The school term always seemed to fly by. Gu Tian had awakened his Martial Soul in early July, and now he had been with the three girls for three months. There was only one month left until the end of the year.
Winter on the Douluo Continent always brought a biting dryness. The trees lining Nuoding City's streets had already shed all their leaves. But because Nuoding City was near the Tropic of Cancer, it never snowed there in winter.
With the end of the year approaching, the whole city was steeped in a festive, bustling atmosphere.
The pace of lessons at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy had slowed, too.
The school system on the Douluo Continent was rather unusual: there was only one long vacation each school year, the year-end holiday. Usually, during the month when one Douluo year gave way to the next, academies let their students return home to reunite with their families. After all, for many children who studied away from home year-round, it was their only chance to see their parents.
Gu Tian had spent that month in utter comfort. During the day, Tang San always hid in a corner of the classroom, glaring at him like a sewer rat, yet not daring to make a move. After school, Gu Tian took Xiao Wu, Gu Yue, and Na'er all over Nuoding City, sampling its delicacies. Life couldn't have been better.
Still, Gu Tian had a small knot in his heart. Meng Yiran, who had made that promise in Soul Hunting Forest, still hadn't shown up.
"Did Dragon Duke and Snake Matriarch go back on their word? Do they not plan to send her to this little academy after all?" Gu Tian sat in the classroom, propping up his chin as he muttered to himself. Meng Yiran was four years older than him, after all. She was already ten, so by rights, she ought to be studying at a higher-level academy.
Early one morning, just as Gu Tian reached the first-year classroom, a tall, spirited figure caught his eye.
She wore a practical, deep-purple outfit that outlined the beginnings of her graceful curves. Her long hair was tied in a high ponytail, giving her a bright, energetic look. Who else could it be but Meng Yiran?
"Little Brother Gu Tian!"
The instant Meng Yiran saw Gu Tian, delight burst into her bright eyes. Paying no mind to the curious looks from the other students, she hurried straight over to him, a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead.
"You finally came. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me." Gu Tian smiled warmly, teasing her.
Meng Yiran stopped in front of him, panting heavily for a few breaths. She wiped away her sweat and hurried to explain, "I didn't! How could I forget such a handsome little brother as you, Gu Tian? Something came up at home... Grandpa and Grandma only brought me here yesterday, but then they said they'd suddenly sensed that something terribly serious was about to happen in Nuoding City. The atmosphere felt oppressive. They said there might be trouble in the city and didn't want me to come, but I begged them for ages. In the end, they left in the middle of the night. Before they went, they only told me to come see you by myself and that we absolutely mustn't leave the academy."
Meng Yiran poured it all out in one breath, then bashfully twisted her fingers together, her voice growing quieter. "Gu Tian, have you been well lately? I've been working hard at cultivating every day. My Soul Power has finally stabilized at rank twelve!"
Gu Tian smiled, but inwardly he wondered: Dragon Duke and Snake Matriarch were such formidable figures. What could have happened to make them sense impending trouble and hurry away?
Just as Gu Tian was about to offer Meng Yiran a few words of comfort, Gu Yue, Na'er, and Xiao Wu came out of the classroom, curiously sizing up the unexpected guest.
Gu Tian looked at the three girls, each with her own distinct style, then at Meng Yiran, who stood a head taller than him. He rubbed his nose and said frankly, "Yiran, I haven't properly introduced you yet. This is Gu Yue, this is Na'er, and this is Xiao Wu." He paused, his tone becoming utterly casual yet earnest. "They're all my wives."
Gu Tian had no intention of hiding it, but he had expected Meng Yiran to fly into a rage when she heard the word "wives"—or at least look shocked. Instead, when she learned that the three stunning little girls were Gu Tian's family, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over to them.
"Wow! What adorable little sisters!" Meng Yiran was four years older than Gu Tian and the others, at an age when she couldn't resist anything cute and pretty. Seeing Xiao Wu's rabbit ears bobbing and Na'er's silver hair and violet eyes nearly melted her heart.
She really wasn't angry. Instead, she looked a little embarrassed as she said to Gu Tian, "Little Brother Gu Tian, even though you're... you're still so young and already have so many wives, they're really beautiful. I... I want to play with them, too. May I?"
Xiao Wu had initially looked a little hostile, but seeing how warm and friendly Meng Yiran was, like a big sister, she let down some of her guard.
