The Situation on the Continent

The balance of power, which had once allowed them to stand against Spirit Hall, had already become severely lopsided at the highest levels. After that, the Clear Sky Sect proved as timid as a mouse, easily abandoning tens of thousands of Soul Masters who weren't members of the clan.

Aside from a few groups like the Four Single-Attribute Clans, all those tens of thousands of Soul Masters were absorbed by Spirit Hall.

After Bibi Dong took power, she leveraged Spirit Hall's meteoric rise to secretly gather a vast number of Soul Masters. Even the Lower Four Sects among the Seven Great Sects secretly pledged their allegiance.

And that wasn't all. Beyond its Soul Master forces, Spirit Hall also controlled the kingdoms and duchies under Heaven Dou and the Star Luo Empire. By this point, the situation had developed to the point where Spirit Hall had practically seized victory. How could it possibly lose?

"The elders of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had always opposed my relationship with Fengzhi. After Tang Hao clashed with Spirit Hall, a new voice emerged within the sect. The elders hoped to form a marriage alliance with the Clear Sky Sect, strengthen the trust between our two sides, and thereby maintain stability across the continent."

A disdainful smile tugged at Su Yuntao's lips. The elders of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect thought far too highly of the Clear Sky Sect. Forming a marriage alliance with that lot was useless. Bai He was Tang San's great-uncle, yet hadn't he been abandoned all the same? The Four Single-Attribute Clans had served the Clear Sky Sect like oxen and horses all their lives, only for the sect to push them out to take the blows in the end. Forming an alliance with a power like that was pointless.

"Fengzhi was very dismissive at the time. He told the elders of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect that the Clear Sky Sect was no longer what it used to be. Tang Chen had built a vast foundation, but the Clear Sky Sect disciples who grew up under his protection were nothing but a bunch of useless fools."

"After Tang Chen left, the Clear Sky Sect elders seized power and treated the sect's rules as if they were nothing. They bossed their own people around, but put on a fierce front while cowering before outsiders! They had no desire to fight external enemies, only a taste for internal strife. The Clear Sky Sect had already become a cesspit, and its elders were the sort who dared to fight among themselves but shrank from battle with outsiders."

"If the Clear Sky Sect still had even a fraction of Tang Chen's courage and spirit, then a marriage alliance might have worked. But as things stood, even if we formed one, it wouldn't benefit the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the slightest."

Su Yuntao nodded, agreeing with Ning Fengzhi's conclusion. "Senior Ye, Sect Master Ning's words were indeed correct. But why did he have Ning Rongrong with another woman?"

Ye Lingrong let out a soft sigh. "Because the Clear Sky Sect took the initiative and proposed the marriage alliance in order to find allies."

"Oh?" Su Yuntao said disdainfully. "So Sect Master Ning gave in under pressure from both sides?"

Ye Lingrong smiled. "He didn't. Fengzhi never once gave in. He and I still spent every day together, while he worked hard to cultivate and try to reach Soul Douluo, and began handling the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's affairs, big and small."

"That life went on for three years, until that incident happened."

Su Yuntao calculated the timing. "Senior Ye, could you mean Tang Hao breaking through to Title Douluo and defeating three Title Douluos from Spirit Hall, led by its former Pope, Qian Xunji?"

"Exactly." Ye Lingling sighed. "After that battle, the situation on the continent took a sharp turn for the worse. The elders of both the Clear Sky Sect and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect pressured Fengzhi. Even I couldn't bear to see him face such pressure. I would have been content to remain nameless and unrecognized if it meant he could have an easier life."

A sense of respect welled up in Su Yuntao's heart. Perhaps this was what people called love.

"Fengzhi showed astonishing resolve in the face of overwhelming pressure. The Clear Sky Sect and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect tried every means at their disposal, but neither could make him yield."

"Senior Ye, if that's the case, why wasn't Ning Rongrong born to you?"

Ye Lingrong sneered. "Because we all underestimated how shameless those Clear Sky Sect elders were!"

"Their so-called marriage alliance wasn't about the two great powers weathering storms together. They wanted the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to take the fall for the Clear Sky Sect! The marriage alliance was merely a way for them to control the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"

"Although Fengzhi firmly opposed the marriage, they resorted to every means imaginable to achieve their unspeakable aims. In the end, they made Fengzhi father a child with the daughter of the Clear Sky Sect's Second Elder. That innocent child was Rongrong!"

Su Yuntao's eyes widened. He was clearly stunned by the Clear Sky Sect elders' outrageous conduct.

"Heh. After Rongrong was born, those Clear Sky Sect people beat their breasts and stamped their feet because the child wasn't a boy. Even so, Rongrong's mother still used her daughter as leverage! She used Rongrong as a bargaining chip to throw her weight around within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, trying to turn the sect into a pawn of the Clear Sky Sect!"

"Fengzhi didn't want to hurt Rongrong's mother, because he believed she was also a victim. But Rongrong's mother had been brainwashed by the Clear Sky Sect since childhood. She was completely enslaved to the sect. In her eyes, good and evil no longer existed; she had even lost her humanity. The Clear Sky Sect elders were gods to her! Everything she did had become utterly irrational."

"In that situation, Fengzhi acted swiftly and decisively, personally taking two Grand Elders with him to kill Rongrong's mother. He swiftly quelled the chaos within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect before anyone could react."

Su Yuntao sighed. The thing he hated most was people enslaved to their sects. Their behavior was a manifestation of their own servility, not genuine love for their sect. They were nothing but slaves in their minds. And the most outrageous thing was how they mistook obedience for filial piety and took humiliation as something natural.

"Senior Ye, in that case, why hasn't Sect Master Ning given you a title even now?"

Ye Lingrong replied slowly, "Because the situation on the continent is no longer what it was. On the surface, everything seems calm, but beneath it, undercurrents are surging! Even Fengzhi has had to tread on thin ice all these years. He doesn't want us mother and daughter caught up in the continent's old grudges and conflicts."

"He wants Lingling and me to live out our lives in peace. That's why, many years ago, he made me disappear from the public eye."

In Su Yuntao's view, Ning Fengzhi's actions truly showed great wisdom. He had even laid plans many years ago, arranging for Ye Lingrong, who was then only a Soul Sage, to live in seclusion. No matter how one looked at it, that was a masterstroke.

Ye Lingrong watched Su Yuntao's expression shift several times, and a smile appeared on her face. She knew that Ning Fengzhi's story had moved him.

"Yuntao, since that's the case, why don't I find a time for Fengzhi to come meet you?" Ye Lingrong pressed her advantage.

"Oh?" Su Yuntao smiled. "Sect Master Ning is the head of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Does he have that kind of time to spare?"

"Yuntao, Fengzhi is renowned throughout the land for his respect toward the worthy. I'll notify him right away. I hope you won't mind."

Su Yuntao smiled. "That sounds good. I'm looking forward to meeting Sect Master Ning."

Ye Lingrong was overjoyed to hear this and immediately said, "Yuntao, then I must thank you. If you ever get hurt, just come to me."