Beside Tang San sat an old man with a deep and powerful aura, none other than Tang Xiao, the current sect leader of the Clear Sky Sect.
The Clear Sky Sect had been forced to close its doors for many years, but now, under the immense threat of the Spirit Hall Empire, it had no choice but to emerge again. They knew very well that once the barrier of the Heaven Dou Empire was breached, the Clear Sky Sect would be the next to perish.
Rather than waiting to be killed, we should join forces and fight back.
In addition, there were representatives from a group of Soul Master families, led by the Speed Clan and Defense Clan, as well as representatives from the remaining forces of the Seven Great Families who had completely broken ties with the Spirit Hall after attacking the Pope's convoy. All of them were gathered under the banner of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Xue Ye's gaze slowly swept over the crowd below, finally landing on Tang San. A warm smile appeared on his pale face, and his voice, though weak, remained authoritative:
"Minister Tang, the exquisite concealed Hidden Weapon blueprints you provided have been crafted by the imperial artisans and are beginning to be deployed to the elite legions. Recent battle reports from the front lines show that these Hidden Weapon have been remarkably effective in the battle against the Spirit Hall Empire, greatly enhancing the soldiers' survivability and lethality. Their contribution to the nation is immense!"
Tang San bowed slightly, his tone humble yet firm. "Your Majesty flatters me. It is my honor to contribute to the Empire. Everyone has a responsibility to fight against the tyranny of the Tang San Spirit Hall."
Xue Ye nodded in satisfaction, a decisive glint in his eyes. He raised his voice and announced to the assembled officials:
"My dear minister Tang San, you are young and promising, possess exceptional talent, and have the world at heart. Your contribution of this powerful weapon is a great service to the nation! I have decided to bestow upon Tang San the title of— King Blue Clear Sky!"
As soon as the name "Lan Hao" was uttered, a murmur of surprise rippled through the hall.
This title carries profound meaning! "Blue" symbolizes his First Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass, while "Hao" represents his Second Martial Soul, which is also the symbol of his sect— the Clear Sky Hammer! This is not only an extremely high royal title, but also a great recognition and reliance of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family on Tang San himself and the Clear Sky Sect behind him!
"Bestow upon him a royal residence and the salary of a prince, which shows that even without my obeisance, he has the right to participate in important military and national affairs!" Xue Ye continued to escalate the situation, elevating Tang San's status to an unprecedented level.
Yu Xiaogang looked at his disciple receiving this honor, and a trace of relief appeared on his stiff face.
He knew that Tang San was the true core and future hope of the alliance against the Spirit Hall Empire. His Hidden Weapon, his Twin Martial Souls, his potential... were all key to the survival of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Tang San took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and solemnly bowed. "Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty! Tang San will do his utmost to protect the empire and eliminate evil!"
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the expectant, scrutinizing, or jealous eyes in the hall, and felt a chill in his heart.
Spirit Hall... Bibi Dong... Xuan Ming!
He clenched his fists tightly. Now, he was no longer the boy who needed to hide under the wings of his father and teachers. He possessed power, status, and, more importantly, the means and the stage for revenge!
The Heaven Dou Empire is his best foundation. And the identity of King Blue Clear Sky will allow him to mobilize more resources, improve his strength faster, and deal with his enemies more effectively!
Chapter 369 One Strike Breaks Through the City
"Your Majesty," Yu Xiaogang stepped forward at the opportune moment and said in a deep voice, " The Spirit Hall Empire may seem powerful, but it is not a monolithic entity. Under its tyranny, public resentment is growing. As long as we unite as one and advance steadily, we may not be without a chance of victory. The most urgent task is to continue strengthening our military, especially the Hidden Weapon provided by King Blue Clear Sky. We should expand production as soon as possible. At the same time, we should contact the Star Luo Empire to form a pincer movement and jointly resist our powerful enemy!"
Xue Ye nodded. "The Imperial Advisor is absolutely right. This matter will be fully handled by the Imperial Advisor and King Blue Clear Sky."
Before Xue Ye could finish speaking, a series of hurried, panicked, and even frightened footsteps suddenly came from outside the palace!
A messenger, covered in dust and blood-stained armor, with a pair of crimson wings on his back, disregarded etiquette and scrambled into the hall, collapsing to his knees with a thud, his voice hoarse and tearful:
"Report--!!! Your Majesty! Urgent military intelligence! Jialing Pass... Jialing Pass... has been... fallen!!"
"What?!"
"That's impossible!"
Inside the hall, an uproar erupted instantly! All the princes and ministers, including Yu Xiaogang, Tang San, Tang Xiao, and others, all changed their expressions drastically and stood up abruptly from their seats!
Jialing Pass! That's the most powerful and fortified pass the Heaven Dou Empire faces against the Spirit Hall Empire!
Built against the mountains and beside the water, the city walls are hundreds of meters high, constructed from the hardest granite mixed with refined iron. Hundreds of thousands of elite troops are stationed there day and night, with ample provisions and Defensive Soul Tool! It can be called the eastern gateway of the Heaven Dou Empire, and the safety of the empire rests on its shoulders!
