Bad News

[Exited first-person perspective.]

[After her brief shock, Ning Rongrong suddenly brightened. Ning Fengzhi was Xue Qinghe's mentor, and now that Xue Qinghe had taken the throne, Ning Fengzhi was effectively Heaven Dou's state preceptor. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's standing had risen with him. As the girl saw it, the sect might soon regain its former glory!]

[But you didn't think so. Xue Ye had still been in his prime. His lust might have hollowed out his body, but with the Ye Family's Nine Heart Begonia, he should have lived another ten years at least. And Spirit Hall's elders and Enshrined Elders had all arrived in Heaven Dou Imperial City. Could the two events really be unrelated?]

[Yet while you and Ning Rongrong were eating at a restaurant, you overheard Soul Masters at the next table discussing the destruction of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Distraught over her family, Ning Rongrong immediately clashed with them. Afterward, those Soul Masters told you another version of Xue Ye's death.]

[Ning Fengzhi had plotted rebellion and sent Bone Douluo to assassinate Xue Ye. Fortunately, Spirit Hall's Enshrined Elders and elders had arrived in time to uphold justice for Xue Qinghe. Bone Douluo was dead; Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo were imprisoned on Yellow Dragon Mountain outside the Imperial City; and not one disciple or family member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had survived!]

[Neither you nor Ning Rongrong had the heart to weigh whether it was true. You immediately flew toward Heaven Dou Imperial City by Sword Control.]

[Halfway there, you came upon two groups of Soul Masters locked in a fierce battle. You had no intention of interfering until you spotted Tai Nuo of the Tang Sect's Strength Clan and Bai He, chief of the Speed Clan, among those being hunted. Remembering your connection to Tang San, you struck at once and killed every pursuer.]

[After saving Tai Nuo and Bai He, you asked why they were being hunted and what had happened in the city. Above all, you wanted to know what had become of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.]

[At your question, Tai Nuo—a man of iron will—shed two streams of bloody tears.]

[Drawing on the Speed Clan's swiftness and scouting ability, Bai He pieced together what had happened at Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.]

[That day, Xue Qinghe had invited Ning Fengzhi to the Eastern Palace to discuss affairs. Suspecting nothing, Ning Fengzhi went with Bone Douluo. But the moment they entered, three Super Douluo attacked them!]

[Ning Rongrong's face turned deathly pale.]

[Bai He continued. With Ning Fengzhi's immense boosts and Bone Douluo's final burst of strength, they had somehow held out against the three Super Douluo until Jian Chen arrived to help.]

[But Jian Chen's arrival changed nothing. In the end, Bone Douluo died on the spot, with not even his bones left behind. Sword Douluo lost an arm in battle, and even after his Soul Power broke through, he was no match for them.]

[Of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's two Douluo, one was dead and the other gravely wounded. With its sect master, Ning Fengzhi, captured as well, the sect was a host of dragons without a head.]

[Heaven Dou Imperial Family's Soul Master troops, aided by several Douluo, needed only two hours to wipe the thousand-year-old sect from the face of the earth.]

[That night, the screams of the sect's Soul Masters and their families rang out until dawn. By the next day, blood had stained dozens of miles of the city moat red.]

[Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo had suffered an even worse fate. They were still hanging on Yellow Dragon Mountain, tortured beyond recognition. Yet Xue Qinghe had ordered the head of the Ye Family to use his begonia Martial Soul to force them to stay alive. Even if Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo wanted to kill themselves, they could not.]

[At that, Ning Rongrong's eyes rolled back and she fainted. Holding her in your arms, you forced down your fury and motioned for Bai He to continue.]

[Bai He said that because of Tang San's connection to Ning Rongrong, the four old men had all wanted to help. But every one of them had underestimated Xue Qinghe's murderous intent.]

[After slaughtering the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Xue Qinghe turned his blade on the Tang Sect.]

[Another night of bloodshed followed...]

[Poison Douluo died in battle. His son led their entire clan to Yang Wushuang, and they became Xue Qinghe's lackeys.]

[In the Strength Clan, chief Tai Tan died in battle. Aside from Tai Nuo and the other disciples who had left the city for training, no one survived.]

