On the battlefield, because of Bibi Dong (Nan Feng)'s speech, the atmosphere within the Clear Sky Sect turned extremely strange.
Tang Xiao looked at the elders and disciples behind him, their expressions uncertain, and felt his heart sink little by little.
He knew Bibi Dong's attack on their morale had worked.
Tang Hao's talent was dazzling, but he was still young, and his roots within the sect were not deep.
On top of that, he had spent years training outside. Apart from diehards like Tai Tan, most of the clan members didn't feel much attachment to him.
What's more, the trouble he had caused this time was simply too great.
For the sake of a woman, he had killed the Pope, drawn the full might of Spirit Hall, and dragged the entire sect into the grave with him.
Anyone with even a little sense would feel resentment.
"Sect Master..."
The Second Elder, who had always argued against fighting, opened his mouth as if to say something, but when he saw Tang Xiao's bloodshot eyes, he swallowed his words.
Everyone understood, though: the moment someone took the lead, the discontent that had been building for so long would erupt and drown Tang Xiao, their Sect Master.
Yet at this crucial moment—
"Cough, cough..."
A frail, aged cough broke the suffocating silence.
The Great Elder, who had kept his eyes half-lidded as if he might nod off at any moment, slowly walked over to Tang Xiao.
He didn't look at Bibi Dong. Instead, he surveyed the clan members behind him, then fixed his gaze on the elders who seemed ready to make a move.
"What? You're wavering already?"
The Great Elder's voice wasn't loud, but it rang with unusual clarity, carrying the authority of a lifetime. "You think that if we hand over Tang Hao, we'll be able to scrape by and save our own skins?"
"Great Elder, we..." The Second Elder's face changed as he tried to explain.
"Shut up!"
The Great Elder suddenly bellowed. A startling glint flashed in his cloudy eyes. "I may resent that unfilial son, Tang Hao. I may hate him for dragging the sect into this! But—"
He whirled around to face Bibi Dong (Nan Feng).
"Our Clear Sky Sect has stood on this continent for thousands of years. What has kept us standing?!"
"The Clear Sky Hammer in our hands! Our unyielding pride! The blood in our veins that would rather break than bend!!"
"If we're willing to sell out our own clansmen and abandon our own flesh and blood just to dodge disaster today, how will the Clear Sky Sect ever hold its place in the Soul Master World?!"
"What will the world think of us?! They'll point at our backs and curse us: 'Look! This is the so-called number one sect under heaven! A bunch of spineless cowards! Traitors who sell out their friends for favor!'"
"Even if a Clear Sky Sect like that survives, it'll be no more than a walking corpse! What face will we have to meet our ancestors?!"
His words struck like a hammer, ringing through the crowd and jolting them awake.
The elders and disciples who had been wavering flushed with shame and lowered their heads.
That was right.
They were the Clear Sky Sect! The number one sect under heaven!
If they survived by selling out their own kin, what kind of men would they be? Would they still deserve to hold the Clear Sky Hammer?
Tang Xiao looked at the old man beside him, astonishment and gratitude filling his eyes.
He hadn't expected that, at the most critical moment, the Great Elder—the man who usually disliked Tang Hao most—would step forward to defend the Clear Sky Sect's last shred of dignity.
"And besides..."
The Great Elder's gaze burned as he stared at Bibi Dong, laying bare Nan Feng's scheme with a single remark:
"Your Holiness the Pope, your words sound so righteous."
"But if you truly only wanted revenge on Tang Hao, why make such a grand show of it? Why tarnish your reputation by taking women and children hostage?"
"Why are you standing here talking to us? Is it really for this so-called peace?"
"No!"
The Great Elder let out a cold laugh. "You're stalling, aren't you?"
"You brought two Titled Douluo, but their auras are unsteady. They're clearly injured."
"As for you..."
"Your strength may be unfathomable, but one hand can't clap alone."
"Your main force probably hasn't caught up yet, has it?"
"You're sowing discord here because you want to wait for your reinforcements, then wipe us all out in one fell swoop!"
"Am I right, Your Holiness the Pope?!"
His words set the whole battlefield abuzz.
Only then did the Clear Sky Sect's people catch on. They glared at Bibi Dong in fury.
"What a vicious, treacherous woman!!"
"We nearly fell for her trick!!"
"Let's fight her!!"
Watching the situation turn in an instant, Bibi Dong (Nan Feng), seated on the Papal Throne, raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
"Little Dongdong, who would've thought? There's actually a sharp one hiding among this bunch of hotheads."
That was right.
The Great Elder had guessed perfectly.
He was stalling for time.
