"Who exactly was behind this?"
Yu Xiaogang's heart weighed heavy.
He wasn't particularly concerned about Dugu Bo's death. If anything, he felt relieved.
Even if he had to bear the blame for killing Dugu Bo, that wouldn't be a bad thing for him now. On the contrary, it could further boost his influence.
What unsettled him was the feeling that some powerful force was targeting him from behind the scenes.
The problem was, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't imagine what force on Douluo Continent would dare scheme against him now.
After all, he was a God Teacher.
"Could it be the Clear Sky Sect?"
The instant the thought crossed Yu Xiaogang's mind, his heart lurched. An inexplicable panic and fear rose within him.
With the Clear Sky Sect's power, targeting and plotting against him would be easy.
That was the crux of the matter.
Why would the Clear Sky Sect target him?
"Does a great favor become a great enmity?"
Yu Xiaogang seemed to have thought of something, and his heart lurched again.
Tang San's ascension to godhood was undoubtedly thanks in large part to his teacher.
Just as he didn't want Shrek Academy to take any share of the credit for producing a god,
he thought the Clear Sky Sect would feel the same way.
As long as he was dead, the Clear Sky Sect could claim all the credit for raising a god.
They probably hadn't acted openly because they feared that his beloved disciple, Tang San, might return from the Divine Realm and stand up for his teacher.
So they'd resorted to such despicable methods.
Yu Xiaogang thought this, and firmly believed it.
He didn't suspect the remnants of Spirit Hall because they'd already been almost completely wiped out. The few stragglers left had no real power.
Dugu Bo was, after all, a Titled Douluo. Killing him would require at least a Level 95 Titled Douluo. In this era, only the Clear Sky Sect had Titled Douluo that powerful.
Yu Xiaogang thought Dugu Bo's death was likely connected to the medicinal garden he owned.
The Shrek Seven Devils, himself included, owed their current strength to that garden.
Given the Clear Sky Sect's domineering nature, they must have wanted to seize it.
Dugu Bo had become the greatest obstacle.
The Clear Sky Sect had not only removed that obstacle, but also pinned the blame on him.
"I'd better keep a low profile from now on."
Yu Xiaogang warned himself that until his disciple Tang San returned to Douluo Continent and he knew what the Clear Sky Sect was after, he shouldn't make himself a target.
After all, it was the Clear Sky Sect.
The most powerful sect on all of Douluo Continent.
"Flender, let's leave this matter here."
"Let's go back to Shrek Academy first!"
Yu Xiaogang looked at Flender beside him. He had decided to keep Flender firmly by his side from now on.
Only then could the three of them form the Golden Iron Triangle and gain the strength to stand against a Titled Douluo.
As for their earlier dispute—
What dispute had they even had?
Hadn't Flender been the one acting on his own, causing things to get so awkward between them?
He'd already forgiven Flender. What could Flender possibly object to?
That was what Yu Xiaogang believed, and Flender himself thought it had all been his fault.
And just like that, the rift between them vanished.
Flender himself didn't think anything was amiss.
Then the two of them left.
As for the mess in Heaven Dou City, what did it have to do with them? Naturally, they left it for Xue Beng, the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, to deal with.
"Wait..."
Watching Yu Xiaogang and Flender simply walk away, Xue Beng wanted to reach out and stop them, but he didn't dare.
He realized he was just like a clown.
Not one of them treated him like an emperor.
He'd fawned over Yu Xiaogang for so long, even secretly worked to drive a wedge between Flender and Yu Xiaogang, all hoping to win them over and bring them into the Heaven Dou Empire as his allies.
What was this supposed to mean?
They just left, dumping a huge mess in his lap.
If he'd known this was how things would turn out, he should have done everything he could to win Dugu Bo over.
But even though he was now seething with resentment, what could he say?
All he could do was endure it!
Xue Beng realized that he was a painfully useless emperor. Anyone could show him disrespect.
Helpless, he could only send people to suppress the rumors spreading around Heaven Dou City.
Even though Yu Xiaogang had already left and was ignoring the matter, he still had to do this.
After dealing with him for so long, Xue Beng had figured out what kind of person Yu Xiaogang was.
If Xue Beng didn't do something, and the affair really harmed the so-called God Teacher's reputation, Yu Xiaogang would definitely blame him, perhaps even pinning the entire fault on him.
Dugu Bo's death was left unresolved just like that.
After all, he was already dead.
A dead man with no friends or family—no one would look too closely into how he had died.
Qian Yu wasn't surprised by this outcome.
No matter how many rumors spread, they still couldn't shake anyone connected to Tang San.
That was how things stood.
He hadn't gone to all that trouble for nothing.
For now, all he needed to do was plant a thorn in the hearts of the various factions.
Once the time was right, that thorn would inevitably be discovered. Only then would its true power become clear.
Right now, the most important thing for them was to improve their own strength.
That was what mattered most.
The Spirit Bone obtained from Dugu Yan had already been delivered to Porcupinefish Douluo.
After receiving so many Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones in succession, Porcupinefish Douluo's cultivation and strength were both rising rapidly.
He had a good chance of becoming a Level 95 Titled Douluo within three years.
Snake Lance Douluo's improvement was also not to be underestimated.
Besides, Yan and Hu Liena were rapidly growing stronger as well. They had a chance of becoming Titled Douluo within five years, but Qian Yu felt that still wasn't enough. It was still too slow.
The only way to rapidly improve their strength was through Soul Bones.
However, under the current circumstances, hunting others for Soul Bones would be dangerous.
Qian Yu told them everything he knew about Soul Cores, then explained the process by which Dugu Bo had condensed his Poison Core. There was a good chance they could figure out how to create Soul Cores.
There was a more pressing matter to deal with now.
In a little over a month, he would be able to break through again. Then it would be time to hunt for a Soul Ring.
He wanted his fourth Soul Ring to be at least seventy thousand years old, but less than a hundred thousand.
Finding a suitable one would be very difficult.
Before you continue