Word Count: 3,842 Words
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"Sister Lingchao, do you prefer the cold elegance of laurel, the blazing passion of the rose, or a handsome and dashing turtle like me?"
In the pond of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's rear garden, the Golden Tortoise was busy showing off his masculine charm. The Spirit Tide Sea Turtle surfaced, took one look at him, and immediately dove back under.
"Greasy creep, get lost!" (Spirit Beast Language)
"Sister Lingchao!!!"
The Golden Tortoise let out a heart-rending howl.
From the neighboring pond, the Light Spirit Holy Dragon mocked him without an ounce of mercy.
"Hahaha, what a clown of a turtle!" (Spirit Beast language)
"I am a noble auspicious beast, king among turtles!"
Humiliation boiled over into fury. The Golden Tortoise opened his jaws wide and charged after the Light Spirit Holy Dragon, snapping at his tail the whole way.
One beast chased, the other fled. The Light Spirit Holy Dragon was faster by far and left his pursuer in the dust with ease. He had just opened his mouth to hurl a few more taunts when an enormous shadow swallowed the sky.
"Did it just get dark?"
The Light Spirit Holy Dragon looked up. The Golden Tortoise stopped as well and lifted his gaze. Both beasts' eyes went as wide as bronze bells.
"Holy shit, that's a huge hammer!"
A mountain-sized hammer came crashing down. Its terrifying weight seemed enough to smash the entire Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan into rubble. At the last possible instant, an aged figure tore through space and thrust a single hand upward, forcing the falling hammer aside. Behind him materialized the projection of an ancient emerald tree stretching from earth to sky.
"Who dares attack the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan!"
The middle-aged man wielding the hammer bared a mouthful of stark white teeth in a savage grin:
"I am Tang Tian, the Clear Sky Douluo of this generation!"
Rank 98 Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Tian!
Had Niu Tian and Tai Tan not descended from the heavens bearing the Sea God Token, Tang Tian would be the current head of the Clear Sky Clan!
Jianmu Douluo narrowed his eyes, disappointment plain across his aged face. "The Clear Sky Clan has hidden from the world for ten thousand years. When the Star Dou beast tide erupted, you played deaf and dumb. When the Body Sect threw the continent into chaos, you stood by and watched. When Evil Spirit Masters ran rampant, you turned a blind eye. To think the first thing you do upon emerging... is attack the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan."
Ten thousand years ago, the Clear Sky Clan had stood as the world's greatest sect, with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan second only to it. The two had always coexisted in peace. Ten thousand years later, a single hammer strike from Tang Tian ignited war between them!
Great Sect Master Niu Tian, Second Sect Master Tai Tan, and the seven elders of the Clear Sky Clan stepped forward in slow procession. Ten Titled Douluo stood proudly in the sky, spirit rings blazing beneath their feet.
Tang Tian thrust out a finger as thick as a radish and jabbed it straight at Jianmu Douluo's nose, his voice a thunderous bellow:
"You old thing! From the moment the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan defied the Sea God's will, our two sects became mortal enemies!
Hand over the Emperor Destiny Beast. Her soul holds divine consciousness belonging to the Sea God's daughter. Out of respect for the Nine Colored Goddess, we can still leave the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan a single surviving bloodline!"
Jianmu Douluo frowned. Who was the Emperor Destiny Beast? And who was this Sea God's daughter? The old man was utterly baffled.
While the two sides faced off, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's Titled Douluo rose into the sky. At their head stood the clan head, Nine Treasure Douluo Ning Fengya, who had only recently broken through to Rank 90. Behind her followed Azure Emperor Douluo Ning Fengyu, Shadow Dragon Douluo Xie Qin, Demon Dragon Douluo Lin Jiaran, the clan's guardian spirit beast Golden Tortoise, and the Golden Crown Mermaids Li Jing and Li Ya. Six Titled Douluo-level experts in close formation.
Ning Fengya's platinum-blonde hair streamed in the wind, and her blue eyes carried the full weight of authority.
"In Yin Yang Love Querying Valley, Ning Rongrong schemed against Ning Tian, a descendant of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. She betrayed everything a sect ancestor ought to be. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan has already struck her name from our records.
