Chapter 142: The Dark Clouds Over Heaven Dou

After devouring Dugu Bo's martial soul, Fang Chang soon faced his fifth heavenly tribulation.

Perhaps due to his growing strength, the tribulation now seemed increasingly easier to overcome. This time, he didn't even need to use his "Endurance" skill, let alone "Revival."

After surviving the tribulation, Fang Chang rested for several days in his newly built nest in the Sunset Forest, continuously devouring winged soul beasts captured by his offspring.

The final requirement for his next evolution—"Devour one hundred winged soul beasts or human martial souls"—had already reached fifty-five, completing more than half of the task.

Once fully recovered from the hidden injuries caused by the heavenly tribulation, Fang Chang temporarily left the Sunset Forest and headed for Heaven Dou City, not far from his location.

After all, Heaven Dou City was the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire. Even the Spirit Hall wouldn't dare act too recklessly under the emperor's watchful eye.

It was precisely for this reason that the Spider God Church's branch in Heaven Dou City had survived the Spirit Hall's previous purge, maintaining a considerable number of devout followers.

Upon arriving in Heaven Dou City, Fang Chang went straight to the Spider God Church branch and quietly observed for several days.

During this time, he selectively shared carefully crafted stories with some of the most devout and reliable followers, instructing them to spread these tales throughout the city.

These followers proved remarkably effective. Within just a few days, rumors began spreading like wildfire throughout Heaven Dou City. Some of these secrets circulated wildly among ordinary people and soul masters alike, even spreading from Heaven Dou City to various parts of the Douluo Continent.

Among them, the most widely circulated stories included the following:

First was the true reason behind the seclusion of the once-dominant Clear Sky Clan. Rumor had it that their Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao, had fallen in love with a soul beast and, in a fit of rage to protect her, killed the Spirit Hall's former pope, Qian Xunji.

Afterward, the Clear Sky Clan was forced into seclusion to avoid retaliation from the Spirit Hall. Moreover, Tang Hao and that soul beast had a son together—none other than Tang San, who had once attended Shrek Academy in the city.

When this story first surfaced, countless people were stunned. Initially, many refused to believe it. But after some investigators carefully verified the details, they discovered several eerie coincidences.

For example, shortly after the Clear Sky Clan's seclusion, the Spirit Hall's papacy was transferred to the current pope, Bibi Dong, while Qian Xunji mysteriously vanished without a trace.

Additionally, during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament a few years prior, there were reports that Tang Hao had appeared at the Spirit Hall and rescued a shapeshifted soul beast.

When all these events were pieced together with the story, everything seemed to make perfect sense.

Of course, this was all a narrative Fang Chang had fabricated based on the original timeline, with only minor adjustments to certain details—such as changing Qian Xunji's cause of death from poisoning by Bibi Dong to being killed by Tang Hao's hammer.

But at least eighty to ninety percent of the story was true, making it highly believable.

As the story spread further and reached more ears, someone even composed a mocking nursery rhyme targeting the Spirit Hall:

"The Clear Sky Clan, oh so grand,

Gave birth to Tang Hao, who took a stand.

One hammer swing, the old pope died,

The Spirit Hall just stepped aside."

The Spirit Hall quickly caught wind of these rumors. Despite their fury, they found themselves powerless to suppress the truth. What had once been one of the soul master world's greatest secrets—known only to a select few high-ranking officials within the Spirit Hall—had now become common knowledge, humiliating them beyond measure.

The second rumor claimed that the Spirit Hall's recent inaction against the Spider God Church was merely a cover for a much larger conspiracy.

Approximately a year later, they would launch a "Soul Hunting Operation," targeting major clans such as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan—those unwilling to submit to the Spirit Hall's authority—and exterminating them.

When this news reached the Spirit Hall, it immediately sent their already turbulent leadership into an uproar. The Elder Hall convened an emergency meeting, vowing to root out any traitors within their ranks. But in the end, the matter was quietly dropped without resolution.

Among the general populace, however, this story caused far less of a stir than the first one.

Most soul masters were unaware of the Spirit Hall's true power and found it hard to believe they could simultaneously annihilate several major clans.

Nevertheless, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan quietly increased their defenses, recalling some of their members who had been active outside.

The third bombshell was directly related to the Heaven Dou Empire. It claimed that the current crown prince, Xue Qinghe, was actually an impostor.

The real Xue Qinghe had been secretly assassinated by the Spirit Hall during his childhood, and the current prince was actually a woman named Qian Renxue disguised as a man.

Their goal was to have Qian Renxue inherit the Heaven Dou Empire and then hand it over to the Spirit Hall, ultimately achieving their ambition of unifying the continent.

The impact of this revelation was even greater than that of the first story. Despite the Heaven Dou royal family's swift attempts to debunk the rumors, nearly every citizen in Heaven Dou City was privately discussing the matter.

For a time, dark clouds of suspicion and unrest loomed over Heaven Dou City.

It was at this critical moment that a fourth piece of news emerged. However, this wasn't a story—it was a map.

The location marked on the map was approximately three hundred miles from the Heaven Dou Empire, with only three bold characters written on it: "Clear Sky Clan."

The moment this map surfaced, countless eyes turned once again toward the Spirit Hall. By now, the news that their former pope had been killed by the Clear Sky Douluo was practically common knowledge across the world.

If they had previously been able to make excuses about not knowing the Clear Sky Clan's whereabouts, now that someone had publicly revealed the map, the question became unavoidable: Would they take action or not?

Within the Spirit Hall, the long-absent Grand Worship, Qian Daoliu, suddenly reappeared—holding a copied version of the Clear Sky Clan's map—deepening the crisis further.

As the origin point of all these rumors, Heaven Dou City became the focal point of attention for various factions across the continent.

During this period, the number of soul masters in the city nearly doubled, with many secretly gathering intelligence—most of whom were spies from different factions.

At this critical juncture, the Spider God Church—the Spirit Hall's sworn enemy—also made its move.

Their legendary envoy, who had once challenged the Spirit Hall in Ocean City, suddenly appeared at the Heaven Dou branch of the Spider God Church.

He even publicly bestowed divine blessings in the temple: soul bones, high-quality soul tools, and extremely rare cultivation materials—all given to those willing to convert to the Spider God Church.

After completing these acts, the envoy did something unprecedented—he marched straight to the imperial palace of the Heaven Dou Empire, requesting an audience with the current emperor, Xue Ye.

Moreover, he explicitly demanded that Crown Prince Xue Qinghe must also be present.