Strength Clan territory.
The air still reeked of charred flesh and blood. Although the battle was over, its grim atmosphere lingered.
Bibi Dong sat on her portable gilded throne, holding the casualty report that had just been compiled. Her expression could not have been any darker.
"Smack!"
She slammed the report onto the table and looked at Demon Bear Douluo, who stood below her.
"Elder Demon Bear, can you explain this battle report to me?"
Demon Bear had brought a thousand Soul Masters, including three hundred elite Soul Kings and above.
Yet in last night's chaotic battle, 236 of them had been killed and 218 severely wounded!
Meanwhile, fewer than two hundred bodies had been left behind by the Strength Clan and the Clear Sky Sect.
And most of the Clear Sky Sect members had been killed by her Death Domain and Samsara Death Realm!
"I'd like to ask you something. Were those thousand elites of yours supposed to be a ceremonial guard on the battlefield? Or were they there to test the Clear Sky Hammers' durability?" Bibi Dong said, exasperated.
"Your Holiness... there's something you don't know!" Demon Bear Douluo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurried to defend himself. "Those brutes from the Strength Clan were manageable. They were just a little thick-skinned. But those reinforcements from the Clear Sky Sect..."
"They had Clear Sky Hammers!"
"Most of our Soul Masters only have mid-level Martial Souls. We barely have any high-level ones. When we faced Soul Masters with a top-level Martial Soul like the Clear Sky Hammer, they shattered at the slightest touch and went flying after one hit!"
"And besides..."
Demon Bear Douluo glanced at Bibi Dong with a wounded look. "And besides, that Gray Mist Domain of yours... although it was incredibly powerful, it also scared our people half to death and threw our formation into chaos. That's why..."
"Silence!"
Bibi Dong snorted. "You're incompetent, and now you're blaming my Domain for being too powerful?"
"If it weren't for that Domain, would you still be standing here talking to me?"
Demon Bear Douluo hunched his shoulders and dared not speak again.
After witnessing Bibi Dong's strength last night, he no longer dared to stand up to her.
Inside the Sea of Consciousness.
Nan Feng was also at a loss for words.
"During the chaos, I took a glance at our side. Even our Soul Kings unleashed a whole mess of flashy Soul Skills—fire, ice, all sorts of things. They looked pretty intimidating. And what did the Clear Sky Sect's disciples do?"
"They didn't bother with any fancy tricks. They just used one move—Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer!"
"They swung their hammers and smashed everything!"
"Throwing their weight around to bully unaffiliated Soul Masters was one thing, but when they ran into a hard nut like the Clear Sky Sect, they crumpled at the first blow—even though they had the numbers."
"One swing shattered their shields, sent them flying, and beat the courage right out of them."
"Those cannon fodder could be sent in by the thousands, and they'd still just be feeding the enemy."
Bibi Dong sighed, her voice carrying a hint of deep weariness.
"Now you understand? I told you a long time ago not to think too highly of that bunch of good-for-nothings. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so wary of the Elder Hall."
"Only Titled Douluo truly decide the course of a war. The rest... are nothing but expendable bodies to wave flags and shout encouragement."
The true strength of Spirit Hall lay in the Titled Douluo of the Elder Hall, the Holy Emperor Warrior Regiment of the Pope Palace, the Douluo Warrior Regiment of Douluo Hall, and the Angel Legion hidden deep within Spirit Hall!
But now, both the Holy Emperor Warrior Regiment and the Douluo Warrior Regiment were under Golden Crocodile's control!
The Angel Legion only followed Qian Daoliu's orders!
The cannon fodder below might be enough to scare a small sect, but when they faced a top sect like the Clear Sky Sect, they were nothing but a meal waiting to be served!
If Nan Feng hadn't still been holding that absurd Self-Martial Soul Fusion Skill in reserve last night, she wouldn't have been rushing to Demon Bear's aid. She would have been walking straight into a trap!
"Nan Feng, let's talk business." Bibi Dong asked in her mind. "What's the next plan? Should we help the Defense Clan and the Breaking Clan?"
"Help them with what? Get some rest." Nan Feng lazily rolled over.
"Rest?" Bibi Dong's brows furrowed.
"Come on, take a look at our record so far." Nan Feng counted off on his fingers. "You, the mighty Pope, personally led your troops and crushed the Speed Clan with the swiftness of thunder. Then, with your brilliant foresight, you anticipated Tang Xiao's movements and sent Demon Bear to aid the attack on the Strength Clan."
"Not only did you deal a heavy blow to the Strength Clan, you also faced the Clear Sky Sect's main force head-on, killed two elders, and forced a Great Elder to his death."
"How many Popes in Spirit Hall's history can claim a record like that?"
"For a powerful organization like Spirit Hall, war is the fastest and easiest way to establish authority."
"After this battle, your prestige as the new Pope has already reached its peak in Spirit Hall."