We have no Emperor Destiny Beast here. Only clan disciples. Every word out of your mouth is nonsense!"
The clan head's every syllable dripped with protectiveness. The enemy had already smashed down their gates. Only a fool would turn around at a moment like this and ask who the Emperor Destiny Beast was. No more words. If the Clear Sky Clan wanted war, then war it would be!
"We had no intention of exterminating you all." Niu Tian's voice was frigid. "But since the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan insists on its stubbornness..."
Spirit rings rose beneath his feet one after another, and the configuration of six black and three red sent a shock through everyone on the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's side. The next second, Niu Tian's roar tore across the sky:
"All members of the Clear Sky Clan, attack!"
Massive hammers swung up in unison, and the air itself groaned under the strain. To carry out the Sea God's will, the Clear Sky Clan had deployed its full elite force. The immense foundation accumulated through ten thousand years of seclusion pressed down on every heart like a mountain.
"The Nine Treasures revolve to produce a Glazed Pagoda!
Seventh Spirit Skill, Nine Treasure Avatar!"
Ning Fengya transformed into a dazzling Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. A spirit ring revolved around each tier, and streams of multicolored light shot out in an unbroken cascade, pouring into the bodies of her allied Titled Douluo.
A nine-ringed Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. A full one-hundred-percent amplification across all six major attributes!
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was universally recognized as the continent's number one support Martial Spirit, and its single-target amplification was without equal anywhere in the world. Every expert on the clan's side felt their aura surge wildly in a single instant!
Jianmu Douluo's seventh spirit ring blazed to life. His aged body vanished, replaced by an incomparably towering ancient tree that stood like a bridge between sky and earth. Then his final blood-red spirit ring erupted with blinding brilliance.
Black and White Twin Holy Dragons, Jianmu Reaches the Heavens!
Ninth Spirit Skill, Sky-Reaching Jianmu!
Two hundred years ago, Jianmu Douluo Zhou Jiren had stood shoulder to shoulder with Mu En and Long Xiaoyao as an equal. That reputation had been carved out fist by fist, blow by blow. The Sacred Jianmu Tree spread its luxuriant branches until its canopy covered all of Nine Treasure City. Its roots drove deep into the earth while its crown pierced the upper sky, as though it could brush the stars.
"Big Brother, this human..."
Tai Tan stared in open shock. Under the amplification of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Jianmu Douluo had vaguely touched the limit of what a human could reach!
Niu Tian's expression turned grave. "Tang Tian, Jianmu Douluo is the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's only Super Douluo. We'll hold him. You take Xiao Qi and carry out the Sea God's mission!
Second Brother, with me!"
Jianmu Douluo had already surpassed either of them alone, so the two brothers chose to fight together. They did not aim to win. Delaying him would be enough!
"ROAR—"
A giant azure dragon soared skyward, thundering dragon cries pouring from its maw, and lunged at the Sacred Jianmu Tree in a spiraling assault. Its eyes burned like twin azure suns. The immense life pressure radiating from the Sacred Jianmu Tree slammed into the dragon, yet split apart around its body on both sides, as though it had struck the edge of an invisible blade.
Tai Tan let out a furious bellow and pounded both fists against his chest. Long black fur with a metallic sheen swept across his body as terrifying brute force surged through his massive frame. The Titan Giant Ape rose from the earth, leapt high into the air, and smashed toward the Sacred Jianmu Tree's thick trunk!
The three supreme experts locked one another down. Across the rest of the battlefield, the disciples of both clans threw themselves into brutal combat, the younger generation's geniuses at the forefront, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Ling Luochen, Ji Juechen, and the others leading the charge.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan possessed more than one Spirit Master with an Ultimate Attribute, but the Clear Sky Hammer was equally a top-tier assault Martial Spirit, and the disciples the Clear Sky Clan had sent were all elites. Ultimate Attributes alone were not enough to crush Clear Sky Hammers outright. Outer-sect disciples with weaker Martial Spirits fared worse still, barely holding on even with Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagodas and Sun Moon Spirit Guidance Devices supporting them.