Then the class bell rang. Since Meng Yiran had just transferred, she was given permission to sit behind Gu Tian.
While they waited for the teacher to arrive, Gu Tian turned around and asked in a low voice, "Yiran, what was the big event your grandparents mentioned? Did they have any clues?"
Meng Yiran shook her head in frustration, her long ponytail swaying with the movement. "I don't know, either. Grandpa looked very grave as he watched the sky yesterday. He only said, 'The rain is coming.' He told me not to leave the academy grounds for a while, and especially not to leave your sight. He said the safest place was here at the academy, by your side."
"Xiao Tian, don't you know what happened last night?" Ao Linxi's voice came through, tinged with exasperation. "Something nearly world-ending happened last night. I'd already contacted Gu Yuena and arranged for her to whisk you away immediately if necessary."
Gu Tian scratched his head. He couldn't remember anything about what had happened the night before.
All he remembered was thinking of Grandma back in the fields again, then falling fast asleep in Chiyan's arms. After that, he remembered nothing.
"Sigh! What am I going to do with you, you little rascal?" Ao Linxi realized that Gu Tian truly had no idea what had happened, and began to explain...
"Last night..."
The night before, a rare blood moon had appeared over the Heaven Dou Empire. The night in Nuoding City had remained peaceful, but dozens of miles away, on the border of Fasinuo Province, Holy Soul Village was undergoing a devastating ordeal that would shake the entire Douluo Continent.
The crimson blood moon stained the heaps of rubble on the hill behind Holy Soul Village a deep, dusky red. The once-quiet village was now utterly still. Birds had vanished, and beasts fled in terror. The air was thick with a suffocating weight, as if the gravity in the area had suddenly multiplied several times over.
At the entrance to Holy Soul Village stood an old, dilapidated smithy. A tall figure stood quietly outside, gazing into the distance.
He wore a ragged gray robe. Years of drinking and neglect had left his hair a tangled mess, hanging over a face etched with hardship and dejection. But at that moment, his once-dull eyes were like two ghostly flames burning in the dark, blazing with a light that made spirits and gods tremble.
He was Tang Hao, once feared throughout the land and hailed as the youngest Titled Douluo on the Douluo Continent: Clear Sky Douluo.
"I've hidden for six years. What's coming will come." Tang Hao's voice was hoarse. He lowered his head slightly and looked at a trembling clump of Blue Silver Grass on the ground. His eyes brimmed with the most tender, bitter affection.
"Second Martial Soul! Breaking the Cocoon battle song! Begin!"
A melody sounded from somewhere beside Tang Hao, breaking the silence of the night.
"When you open your eyes in a nightmare~"
"Face this cruel world head-on~"
Tang Hao gripped the Clear Sky Hammer. This hammer was somewhat different from Tang San's. Its head was larger, and a red glow flowed across its surface.
In the direction Tang Hao was watching, something suddenly changed without warning. A pitch-black shadow swept over the sky and swallowed the blood moon.
Five pillars of light, each a different color yet equally terrifying, descended from the sky. They took up positions at five points around the hill behind the village, trapping Tang Hao in their center.
"Tang Hao, six years without seeing you, and you've fallen so far. I'm truly disappointed, you know."
A shrill, effeminate laugh laced with mockery cut through the sky. Golden light flashed, and a flamboyant man in ornate golden armor slowly appeared. His slender fingers held an enormous Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, while the fingers of his other hand crossed in a delicate orchid-finger pose.
"Why waste words on him? His Holiness the Pope ordered us to kill him on sight."
Beside the effeminate man's figure, a cloud of black smoke gathered strangely and formed a man shrouded in shadow. He wore black, made from an unusual matte fabric that reflected no light at all. Only his pair of eerie green eyes betrayed the aura of death: Ghost Douluo Gui Mei.
They weren't the only ones.
Directly above Tang Hao, a silver-haired woman hovered in the air, holding an old-fashioned longbow.
On Tang Hao's left and right stood two nearly identical figures, each holding a dark-red staff carved with a golden dragon.
"Spirit Hall's lackeys, state your names. Let me see which little punks would dare come here looking for trouble!" Tang Hao pulled off the cloak over his head and summoned nine Soul Rings. The ninth was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, standing out conspicuously in the night.
"Hmph! Apart from that girly sissy, aren't the rest of you going to introduce yourselves?"