Tang Hao, Clear Sky Sect

Xing Tian flipped through books regarding Title Douluo, his goal naturally being to find information on his enemy, Clear Sky Douluo.

In his view, this Clear Sky Douluo was incredibly powerful, yet simultaneously a coward—nothing more than a rat scurrying for survival in a gutter.

Despite his disdain, he could not deny that such a person was extremely dangerous, precisely because he had no scruples.

That was why Xing Tian had not told Ye Renxin that it was Clear Sky Douluo who killed him, nor had he gone to ask Dugu Bo.

"Found it! Clear Sky Douluo—Tang Hao!"

A fierce glint flashed through Xing Tian's purple evil eyes, accompanied by extreme excitement; if not for the fact that Ye Lingling and Osler were nearby, he would have been unable to suppress his killing intent.

The records in the book regarding Tang Hao were indeed very vague, with little description.

Tang Hao hailed from the Clear Sky Sect, the head of the Seven Great Sects and the leader of the Upper Three Sects. His martial soul was the Clear Sky Hammer, possessed only by direct descendants and hailed as the number one tool martial soul in the world.

It possessed incomparably tyrannical power and the greatest destructive force, weighing five hundred jin the moment the martial soul awakened.

The Clear Sky Sect had been passed down for thousands of years, with at least two Title Douluo appearing in every generation, and it possessed a complete set of Self-Created Soul Skill unique to the Clear Sky Hammer.

In their youth, Tang Hao and his older brother Tang Xiao were the most outstanding among the direct descendants of the Clear Sky Sect, the leaders of the new generation, and were known as the "Clear Sky Twin Stars."

At twenty, Tang Hao was hailed as the number one of the young generation.

At twenty-six, he broke through to Soul Emperor, then disappeared for two years.

At thirty, he broke through to Soul Saint, his cultivation gradually catching up to his brother Tang Xiao, who was fifteen years his senior.

That same year, Tang Hao and Tang Xiao were ordered by the then-sect master of the Clear Sky Sect, Wei Tian Douluo Tang Wei, to go out and gain experience, at which time his status as the successor to the next sect master was set.

Rumor had it that during his travels, Tang Hao, while at the Soul Douluo level, broke the leg of a Martial Soul Hall Title Douluo elder who had come to challenge him.

At forty-four, a massive conflict erupted between Tang Hao and Martial Soul Hall. The then-Pope Qian Xunji led two Title Douluo-level guardian elders, along with multiple Soul Douluo and Soul Saint-level experts, to surround and kill Tang Hao.

It was then that Tang Hao broke through to Title Douluo, becoming the youngest Title Douluo ever. He fought them for three days and three nights, finally breaking through the encirclement; one Title Douluo elder died and another was severely injured, while the former Pope Qian Xunji was also gravely wounded and died of his injuries a few months later.

Because Tang Hao hammered the Pope to death, Martial Soul Hall rose in anger and attacked the Clear Sky Sect.

Yet at this moment, Tang Hao disappeared without a trace.

Unable to withstand the pressure from Martial Soul Hall, the Clear Sky Sect announced it was sealing the mountain and retreating into seclusion, only then did Martial Soul Hall cease its aggression.

Xing Tian sneered inwardly: So this is the dignified Clear Sky Douluo. The "youngest Title Douluo," yet when the sect was in its greatest danger, he didn't even show his face—a spineless coward!

Beyond the contempt, Xing Tian had many doubts: "Even if the Clear Sky Sect isn't as strong as Martial Soul Hall, it is still the number one sect in the world, and Martial Soul Hall is the premier organization in the soul master world. Why would the Pope bring so many experts to surround and kill Tang Hao? If this were to spread, it would surely severely damage the reputation of Martial Soul Hall."

"And the Clear Sky Sect managed to make Martial Soul Hall withdraw just by abandoning their affiliated sects and sealing the mountain? That shouldn't be right. Their leader was killed; even if they couldn't wipe out the other side's forces, they should have at least decimated them. How could it be so easy?"

Xing Tian's gaze grew increasingly grave, for these were not the most suspicious points.

"The most suspicious thing is, how did Tang Hao break through to Title Douluo during the battle?"

"I don't believe this refers to breaking through from level 89 to 90. Without a ninth Soul Ring, how could he be called a Title Douluo!"

"I also don't believe that with only 8 rings and level 90 cultivation, he could break through the heavy encirclement of so many experts."

"Then, how was Tang Hao's ninth Soul Ring obtained on the battlefield? Even if it existed, how could he absorb it? The people from Martial Soul Hall would definitely have interrupted him!"

Xing Tian's questions grew more numerous, and his contemplation deepened.

"Furthermore, even if Tang Hao really did succeed in absorbing a Soul Ring, ignoring the other Soul Douluo and Soul Saints—after all, a Title Douluo is a crushing force against lower-level soul masters."

"No matter how much of a genius Tang Hao is, or how powerful the Clear Sky Hammer is, it is impossible to kill one Title Douluo and severely injure two others with only ten-thousand-year Soul Rings. It must have been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

Thinking of this, Xing Tian had a startling conjecture.

"Wait! Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast! No one interrupted... sacrifice!"

"Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast sacrifice!"

"Senior Dugu once said that a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast sacrifice cannot be interrupted, and the soul master can perfectly absorb the Soul Ring and Soul Bone, with their state restored to its peak."

"This explains the first question. There was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast by Tang Hao's side; such a benefit would be enough for Martial Soul Hall to surround and kill him."

However, Xing Tian developed another doubt.

"That's not right. How could a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast follow Tang Hao? How did Tang Hao tame it? And why would a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast willingly sacrifice itself? Furthermore, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast should be massive in size; it's impossible that it wasn't discovered by Martial Soul Hall until so late, and impossible that only Martial Soul Hall discovered it."

If Tang Hao and Qian Xunji and the others knew of Xing Tian's conjecture, they would surely be shocked.

Outsiders had never been able to guess what happened back then; even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, both of the Upper Three Sects, only knew that the two sides had fought over a supreme treasure.

Yet Xing Tian, who had not even fully understood the soul master system and the soul master world, had managed to deduce the truth of the matter based on such vague information in a book.

It was only because Xing Tian did not know that a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could transform into a human, otherwise his doubts would have been swept away.

After learning about Tang Hao, Xing Tian lost interest in the book and just flipped through it casually, learning about the more active Title Douluo on the continent.

There was the rogue cultivator Jade Phosphorus Douluo Dugu Bo. The two sect-protecting Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong. The sect master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Thunder Douluo Yu Yuanzhen. The Pope of Martial Soul Hall, Bibi Dong, and two elders, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei and Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.

Then Xing Tian flipped through books on Soul Tool, gaining a rough understanding.

The most important part of a Soul Tool was actually the core soul guidance array within it, which was discovered by a powerful spirit-type soul master in the past.

At the same time, every array had a different structure and different functions, which was the most difficult problem to overcome in Soul Tool research.

Since different arrays had different functions, one had to memorize all kinds of arrays by rote.

However, ninety-nine percent of the Soul Tools currently in circulation were civilian or storage types, and the types of arrays available for reference and study were too scarce.

Furthermore, the engraving of the arrays was also a problem.

It not only required compressing soul power into a very small point but also required the soul master to have a relatively high level of spiritual power.

Only with sufficient concentration could one engrave a delicate array; otherwise, not only would the array not be durable, but it would also damage the material being engraved.