High above, eight Titled Douluo of the Clear Sky Clan advanced step by step, Clear Sky Hammers in hand, their bearing as deep and unshakable as mountain ranges. Four of those eight were Super Douluo, while the strongest on the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's side was only the peak Rank 94 Azure Emperor Douluo, Ning Fengyu.
Clear Sky Douluo Tang Tian laughed heartily. Two yellow, two purple, three black, two red. His ring configuration was identical to Jianmu Douluo's. He lifted the Clear Sky Hammer one-handed, and under the augmentation of his Martial Spirit Avatar the weapon swelled against the wind. Its hammerhead expanded tenfold while the haft stretched to thirty feet, transforming it into a monstrous colossus of a weapon.
Ning Fengyu glanced at the companions beside her and let out a slow, heavy breath. Then she stopped suppressing her cultivation.
Her spirit power broke through. Rank 95.
The Sky Azure Vine Emperor danced madly around her, and Ning Fengyu's blue-gold eyes locked onto Tang Tian across the sky.
"Fengyu..."
Shadow Dragon Douluo Xie Qin looked as though he wanted to stop her.
"Old Xie, if I don't go, there's no one else." Ning Fengyu forced out a smile. "I'm suddenly regretting things a little. If I'd known this day would come, I'd have listened to the old man and Xiao Bai, and slacked off a whole lot less.
Sis, back me up."
Ning Fengya said nothing. She simply poured her amplification into her younger sister in silence.
Ning Fengyu gathered up every trace of her usual laziness. Her Sky Azure Vine Emperor Avatar unfolded, her Life Unending Domain erupted at full power, and the light of her 190,000-year Blue Silver Emperor ninth spirit ring spread outward. Her blue-gold hair lengthened without end, like vines in a vast forest. A robe woven from natural elements draped itself across her body, and her eyes shone like a clear lake hidden deep within the woods.
Sky Azure Vine Emperor's Ninth Spirit Skill, Descent of the Nature Goddess!
"Aunt Yu, I swear I'll never gossip behind your back again about you mooching off the old above and the young below! You're a woman like a soaring eagle!" Wu Feng's eyes brimmed with hot tears.
This was a battle fated to be lost. Beyond Rank 95, every single step was an ascent into the clouds. The gap between Ning Fengyu and Tang Tian was the difference between heaven and earth. The Sky Azure Vine Emperor and the Clear Sky Hammer were both top-tier Martial Spirits, so there was no qualitative gap for her to exploit.
Had she been at Rank 97, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support would have let her suppress Tang Tian without trouble. At her current level, Ning Fengya's amplification could only help her hold on a little longer.
"Sister Ya, I'm a warfare-type Spirit Guidance Master. If I go all out, the clan's disciples, even the civilians of Nine Treasure City, will suffer horrific casualties..." Lin Jiaran said in a low voice to the nine-tiered pagoda.
"Clan Head, if we die in battle, please tell Lord Ling to spare our mother, and spare those innocent sea spirit beasts."
Li Jing and Li Ya spoke in unison. The Sea Princess had betrayed the Sea God and helped Ling Bai conquer the seas. They did not believe the Sea God's daughter would show them mercy, and they had already steeled themselves to trade their lives for Ling Bai's forgiveness.
Sea spirit beasts lost half their combat strength on land. Even with the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support, the two mermaid sisters would struggle against a single Clear Sky Clan Titled Douluo. The Golden Tortoise excelled only in defense, and his offensive power was almost negligible.
Lin Jiaran's hands were tied. She couldn't very well fire Class 9 Stationary Spirit Cannon shells inside Nine Treasure City. Whether the Clear Sky Clan would die was uncertain, but the civilians of Nine Treasure City would be dead for sure!
In terms of real combat power, only the Rank 93 Shadow Dragon Douluo Xie Qin could truly be counted on.
"Everyone, fight!"
Ning Fengya said nothing more, and not the faintest thought of surrender crossed her mind.
A blood feud had been forged the instant Tang Tian's Clear Sky Hammer fell. Whether the Emperor Destiny Beast existed here or not no longer mattered. This was a sect war to the death. The Clear Sky Clan might leave the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan a surviving branch, but the price of survival would be a life more wretched than a dog's. She would rather fight them to the last breath!