How could such a formidable pass be breached so easily?!
Even if the Spirit Hall Empire mobilized its entire army and Pope Bibi Dong personally led the expedition, it would be impossible to break through without months of arduous fighting and a relentless, costly assault! Moreover, they had not received any news of the Spirit Hall Empire's army being mobilized at all!
Upon hearing this devastating news, Xue Ye felt a sudden darkness engulf him, his blood rushing to his head. He coughed violently, nearly collapsing from his throne, and his face turned deathly pale, devoid of any color.
With the Jialing Pass breached, the heartland of the Heaven Dou Empire was practically left wide open!
"What exactly happened?! Explain yourself!" Yu Xiaogang rushed forward, supporting the swaying Xue Ye, and shouted at the messenger, his voice trembling slightly, "Is it the Spirit Hall Empire's army attacking? Bibi Dong personally intervened?!"
The messenger, still seemingly reeling from extreme fear, trembled violently and stammered, "No... not an army... no army... it's... it's giants! A... a blood-red giant! So big... so big!!"
He gestured frantically with his hands, his eyes filled with indelible fear. "Just this morning... at the crack of dawn... that giant... suddenly appeared! As tall as a mountain! At least... at least several hundred meters! His entire body was blood red, and in his hand... in his hand he held an equally enormous blood-red spear!!"
He seemed to recall that earth-shattering scene, his voice becoming shrill. "It... it just... just pointed that spear at Jialing Pass... so... so lightly... BOOM--!!! The entire pass... gone! Just... just one thrust!!"
The main hall was deathly silent.
Everyone was stunned by this incredible and illogical battle report.
It wasn't a massive army pressing in, nor was it the Pope personally leading the campaign.
Instead, it was a blood-red giant hundreds of meters tall? Wielding a blood-red spear, it wiped the supposedly invincible Jialing Pass off the map with a single strike?!
Is this... is this really something that human beings can do?!
" The Spirit Hall Empire... didn't take the opportunity to attack?" Yu Xiaogang suppressed the shock in his heart and asked in a deep voice, grasping the key point in the messenger's words.
"No... no..." The messenger shook his head, his face still showing lingering fear. "After that giant destroyed Jialing Pass... it... it disappeared... The Spirit Hall Empire... hasn't made a move... But... but our army... is... completely in chaos... the morale... the morale has collapsed!"
Yes, morale has collapsed!
Faced with such an incomprehensible and irresistible force, what kind of army can maintain its fighting spirit?
If it could destroy Jialing Pass with a single blow today, could it destroy Heaven Dou City with a single blow tomorrow?!
Panic, like the deadliest plague, has begun to spread throughout the Heaven Dou Empire following the fall of Jialing Pass.
Tang San clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh, and his face turned ashen.
He originally thought that with his Hidden Weapon, the support of the Clear Sky Sect, and his own growth, he had the resources to contend with the Spirit Hall and even seek revenge.
But this sudden news was like a bucket of ice water, chilling him to the bone.
That kind of power... is it really something they can contend with?
Yu Xiaogang supported Xue Ye, feeling the emperor's cold, trembling hand, and his heart sank to the bottom. He looked towards the direction of the Spirit Hall Empire outside the palace, his eyes filled with unprecedented solemnity and... a trace of despair.
Just what kind of terrifying existence does the Spirit Hall Empire possess?
"What about casualties?" Yu Xiaogang asked abruptly, his voice carrying a hint of urgency he himself didn't realize. "What about the casualties among the Jialing Pass?!"
This was the last straw he was grasping at! If the Spirit Hall Empire were to use such terrifying power to massacre cities and destroy passes, causing millions of lives to be lost, then the Spirit Hall Empire would completely lose the hearts of the people and bear eternal infamy!
At that time, no matter how strong their military power is, their rule will be unstable, and their Heaven Dou Empire will still have the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the people and gain moral advantage!
The messenger was startled by Yu Xiaogang's sharp gaze, hurriedly shaking his head with a strange expression on his face, a mixture of fear and disbelief.
"No... no casualties! Not a single one!"
"What?!" This time, even Tang Xiao and Tang San couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
A single blow destroyed a formidable pass, yet not a single person was injured or killed? How is that possible?!
The messenger swallowed hard, struggling to organize his thoughts as he recalled the eerie and terrifying scene, "That giant... after the giant appeared, it didn't attack immediately... it... it seemed to... speak?"
His tone was filled with uncertainty and confusion. "Not a sound heard with our ears... it... it appeared directly in all of our minds! A... a very cold, emotionless voice..."
He mimicked the voice in his mind, his tone flat and emotionless. "Everyone on the city walls and in the core defensive area of the pass, evacuate within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."
The people in the hall looked at each other, their eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty.
"At the time... everyone was terrified, but the voice was like a command directly into their souls... no one dared to disobey..." the messenger continued, "Everyone ran for their lives, running towards the mountains on both sides, towards the plains behind the pass... It was chaotic, but... but everyone got out."
