"No! Brother! I'm not leaving! I'll stay here and live or die with you! I'm leaving the Breaking Clan too!"
After saying that, Yang Wushuang turned to the clan members and said:
"Today's matter has nothing to do with you. It's a personal choice between my brother and me. Go to Spirit Hall. With your ability to refine medicine, they won't make things difficult for you!"
The Yang brothers' loyalty and affection stirred the Breaking Clan. The members, who had been itching for a fight, instantly felt as if they'd been injected with chicken blood and shouted in unison:
"We swear to live or die with the clan leader!"
"We swear to live or die with the clan leader!"
Qian Xunqian greatly admired Yang Wudi and decided to personally bring this tough nut around.
She stepped through the air, golden lotuses blooming beneath her feet with each step, and walked toward Clear Sky Sect.
Everyone looked up at her in awe. She seemed like a goddess descended from the heavens, sacred and majestic.
"Good! Then I'll grant your wish! I won't use numbers to bully the few, either. How about a one-on-one duel between you and me?"
Yang Wudi looked at Qian Xunqian in confusion.
"Don't rush me. I haven't finished speaking. I have conditions for this duel. If you win, I'll spare everyone here and promise never to trouble Clear Sky Sect again. I'll only hold Tang Hao responsible!"
"And if I lose?"
"If you lose, you'll join Spirit Hall and become one of our elders!"
As she spoke, seven Soul Rings appeared around her: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black. The aura of a Soul Saint came fully into view.
Yang Wudi pondered for a long time. He looked at the "ordinary" Soul Saint before him, then at himself—a level 85 Soul Douluo. Although something felt off, he still followed his heart's desire and decided to fight Qian Xunqian.
"Good! I accept!"
Yang Wudi summoned his Martial Soul: the Soul Breaking Spear.
The Breaking Clan focused entirely on offense, never defense, honing their attacks to the utmost. In the original story, Yang Wudi, a Soul Douluo, could even fight a Titled Douluo.
Brother Yang used the Soul Breaking Spear to kill a Titled Douluo in one blow, yet insisted he only had eight rings.
"Break Technique!" Yang Wudi held his breath and focused, compressing all his Soul Power into the Soul Breaking Spear, then slowly forcing it toward the tip.
The tip of the Soul Breaking Spear gathered all of Yang Wudi's Soul Power.
If the thrust landed, his opponent would either die or be crippled. If it missed, he himself would either die or be crippled.
"World-Breaking God-Slaying Spear!"
Yang Wudi's most powerful single-target attack could tear through space and ignore most Soul Power shields and Martial Soul defenses. It could even pierce a Titled Douluo's Tool Soul Avatar head-on.
As a spiritual-type Soul Master, Qian Xunqian was the natural counter to a Power Attack System Soul Master like Yang Wudi, who focused solely on offense. One Spiritual Shock, and he wouldn't even be able to thrust his spear.
However, to win over this opponent once and for all, Qian Xunqian confidently chose to meet force with force.
"Angel Avatar!"
A gigantic Angel Eye appeared behind her.
"Divine Exorcism!"
This was Qian Xunqian's Self-Created Soul Skill. She compressed light energy again and again, gathering it at a single point before firing a Shockwave packed with tremendous power through the eye.
It dealt one hundred percent true damage, ignoring shields and armor. Not only was its physical destructive power immense, it could also strike directly at an opponent's spirit.
Qian Xunqian's golden Shockwave collided with the Soul Breaking Spear, triggering a violent explosion.
When the smoke cleared, everyone looked on.
Qian Xunqian's sacred, flawless face showed not a hint of disturbance. Yang Wudi, on the other hand, was panting heavily, his Soul Power completely exhausted.
Only then did everyone see Qian Xunqian's heaven-defying Soul Ring Configuration:
Purple, purple, black, black, black, red, white.
Although her Seventh Soul Ring was white, everyone had felt its tremendous power. Naturally, they couldn't believe such a powerful Soul Skill came from a white ring. It had to be a Soul Ring that surpassed even a hundred-thousand-year red ring!
