Haotian Seals the Mountain, Expels Tang Hao

Clear Sky Sect, Council Hall.

The once majestic sect hall was now permeated by a suffocating, low-pressure atmosphere.

Broken tables and chairs were piled haphazardly in the corner, and dried bloodstains still remained on the floor.

Tang Xiao sat upon the Sect Master's throne; his once resolute face now appeared ten years older, and his previously straight spine was slightly hunched.

Below him, the four remaining elders sat with ashen faces.

A battered and scarred Titan stood to the side, his face filled with shame and trepidation.

Behind him stood several of his clansmen.

"Bang!"

The Seventh Elder slammed his palm onto the stone table, his face twisted into a hideous mask of grief and fury:

"That bastard Tang Hao! Where the hell has he crawled off to?!"

"Because of him, the sect has lost three elders! The Great Elder is dead! So many outstanding young disciples are dead! My son... my only son!!"

By the time the Seventh Elder finished, his voice had devolved into a shrill, wretched howl, "He had only just broken through to the Spirit King realm! And he was killed by that devil Bibi Dong... not even a corpse was left behind!!"

"Who exactly is supposed to pay for this debt?!"

"Seventh, calm down."

The Second Elder's voice was also somewhat hoarse, yet he still struggled to maintain the dignity of the most senior member present, "Now is not the time to assign blame..."

"Not assign blame?!"

The Seventh Elder stood up abruptly, pointing at the Second Elder, then at Tang Xiao above, "Second Brother! Sect Master! Are you still going to protect that animal even now?!"

"If he hadn't provoked Martial Soul Hall for the sake of a spirit beast and killed the Pope, would we have suffered such a catastrophe?!"

"And you! Tang Xiao!"

The Seventh Elder's eyes were bloodshot as he addressed him by name without a shred of courtesy, "If you hadn't been so headstrong back then, insisting that we couldn't abandon our vassal clans, insisting on leading us into Bibi Dong's trap!"

"Would so many of us have died?!"

"Would the Great Elder have had to self-destruct to save you?!"

"As Sect Master, you let your emotions cloud your judgment! Not only did you fail to rescue the Speed Clan, but you also buried half of the Clear Sky Sect's elite! What face do you have left to sit in that position?!"

Tang Xiao lowered his head, saying nothing.

He could not refute it.

Because it was the truth.

He had been too confident, placing too much value on so-called kinship and loyalty. He had assumed that with the strength of the Clear Sky Sect, they could rescue their people even if it meant a head-on collision.

But reality had dealt him the cruelest of slaps.

That Bibi Dong... she was too terrifying.

The Clear Sky Battle Formation was shattered as if it were nothing! Spirit Douluos were slaughtered like livestock!

If not for the Great Elder's desperate final strike that blasted Bibi Dong away, they likely wouldn't have had a single survivor!

"Enough!"

Titan could finally bear it no longer; he stepped forward, shielding Tang Xiao, "Seventh Elder! The Sect Master only did it for—"

"Shut your mouth!!"

The Seventh Elder roared, "Titan! You old ape, do you even have the face to speak?!"

"If it weren't to save your Strength Clan, would we have gone to fight Bibi Dong head-on?! Would the Great Elder have died?!"

"Your Strength Clan is nothing but a burden! You are accomplices in the deaths of our clansmen!!"

"I..." Titan's face flushed red and then turned deathly pale, yet he could find no words to refute the claim.

Indeed, the losses suffered by the Clear Sky Sect this time were largely due to the effort to support them.

"Enough! Both of you, be quiet!" the Second Elder said in a deep voice, "What is the point of arguing now? The dead cannot be brought back to life!"

"The most urgent matter is to discuss what we do next!"

"Although that madwoman Bibi Dong was blasted away by the Great Elder, judging by the movements from Martial Soul Hall, she is not dead; she is even reorganizing her troops!"

"Furthermore..."

The Second Elder took a deep breath, his tone filled with profound despair:

"We just received word that she has issued an ultimatum to the Defense Clan and the Breaking Clan."

"She said... she is giving us three days."

"If they do not surrender, she will bring that Samsara Death Realm and bathe both clans in blood!"

As these words fell, the hall descended into dead silence.

Samsara Death Realm.

These four words now felt like a curse, causing the souls of all the survivors to tremble.

The terror of watching their own soul power drain away and seeing their companions swallowed by the gray mist was a nightmare no one could ever forget.

"Then... what are we supposed to do?"

The Fourth Elder asked, his voice trembling, "Are we still going to attempt a rescue?"

"Rescue? With what?"

The Seventh Elder let out a miserable laugh, "To go and throw our lives away again? To serve as fodder for that devil once more?"

"If we don't rescue them, are we just going to watch those two clans be wiped out?" Titan gritted his teeth.

"What else can we do?!" The Seventh Elder glared at him, "We have already lost so many people trying to save you! Do you want us to sacrifice the last foundations of the Clear Sky Sect for them as well?!"

"In my opinion, we should seal the mountain!"

The Seventh Elder slumped back into his chair, his eyes filled with defeat, "Shut the sect gates tight! Use the natural defenses to hold our ground!"

"As long as we do not leave the mountain, no matter how strong that Bibi Dong is, she cannot easily breach Clear Sky Peak!"

"As for those two clans..."

