7

Over the past few days, the Clear Sky Sect could no longer withstand the pressure. They immediately sent out a public announcement declaring that Tang Hao and the Clear Sky Sect had no connection anymore. Following this, they had no choice but to risk being attacked again by Qian Daoliu and sent an elder personally to Ye Renxin's residence to apologize. The always-proud Clear Sky Sect even offered a 30,000-year-old strength-type right arm soul bone as compensation. This gesture was essentially equivalent to kneeling and begging Ye Renxin for mercy, pleading with him to stop targeting the Clear Sky Sect.

Although the Clear Sky Sect remained a formidable entity, even a dying camel was larger than a horse, and it could still fight back if pushed to the brink. However, a dying camel can hardly compete with a herd of horses. With Ye Renxin leading the charge, many families who already bore grudges against the Clear Sky Sect banded together to strike at it.

In recent days, even the disciples hiding on the secluded Clear Sky Peak had been ambushed by external soul masters, worsening the sect's already precarious situation. Merchants large and small expressed their unwillingness to supply resources to the Clear Sky Sect, even when offered extra money—no one was willing to sell to them.

Some extremists went as far as poisoning the water sources at Clear Sky Peak, detonating explosives in the latrines to cause chaos, contaminating the sect's already limited grain supplies with filth in their granaries, and even attacking the elderly, women, and children of the Clear Sky Sect.

Under these circumstances, the sect had no choice but to bow its head, or else things would spiral out of control. After all, as the saying goes: "You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days." Even with multiple Titled Douluo, including the sect leader Tang Xiao, defending the sect, they dared not use force under the watchful eye of the Spirit Hall.

If they tried to use force to intimidate or threaten others, the Spirit Hall would simply invade Clear Sky Peak, desecrate the sect's ancestral graves, and be praised across the continent as heroic defenders of justice, willing to sacrifice the Clear Sky Sect in the name of righteousness.

Although Ye Renxin accepted the soul bone, he never explicitly stated whether he accepted the apology. For the foreseeable future, he intended to make life miserable for the Clear Sky Sect. Otherwise, his reputation would suffer.

As for Tang Yuehua, who had provided Tang Hao's whereabouts?

She received special attention.

Even with her Zhuge Crossbow for protection and years of cultivating loyal followers of all social classes in Heaven Dou City, who were willing to risk their lives to help her escape and cover her tracks, the forces targeting her were far too overwhelming. Tang Yuehua's power was insignificant in comparison—a single soul Grandmaster, a few Soul Ancestors, and Soul Kings, along with a dozen or so servants. This group was negligible and could be annihilated multiple times over by any Soul Sage.

After the incident began, some earth-attribute soul masters volunteered to dig up large areas of the ground near Moon Pavilion, exposing extensive underground tunnels. This ensured that Tang Yuehua was surrounded and unable to leave Heaven Dou City.

After barely managing to use her Zhuge Crossbow to kill one or two unlucky attackers, Tang Yuehua's helpers were completely wiped out, and she was surrounded.

In the end, to avoid humiliation and to prevent tarnishing the reputation of the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Yuehua had no choice but to raise her Zhuge Crossbow and use its final bolt to pierce her head.

Even in her final moments, Tang Yuehua's thoughts remained on Tang Hao's safety.

Although they disliked Tang Yuehua, those pursuing her still respected her unyielding spirit in death.

As Tang Yuehua was a rare beauty, a Soul Master from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan treated her remains with dignity. They gathered her body, had a fire-attribute soul master cremate her into ashes, and buried her in the mountains. To avoid any acts of desecration, they left no gravestone to mark the site, bringing the matter to a quiet conclusion.

For her enemies, this was already an extraordinary show of goodwill. Had Tang Yuehua not displayed such defiance in her final moments, and given that she caused minimal casualties as a weak woman, her end would have been far worse than cremation.

After more than a decade, the members of the Clear Sky Sect once again felt the pain of being dominated by Tang Hao's actions. Even Tang Xiao, Tang Hao's elder brother, was so infuriated that he struck Tang Hao's name from the family registry and announced that all Clear Sky Sect disciples were required to attack Tang Hao on sight.

First their father, then their clan members, and now their younger sister—all had suffered misfortune because of him.

From the initial attack on the Spirit Hall's Pope to the recent ambush on the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch, to the assault on the Nine-Hearted Begonia Clan, it seemed as though Tang Hao was deliberately ensuring that the Clear Sky Sect could not survive. He appeared to be intentionally creating enemies for the sect on all fronts, ensuring its destruction. Even as Tang Hao's elder brother, Tang Xiao, who had raised him, was utterly disappointed. He vowed that if he ever met Tang Hao again, he would personally eliminate this disgrace who had brought shame and suffering to the family and sect.

At this moment, however, Tang Hao no longer could worry about anything else. After once again pushing his body to its limits and activating his latent potential, Tang Hao could feel his body beginning to collapse. If this continued, he would lose all his soul power and become a cripple within two years.

For Tang Hao, who had sacrificed everything for strength, this was unacceptable.

Having already lost his lover, father, clan, younger sister, friends, and even, in a way, his son, Tang Hao now had nothing left but his power to rely on.

If he lost his power, then what had all his sacrifices been for?!

Even in his near-madness, Tang Hao refused to give up. After realizing that the Nine-Hearted Begonia Clan would no longer save him, he recalled a soul beast he had once encountered that possessed immense healing power.

"The Blue Silver Emperor. Ah Yin's Blue Silver Emperor had nearly limitless vitality. If Xiao San can awaken his Blue Silver Grass martial soul into the Blue Silver Emperor, then I might have a chance at recovery."

Though he knew this plan was highly uncertain and that even Ah Yin might not have been able to save him in his current state, Tang Hao clung to this final lifeline and decided to take Tang San to the Blue Silver Forest for one last attempt.

After finding Tang San, Tang Hao said little and didn't even acknowledge Xiao Wu. He immediately took Tang San to the Blue Silver Forest, a place he and Ah Yin had once visited together.

The Blue Silver Forest was located near Holy Spirit Village. While it was far for ordinary people, it was not far for soul masters. Tang Hao could have taken Ah Yin back to the Blue Silver Forest to recover and live a quiet life caring for his wife and son. Yet, he had never done so.

The forest, filled with high-year Blue Silver Grass, was the largest gathering place for the Blue Silver Grass species on the Douluo Continent. However, it was not considered an important soul beast hunting ground.

This was because Blue Silver Grass was ubiquitous on the continent, and as soul beasts, they were adept at concealing their aura. Thus, the forest was regarded as an ordinary, resource-less woodland and had never been developed by humans.

Only a select few who ventured deep into the forest realized that, despite its unassuming appearance, it harbored many powerful ten-thousand-year soul beasts.

Even so, few would ever discover that the seemingly insignificant Blue Silver Grass was the true ruler and master of this forest.

When Tang San first arrived, he had no special connection with the surrounding Blue Silver Grass. He only vaguely sensed some danger and felt unwelcome by the forest's inhabitants.

Seeing that the forest showed no reaction to the arrival of his son, Tang Hao's eyes revealed a hint of complexity as he recalled memories of Ah Yin. He then instructed Tang San to sit on a large rock and connect with the forest.

As Tang Hao released his soul rings and Tang San unleashed his Blue Silver Grass martial soul, which was dark purple and black in appearance and hardly resembled Blue Silver Grass, the previously tranquil Blue Silver Forest seemed to ignite like a powder keg. The entire forest rapidly heated up and began to boil with activity.

The once-quiet forest erupted with spirit energy from every corner, and even the soul beasts living within grew violent under the influence of the Blue Silver Grass.