"Alas... I lost."
Tai Tan roared:
"You cheated! You hid your Soul Ring Configuration and made Brother Yang think you were just an ordinary Soul Saint! You're despicable!"
Qian Xunqian magnanimously admitted it:
"Senior Yang, I did use a little trick in this wager and deceive you. The wager doesn't count! I won't force you to join Spirit Hall if you don't want to."
Yang Wudi looked at Qian Xunqian with a complicated expression and asked:
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Senior Yang, you fought me to the death. That's enough to honor your brotherly bond with the sect master of Clear Sky Sect. Your clan's Soul Breaking Spear is no less powerful than the Clear Sky Hammer when it comes to offense. Why give your life for a Clear Sky Sect that abandoned you?"
Having Yang Wudi fight her was also a way of giving him a step down. Whether he was willing to take it was up to him.
After saying that, Qian Xunqian displayed her Second Martial Soul: Aromatic Silk Beauty.
"This... This is!" The members of the Breaking Clan grew agitated.
Yang Wushuang was gasping heavily, his voice trembling as he spoke. "Th-this is Aromatic Silk Beauty!"
"No! It's an Aromatic Silk Beauty Martial Soul!" Yang Wudi said slowly.
As soon as Yang Wudi finished speaking, Qian Xunqian took out another little flower. It was an Aromatic Silk Beauty she had carefully cultivated.
She hadn't picked the one growing by the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Aromatic Silk Beauty's fragrance could speed up the growth of immortal herbs, so she had used its seeds along with her own Martial Soul to cultivate a smaller one.
Its fragrance didn't spread as far, but it was more than enough for the Breaking Clan to use in refining medicine.
In the end, Yang Wudi decided to submit to Spirit Hall.
Tai Tan stamped his foot in fury. "Old Goat, you traitor! How can you join Spirit Hall? Have you forgotten the sect master's kindness?"
Yang Wudi spoke:
"Tang Zhen abandoned us, which was unjust in the first place. I did everything I could to fight His Holiness the Pope, and that's already repaid his kindness. Besides, all is fair in war. Even if His Holiness the Pope did set things up beforehand, I lost the wager, so by rights I have to join Spirit Hall! Still, I can swear that even after joining Spirit Hall, I will never oppose Clear Sky Sect in this life!"
Qian Xunqian nodded with a smile and said gently:
"Spirit Hall respects personal freedom."
Just like that, the Breaking Clan left Clear Sky Sect without hesitation and entered the embrace of Spirit Hall. After Yang Wudi received the Aromatic Silk Beauty, he took a huge whiff without a care for appearances.
His face took on an ecstatic look, as if he were high.
"It really is Aromatic Silk Beauty! The residual poison in my body is completely gone!"
"Brother! Let me have a whiff!" Yang Wushuang carefully took the Aromatic Silk Beauty and, like his elder brother, took a big sniff.
Just like that, the members of the Breaking Clan took turns having a whiff of the Aromatic Silk Beauty.
After each of them had their turn, they reluctantly and very carefully passed it to the next person, handling it so gently that they seemed afraid it might get knocked or damaged.
"Thank you, Your Holiness the Pope, for bestowing this immortal herb! The Breaking Clan is endlessly grateful!"
Qian Xunqian gave a slight nod, then turned her gaze to the two remaining single-attribute clans.
"Bai He, Tai Tan, what have the two of you decided?"
Although Bai He was the brother-in-law of Tang Zhen, the recently deceased sect master of Clear Sky Sect, he was treated worse than an ordinary inner disciple. His sister was nominally Tang Zhen's wife, but in reality, she was little more than a childbearing tool for passing down the Clear Sky Hammer.
Otherwise, why would the Speed Clan have remained a subsidiary force all their lives?
Now that Old Rhino and Old Goat had both defected, he was honestly considering surrendering too. The problem was that his identity was far too sensitive.