I, Tang Xiao, With My Hammer, Will Go Save Them Myself!

Just then, the Second Elder, who had been silent all this while, suddenly stepped forward and blocked Tang Xiao's path.

"Second Uncle! What is the meaning of this?!" Tang Xiao glared at this elder, who held immense prestige within the sect. "That is my uncle! The uncle who has been implicated because of us! Do you expect me to stand by and watch him die?!"

"Sect Master, calm yourself!"

The Second Elder's face was as grim as water. "This old man knows you are anxious, and I know he is kin. But you are the Sect Master now! Every move you make concerns the survival of the entire Clear Sky Sect!"

"Since Martial Soul Hall dared to launch such a grand offensive against the Speed Clan, even deploying two Title Douluo, yet still allowed these people to come and report for help, what does that signify?"

"It signifies that this is a trap!"

"They are waiting for you to go out! Waiting for you to lead the elites of the Clear Sky Sect headlong into their encirclement!"

"That rebellious son Tang Hao has already brought about a catastrophe, and Martial Soul Hall is currently eager for revenge, their morale at an all-time high. If we rashly strike out now, and if Martial Soul Hall pours out their entire force..."

The Second Elder took a deep breath, his tone heavy:

"By then, let alone saving the Speed Clan, I fear even the meager foundation of our Clear Sky Sect will be lost!"

"Are we just to watch?!"

Tang Xiao clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh. "Just watch them kill my uncle? Kill my clansmen? How will the Clear Sky Sect stand in the spirit master world in the future?!"

"It is not watching, it is planning for the long term!"

The Second Elder said in a deep voice, "The most urgent priority is to immediately notify the other three clans, have them heighten their defenses, or have them move toward the sect immediately. With the Speed Clan suffering, the other three clans are likely in danger as well."

"Furthermore, we should immediately send men to contact the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."

"The Upper Three Sects are of one mind and one branch. For Martial Soul Hall to act so perversely and attempt to annihilate our affiliate is to shatter the balance of the spirit master world! For the sake of self-preservation and the principle that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold, those two houses might..."

"Bullshit!!"

Before the Second Elder could finish, the hot-tempered Seventh Elder jumped up and pointed at the Second Elder's nose, cursing:

"Second Brother, have you gone senile?!"

"Seek aid from those two? Since when has our Clear Sky Sect fallen to the point of needing to look at their faces?!"

"We are the number one sect in the world! We hold the Clear Sky Hammer in our hands! Seek help from that Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect who only knows how to do business? Bow our heads to those loaches of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan who only know how to put on airs?"

"I cannot afford to lose this face!!"

"Little Seven is right."

The Great Elder, who had remained silent, spoke slowly as well. A trace of helplessness flashed through his cloudy eyes. "Second Brother, this strategy will not work."

"Our Clear Sky Sect has always held its head high; we have no friendship with those two, and have even had friction. Now that we have met with disaster and provoked a behemoth like Martial Soul Hall."

"You go to seek aid? It would be fortunate if they didn't kick us while we are down!"

"If we go and are turned away, or are mocked and ridiculed before being driven back, then the last shred of dignity of our Clear Sky Sect will truly be torn off and used as a foot rag!"

"Then what are we to do?!"

Tang Xiao looked at the bickering elders, feeling a splitting headache and a heart torn to shreds. "This won't work, that won't work! Are we just to watch the Speed Clan be wiped out?!"

"Sect Master..."

The Great Elder sighed, looking at Tang Xiao with a complex gaze:

"The only way now is to..."

"Only what?" Tang Xiao asked urgently.

"Only endure." The Great Elder closed his eyes. "Endure for a moment, and the winds will calm. As long as we hold Clear Sky Peak, relying on its natural defenses, even Martial Soul Hall would not dare to attack easily."

"As for the Speed Clan..."

"That is the sin Tang Hao committed, and it is their... bad luck."

"You..."

Tang Xiao widened his eyes, looking in disbelief at the most respected Great Elder of the Clear Sky Sect.

"Endure?!"

"My uncle is about to be slaughtered! And you tell me to endure?!"

"If we do not endure, we are dragging the entire sect to the grave!" The Great Elder suddenly opened his eyes and shouted sternly, "Tang Xiao! Do you wish to be the sinner of the Clear Sky Sect?!"

Within the hall, there was a deathly silence.

Tang Xiao slumped into his chair, clutching his head with both hands, and let out a low, agonizing roar.

He knew the Great Elder was right.

But he was not reconciled!

He was truly not reconciled!

Just then, another disciple ran in, flustered and panicked.

"Report--!!!"

"Sect Master! Elders! It is bad!"

"The Strength Clan, the Defense Clan, the Breaking Clan... they have also been attacked by Martial Soul Hall!!"

"What?!"

The entire hall was stunned!

All the elders stood up abruptly, their faces etched with shock.

Attacking all four clans at once?!

