"Oh, Yu Great Shit refuses to accept the Sky Screen again?!"
The instant Yu Xiaogang finished speaking, Ning Rongrong immediately challenged him:
"Then tell me, what makes you so certain the Clear Sky Hammer is a top-level martial soul?!"
Yu Xiaogang had already expected her to argue.
He immediately trotted out the theory he had copied... pfft, researched:
"As everyone knows, a martial soul's quality is overwhelmingly likely to determine a Soul Master's ceiling!"
"If the Clear Sky Hammer weren't an absolutely top-level martial soul, how could it have produced so many Titled Douluo?"
"How could it have produced a Peerless Douluo like Tang Chen, or the youngest Titled Douluo of that era, Tang... Clear Sky Douluo!"
He remembered Tang Hao's explicit warning not to expose his identity, so he changed course at the end of the name.
"Hmph, what a load of bullshit!"
Ning Rongrong was just about to retort again.
But a cool female voice rang out first:
"That isn't necessarily true! According to historical records, the Clear Sky Sect and the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul have indeed been passed down for ten thousand years, but before Tang Chen emerged, they were only ever considered middling!"
Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward slowly, her dark eyes calm and unruffled, every word crisp and clear:
"The Clear Sky Sect's true rise to power came precisely after Tang Chen created the Five Great Clear Sky Secret Techniques!"
"From then on, the Clear Sky Sect's Soul Masters completely abandoned their soul ring skills, relying entirely on secret techniques instead. That alone shows their soul ring skills were inferior to those techniques!
"Think about it, everyone. Apart from using the seventh soul skill, Clear Sky True Body, have the most famous wielders of the Clear Sky Hammer ever used any other soul ring skills?!"
At those words, everyone fell silent.
Thinking it over carefully, that really did seem to be the case!
"Besides, the Sky Screen explicitly stated that the sect's frequent emergence of Titled Douluo largely depended on secret techniques accelerating their cultivation, rather than the inherent quality of the martial soul itself!"
Zhu Zhuqing stared at Yu Xiaogang and continued:
"As for that Clear Sky Douluo, beyond his own talent and the support of the Clear Sky secret techniques, an even more important reason for his rapid advancement was his soul bones!"
"Supposedly, he has a complete set of six soul bones, all at least ten-thousand-year grade! Other Soul Masters are nowhere near having that, so naturally he far surpassed them!"
"Without those soul bones as his foundation, his breakthrough to Titled Douluo would have been delayed by at least ten years!!"
As her words fell, a deathly silence blanketed the scene.
Everyone stood frozen, their faces filled with shock.
No one had expected Zhu Zhuqing to know so many sect secrets.
Moreover, her reasoning was clear, every sentence hit the mark, and each stabbed straight into Yu Xiaogang's weak spot.
"You! Y-you! That's bullshit!!!"
Yu Xiaogang's lips moved for a long while, but he simply could not refute her and could only stubbornly bark a curse.
"Ahem... all right, all right!"
Seeing this, Flender hurried forward to smooth things over:
"Let's watch the other Manga World before drawing any conclusions!"
Zhao Wuji quickly nodded along, laughing awkwardly in his rough voice:
"Right, right, right, let's watch the other world, the other world!"
They were not speaking entirely on Yu Xiaogang's behalf.
The more important reason was that Tang Hao had taught the two of them a lesson only a few days ago, and he might very well still be hiding nearby!
If that fellow heard Zhu Zhuqing's disparaging words and became enraged, they would be in trouble!
"Ning Rongrong! Zhu Zhuqing!"
Unable to swallow his anger, Yu Xiaogang pointed at the two girls, his eyes bloodshot as he panted like an ox:
"Just wait! The other world will definitely prove that the Clear Sky Hammer is a top-level martial soul worthy of its name!"
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing snorted coldly and looked up at the Sky Screen.
Tang San had watched the entire argument and could not help clenching his left hand.
The Clear Sky Hammer?
My second martial soul is also a hammer. Could it be connected to this Clear Sky Hammer?!
Meanwhile.
At the Clear Sky Sect, on the snowy mountain's main peak.
The elders erupted the instant they saw the Sky Screen's contents!
"Bullshit! Utter bullshit!!"
The perpetually hot-tempered seventh elder, Tang Lie, roared, his voice resounding across the Clear Sky Sect's entire snowy main peak:
"Our Clear Sky Hammer is the number one tool martial soul under heaven! How could it possibly not even qualify as top-level?!"
The other elders were equally indignant, their faces flushed red:
"Saying our Clear Sky Hammer relies on the Clear Sky secret techniques? Nonsense!"
"Even without the Clear Sky secret techniques, our Clear Sky Hammer would still be invincible in this world!!"
Yet as they cursed, their voices gradually faded.