Spirit Hall had plenty of Soul Masters, but their marching speeds varied. He, Chrysanthemum, Ghost, and a few flying Soul Saints had made it here, but the remaining thousand or so Soul Masters they commanded were still on the way.
If a fight broke out now, Tang Xiao's seven peak Soul Douluo elders, together with the reckless brutes of the Strength Clan, would put up a desperate fight. His side's "rabble" would probably collapse.
That old Demon Bear was definitely shirking his duty. Chrysanthemum and Ghost were still badly wounded; it was anyone's guess whether they could hold out.
Even a tiger couldn't stand against a pack of wolves, let alone these people from the Clear Sky Sect.
The power of the Clear Sky Hammer was no joke.
"Who is that old man? He looks way older than those elders," Nan Feng asked inwardly.
"That's the Great Elder of the Clear Sky Sect. He was from the same era as Tang Chen. He's over a hundred years old, a whole generation older than those elders," Bibi Dong replied.
"Oh? Then he's certainly been around."
On the battlefield, Bibi Dong (Nan Feng) didn't look embarrassed at being exposed. Instead, she laughed and clapped. The applause sounded especially jarring amid the tense standoff.
"The Great Elder truly has the wisdom of age. I admire your insight."
"But..."
Bibi Dong (Nan Feng) shook her head helplessly, her face full of regret. "I meant well and wanted to show everyone a way out, yet you've all misunderstood me so badly. Truly... my heart was set on the bright moon, yet the moon shone on the ditch."
"Hmph! Stop pretending!"
Tang Xiao sneered, raising the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand until it pointed at Bibi Dong. "Bibi Dong, your fox's tail is showing. You want the Clear Sky Sect to bow down and submit? Dream on!"
"Our knees aren't so weak that we'd bend that far!"
"Alas..."
Bibi Dong (Nan Feng) sighed deeply and sat back on the throne, putting on the air of someone who'd washed her hands of the matter after being met with such ingratitude.
"If that's how it is, then do as you please."
"After all, I won't be the first to attack."
Bibi Dong (Nan Feng) pointed at the women and children of the Speed Clan, who were still trembling on the ground. Her tone was calm, yet carried a blood-chilling certainty.
"But let me make one thing clear."
"If any of you so much as move, try to take them, or throw even a single Soul Skill this way—"
"I guarantee that every last one of these Speed Clan members will lose their heads at once!"
At that, Tang Xiao, who had been about to rush forward and seize the hostages, stopped dead in his tracks.
He didn't dare take the risk.
The look in that madwoman's eyes told him she really would kill them—and without the slightest hesitation.
The standoff began again.
But someone had run out of patience.
"Why are you still wasting words with her?!"
The Great Elder suddenly roared. His hunched frame straightened in an instant, and a terrifying, overwhelming aura erupted from his aged body!
VMMMM—!!!
Without warning, a black hammer over a hundred meters long appeared in midair. Carrying the might to destroy the heavens and the earth, it came crashing down like Mount Tai, straight toward Bibi Dong, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, and the Speed Clan members being held hostage!
Clear Sky Avatar!
The strike was too fast, too brutal, too decisive!
The Great Elder knew full well that Bibi Dong was stalling. If they waited any longer, the moment Spirit Hall's main force arrived, they'd be trapped like turtles in a jar.
Rather than sit and wait for death, they might as well stake everything on one desperate gamble!
Even if they risked hitting the hostages, they had to break the deadlock!
"What?!"
It wasn't just the people from Spirit Hall who were stunned. Tang Xiao and the elders of the Clear Sky Sect were equally dumbfounded by the Great Elder's sudden, reckless move.
He... wasn't even going to spare the hostages?!
"Damn it!!"
Faced with a strike powerful enough to shatter mountains, Nan Feng had no choice but to act.
BOOM—!!!
Purple-black light shot into the sky. Nan Feng controlled Bibi Dong's body and raised both hands, forming a huge Soul Power shield.
Chrysanthemum, Ghost, and Demon Bear Douluo also instinctively unleashed their Soul Power and joined forces to withstand the terrifying blow.
They had no choice. Spirit Hall's army stood behind them. If they let that hammer fall, Spirit Hall's forces would collapse in an instant!
And the moment they turned their attention to defense, the blades held to the Speed Clan's throats left a fatal opening.
"Now! Save them!!"
Tang Xiao reacted at once, shouting as he shot forward like lightning.
The other six elders followed close behind. Their seven figures were like seven sharp blades, instantly tearing through Spirit Hall's defensive line and reaching the hostages.
"Move!!"
Tang Xiao grabbed Bai He from the ground. The other elders scooped up the women and children, and with the Clear Sky Sect's terrifying explosive strength, they managed to save everyone before the giant hammer came crashing down!