Outside the poisonous miasma, the two Spirit Hall Soul Masters waited for a quarter of an hour, but there was still not the slightest movement within.
"That brat... should be completely dead by now, right?" Uncertainty tinged the leopard woman's voice.
The snake Soul Master glanced at the Soul Beast skeletons near the miasma and said with certainty, "Even Soul Beasts can't last half a quarter of an hour in this poisonous miasma. That brat is undoubtedly dead. Let's report back to the bishop and tell him the target has been eliminated."
With that, the two figures flickered and swiftly vanished into the depths of the forest.
Elsewhere, Tang Yun was running for his life through the dense forest.
The presence of the two Soul Kings behind him clung like rot to the bone, cold and powerful. Every fluctuation of Soul Power sent a chill down his back.
Tang Yun was only a rank-thirty-one Soul Elder; the gulf between him and two Soul Kings was enormous. But his instinct to survive sustained him. The Clear Sky Hammer rested in his palm, his fingers gripping its handle so tightly they turned white.
Just as Tang Yun passed through a thick patch of bushes, two black-robed figures suddenly flashed into view ahead, blocking his path.
They were the two Soul Masters who had surrounded Tang Feng earlier: the snake and the leopard.
"Heh heh heh..." The snake Soul Master let out a sinister laugh. "Little brat, your brother has already died at our hands. Why aren't you surrendering?"
Tang Yun's heart jolted, and he stumbled. Then his veins bulged as he roared at them, "Despicable! Don't think you can fool me! How could a disciple of our Clear Sky Sect die so easily at the hands of rats like you!"
"Fool you?" The leopard woman licked the blood from her claw blades, her smile cruel. "That brat was struck by our deadly poison and then charged deep into the poisonous miasma. By now, he's probably dissolved into a puddle of pus, without even a bone left. Want to join him?"
The snake Soul Master laughed even more wildly, his voice brimming with malice. "I watched him fall with my own eyes. His eyes were still wide open, too. Tsk, tsk, what a shame. Such fine talent..."
Those words pierced Tang Yun's heart like blades. He recalled the scenes of fighting shoulder to shoulder with Tang Feng. Grief and fury overwhelmed him, his eyes threatening to split as they instantly turned bloodshot.
"Impossible!!!"
Tang Yun roared. The Clear Sky Hammer trembled violently in his hand, and his Soul Power surged as though running wild.
"I'll make you join him in death!"
His reason devoured by grief and rage, Tang Yun bellowed and was about to charge forward to perish together with the two Soul Masters.
Just then, a furious shout exploded like thunder: "You vile creatures, how dare you!"
An enormous Clear Sky Hammer descended from the sky, eight Soul Rings coiling around it. Its terrifying pressure seemed to freeze the very air. Before the two Spirit Hall Soul Masters could even react, the massive hammer struck them with the full force of a Soul Douluo's blow.
"BOOM!!!"
Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the sound of shattering bones rang out clearly. Without even a scream, the two Soul Masters were reduced beneath the hammer to two heaps of mangled flesh embedded deep in the ground.
Tang Yun abruptly looked up to see Fifth Elder Tang Rui descending like a god, followed by five powerful sect members, including Tang Yan and Tang Yue. They had clearly tracked the signals all the way here, their faces filled with chilling murderous intent and anxiety.
"Fifth Elder!" Tang Yun choked out.
"Where's Tang Feng?!" Tang Rui seized Tang Yun's shoulders, his eyes scarlet.
Tang Yun said in a trembling voice, "He... he was struck by deadly poison, and those two beasts forced him into the poisonous miasma. By now, I'm afraid he's already..."
"What?!"
Everyone who had rushed over felt as though lightning had struck them. Tang Yan's eyes instantly turned blood-red. With a furious roar, he surged forward, charging straight at the two pursuing Soul Kings.
The two Soul Kings had already grown fearful at the arrival of the Clear Sky Sect's experts. Now, their livers and gall nearly split with terror as they turned to flee.
"Where do you think you're going?! Pay for my nephew's life!"
Tang Yan's Clear Sky Hammer grew as massive as a mountain. His Seventh Soul Ring blazed with black light as his Martial Soul Avatar manifested. His hammer crashed down, shaking the earth and mountains. The two Soul Kings could not even resist before they were smashed into a mist of blood.
"Go! We must save Tang Zheng and Tang Lan!" Tang Rui forcibly suppressed his grief, knowing this was no time to mourn.
Ten kilometers away, Tang Zheng and Tang Lan were under siege by Spirit Hall experts led by two Soul Douluos.
Both were drenched in blood. Though their hammer techniques were fierce, they were steadily driven back before Soul Douluo-level experts. Just as they were about to give out, the Fifth Elder's furious shout rang out:
"Who dares harm the disciples of my Clear Sky Sect!"
