"If you fancy her, have your elder brother go through the motions. Once the deed is done, she'll be your wife."

First Elder Tang Wei of the Clear Sky Sect led Tang Xiao away in the opposite direction of Star Luo City.

The two had only just departed from the city.

Tang Xiao suddenly came to a halt, ripped the human-skin mask from his face, and revealed a visage that appeared to be in his thirties.

It was not Tang Xiao at all!

Yet, he bore a sixty-percent resemblance to him.

This was, in fact, Tang Hao!

"That was suffocating!"

He rubbed his cheeks vigorously and let out a long, foul breath, his tone filled with irritation. "That Chen Fan, isn't he just relying on Chen Jianjun to back him up?"

"A fox borrowing a tiger's might! If Grandfather were here, he would have crushed that Chen Jianjun instantly!"

Tang Wei paused his steps, turned around, and cast a glance at him. "The Sect Master has far too many matters to attend to; why would we need to disturb him for such a triviality?"

"I just can't stand the way he acts like a petty man who has gained power."

After a brief pause, Tang Hao curled his lip. "And this human-skin mask—it feels incredibly uncomfortable."

"Making it look so young, I'm truly speechless!"

Tang Wei ignored his complaints and shifted the subject, his tone deepening. "Tang Hao, what do you think of the eldest princess of the Dai Family?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Hao was slightly taken aback. "First Elder, what do you mean by that?"

"Although your eldest brother has no desire to take a wife, this matter was, after all, a pact made between the previous Star Luo Emperor and your grandfather..."

"The eldest grandson of the Sect Master and the eldest granddaughter of the previous Star Luo Emperor—a powerful union through marriage."

Tang Chen's eldest grandson was Tang Xiao.

And this Dai Yue was the eldest granddaughter of the previous Star Luo Emperor.

However.

The current Tang Xiao was solely focused on the training journey he planned to begin in the latter half of the year; he had absolutely no thoughts in that direction.

Yet, the ancestors' pact could not be broken, and the Clear Sky Sect was currently in a difficult transition period, unable to field a single Title Douluo above level ninety, aside from Tang Chen.

After careful deliberation, the Young Sect Master Tang Cang had come up with this idea!

He had found a Spirit Master to craft a human-skin mask of Tang Xiao, intending for Tang Hao to wear it and simply go through the motions.

Even if they were discovered, they could easily make the excuse that it was Tang Hao acting on his own initiative, unrelated to the sect's official stance, and thus avoid souring relations with the Star Luo Imperial Family.

But who could have known?

Due to certain reasons, the Spirit Master had slipped up and made the mask look much younger, appearing to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.

It was too late to remake it.

After weighing his options, Tang Cang ultimately decided to let Tang Hao wear the mask and go through with the charade.

As for why he didn't let Tang Xiao go himself...

The current Tang Xiao was forty-five years old, with a spirit power level of seventy-eight as a Power Attack System Spirit Saint.

If he went in his true form, Tang Cang feared that Dai Li would force the marriage. Given the current situation, he could not afford to offend the Star Luo Imperial Family, which was why he had devised this method in the first place.

And letting Tang Xiao wear the mask... that was also inappropriate!

Dai Li was a long-renowned level eighty-nine Spirit Douluo. At close range, he would easily detect Tang Xiao's true spirit power fluctuations, risking exposure.

Furthermore, having the face of a teenager while possessing the spirit power of a level seventy-plus Spirit Saint was simply too absurd, further increasing the risk of being exposed.

Once uncovered, Tang Cang would not be able to use the excuse that Tang Hao had acted on his own, making it very easy to sour relations with the Star Luo Imperial Family.

That would not serve Tang Cang's interests once he succeeded as Sect Master.

Tang Hao, however, was thirty-five years old with a spirit power level of sixty-two; if exposed, they could still claim it was Tang Hao's own doing, distancing the sect from the incident.

"If you are interested, we can have your eldest brother go through the motions, and once the matter is settled, it can be transferred to you as your wife."

Hearing this, Tang Hao's brow furrowed even tighter, and he was about to refuse.

Tang Wei waved his hand and continued, "Both you and your eldest brother are currently being targeted by Spirit Hall. If you can marry into the Star Luo Imperial Family, it will at least make them wary."

"After all, although the Star Luo Empire no longer has a Title Douluo to hold the fort, its mid-level Spirit Master strength is vast, which is a force the Clear Sky Sect cannot ignore."

"I suspect the Seven Kill Sect dares not act rashly precisely because they have considered this."

"The Dai Family controls at least forty percent of the Star Luo Empire's Spirit Masters. If the Seven Kill Sect truly dared to wipe out the entire Dai Family, those people would trample the Seven Kill Sect into the ground."

"Even if they couldn't trample them, unless every single disciple of the Seven Kill Sect had a Title Douluo guarding them, once they were alone, heh..."

This was likely the reason why, despite the two great empires being utterly corrupt, no one dared to challenge their majesty.

Throughout history, the Han Dynasty could muster loyal and foolishly devoted subjects for three or four hundred years; the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires surely lacked no such people, though there might, of course, be other reasons.

Tang Wei finished speaking and looked directly at Tang Hao.

The air remained silent for two and a half seconds.

Tang Hao shook his head. "Forget it. I am going out to train with my eldest brother in the second half of the year. As for marriage... let's talk about it later."

To someone like him who had never seen much of the world, that sweet smile from Dai Yue earlier had nearly sent his heart into a chaotic flutter.

Yet, the moment he thought of this as nothing more than a political marriage... Tang Hao felt a sense of revulsion.

Therefore...

Tang Wei glanced at him, but did not speak again.

The two moved one after the other, their figures quickly vanishing from sight.

By the time they arrived at the Clear Sky Sect, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

The disciples guarding the mountain gate saw Tang Wei and Tang Hao return and hurriedly saluted, "First Elder!"

"Has the Sect Master returned?"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of those disciples turned strange; they looked as if they were hiding something, hesitating to speak.

"What is it?"

The gate-guarding disciples exchanged glances, and finally, the one in the lead braced himself and spoke, "First Elder, not long after you left yesterday, the Sect Master returned, but..."

"But what?"

"After the Sect Master returned, the first thing he did was announce his formal resignation, with the Young Sect Master taking over the position."

Tang Wei's movements froze.

He stood rooted to the spot, the expression on his face solidified as if frozen in a single moment.

Behind him, Tang Hao was also stunned; his lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Yesterday, just after we left... the Sect Master returned?"

"Yes."

"Did he say anything?"

"The old Sect Master said... he is getting on in years and it is time to rest."

Tang Wei took a deep breath, trying to suppress the agitation in his heart.

But...

He simply couldn't suppress it!

Tang Chen had abdicated, and Tang Cang had succeeded as Sect Master!

Now, what were they to do about the Seven Kill Sect?

Without Tang Chen, the Clear Sky Sect simply could not produce an existence of the same level to confront Chen Jianjun!

In the Taihe Hall of the Star Luo Imperial Palace, the might of those two sword strikes from Chen Jianjun had been enough to make it impossible for anyone to even conceive of resisting!

Tang Wei had lived for so many years, and he had only ever felt that kind of power from one person.

That person was Tang Chen!

But now... Tang Chen was gone, so what were they to do?