Absurd!"

Emperor Xue Ye was instantly enraged, violently flicking his sleeves.

"You are the crown prince of the empire! Your teachers can only be the pillars of the nation or the Sect Masters of great sects!"

"To apprentice yourself to a storyteller of unknown origin is utterly ridiculous!"

However, facing the furious Emperor Xue Ye, Xue Qinghe did not retreat in the slightest.

"Father, have you still not seen the truth?"

Xue Qinghe pointed at Tang Hao on the ground and insisted:

"A man who can cripple a peak Dou Emperor using only his physical body, without the use of soul power."

"A man who can summon the High Priest of Sea God Island at will and dismiss them just as easily."

"His existence has long since transcended the so-called common sense of this Douluo Continent!"

Having said this, Xue Qinghe continued to look directly into Emperor Xue Ye's eyes, speaking word by word:

"The stories he tells are not mere works of fantasy!"

"They are a vast, truly existing world that far surpasses our understanding!"

"There, one can find the Unique Grotto-Heaven that renders one immune to all techniques."

"And even more, the Samsara Precious Technique that can reverse the flow of time and grant a new life!"

Upon hearing the words "Samsara Precious Technique," the originally furious expression on Emperor Xue Ye's face suddenly stiffened.

Reverse the flow of time?

Grant a new life?

For an old emperor who had entered his twilight years, whose body was failing day by day, and who felt the approach of death at every moment.

The lethality of these eight words was ten thousand times more potent than any claim of being invincible under the heavens!

"You... what did you say?"

At this moment, it was Emperor Xue Ye's turn to stare at Xue Qinghe with a trembling voice.

"That legendary Samsara Bone, the one said to be able to strip away one's lifespan, is it real?"

"It can not only strip it away, but also bestow it."

Xue Qinghe keenly seized upon Emperor Xue Ye's weakness and continued:

"In Mr. Su's words, that was merely the second Supreme Bone of the Little One."

"In the world he speaks of, immortality, and even the kindling of divine fire, are all real."

"Father."

After saying this, Xue Qinghe took a step forward:

"If your son can take him as a master, and if I can obtain even a sliver of the method for immortality from him."

"Then this Tiandou Empire could be passed down through your hands for ten thousand generations!"

Silence.

The Imperial Study fell into a long, heavy silence.

Those high-ranking officials of the empire who had been clamoring just a moment ago now all shut their mouths.

They knew very well that no monarch could resist the temptation of immortality.

Emperor Xue Ye stood where he was, his expression shifting uncertainly.

He looked at the completely crippled Tang Hao on the ground, then thought back to the words Xue Qinghe had just spoken.

The method for immortality.

These four words seemed to possess a certain magic, swirling frantically in his mind, taking root and sprouting.

If all of this were true.

If that Su Chen truly possessed an ancient heritage far surpassing this continent.

Then, let alone eighty million Gold Soul Coins.

Even if it meant exhausting the entire treasury of the Tiandou Empire, it would absolutely be worth it!

Finally, as if having reached a decision, Emperor Xue Ye took a deep breath and declared:

"Transmit Imperial We's decree!"

"Prepare the highest-specification Royal Carriage by tomorrow morning!"

"Imperial We shall leave the palace in person!"

"We go to that Listening Rain Pavilion to meet this Mr. Su!"

Having said this, Emperor Xue Ye's gaze swept across everyone present.

"If he truly possesses such heaven-defying abilities, if he truly holds the method of longevity."

"Then, here in the Heavenly Dou Imperial City, before the eyes of the world."

"Imperial We shall appoint him as the Imperial Tutor of our Tiandou Empire!"

Imperial Tutor!

As these two words were uttered, Prince Xue Xing's legs went weak, and he nearly lost his footing.

This was a supreme honor that stood above ten thousand people, one for which even the Emperor would have to perform the rites of a half-disciple!

Since the founding of the Tiandou Empire, no one had ever received such a distinction.

Yet, at this moment, no one dared to step forward and object.

Because everyone knew that once the matters within the Listening Rain Pavilion were verified.

The heavens of the Douluo Continent would change completely.

As night gradually descended.

The Heavenly Dou Imperial City did not return to its usual tranquility; instead, it fell into an unprecedented state of surging undercurrents.

On the post roads outside the city, several teams exuding terrifying auras were using the cover of night to approach the Imperial City at a frantic pace.

The Pope's Decree of the Martial Soul Hall, the Sect Master's Decree of the Clear Sky Sect.

And the highest-specification Royal Carriage of the Tiandou Imperial Family about to set out.

These three top-tier forces, capable of overturning the entire continent, had all converged upon this originally peaceful Imperial City within the span of a single night.

And all the spearheads, all the focal points.

Were directed entirely at that seemingly ordinary three-story teahouse located in the south of the city.

Listening Rain Pavilion.

The next day, at dawn.

When the eastern horizon had just begun to turn a pale, fish-belly white.

The Heavenly Dou Imperial City, which should have been bustling as usual, was permeated by an indescribable silence today.

The entire long street where the Listening Rain Pavilion was located was currently devoid of people.