Tang Rui's Clear Sky Hammer transformed into a hundred-meter-long hammer and smashed down toward the leading Soul Douluo's head.
The Soul Douluo's expression changed drastically. He hastily unleashed his Eighth Soul Skill to defend, only to be sent flying backward, coughing blood from the impact.
"It's an elder of the Clear Sky Sect! Retreat!" the other Soul Douluo cried out.
Though they, too, were Soul Douluos, they were merely ordinary low-ranking ones, while the Clear Sky Sect's Soul Douluos possessed combat strength far beyond others of the same rank. Moreover, reinforcements had already arrived for their opponents. If they kept fighting, they might truly perish here.
"Trying to leave? Leave your lives behind!" Tang Rui's eyes blazed with fury.
But the two Soul Douluos were decisive men. They simultaneously activated their Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar, weathered a blow head-on, and fled in panic with their battered remaining forces.
The Fifth Elder did not pursue them; saving lives took priority. He hurriedly examined Tang Zheng's and Tang Lan's injuries. Though both were gravely wounded, fortunately, their lives were not in danger.
"Elder... Tang Feng..." Tang Lan said weakly.
Tang Rui's voice was low. "Alive, we must see him; dead, we must see his body. Come, let's search by the poisonous miasma again!"
The group searched along Tang Feng's escape route and soon discovered the multicolored poisonous miasma, along with signs of battle at its edge: broken trees, shattered rocks, and blackened marks left all over the ground by corrosive snake venom.
"Feng'er!" Tang Rui called loudly from outside the poisonous miasma. Its poison was exceptionally potent; even he could not enter.
Within the poisonous miasma, there was nothing but extremely corrosive fumes. Tang Yun knelt beside the blood-soaked rock and picked up the half-mask, tears falling like rain.
"Elder... Little Feng... he really..."
Staring at the mask, Tang Rui clenched his fists and let out a long howl toward the sky, his voice filled with grief and fury. "Spirit Hall! If I, Tang Rui, fail to avenge this, I swear I am unworthy of being human!"
In the end, however, reason overcame his anger. Tang Yan said gravely, "Elder, we shouldn't linger here. Spirit Hall's Titled Douluos could arrive at any moment. If we don't leave now, we'll all be in danger."
Tang Rui remained silent for a long time before forcing a few words through his clenched teeth. "Retreat... back to the ancestral grounds."
He took one last look into the depths of the poisonous miasma and swore inwardly, Feng'er, if your heroic spirit has yet to disperse, watch as your grandfather and the sect master exact repayment for this blood debt!
The group flickered into motion and soon disappeared into the depths of the mountain forest.
In the main hall of the Martial Soul Temple in Heaven Dou City.
Platinum Bishop Salas still sat behind his desk.
"What did you say?"
The shadow guard kneeling below on one knee was covered in blood, clearly having endured a great battle.
Terrified and uneasy, the shadow guard spoke hoarsely. "Your Excellency, we pursued the remnants of the Clear Sky Sect as ordered and were just about to succeed when... when powerful reinforcements from the Clear Sky Sect suddenly arrived.
"The old man leading them had a terrifying presence. He was at least a peak Soul Douluo, perhaps... perhaps even a Titled Douluo!"
"A Titled Douluo?!" Salas shot to his feet. "The Clear Sky Sect actually dared send out a Titled Douluo? Have they forgotten the agreement from back then?!"
Salas strode down from the dais and seized the shadow guard by the collar, his gaze as vicious as a wolf's. "Where are they? Where are the people I wanted? Did you capture those Clear Sky Sect brats?"
The shadow guard lowered his head, his voice almost inaudible. "I have failed you... the targets... the targets escaped."
"Escaped?!" Salas slammed him to the floor and paced back and forth in a fury. "You useless fools couldn't even bring back two teenage brats?"
The shadow guard said in a trembling voice, "Please calm your anger, Your Excellency. Those two brats were... were forced into the poisonous miasma deep within Sunset Forest. Even Soul Douluos dare not venture deep into it. We judged that they were certain to die."
"What I want is evidence! Living captives!" Salas was furious. He drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. His years of experience maneuvering among Spirit Hall's upper ranks told him that anger would solve nothing.
Without capturing a Clear Sky Sect disciple, there would be no hard evidence. Without hard evidence, he could not establish the Clear Sky Sect's guilt in violating the agreement.
And if he could not establish their guilt, Salas's unauthorized deployment of Soul Douluos for a large-scale manhunt in Sunset Forest would become an act of stirring up trouble without cause. His political enemies might even attack him for provoking a sect war.
"Damn it..." At that thought, Salas cursed under his breath, his gaze shifting uncertainly.
A moment later, Salas ordered, "Have our men seal off every major route around Heaven Dou City. Closely monitor the Clear Sky Sect's movements and remain ready to respond to any sudden developments."