"Let them meet their own fates."

"I also agree to seal the mountain."

The Third Elder, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke, his voice low, "The current Bibi Dong is at the height of her power, and her strength is unfathomable. We can no longer afford to be tossed about."

"Furthermore... Tang Hao has yet to show his face, which means he is either dead or hiding away, too afraid to come out."

"There is no need for us to fight to the death with Martial Soul Hall for the sake of this coward."

Listening to the elders one by one voice their support for sealing the mountain, Tang Xiao gripped the armrests so hard his knuckles turned white.

Seal the mountain.

This meant abandoning their dignity, abandoning their allies, and shrinking back like a turtle.

For the once arrogant and peerless Clear Sky Sect, what a humiliation this was!

However...

Looking at the faces below—some filled with anger, others with despair, and some with fear.

Tang Xiao knew he had no choice left.

The hearts of the people were scattered; the team could no longer be led.

"Fine..."

Tang Xiao closed his eyes, two lines of tears sliding down his cheeks, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper:

"Pass the order..."

"Recall all disciples currently abroad..."

"Abandon all peripheral industries..."

"The Clear Sky Sect..."

"Seals the mountain!!!"

"..."

"That is not enough."

The Second Elder's icy voice shattered the brief silence once more.

Tang Xiao jerked his head up, his eyes bloodshot, his voice trembling: "Sealing the mountain isn't enough? Second Uncle, must I die in this great hall and pay with my life for it to be enough?!"

"Whether the Sect Master dies or not does not solve the problem." The Second Elder remained expressionless, "Martial Soul Hall has a legitimate reason to attack us. The whole world knows it is because Tang Hao killed the former Pope, Qian Xunji."

"As long as Tang Hao remains a member of the Clear Sky Sect, Martial Soul Hall has a reason to continue attacking us, and can even claim they are seeking justice."

"Sealing the mountain is merely our own stance. But to make Martial Soul Hall withdraw their troops, and to let the whole world know that this matter has nothing to do with the Clear Sky Sect..."

The Second Elder paused:

"We must announce to the entire world—that Tang Hao is expelled from the Clear Sky Sect! Remove his name from the clan genealogy!"

"Define Tang Hao's actions as his own personal conduct, unrelated to the sect! If Martial Soul Hall can capture him, the Clear Sky Sect will never interfere!"

"You..." Tang Xiao's body shook violently, his fists clenched tight.

Expelled from the sect.

For disciples who valued bloodline and honor above all else, this was a punishment more painful than death.

Moreover, that was his own younger brother, the most dazzling genius the Clear Sky Sect had seen in a hundred years!

"I will not..."

"Sect Master!"

The Seventh Elder sternly interrupted him, roaring with red eyes: "Do you want the entire sect to be buried with that rebellious son?! Do you want our ancestors to have no peace in the afterlife?!"

"If you refuse to issue the order, then let us old bones do it for you!"

Looking at the pressing, even hateful gazes of the surrounding elders, Tang Xiao's proud spirit was, in the end, chipped away bit by bit by the cruelty of reality.

"Fine..."

Tang Xiao slumped into his seat, his voice hollow:

"Issue the order..."

"Effective immediately, Tang Hao... is no longer a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect."

"Strike his name from the genealogy, and revoke... the Clear Sky title."

"Proclaim it... to the world."

Having spoken these words, Tang Xiao closed his eyes, seemingly unwilling to look at this world that suffocated him any longer.

"There is one more thing."

The Second Elder did not stop because of Tang Xiao's compromise; his expression remained grave.

"Second Brother, what else could there be?" the Fourth Elder couldn't help but ask. "We have already sealed the mountain and expelled Tang Hao; is that not enough?"

"It is not enough."

The Second Elder shook his head, his words shocking: "We must prepare for the worst. Activate the backup sect grounds located near Heaven Dou City immediately."

"What?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room was stunned.

Even Tang Xiao, who had been on the verge of a breakdown, snapped his eyes open and looked at the Second Elder in disbelief: "Second Uncle, what do you mean by this? A backup base? That is a final retreat to be used only when the sect faces total annihilation!"

"Are you asking us to abandon Clear Sky Peak? To abandon this ancestral heritage passed down for a thousand years?!"

"This is a natural fortress! As long as we seal the mountain and cut the iron chains, how could Martial Soul Hall possibly attack us?!"

"A natural fortress?"

The Second Elder let out a bitter laugh, a trace of deep fear flashing in his eyes:

"If it were before, I too would have believed that Clear Sky Peak was an impregnable bastion."

"However..."

"Have you forgotten that domain of Bibi Dong's, filled with gray mist?"

Upon hearing this, the faces of all the elders turned deathly pale.

"That domain... it can corrode soul power, devour life, and even erode space itself!" the Second Elder said with a trembling voice. "Our natural defenses are meant for armies and ordinary soul masters. But in the face of power that is nearly a divine skill, what are cliffs and precipices? What are iron chains spanning the river?"

"If Bibi Dong were to bring that domain to Clear Sky Peak, even if she were the only one to charge up the mountain, she would only need to release that gray mist..."

"Among the thousands of us in the Clear Sky Sect, those above the Soul Saint realm might barely be able to hold on, but those below..."

"I fear they would all be eaten clean by that gray mist, without a sound!"