[In the Defense Clan, chief Niu Gao died in battle. His entire family was slaughtered; not one survived.]

[In the Breaking Clan, chief Yang Wudi died in battle. Yang Wushuang took over as chief and used bloody methods to purge his opponents. The clan, too, had become Xue Qinghe's lackeys.]

[Thanks to his speed, Bai He escaped with several young clansmen and fled south. By chance, they encountered Tai Nuo on his way back to the city. Bai He told him everything, and Tai Nuo swallowed his grief and fled with them.]

[Bai He urged you to flee with them. As long as the green hills remained, there would be no shortage of firewood.]

[You could plan your revenge when Tang San and the others returned.]

[But you declined his kindness, picked up Ning Rongrong, and turned away.]

[Bai He warned you not to go back. Xue Qinghe had spared Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo only to lure you into his net. If you returned, Ning Fengzhi truly would die with his eyes open in regret!]

[You said nothing. Rather than head straight into Heaven Dou Imperial City, you took Ning Rongrong to a cave in a barren mountain. After entrusting her to Xiao Tian, you disguised yourself and slipped into the city.]

[You desperately hoped Bai He had lied. But after investigating, your heart sank to the bottom.]

[Everything Bai He had said was true. Reality was even crueler than he had described.]

[...]

At this point in the Simulation, Gao Yang fought down his fury and slapped his face again and again.

Calm down, calm down. It's only a Simulation. Don't get drawn in!

He had to do it. He feared that if he didn't calm down, he would go pick a fight with Spirit Hall himself...

At last, he understood why Tang San hated Spirit Hall to the bone.

His sect had been destroyed. The friends he had grown up with had been tortured to death. Elders who had treated him as their own had been humiliated.

All of it stirred a fury in Gao Yang that was almost impossible to contain.

Before he had crossed over, he could play the cool-headed observer and say Spirit Hall had done nothing wrong—that the road to unification was bound to be bloody.

Someone would always have to bleed.

But when it was his own side bleeding, he finally felt the pain!

"But why has the story gone so far off the rails...?"

Once he had calmed down, Gao Yang couldn't help muttering the question to himself.

Thinking back, the story seemed to have diverged from the original on the night Spirit Hall came to wipe out the sect.

It made sense.

Because of his presence in the Simulation, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had gained Xiao Tian, whose strength rivaled a Titled Douluo's.

Thanks to Xiao Tian, although the sect had been destroyed in Spirit Hall's assault, its high-level fighters had survived. Its foundations remained intact.

After Ning Fengzhi moved the sect to Heaven Dou Imperial City, Qian Renxue, who had been planning a palace coup, must have wanted to curse the moment she saw Sword and Bone Douluo...

Curse all she liked, Qian Renxue hadn't dared risk seeing years of effort flow away like water.

What had finally pushed Qian Renxue to act in the Simulation was probably the Blood Robe Edict plan he had proposed.

That plan would have dug out Spirit Hall's roots!

Gao Yang knew the original story inside out. In Douluo I, when it came to calling in reinforcements, no one dared claim first place if Qian Renxue claimed second.

Her mother was the Rakshasa God Inheritor, a powerhouse suspected to be a level-ninety-nine Peerless Douluo.

Her grandfather was the High Priest of Angel God, a genuine level-ninety-nine Peerless Douluo.

On top of that, she had the Six Super Douluo Grandfathers and a whole host of Titled Douluo from the Elder Hall...

"Come on, seriously—with that kind of fighting strength, why bother with a palace coup? Are you out of your mind? Have your grandfather fly one lap around the continent, and wouldn't the whole place belong to the Qian family?"

Jokes aside, Gao Yang genuinely admired Qian Renxue's caution.

Even with two Titled Douluo as her bodyguards, she had called in the Four Spirit Hall Consecrated Elders all at once!

Damn, she'd given Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo far too much credit...

But judging by the outcome, it had worked.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had been wiped out, the Tang Sect existed in name only, Xue Ye was dead, and Xue Qinghe—the man she impersonated—had taken the throne.

Now the whole of Heaven Dou lay within Spirit Hall's sphere of influence.