The doors of the shops on both sides of the street were tightly shut, and even the vendors who usually rose early to set up their stalls were nowhere to be seen.

The air was thick with a heaviness that made it almost impossible to breathe.

Even while hiding in their houses, everyone could feel the ground beneath their feet trembling faintly.

Accompanied by a uniform, thunderous clatter of iron armor.

At the end of the long street, a team of Royal Knights clad in heavy silver armor and holding long spears slowly cleared the way with murderous strides.

Surrounded by the knights, a pure gold carriage pulled by six snow-white unicorns slowly drove into the long street and finally stopped outside the Listening Rain Pavilion.

The carriage curtain was lifted.

Emperor Xue Ye, dressed in a dragon robe with gold embroidery, slowly stepped off the carriage with the support of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.

Emperor Xue Ye raised his head, his gaze deep as he scrutinized the seemingly unremarkable three-story teahouse before him.

It was merely an ordinary wooden building, without carved beams or painted rafters, nor any spirit-gathering arrays.

Yet, it was this very place that had poked a hole in the heavens of the Douluo Continent in just two short days.

"Father, this is the place." Xue Qinghe lowered his voice, standing respectfully to the side.

Emperor Xue Ye nodded slightly, just as he was about to speak.

Boom!

The previously clear sky suddenly erupted with a thunderclap, completely without warning!

Following this, six immensely burly figures, resembling demonic gods, plummeted from the mid-air at the end of the long street like falling meteors!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of dull, heavy thuds echoed through the air.

The hard bluestone pavement in front of the Listening Rain Pavilion was instantly shattered, leaving six deep craters.

Cracks resembling spiderwebs spread wildly from beneath their feet, extending all the way to the front of Emperor Xue Ye's imperial carriage.

The warhorses of the Royal Knights were startled, letting out shrill neighs and nearly breaking the formation.

Emperor Xue Ye's expression darkened as he cast his gaze forward.

The old man leading them had a head of gray hair and a physique as sturdy as an iron tower; his tiger-like eyes were filled with crisscrossing bloodshot veins, and his entire body radiated an undisguised, violent killing intent.

It was none other than the Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect, the Howling Sky Douluo, Tang Xiao!

Behind him, the five Clear Sky Sect elders stood in a single line.

Six Title Douluo in total!

And all of them possessed the top-tier combat power of the world's number one tool martial soul!

The terrifying pressure gathered by this group was enough to rip the roof tiles off the houses on both sides of the street.

"Emperor of Heavenly Dou?"

Tang Xiao glanced at Emperor Xue Ye, his tone blunt, skipping even the most basic of courtesies.

"My Clear Sky Sect is here on business today. All irrelevant people had best get lost, lest you end up splattered with blood."

Facing such unceremonious dismissal from Tang Xiao, a flash of anger crossed Emperor Xue Ye's eyes.

But before he could react, an extremely delicate and feminine voice suddenly drifted from the other end of the street.

"Tang Xiao."

"Hiding on a snowy mountain like a rat for so many years, not daring to show your face."

"Today, you've finally decided to come out and bite people at random?"

As soon as this voice rang out, the expressions of Tang Xiao and the five elders changed instantly, and they whipped their heads around to look.

At the other end of the street, a layer of eerie, purple-black poisonous mist had begun to permeate the air.

Within this mist, Bibi Dong, dressed in a grand red Pope's robe and wearing a purple-gold crown, walked slowly with a scepter in hand, as if she were taking a leisurely stroll.

Her stunningly beautiful face bore a trace of cold mockery as she looked down upon Tang Xiao and the others from a position of superiority.

Behind Bibi Dong, Golden Crocodile Douluo stood in dark-gold heavy armor, like an immovable mountain.

Azure Luan Douluo wore a green robe, with storms swirling around his body.

Further back were Yue Guan, Gui Mei, and a full eight other Title Douluo elders from Martial Soul Hall!

Ten Title Douluo!

This included the unfathomable Pope Bibi Dong herself, as well as peak-level offerings like the level-98 Golden Crocodile!

The moment this group appeared.

The air in the entire long street was instantly sucked dry, and even the sunlight seemed to be eclipsed by this terrifyingly powerful lineup.

The spies and informants from various major factions hiding in the shadows were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, their breathing coming to a complete halt.

Madness! This was absolute madness!

Outside the Listening Rain Pavilion today, a total of sixteen Title Douluo had gathered!

With such combat power, if it were to fully erupt, they could wipe this massive Heavenly Dou Imperial City off the map in less than half an incense stick of time!

"Bibi Dong!"

Tang Xiao stared fixedly at the approaching Bibi Dong, his eyes instantly turning blood-red.

New grudges and old hatreds surged into his heart.

The nine soul rings beneath his feet rose uncontrollably, and the pitch-black Clear Sky Hammer condensed in his hand, emitting a deafening hum.

"What, you want to make a move?"

Bibi Dong sneered, not even sparing a glance at the hammer in Tang Xiao's hand.

"Do you really think you trash hiding in mountain gullies are worthy of blocking this Seat's path?"