Martial Soul Hall was... truly determined to wipe them all out!

"And..."

The disciple swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he spoke, "According to the intelligence sent back, the one besieging the Speed Clan... is the new Pope of Martial Soul Hall, Bibi Dong herself leading the team!"

"She left a message, saying she wants to... wants to..."

"Wants what? Speak!!" Tang Xiao roared.

"She said... she is waiting at the Speed Clan, waiting for the Clear Sky Sect to come and save them."

"If you don't dare to go..."

The disciple lowered his head, his voice as thin as a mosquito's hum:

"Then prepare the coffins, and get ready to... collect the corpses of the Four Great Clans."

"..."

"This is going too far!!"

Tang Xiao was completely enraged.

"First my brother, and now the Four Great Clans—does Martial Soul Hall think my Clear Sky Sect has no one left?!"

With that, Tang Xiao stood up violently, intending to head to the sect plaza to assemble his forces.

"Wait!"

Just as Tang Xiao was about to step out of the hall, the Second Elder's gloomy voice rang out again, carrying an unquestionable calmness that forcibly halted the furious Tang Xiao.

"What do you want to say now?!" Tang Xiao spun around, his eyes bloodshot, looking like an enraged lion. "Second Uncle, I have already conceded once. If you dare to stop me from saving my uncle again, don't blame me for disregarding the hierarchy!"

"Sect Master, you are being foolish!"

The Second Elder pointed at the scouts from the Speed Clan on the floor, sternly analyzing: "The Speed Clan was attacked, and the news came back quickly—that is logical. After all, their martial souls are avian, their speed is unparalleled in the world, and these scouts were likely released by Martial Soul Hall on purpose."

"But what about the other three clans?"

The Second Elder turned abruptly, pointing at the disciple who had just run in, his tone icy:

"The Strength Clan, the Defense Clan, and the Breaking Clan—these three are scattered in different directions across the Heaven Dou Empire, far from the Clear Sky Sect. Not to mention they lack the extreme speed of the Sharp-Tailed Rain Swallow, even if they had broken through to report the news immediately, how could the information arrive at the mountain at almost the same time as the Speed Clan's?!"

Once these words were spoken, the elders, who had been in a state of chaos, instantly fell silent, and the crimson in Tang Xiao's eyes flickered.

That was true.

It was too fast.

The timing of this news was too coincidental, as if... someone had deliberately timed it to shove all four "battle reports" into their hands at once, forcing them to react immediately.

"This is clearly false information deliberately spread by Bibi Dong! It is meant to cloud our judgment!"

Seeing the others wavering, the Second Elder struck while the iron was hot: "She wants us to be chaotic, to panic! She wants us to believe that all four affiliated clans are in trouble, forcing us to split our forces to rescue them, or to march out in full force and walk straight into her trap!"

"I dare to assert! Aside from the Speed Clan, which is truly under siege by the main force, the news regarding the other three clans is highly likely to be fake! Or at the very least, an exaggeration!"

"It is even possible that they haven't been attacked at all; it's just a smokescreen released by Martial Soul Hall!"

"There is only one goal—to lure the snake out of its hole!"

"The Clear Sky Sect occupies a natural stronghold, easy to defend and hard to attack; that is our greatest advantage. If we abandon this stronghold for the sake of a few pieces of unverified information and march out in full force to rescue the Speed Clan, which is already heavily surrounded..."

The Second Elder took a deep breath, his tone heavy to the extreme:

"That would be walking right into a trap! Falling exactly into Bibi Dong's hands!"

Tang Xiao's clenched fists trembled slightly, his knuckles popping with a creaking sound. Reason told him that the Second Elder's analysis was extremely logical; this was very likely a lethal trap aimed at the main force of the Clear Sky Sect.

But...

"So what if it is a trap?!"

Tang Xiao suddenly raised his head, the bloodshot veins in his eyes increasing rather than fading—it was the pride and responsibility of a Sect Master. "The Speed Clan is in trouble; that is an undeniable fact! My uncle is still in their hands! Those clansmen are still waiting for me to save them!"

"Second Uncle, your analysis is sound, but I ask you: what if... and I mean what if, the other three clans are truly in trouble as well? What if Martial Soul Hall has truly gone mad and wants to wipe out every force that relies on us?!"

"Can we afford to gamble on that?!"

"I cannot gamble with my uncle's life! Nor can I gamble with the last shred of honor the Clear Sky Sect possesses!"

Tang Xiao waved his sleeve, the phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer flickering behind him, and that resolute aura made every elder present feel a jolt in their hearts.

"My mind is made up!"

"No matter what, I am going down the mountain! I will save the Speed Clan! Even if there is a mountain of blades and a sea of fire ahead, I will charge through it!"

"If you elders are afraid of death or afraid of falling into a trap, I will not force you!"

"I, Tang Xiao, will go alone with my hammer to save them!"