The one-year deadline had arrived.
Heaven Dou City stood utterly deserted.
From the moment dawn broke, countless citizens, flowers in hand, spontaneously streamed toward the towering divine statue in Heaven Dou Plaza.
Prosperous merchants drove carriages laden with rare blossoms and exotic plants, while poorer families carefully gathered bunches of wildflowers from the mountains and fields.
They were not precious—
Yet each was meticulously arranged.
Emperor Xue Ye removed his dragon robes and, together with the royal family and civil and military officials, merged into the crowd clad in plain garments.
They could not forget…
Why that youth, who had once dazzled an entire era, had fallen.
With talent eclipsing all of his peers and a future pointing straight toward godhood, he had nonetheless chosen to raise his sword against the gods themselves—solely to protect the countless mortals below.
Only then did they truly believe—
That there were indeed people willing to die without hesitation for the lights of ten thousand households.
In the plaza—
The sea of people flowed in silence.
Gradually, the statue's pedestal was encircled layer upon layer by flowers.
From within the crowd came sounds of muffled sobbing, desperately suppressed.
Li Zhexian's friends arrived dressed in formal attire, forcing smiles onto their faces, unwilling to let this day of promise go unfulfilled.
Yet whenever their gazes fell upon the statue's tranquil features, a sharp, uncontrollable pain clenched their chests.
One year ago, they had made a promise, hoping that today none would be absent.
At the time, each of them had imagined the possibility of dying on the battlefield.
Yet never had they imagined…
that the one to fall would be Li Zhexian—the strongest among them.
With his own life, he had exchanged the safety of everyone else.
Chen Xin, Dugu Bo, Feng Bailong, Ning Fengzhi, and the others stood silently at the forefront of the surging crowd, gazing up at the youth's face, half-hidden within curling clouds of incense smoke, their eyes stinging with restrained grief.
The storyteller stood silently behind his table.
In his hand, he clenched the wooden clapper he had yet to strike.
The entire city waited amid a thunderous silence—
waiting for an unfinished promise,
waiting for the white-robed youth who might never appear.
The sun gradually rose. The initial expectation, as time passed, settled into a sorrow that was almost solidified.
Flowers piled up like a mountain. The rich fragrance mixed with grief.
The muffled cries had now merged into a continuous sound of weeping.
And just as this sorrow was about to reach its peak...
In the northern sky, a terrifying aura, heavy as a mountain, abruptly descended like palpable dark clouds. The sky immediately dimmed.
Chen Xin snapped his head up.
The grief hidden in his eyes instantly turned into piercing cold light.
His white robes fluttered without wind as an incomparably chilling sword intent surged skyward, tearing the descending pressure to shreds.
"The Clear Sky Clan…actually dares to choose today!"
Dugu Bo's voice was hoarse, his crimson-and-jade pupils contracting to pinpoints. A bloody wind swirled faintly around him, and above his head the phantom of a Ten-Headed Serpent Emperor, stretching thousands of meters, gradually manifested.
Feng Bailong vanished into the wind.
Yu Yuanzhen and the First Marquis leapt into the air.
Their overwhelming Spirit Power erupted simultaneously, forming an invisible wall that stretched across the sky, forcing the advancing Clear Sky Clan's Titled Douluo to halt.
"In the past, we thought the Clear Sky Clan only bullied the weak and feared the strong,"
Dugu Bo said darkly as he stood atop the serpent's head.
"Now that I see them clearly, shamelessness is their true nature."
"Tang Xiao, Tang Hao—do you truly think that by stepping into Heaven Dou today, I, Dugu Bo, would not dare to slaughter the Clear Sky Clan to the last?"
Tang Xiao's gaze grew heavy as it swept over Chen Xin, Dugu Bo, and the others whose killing intent soared into the heavens.
Then he looked downward—
at the towering divine statue below, surrounded by a sea of flowers, the incense offerings so dense they had condensed into clouds.
The Fourth Elder, Tang Yuan, stepped forward.
His deep voice resounded throughout Heaven Dou City:
"Li Zhexian died for the nation, and we too mourn his passing!"
"But we ask the common people to understand that the Clear Sky Clan has taken root in Heaven Dou for a thousand years, sharing honor and disgrace with the empire, bound together through prosperity and peril!"
"The Clear Sky Clan's title as the number-one sect under heaven has likewise brought glory and renown to Heaven Dou!"
"One year ago…"
"Our Ancestor Tang Chen, whose mind had been corrupted, was slain by Li Zhexian!"