Ling Qiuxi drove her spear through a Clear Sky Hammer Spirit Saint, killing him in a single thrust. Her gaze shifted toward the Titled Douluo battlefield, and her teeth bit into her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. She reached into her robes and touched the cold surface of the Black Dragon Reverse Scale.
Ding—
The Golden Dragon Spear stabbed viciously into the scale. Ling Qiuxi's pupils dilated. Di Tian had not torn through space to descend!
"Surprised?"
An indifferent female voice rang out. Pink-blue hair flowed loosely down her back, and a layer of frost veiled her peerlessly beautiful face. A deep blue triangular object floated above her palm, its invisible halo sealing off the surrounding world.
"This is a divine artifact my father forged a thousand years after ascending to the Sea God position. It's called the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, created to commemorate the past.
The Golden Eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian. Nothing more than a spirit beast of the lower realm, yet he dares call himself a God. Truly ignorant of his own limits!"
Di Tian had believed the Black Dragon Reverse Scale foolproof. In truth, once a genuine God intervened, the reverse scale was utterly helpless. It could not even sense that anything had happened.
Rong Nianbing in another timeline had been the same. The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was no different now.
"Wang Dong Er!"
The Black Dragon Reverse Scale was useless. Ling Qiuxi leveled her spear at the woman's throat, only for a Clear Sky Clan Super Douluo to intercept the strike and knock it aside.
"Wang Dong Er was merely me without my memories. I am the Sea God's daughter, Tang Wutong." Tang Wutong's tone was flat. "Look at the state of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. The Clear Sky Hammer is not a Martial Spirit the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda can match.
The Douluo Continent means nothing to me. Return the spirit beast destiny that holds a portion of my divine consciousness, and I will return to the Divine Realm at once. I swear in the name of the Sea God's daughter, the Clear Sky Clan will cease hostilities and not harm Nine Treasure City in the slightest."
Ling Qiuxi gritted her teeth. "What a joke. I was born fifteen thousand years ago with innate control over the destiny of spirit beasts. Back then your father's great-grandfather hadn't even been born. There is no way I could hold your divine consciousness. Spirit beast destiny belongs to spirit beasts, forever!
Tang San's heart is plain for all to see. Human destiny and spirit beast destiny represent the world's hidden planar consciousness. He wants to move against Ling Bai without inviting the planar consciousness' rejection, so he sent you to seize spirit beast destiny through despicable means!
Once the destinies of the two races stand opposed, the planar consciousness protects no one, and he'll be free to keep targeting Ling Bai."
Tang Wutong remained unmoved. "I only know my father would never deceive his daughter. If he says my divine consciousness lies within spirit beast destiny, then it cannot be wrong.
Refuse, and everyone in the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan dies first."
The fingers gripping the Golden Dragon Spear went slack, strength draining from Ling Qiuxi's hand all at once. She looked across every battlefield. A dragon and an ape tore at the Sacred Jianmu Tree. The Clear Sky Hammer crashed again and again into the Sky Azure Vine Emperor's chest. The mermaid sisters' songs had gone hoarse. The Golden Tortoise's shield lay shattered...
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Devastation everywhere she looked.
"Must everyone pay the price for you?" Tang Wutong asked softly.
"Qiuxi!"
Many had already noticed the confrontation between the two women, and many had already realized who the so-called Emperor Destiny Beast truly was.
Ling Qiuxi let her gaze pass over the faces of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's people, one by one, and a sudden calm settled over her.
"You all guessed it back in Yin Yang Love Querying Valley, didn't you? Yes. I'm not Ling Bai's older sister, and there is no human blood tie between us.
I am a spirit beast. The Destiny Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
I met Ling Bai in the Star Dou Forest. We were never meant to walk the same road. I was simply the one who wanted to follow him too badly.
Tang Wutong, remember your oath!"
In the end, Ling Qiuxi could not bear to watch the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan sacrifice itself for her sake. This was Ling Bai's home, the place he loved most deeply.
