Clear Sky Sect Bows Its Head

"Announce to the outside world that our Clear Sky Sect will participate in the re-election of the Seven Great Sects."

This time, no one raised an objection; the fall of Tang Chen had dealt a devastating blow to the Clear Sky Sect.

Tang Xiao sat in the main seat, watching the hollow, defeated expressions of the elders. Their spirit was gone.

When Tang Chen was alive, the elders of the Clear Sky Sect walked with a swagger, spoke with sharp tongues, and always held their chins slightly tilted when looking at others.

What of Martial Soul Hall? We have Tang Chen; Qian Daoliu will always be second best.

Now that Tang Chen had fallen, the elders remained the same, and their strength remained the same, but their spirit, their confidence, and their pride had vanished.

Tang Xiao looked at them and remained silent for a long moment.

When his grandfather was alive, he often said one thing: the legacy of the Clear Sky Sect did not rely on the strength of one person, but on the efforts of generation after generation.

He used to think his grandfather was spouting nonsense. Of course the legacy of the Clear Sky Sect relied on the efforts of generation after generation—wasn't that obvious?

Now, he understood.

One day, the strongest pillar of the Clear Sky Sect would fall.

One day, the Clear Sky Sect would have to walk on its own.

"Every choice we make is paving the way for the future of the Clear Sky Sect," Tang Xiao's voice echoed through the hall.

"Today's choice is to ensure the Clear Sky Sect survives."

The elders sighed one after another.

"Grandfather will not blame us."

No one spoke; the hall fell into silence.

"Furthermore, send a group of elite disciples to the City of Slaughter. With my younger brother, the King of Slaughter, there, it will allow the disciples to rapidly improve their strength."

The elders nodded one by one. It was the only way; for the Clear Sky Sect, this was the optimal solution.

It had to be said that as a Sect Master, Tang Xiao was qualified.

The day the news spread, the continent shook.

The Clear Sky Sect announced its participation in the re-election of the Seven Great Sects.

When Martial Soul Hall announced the re-election, many had been waiting for the Clear Sky Sect's stance.

The number one sect in the world, the head of the Upper Three Sects, was the only sect on the continent that dared to challenge Martial Soul Hall.

They had bowed their heads.

The silence of the Clear Sky Sect had once given hope to many—those who did not want Martial Soul Hall to dominate alone, those who feared the expansion of Martial Soul Hall and were wavering between Martial Soul Hall and the two great empires.

Now, even the Clear Sky Sect had bowed.

Martial Soul Hall's re-election of the Seven Great Sects was a foregone conclusion; no one could stop it.

This was the influence and deterrent power of Martial Soul Hall.

Martial Soul City, Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong sat on the Pope's throne, a list laid out before her.

The list was densely packed with the names of all the sects that had announced their participation in the re-election of the Seven Great Sects.

Clear Sky Sect, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, Elephant Armored Sect, Heavenly Elephant Sect, Wind Sword Sect, Fire Leopard Sect, Speed Clan, Breaking Clan, and dozens of other sects with decent strength that did not belong to the Seven Great Sects. At the bottom of the list, four words were written in vermilion ink: All Participating.

"Good."

Her gaze shifted from the list and landed on Qingshan.

Qingshan sat below, legs crossed, chewing on a Blue Silver Leaf, his cheeks moving rhythmically.

"Qingshan, well done!"

Qingshan smiled in response: "Teacher is too kind; this disciple merely went out for a stroll."

"The stroll you took was no simple matter; you scared the wits out of every force that refused to submit to Martial Soul Hall!"

Worship Hall.

The titled elders had also received the news and were extremely satisfied with this Martial Soul Son.

Qian Daoliu stood beneath the Angel Statue, watching the long-lost glory radiating from the faces of his old brothers.

He remembered the first time Qingshan came to the Worship Hall—that six-year-old child standing behind Bibi Dong, chewing on a leaf, not the least bit intimidated.

Facing the scrutiny and questioning of the six titled elders, facing the pressure of a level 99 Limit Douluo like himself, he remained neither humble nor arrogant.

He knew then that this child was no simple matter.

But he had not expected that this child could reach this point in just six short years.

"Qingshan is a good child."

The words were few, but the number of people Qian Daoliu had praised in his life could be counted on one hand.

The usually stern Golden Crocodile Douluo also nodded: "The Holy Son went out this time, wiped out two single-attribute clans, subdued two others, forced the Clear Sky Sect to bow, and forced the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family to concede. This achievement is worthy of a place in the history of Martial Soul Hall."

The other titled elders voiced their agreement one after another.

Ever since the previous Pope died, Martial Soul Hall had sought revenge, but for various reasons, the task remained unfinished.

For all these years, everyone had felt a blockage in their hearts, but now, they finally felt at ease.

Bibi Dong received a message: an unnamed island had been discovered in the ocean east of the Heaven Dou Empire, inhabited by a troop of monkeys, with the monkey king suspected to be a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Bibi Dong read the intelligence three times before handing the paper to Gu Qingshan.

Gu Qingshan took the paper, glanced at it, and chewed on a leaf.

"Teacher, is your second martial soul still missing soul rings?"

Bibi Dong nodded.

"Yes, four are still missing."

Her first martial soul, the Death Spider Emperor, was already full with nine soul rings.

Her second martial soul, the Soul-Eating Spider Emperor, currently only had five soul rings: three black and two red.

The position for the sixth soul ring had remained empty; it was not that she did not want to hunt for one, but she simply had not found a suitable soul beast.

Suitable Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast specimens were too rare and not easily found.

Now, the opportunity had arrived.

The ship was the finest vessel of Martial Soul Hall, crafted entirely from Ironwood, twenty zhang long and five zhang wide, with a hull coated in black lacquer and an angel with spread wings carved into the prow.

They sailed the seas for two days and three nights, the winds calm and the waters smooth.

Bibi Dong stood at the bow, the sea breeze stirring her long hair; her purple tresses flowed like a waterfall under the sunlight.

She wore a black fitted outfit, a slender sword hanging at her waist.

Gu Qingshan leaned against the ship's railing, chewing on a Blue Silver Leaf, the sea breeze whipping his black robes into a frenzy.

On the morning of the third day, the ship reached the shore.

The unnamed island was much larger than the scouts had described.

Looking from the sea, the island's vegetation was lush and verdant, like a green gemstone embedded in the deep blue surface of the ocean.

In the center of the island stood a modest hill, covered in unknown species of trees.

The two disembarked from the large ship and stood upon the sandy beach.

"The scouts said the monkey troop is on the hill in the center of the island."

The pair passed through the dense forest, heading toward the center of the island.

The trees in the dense forest were tall and massive, their canopies blocking out the sun. After walking for about an hour, the forest ahead began to thin, and the silhouette of the hill emerged through the gaps in the trunks.

The hill was not high, but it was steep, with a gradient of nearly forty-five degrees.

The hill was covered in shrubs, and one could vaguely see numerous caves densely distributed across the slope, resembling a honeycomb.

The monkeys appeared.

The first monkey crawled out from a cave; its entire body was snow-white, without a single stray hair.

It was small in stature, reaching only to Gu Qingshan's knees, but its eyes were golden, the pupils flickering with the light of intelligence.