"Ancestor Tang Chen was an unparalleled powerhouse of Heaven Dou. Though Li Zhexian rendered great service to the state, the killing of a pillar of the same nation remains controversial!"
"To erect a statue and receive worship—this matter still warrants careful consideration!"
As his words fell…
The Third Elder, Tang Cang, also spoke in a deep voice, his words carrying in all directions:
"People of Heaven Dou, please set your minds at ease!"
"Today, the Clear Sky Clan is guarded by both Xiao Tian and Clear Sky itself!"
"Even if Li Zhexian has fallen, the Clear Sky Clan will surely safeguard Heaven Dou's mountains and rivers, making the realm more stable and peaceful than ever before!"
"Well said!"
From the southern horizon, surging Spirit Power rolled like waves as two proud figures appeared.
In front was a golden-haired young man with his arms crossed over his chest.
Beside him walked a blue-haired man in silence, his gaze calm and deep as the ocean.
"A new generation replaces the old. Since Li Zhexian has already fallen, for the sake of Heaven Dou's future stability, a new guardian should naturally be elevated."
"Li Zhexian… slaughtered powerhouses of his own nation and is unworthy of having a statue erected or receiving worship."
"As for being called the greatest genius in history—that is nothing but nonsense."
"When my brother Tang San returns from the deep sea, only then will you understand…"
"what it truly means to bear the bearing of a god!"
"Who is this dog barking so wildly here?!"
Yu Tianheng stepped into the air, the aura of a Spirit Douluo erupting violently as he rose alongside Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wushuang, and Feng Buyu.
"A defeated foe, a stray dog without a home—also dares to mention Zhexian's name?"
Yu Tianheng sneered.
"Uttering the name 'Li Zhexian' from your mouth is nothing but defilement!"
Two months ago, the two had been evenly matched.
They had fought again afterward.
And Yu Tianheng had emerged victorious by a single move.
Feng Buyu's eyes were covered with black silk.
The Sword Intent of Wind coiled around his azure blade like something tangible.
He was no longer putting on a show—his mind's eye had opened, and he now perceived all things.
"With Zhexian gone, even stray cats and dogs dare to call themselves peerless geniuses."
He raised two fingers like a sword and pointed straight at Dai Mubai.
"Do you dare to take ten strikes from me?"
"Within ten swords, I will cut you down!"
Huo Wushuang and Feng Xiaotian's Spirit Power also surged, killing intent sharp and icy.
Dai Mubai narrowed his sinister eyes, about to respond—
when below,
the crowd surged like a tide.
Suddenly, an enraged curse exploded forth:
"Clear Sky Clan calls itself the Number One Sect? When the Spirit Hall Empire pressed in, where were you?!"
"Hiding from Spirit Hall decades ago, hiding from Lord Sword Wine a few years ago—cowards who shrink their heads and tails, worse than turtles in the Jinxi River!"
"And you dare slander Lord Sword Wine? Bah!"
One shout sparked a thousand echoes.
The curses of Heaven Dou's citizens thundered skyward:
"Heaven Dou doesn't need the Clear Sky Clan! If you dare touch Lord Sword Wine's statue, I—I'll curse your ancestors!"
"So-called mighty Clear Sky, all useless fools—battle souls broken, hammers limp, bending when faced with strength, roaring only at the weak!"
"Go ahead and try! Even old men, women, and children carry Lord Sword Wine's will to slay gods—we are not afraid of your Clear Sky Clan!"
Vile words cut like blades, every sentence striking the heart.
The Clear Sky Clan members led by Tang Xiao all wore iron-dark expressions.
They had ultimately underestimated just how much that youth meant to the people of Heaven Dou.
"How dare you slander the Clear Sky Clan!"
Tang Cang flew into a rage, his Clear Sky Hammer smashing down upon empty space. A thunderous explosion, like a storm of lightning, crushed all clamor into silence.
Boom—boom—boom—boom!
Boom—boom—boom—boom!
The might of a Titled Douluo spread outward like a tidal wave.
Chen Xin, Dugu Bo, and the others revealed their Spirit Rings in full, killing intent surging.
Tang Xiao and Tang Hao stepped forward together, faint cracks appearing around their Spirit Rings as their auras soared wildly—battle on the brink of ignition.
Just at this moment, a blood-gold divine sword, like a falling meteor, slammed violently into the ground between the two opposing sides!
A peerless aura surged outward.
Forcing everyone to stagger backward.
As the fog of Spirit Power slowly dissipated—
Qian Renxue beat her blood wings, her exquisitely beautiful face icy with killing intent, while the six Worship Elders lined up behind her in order.
...
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