A thin golden line appeared on her smooth forehead. It split open into a vertical golden eye, and countless rays of golden light burst forth. Tang Wutong's eyes lit up. She pressed herself against Ling Qiuxi's brow and began plundering the spirit beast destiny without restraint.
As the destiny drained from her, Ling Qiuxi's aura withered rapidly. She forced herself to stay upright:
"The spirit beast destiny is yours. Now make the Clear Sky Clan get the hell out of Nine Treasure City!"
Tang Wutong basked in destiny's blessing. Her fingers closed around Ling Qiuxi's wrist like eagle talons, and a sneer twisted her lips. "I lied. You're all going to die. I want that bastard to come back and see the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan strewn with corpses and drowned in blood!
I hate you. I've hated you from the very first second Wang Dong Er laid eyes on you!
Once I have the spirit beast destiny, I'll return to the Divine Realm immediately. You occupied my divine consciousness all these years, so I'll take your Golden Dragon bloodline as compensation!"
Bloodline Devour!
With both the power of destiny and the Golden Dragon bloodline stripped away, Ling Qiuxi's face turned white as paper and her breathing grew faint. Tang Wutong manifested her Martial Spirit, and diamond-shaped golden dragon scales sprouted across the wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly!
"Clear Sky Clan, leave no one alive. Kill them all!" Tang Wutong ordered sharply.
BANG—
Blood sprayed across the sky. Ning Fengyu plummeted like a kite with its string cut. Tang Tian rested the Clear Sky Hammer on his shoulder, the spirit rings beneath his feet now reduced to eight.
The Great Sumeru Hammer's ultimate secret art, Ring Detonation!
Tang Tian was about to rush forward and finish her off when the sky exploded with radiance. Blinding light poured across the earth until every last thing in the world seemed to gleam with it. Shattered golden motes scattered through the air like countless tiny suns, and every spark detonated in the empty air with a thunderous blast. Magnificent holiness and annihilating death, two utterly opposed auras, intertwined as one!
Then another golden light blazed forth, more brilliant than the rest, like the morning sun rising in the east. The entire horizon turned to a sea of splendid gold as a glorious golden holy sword slashed down with overwhelming majesty!
Sword Might: One Breath Stills the World!
The spirit skill locked on. Its target: Clear Sky Douluo Tang Tian!
That unprecedented pressure forced Tang Tian to decide in an instant. All eight remaining spirit rings detonated at once and fused completely into his body. As he swung the Clear Sky Hammer, both sleeves burst apart and surging black radiance poured wildly from the haft into his arms. Eight rings detonated together. Man and hammer became one. Tang Tian unleashed the single most powerful strike of his entire life!
Hummm—
Time seemed to stop for a heartbeat. Rolling shockwaves swept across the land, and the figure wreathed in golden radiance tore through the lingering aftermath and took solid form, drawing every eye on the battlefield at once.
"Holy Evil Douluo!"
"Xiao Bai..."
"Bai-ge..."
"You bastard, you're finally back!"
Reactions varied wildly. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan could barely contain its excitement. The Clear Sky Clan braced as though facing a mortal enemy. Tang Wutong's face filled with utter disbelief.
"Impossible! Father said he had already left Nine Treasure City!"
Ling Bai looked down at the battle-ravaged Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the grievous losses it had suffered. His fingertips tightened ever so slightly, and Tang Tian's skull burst apart in his grip. Blood splashed across the side of his face, but he did not care in the slightest. His will of death climbed wildly, multiplying by the second, and his scarlet-tinged golden eyes swept over every attacker, one by one.
"Clear Sky Clan. Sky Azure Bull Python. Titan Giant Ape. Wang Dong Er...
No. The aura is different. This nauseating feeling isn't Wang Dong Er. You are...
Tang Wutong!"
Ling Bai's smile was cold enough to freeze blood, and his voice sounded as though it had crawled up from the deepest pit of hell, carrying a chill that cut straight to the bone.
"Good. So you like raiding homes while their owners are away.
You'd all better have a way to teleport straight to the Divine Realm. Otherwise, I promise you, you will regret ever setting foot in this world..."