Half a month passed, and the continent's situation, like the weather above, had crossed the point of no return.
The Spirit Empire abruptly shifted from a two-front campaign to a full offensive against the Heaven Dou Empire, charging under the banner of "Destroy Heaven Dou, Exterminate Clear Sky," with overwhelming momentum—even deploying two Worship Hall consecrates, Qian Jun and Jiang Mo.
Though both were only level 96, the brothers shared a perfect rapport; even Tang Xiao struggled against them. Much less now, wounded as he was.
Because of these two, the Heaven Dou Empire lost ground steadily. Fortunately, unlike in the original timeline, Jialing Pass was still theirs—it hadn't fallen to the Spirit Empire. This stronghold was special, built specifically with soul masters in mind, its walls made of top-grade materials that could withstand Titled Douluo attacks—the true number one pass of Heaven Dou.
With Heaven Dou defending behind its walls, there would be no disaster in the short term.
At this time, the Clear Sky Sect and the Heaven Dou Empire were more unified than ever—lips and teeth. If one fell, the other would be doomed.
After Tang Yuehua informed Emperor Xue Ye of what had happened, Xue Ye fully believed the true culprit was the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. In both sentiment and logic, he had to believe it—the Clear Sky Sect was the ally.
He could only try to send envoys to explain the truth to Spirit Empire marshal Hu Liena, but was roundly rebuked.
At this point, they dared to slander the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect? Wasn't that exactly the Clear Sky Sect's motive for killing the Grandmaster? And the evidence was ironclad: the Grandmaster's handwritten testament; the Clear Sky Token seized from the killer; witnesses including Liu Erlong, Yu Yuanzhen, and Niu Ben; and even Bibi Dong herself, who had scanned the Grandmaster's final memories. To commit the deed and refuse to admit it—shameless.
Besides, their ultimate goal in attacking the Heaven Dou Empire was continental unification. "Avenging Honorary Elder Yu Xiaogang" was simply a legitimate causa belli.
Emperor Xue Ye also tried to find exculpatory evidence—but there was none. The Seven Treasures side had even prearranged why the Grandmaster would go to Seven Treasure Mountain; the two forged letters to Yu Yuanzhen and Yu Xiaogang were now assumed to be Clear Sky fabrications.
Ning Fengzhi—Xue Ye thought immediately. Only that scoundrel could set something so watertight: kill, then wash himself clean.
Ning Fengzhi's signature move.
Within the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Yuehua and Tang Xiao looked to the sky, desolate. Tang Yuehua sighed, "I always prided myself on reading hearts better than anyone. I never imagined we'd be outplayed this badly. Back then, Jun Tianlin told us of Second Brother and Tang San's deaths entirely on purpose."
"He and Ning Fengzhi knew we wouldn't let it go. But the Clear Sky Sect is no match for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Our only option was to borrow the Spirit Hall's power. And the only leverage we had to open a channel to them was the Grandmaster. Those two had my mind pegged like glass."
"Cough, cough! Yuehua, don't dwell on it. It's meaningless now. Bibi Dong is sworn to kill us—she is our true enemy. As for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, forget it. We won't avenge Second Brother and Xiao San. We can't." Tang Xiao coughed, thinking of Tianlin's terrifying combat power. At only level 96, he could match—or even surpass—the Clear Sky's strongest sect master, Tang Chen. If he reached level 99, even several Ultimate Douluo together might not suffice.
"Enough," Tang Yuehua exhaled. "In both cunning and strength, we're far from today's Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Rest assured, I won't dwell on it. You were gravely wounded by Jun Tianlin; you shouldn't be in the wind. Let me help you back."
She supported Tang Xiao back into the sect. From here on, their focus could only be on the Spirit Empire. Truly, trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.
Unlike Heaven Dou, Star Luo was delighted—schadenfreude, even. To them, the Spirit Empire was an enemy—and so was Heaven Dou. Battle was inevitable. Now that the two foes were at each other's throats, Star Luo could reap the fisher's profit. Perhaps this war sparked by the Spirit Empire wouldn't be Star Luo's disaster, but their opportunity to unify the continent.
Of course, they weren't fools. Heaven Dou was not the Spirit Empire's match. If Heaven Dou fell easily, Star Luo wouldn't profit; they'd be next. So they would help Heaven Dou just enough to divide the Spirit Empire's strength, turning the Spirit–Heaven Dou conflict into a protracted war and bleeding both sides.
To that end, Star Luo dispatched troops without hesitation. Since the Spirit Empire had withdrawn most forces from Star Luo's front, they easily reclaimed everything except Gengxin City.
Now they had assembled seven hundred thousand troops, encircling Gengxin City tightly.
But Gengxin City, like Jialing Pass, was a fortress built to withstand soul masters, and it had Titled Douluo, soul master legions, and two hundred thousand soldiers garrisoned. The Spirit Hall had taken it easily before by surprise. With the Spirit Empire prepared, stores full and arms ready, as long as Tuoba Xi didn't foolishly sally out, they could hold for a year or more.
Someone else was joyful—Evil Sword Immortal. Or rather, both vexed and pleased. Vexed because the Grandmaster had died, ruining his plan to exploit him—a recurring cosmic joke, as if someone were sabotaging him on purpose. No matter what scheme he conceived, someone coincidentally ruined it first.
Pleased because, though the Grandmaster plan hadn't borne full fruit, his death still granted Bibi Dong a 10% boost in affinity, bringing her to 80%—the basic threshold to open the ninth Rakshasa trial. Her inheritance would be somewhat weaker under such conditions—
But not by much. Bibi Dong's foundation was excellent; her power was self-cultivated. Compared to gods like Qian Renxue and Ning Rongrong who would need sacrificial boosts, her depth was greater.
Evil Sword Immortal felt a pang of regret. If the Grandmaster had lived, he was confident he could have made Bibi Dong a god within a year. Now it would be a bit later—but with her talent and the Evil Spirit Pearl, no more than four years should suffice.
He had even considered appearing before Bibi Dong to steer her toward darkness, but thought better of it—too risky. What if she didn't listen, or turned on him? Not to mention Qian Daoliu and Qian Renxue, whose attributes countered him.
Evil Sword Immortal's greatest trait was cowardice. Before his form was fully stabilized, the fewer who knew of him, the better. Tast time he went out for once, met Tianlin, tried to show off, and nearly got chopped in half in a single stroke?
The outside world was too dangerous. For an underdeveloped baby, home was safest. Evil Sword Immortal decided to keep his head down. Until Bibi Dong became a god, he wouldn't go anywhere. If he went out and ran into Tianlin again, he'd be finished.
For now, continent-wide turmoil hadn't touched the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Whatever storms raged outside, Ning Fengzhi and Tianlin remained immovable.
…
But today, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect welcomed a great joy: Ning Rongrong and her party, returning from their journey, finally came home!