"Once you make this record public, if those three slippery old foxes—Ghost Leopard, Snake Lance, and Pufferfish—still dare to drag their feet, you'll have more than enough justification to strip them of everything afterward."
"Besides, that Twin Emperors Annihilate the World move from last night will soon spread throughout the Elder Hall, thanks to Demon Bear's big mouth."
"Then everyone will know that the Pope isn't a mere vase in Qian Daoliu's hands, nor some soft persimmon anyone can squeeze. When you fly into a rage, you really can kill them."
"From now on, even if Golden Crocodile tries to get them to trip you up, they'll have to think twice for the sake of their own lives."
"After all, Qian Daoliu can kill them, and now... so can you!"
"I know all about those political gains." Bibi Dong cut Nan Feng off, her gaze still grave. "I'm asking about the war from here on out."
"The Clear Sky Sect sent more than three hundred Soul Masters to support the Strength Clan this time. Every one of them was an elite Soul King or above, and more than a hundred died in last night's battle. That's bound to have dealt a crippling blow to the Clear Sky Sect."
"But although they fled, their main force is still intact, and so is Tang Xiao. The Defense Clan and the Breaking Clan are still locked in a standoff."
"Do we press our advantage, or quit while we're ahead?"
"Quit while we're ahead?" Nan Feng sounded puzzled.
"What do you mean, 'ahead'? We nearly got led into a ditch by that old fossil last night. How is that a win?"
"Of course we keep fighting!"
"Are you insane?" Bibi Dong said, exasperated.
"You know my physical condition better than anyone! That Self-Martial Soul Fusion Skill from last night was powerful, but it drained me too badly! Both my Martial Souls are now extremely weak, and I can't use that skill again anytime soon!"
"And my Soul Power is recovering painfully slowly. I'm nothing but an empty shell right now!"
"If we keep pursuing them and drive Tang Xiao into a corner—or if the Clear Sky Sect pulls some desperate, mutually destructive move—Spirit Hall will suffer heavy losses. I might even be exposed!"
"If I'm exposed, all that intimidation will have been for nothing!"
"Exposed?" Nan Feng chuckled. "Little Dongdong, aren't you being a little too honest?"
"That Self-Martial Soul Fusion Skill really can't be used again in the short term, but besides the two of us..."
"Who else knows?"
Bibi Dong froze.
"Does the Clear Sky Sect know you're drained? Or do those useless Soul Masters in Spirit Hall know?"
Nan Feng spread his hands, looking thoroughly sly.
"They don't!"
"All they saw was you break the Clear Sky Battle Formation with a single move and kill two elders. All they saw was you take a point-blank blast from a peak Soul Douluo and walk away without a scratch!"
"In their eyes, you're now an invincible god of death! An unbeatable monster!"
"Remember when you first barged into Death Canyon and entered my lair?"
"Back then, I was an empty shell, gravely wounded and on the brink of death. But I just put on a bit of a show, and I had you so thoroughly fooled you didn't know which way was up."
Bibi Dong's face darkened. "Care to bring that up again?"
"Ahem." Nan Feng looked a little sheepish.
"What I mean is, we can do the same thing now."
"The Clear Sky Sect doesn't know you're drained. All they know is that you're outrageously powerful."
"And precisely because you're drained, you absolutely can't retreat! You can't show even the slightest hesitation!"
"You have to keep acting fierce! You have to be even more arrogant and untouchable than you were last night!"
"After seeing how mighty you were last night, if you choose to 'quit while you're ahead' today and take time to recover..."
"As long as Tang Xiao isn't an idiot, or that cunning Second Elder gives it even a little thought, they'll figure out that your strength comes at a price."
"Those old foxes in the Elder Hall will realize you can't keep up that kind of strength forever, either."
"Once they see through you, the invincible image you worked so hard to build will come crashing down!"
"So..."
Nan Feng leaned close to Bibi Dong's consciousness, his eyes glittering with a wild purple light.
"Putting on a show is a skill in its own right."
"We'll use this empty shell of yours to scare the Clear Sky Sect out of their wits and frighten the Defense Clan and the Breaking Clan into surrendering!"
"Then what do you plan to do?" Bibi Dong drew a deep breath. She had to admit Nan Feng made sense.
"Simple."
Nan Feng snapped his fingers. "We don't actually have to send the whole army out to fight for their lives."
"Give orders to Snake Lance, Pufferfish, and Ghost Leopard!"
"Tell them that I've already dealt with the Speed Clan and the Strength Clan. If they still haven't made any progress on their end, I'll personally go over and loosen up their bones!"
"At the same time, issue a final ultimatum to the Defense Clan and the Breaking Clan!"
"Tell Yang Wudi and Niu Gao that the Speed Clan has been captured, the Strength Clan has suffered heavy casualties, and the Clear Sky Sect's main force has already been driven off by me."
"Give them three days."
"They can either surrender peacefully and submit to Spirit Hall."
"Or..."
"I'll bring yesterday's Gray Mist to their territories and pay them a visit!"