Chapter 74: Not Clear Sky Douluo—Tang Hao the Soul Saint!
"Well, well! What a fine Clear Sky Sect!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's nine soul rings—two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red—lit up beneath him. He transformed into a massive crocodile that bulldozed through the Level-Two Stasis Domain. The energy ripples inside battered his body, yet not a single scale was harmed, and his powerful tail dispersed the waves completely.
His full power as a terrifying level-98 Title Douluo exploded outward. The sheer soul pressure made even Tang Zhen and Tang Xiao tremble.
All the surviving soul masters turned their eyes to Golden Crocodile Douluo, especially to his ninth ring—red. Another Title Douluo with a hundred-thousand-year soul ring!
"Clear Sky Sect—our Spirit Hall Pope accepted your challenge, held back in every move, and fought with restraint. Yet you dared to launch a sneak attack to kill His Holiness? The gall of your sect! Do you take Spirit Hall for a soft target?!"
Tang Xiao quickly cupped his hands, "Senior Golden Crocodile, please forgive us. My younger brother acted in a moment of impulsive anger—"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's fierce gaze turned to him. "Who do you think you are? Even if your grandfather Tang Chen were here, he'd still have to call me Senior!"
"Please forgive us, Senior Golden Crocodile."
Tang Zhen swallowed back another mouthful of blood and bowed respectfully. He immediately rushed to Tang Hao's side and smacked him hard on the head. "You unfilial son! Get on your knees and apologize to His Holiness!"
"Father…"
Tang Hao, already drained from the backlash of his Nine-Ring Detonation, was barely standing by sheer willpower. Now, hearing his beloved father demand he kneel and apologize, his eyes filled with disbelief—as if he had misheard.
Tang Zhen roared again, "Why are you still standing there? After committing such a grave mistake, kneel and apologize to His Holiness!"
"I won't!"
Tang Hao refused to kneel. He would kneel to heaven, earth, parents, and ancestors—but never to another man. If he knelt before Qian Xunji, the man who took Ah Yin and humiliated him, his pride, confidence, and spirit would be destroyed.
SLAP! Tang Zhen struck him again. This time, a red handprint appeared on Tang Hao's face.
"Father… you hit me…"
Tang Hao was stunned. His father had never laid a hand on him, let alone slapped him. To be struck in front of the entire soul master world—it was unbearably humiliating.
"I didn't just hit you, I want to beat you to death! Do you want the entire Clear Sky Sect to pay for your mistake?"
"You'd have our sect—our men, women, and children, thousands of lives—slaughtered because of your recklessness?"
Tang Zhen's eyes bulged with fury. His face twisted with rage, his voice trembling.
"I don't want that…"
Tang Hao had always been taught: the sect comes first. In the face of sect interests, even friends, brothers—even children—must be sacrificed if they endanger it.
Qian Xunji agreed with this philosophy—if a sect raised you, gave you its legacy, you owed it everything. Otherwise, you were just an ungrateful traitor.
"Then kneel and apologize to His Holiness!"
Despite his reluctance, Tang Hao finally knelt before Qian Xunji. He lowered his head, letting his bangs cover his eyes. His expression was unreadable, but his clenched muscles and rigid posture said everything—he was consumed by shame.
Seeing Tang Hao kneel, Tang Zhen exhaled in relief and bowed deeply. "Your Holiness, Senior Golden Crocodile—my father was once a friend of your Grand Worship. My unfilial son has already knelt. In honor of the bond between our elders, may you spare him just this once. Clear Sky Sect will be eternally grateful."
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked to Qian Xunji for his decision. After all, it was Qian Xunji who had been targeted.
Thanks to Ah Yin's healing with her level-88 Blue Silver Emperor, Qian Xunji had recovered most of his strength. Hands behind his back, facing away from Tang Hao and Tang Zhen, he sighed lightly. "For the sake of the old friendship, hand over the soul bone from that hundred-thousand-year soul beast you killed, and we'll call it even."
"You unfilial son! Do as His Holiness says!"
Tang Zhen smacked Tang Hao again. Trading one hundred-thousand-year soul bone for Tang Hao's life—and the Clear Sky Sect's safety—was more than worth it.
In truth, Tang Zhen was overthinking it. Even if Qian Xunji had died, Qian Daoliu would never have allowed Spirit Hall to destroy the Clear Sky Sect. The sect could've simply expelled Tang Hao and washed their hands of him.
Tang Hao reached into his soul tool and pulled out a head soul bone glowing with rich pink light.
Every soul master watching had fire in their eyes. A hundred-thousand-year soul bone—and a head bone! If not for Spirit Hall's overwhelming strength, someone might have already tried to snatch it.
Tang Hao held it out with both hands. His lips trembled slightly. Though his face showed no emotion, his occasional twitch revealed his inner torment.
Qian Xunji nodded. In the next second, two flashes of golden light shot out.
"AAARGH!!"
Tang Hao screamed in agony. Blood sprayed from his right arm and left leg—severed instantly. He collapsed from the pain, fainting.
Two soul bones fell from his body—one earthy yellow from his right arm, and another pitch-black from his left leg.
These were Clear Sky Sect's two inherited soul bones—one 75,000 years, the other 85,000.
Ah Yin said nothing as Qian Xunji crippled Tang Hao. After all, Tang Hao had cursed them as adulterers and tried to kill them both with the Nine-Ring Detonation. Even if Qian Xunji diced him into mincemeat, she would've looked away.
"Your Holiness! What are you doing?!"
Tang Zhen's eyes widened with fury. Tang Hao had lost an arm and leg—his soul bones taken. His cultivation had dropped by twenty levels. He was no longer Clear Sky Douluo—he was Tang Hao the Soul Saint.
"What am I doing? Trading one hundred-thousand-year soul bone to settle a major offense. These two soul bones—just a minor price to erase a minor offense. Sect Master Tang, am I not being reasonable?"
Qian Xunji tilted his head and smiled faintly.
There was no way he would leave a talent like Tang Hao alive and whole—someone who could one day reach level 99. The rest of Spirit Hall wasn't as clever as Qian Xunji.
After this battle, with a severed arm and leg, and his cultivation dropped to Soul Saint, Tang Hao would surely fall into despair—likely becoming a drunk. His power was gone. Tang Xiao might protect him, but he would be mocked within the sect.
And with Tang Hao constantly lurking around as a broken man, a living reminder of defeat, the Clear Sky Sect would forever fear Spirit Hall. Their last shred of pride would be the legacy of Tang Chen.
If Tang Hao had a child someday, who knows what kind of bullying that child would face. Especially after Tang Zhen's death, when Tang Xiao became sect leader and the elders seized control.
In any sect, clan, or academy, infighting was inevitable. Internal strife, bullying—so long as it wasn't excessive—was even encouraged. They called it "growth through adversity," but it was little more than survival of the fittest.
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