In their place came a heavy despair that pressed down so hard they could scarcely breathe.
The Sky Screen had mentioned only those of them present. From beginning to end, it had not said a single word about Tang Chen.
"Uncle... could Uncle really have..."
The second elder's voice trembled, and his whole body trembled with it:
"Otherwise, with his strength, how could the Sky Screen not mention him at all?!"
Something else chilled their hearts even more!
If Spirit Hall saw this information, would it send its forces straight at them?!
Back then, only the lingering might of their uncle had kept Spirit Hall from completely annihilating the Clear Sky Sect!
If Tang Chen's death were confirmed, how could the ambitious Spirit Hall possibly spare them?!
"Everyone, remain calm!!"
Just as panic spread, Tang Xiao's steady voice rang across the mountaintop.
Though his heart was equally heavy and his brow carried a measure of solemnity, he did not lose his composure:
"The Sky Screen's failure to mention Grandfather doesn't mean he has passed away!"
"It's quite possible that he has been away from the sect for so long that the Sky Screen no longer counts him as a member!"
"Just like Brother Hao... Tang Hao. He was expelled from the sect years ago, and hasn't he likewise been excluded from our foundations?"
Everyone paused, then looked up, a glimmer flashing in their eyes.
"Furthermore!"
Tang Xiao gazed at the Sky Screen with a measure of certainty:
"The Sky Screen has repeatedly exposed Spirit Hall's attacks on the other two sects, which must already have provoked widespread outrage. How would it dare act rashly at a time like this?!"
"Our world doesn't have Grandfather standing guard, but the Clear Sky Sect in the other world might not have him either! We won't necessarily lose the Sky Screen's comparison!"
"Besides, it's also possible that information about Grandfather will be revealed later!"
His words were clear and well reasoned.
In an instant, they swept away more than half the gloom weighing on everyone's hearts.
"That's right! Tang Xiao is right!!"
The five elders instantly regained their fighting spirit and looked toward the Sky Screen:
"As long as we win the comparison and get the Sky Screen's reward, why the hell should we fear Spirit Hall?!"
"Even if Uncle really is gone, we can rely on ourselves to forge the Clear Sky Sect's glory anew!!"
Just two and a half seconds later, the Sky Screen suddenly lit up.
Dazzling golden light instantly drew the gazes of living beings in both worlds.
The words on the Sky Screen changed, and new lines of content unfolded:
[Clear Sky Sect (Manga World)] [Faction foundations: The foremost of the Upper Three Sects among the Douluo Continent's Seven Great Sects, with several hundred clan Soul Master disciples, one Super Douluo elder, and six Titled Douluo elders. The sect's legacy spans ten thousand years, and its inherited martial soul is the Clear Sky Hammer, a power attack system tool martial soul "claimed to be number one under heaven." At its birth, the Clear Sky Hammer was not a top-level martial soul, but merely an ordinary iron hammer martial soul. However, through his own absolute strength, the Clear Sky Ancestor pushed through to the near-god level and forcibly elevated the Clear Sky Hammer's quality to the top level. It became an unquestionably supreme top-level tool martial soul, capable of suppressing every tool martial soul below god level, including the Seven Kill Sword, reputed to possess the number one offensive power under heaven. Before the Clear Sky Ancestor passed away, he left behind the original versions of the Five Great Clear Sky Secret Techniques he had created (Ring Detonation, Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, Great Sumeru Hammer, Sky-Piercing Strike, and Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer), along with a strand of his own divine soul and eight Heaven and Earth soul rings. He sealed them within Bright Moon Mountain, the Clear Sky Sect's home, creating the mountain-guarding "Immortal Legacy · Eight Hammers Barrier Formation," which could be activated to shelter later generations in times of crisis. His divine soul itself served as the mountain-guarding formation's energy source and core! (This is Mu Fengchun's derivative creation for the manga version, taken from the extra chapter following chapter 339 of the manga.) This formation has several miraculous effects when activated. First is spatial concealment: it completely covers Bright Moon Mountain, the Clear Sky Sect's home, distorting the surrounding space and soul power signatures to conceal the sect entirely. Even Peerless Douluo-level powerhouses cannot penetrate the formation to investigate conditions within. Second is multilayered defense: the eight Heaven and Earth soul rings serve as formation anchors to construct multiple layers of energy barriers, making the formation extremely difficult to break. Even if a concentrated assault breaches a local area, the formation can automatically absorb the soul power of heaven and earth to restore itself rapidly. Third is sealing both within and without: it seals soul power fluctuations inside the sect, preventing the auras of its top powerhouses from leaking out and exposing their strength, thereby avoiding outside attention! Its specific combat power will be introduced in detail during the combat power portion of the second round of comparisons.]
Before you continue