Qian Daoliu swept his gaze over the Clear Sky Sect's mountain gate, then glanced at the Clear Sky Sect disciples standing at its entrance as if facing a mortal enemy. He sighed softly, but his voice reached every person present with perfect clarity. "What a disappointment. Tang Chen was such a bold and rough man, yet he ended up with descendants this cowardly, using the lives of their sect disciples to draw attention."
The crowd was stunned by his words. What was Qian Daoliu talking about?
Seeing that Qian Daoliu had arrived at the Clear Sky Sect's gate while Tang Chen was nowhere to be seen, Ning Fengzhi guessed that the Clear Sky Sect had likely failed to find Tang Chen. Eager to redirect the conflict, he raised his cane, placed his right hand over his chest, and bowed politely. "Senior Qian Daoliu, I am Ning Fengzhi. What do you mean by that?"
Chrysanthemum Douluo sneered. "Ning Fengzhi, don't you understand yet? The Clear Sky Sect's Sect Master, elders, and talented members fled long ago. They left these people behind, including all of you, to distract us from Spirit Hall—to serve as cannon fodder and buy them time to escape."
The instant he finished speaking, countless disciples at the Clear Sky Sect's gate broke down. "Impossible!"
"How could that be possible!"
"I don't believe it!"
"You're talking nonsense!"
The young Tang family rats who had remained behind, along with the disciples of the affiliated clans who were exceptionally loyal to the Clear Sky Sect, all shouted in fury.
Meanwhile, the older rats—those with mediocre talent and virtually exhausted potential, Soul Emperors and Soul Saints who had long known the sect's plan and were prepared to sacrifice themselves to protect the Clear Sky Sect's last embers—had a flash of panic in their eyes.
A white-haired old rat lit up two yellow, two purple, and three black Soul Rings beneath his feet. Holding the Clear Sky Hammer, he shouted, "Don't listen to Spirit Hall's nonsense! They're trying to crush the morale of our Clear Sky Sect!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo sneered again. "The Grand Pontiff is of such status—why would he need to deceive you? If there is anything wrong with the Grand Pontiff's words, then where are your elders? Where is your Sect Master? Why haven't they come out even now?"
"I came to your Clear Sky Sect a month ago. Didn't your Sect Master and elders show up rather quickly then?"
Hearing Chrysanthemum Douluo's words, doubt appeared on the faces of every Clear Sky Sect disciple except those old rats who knew the plan. Still, they were unwilling to believe that their sect had abandoned them.
Being abandoned by one's sect was like a person full of devotion to their country being cast aside by that very country and sent out to face death. The pain of it was simply unimaginable.
"If you truly refuse to believe it, then go see for yourselves. The Clear Sky Sect has already been emptied out."
As soon as he spoke, Yang Wudi immediately turned toward Bai He and shouted, "Old White Bird!"
Bai He cared deeply about the Clear Sky Sect, but he also had to consider his own clan and minimize its losses in this battle. Two yellow, three purple, and three black Soul Rings lit up beneath his feet. Possessed by the Sharp-Tailed Feather Swallow, he turned into a streak of blue light and vanished from the spot.
With the full-speed flight of an Soul Douluo like Bai He, he could cover a thousand meters in only a few breaths. Thus, less than half a minute later, he returned to the mountain gate, looking as though his mother had died.
Yang Wudi hurriedly asked, "Old White Bird, how was it?"
Bai He merely shook his head weakly.
The next instant, Yang Wudi completely lost it and began cursing loudly. "Fuck the Clear Sky Sect! You used my Attack Clan as cannon fodder!"
"Tang Zhen, fuck your mother!"
Niu Gao and the other affiliated clan heads were equally furious, their eyes bloodshot as they gritted their teeth.
Over the past month, Tang Zhen had convened several meetings with the heads of the affiliated clans. At every meeting, Tang Zhen had been utterly confident and calm, telling the clan heads to put their minds at ease and unite as one against Spirit Hall. He had assured them that the Clear Sky Sect would certainly overcome this crisis.
They had thought the Clear Sky Sect truly possessed some life-saving method, or perhaps that Tang Chen had returned. They never expected that the Clear Sky Sect wanted their affiliated clans to unite against Spirit Hall merely to buy time for the Tang family to flee and survive the crisis.
Ning Fengzhi's expression was ugly beyond measure, and none of his usual composure remained. He truly had not expected the Tang family to be so shameless. There was nothing disgraceful about fleeing; if one could not win, running away was perfectly natural. As long as the green hills remained, there would always be firewood to burn.
But they fled without taking their most loyal affiliated clans with them? The Speed Clan even seemed to be a branch of the Clear Sky Sect's own family. Bai He's elder sister had been the deceased Sect Master's wife and the biological mother of the Clear Sky Twin Stars.
They had even abandoned the Speed Clan as cannon fodder. This completely refreshed Ning Fengzhi's understanding of just how shameless the Tang family could be.
"Why? Why did I have to stay behind too? Just because my Innate Soul Power was only rank five?"
The young rats wept bitterly, and quite a few began cursing the Clear Sky Sect as well.
The Innate Soul Power of these young rats was generally below rank six. Even if they cultivated until death, whether they could break through to Soul Emperor would remain a question.
To further deceive the affiliated clans, the Clear Sky Sect had discarded this batch of the most useless rats while retaining the elite ones.
Watching the Clear Sky Sect disciples turn on one another, Chrysanthemum Douluo inwardly sighed at the Grand Pontiff's wisdom and foresight. No wonder he had scolded them in Elder Hall.
Why fight? Why attack the Clear Sky Sect? If something could be resolved with words, why bother using force?
If some slipped through the net, Spirit Hall would gain enemies who would never rest until it was destroyed. That was nothing—Spirit Hall had plenty of enemies. Stragglers and beaten dogs could not amount to much. Spirit Hall suffering losses was the real problem.
This was the Clear Sky Sect's home ground. The Clear Sky Sect had as many as five thousand disciples. Even if the Tang family had fled, those five thousand people still constituted no small force, and they also held the advantage of terrain.
With Spirit Hall's strength, flattening the Clear Sky Sect would not be a problem. But if they wanted to leave not even chickens or dogs alive, it would be impossible without losing more than a thousand Soul Masters.
A thousand Soul Masters was roughly the total number of Soul Masters in all the Lower Four Sects combined.
Ever since Qian Xunji became Pope, Spirit Hall had suffered two crippling setbacks. One was the battle at Sea God Island, where nearly two thousand Soul Masters had died, along with two Title Douluo elders. The Holy Maiden had nearly died as well.
The other was the attempt to capture Tang Hao, during which Pope Hall lost several hundred skilled Soul Masters. Of the two Title Douluo elders, one died and the other was crippled.
In just over twenty years, Qian Xunji had nearly thrown away the equivalent of a Clear Sky Sect without Tang Chen twice over. No matter how vast Spirit Hall's foundations were, it could not withstand such waste.
Qian Renxue watched with wide eyes as she studied her grandfather's wise methods. Her grandfather was not only unrivaled on the continent in strength, but also exceptionally intelligent. With just a few words, he had dismantled the other sect and reduced Spirit Hall's losses.
At that moment, Yang Wudi, who had been cursing furiously, suddenly twitched his nose. His expression gradually became strange as he sniffed around like a dog hunting prey.
Yang Wushuang noticed that something was wrong with Yang Wudi and asked, "Big Brother, what's wrong?"
"Wushuang, smell this. This floral fragrance is faint and elegant, fresh and refined. Doesn't it smell like the Aromatic Silk Beauty fragrance our clan has blended and passed down through the generations?"
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