His face still showed lingering fear. "The time it takes for an incense stick to burn... just enough time for everyone to scramble out of the city walls... and then... and then that giant moved... just... just like I said... just like that..."
The messenger's voice trailed off, trembling with the shock of survival. "The pass... it's gone... but the people... they're still watching from outside... they're all... they're all still alive..."
Dead silence.
An even deeper, deathly silence enveloped the entire hall.
A single, devastating blow was delivered with advance warning and precise control, resulting in no one being harmed!
The implications behind this sent an even greater chill down the spines of everyone present!
What does this tell us?
This indicates that the crimson giant, or rather the being that controls the giant, possesses an unbelievable and precise control over power!
He doesn't even need to kill indiscriminately to achieve the ultimate deterrent effect!
This is more terrifying than mere slaughter! Because it demonstrates absolute power and... a certain ineffable "restraint."
This restraint is not mercy, but a condescending indifference to the life and death of ants, and an absolute confidence in one's own power.
I don't need to establish my authority through killing; I just need to make you understand that I have the power to Destruction you at any time, and that's enough.
Chapter 370 The Spear of Divine Punishment
The Xue Ye slumped on his dragon throne, seemingly aging ten years in an instant. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Yu Xiaogang released his grip on Xue Ye, staggered back a step, and his face drained of color. All his calculations and strategies seemed so pale and laughable in the face of this power and control that transcended comprehension.
Tang San's clenched fists loosened limply, a profound sense of powerlessness washing over him. The gap he had initially perceived now seemed as vast as the difference between a firefly and the moon!
Morale collapsed? It's more than just morale!
At this moment, even the core pillars of the empire began to waver in their beliefs.
What kind of monster does the Spirit Hall Empire possess?!
Just as despair and helplessness enveloped the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, and everyone's spirits wavered—
boom!!!
An indescribable, terrifying pressure, seemingly originating from the soul level, swept through the entire Heaven Dou City without warning, like a tangible tsunami!
The sky seemed to darken at that moment, not because of dark clouds, but because it was shrouded in an indescribable, suffocating dark red aura!
"It's... it's happening again!!" The messenger who had just finished reporting was the first to sense this familiar and terrifying aura. He let out a heart-wrenching scream, collapsed to the ground, and soiled himself.
Almost simultaneously, an even more chaotic and terrified uproar erupted outside the hall, with cries, screams, and running sounds all mixed together, as if the end of the world had come!
"Report--!!!" Another guard scrambled in, his face deathly pale, his voice distorted. "Your Majesty... Your Majesty! Outside the city! Outside the city!! That blood-red giant... it... it's at Heaven Dou City!! It's right outside the city!!!"
"What?!"
At this moment, everyone could no longer sit still, including the nearly exhausted Xue Ye, who was forced to straighten his body by a chill.
"Go out and take a look!" Tang Xiao roared, and was the first to transform into a streak of light and rush out of the main hall.
Tang San, Yu Xiaogang, and others followed closely behind, while Xue Ye was also supported by eunuchs and staggered out.
The crowd poured out of the palace and onto the high platform outside.
This place is located at a high point in Heaven Dou City, offering a wide and unobstructed view.
However, there is absolutely no need to deliberately look into the distance.
Because that figure was simply too enormous!
Just outside the magnificent city walls of Heaven Dou City, which are hundreds of meters high and hailed as never to fall, a giant, as red as a mountain, stands silently.
The walls of Heaven Dou City were already enormous, but in front of this blood-red giant, which was at least 500 meters tall, they appeared as small and fragile as building blocks stacked by a child!
The giant Entanglement in a tangible, dark red aura of slaughter; its mere presence distorted the entire sky and dimmed the light.
The enormous, blood-red spear in its hand pointed diagonally at the ground, its tip gleaming with a dark light that sent shivers down everyone's spine.
Throughout the entire Heaven Dou City, with its millions of residents, anyone who looks up can clearly see this demon god who seems to have descended from hell!
Panic spread like a plague at a visible speed. People on the streets fled and cried out like headless flies. Some collapsed to the ground, some knelt and prayed, and many more looked up at the giant, their eyes filled with pure, incomprehensible fear and despair.
The once bustling and vibrant capital city now resembles a ghost town.
Amidst this extreme chaos and fear, that cold, emotionless voice, echoing directly in everyone's mind, appeared once more, exactly the same one that had resounded at Jialing Pass that morning:
[All personnel within the city gate area and the vicinity of the city wall within one mile must evacuate within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.]
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable and absolute will, clearly reaching every corner of the city.
Run!
"Get off the city walls immediately!"
This time, without even needing to be urged, driven by instinct, the people let out even more piercing screams and frantically surged towards the inner city, far from the city walls!
On the high platform of the imperial palace, Xue Ye looked down at the hellish scene below, and at the giant who seemed ready to unleash his judgment spear at any moment. He couldn't catch his breath, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and fainted completely.
Yu Xiaogang, Tang San, and the others watched all of this with pale faces.