š If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon! I'm offering advanced chapters there as a thank-you to readers.
--------------------
Check out advanced chapters on : patreon.com/Veni_V
---------------
Xue Beng and Prince Xue Xing threw themselves beside Emperor Xue Ye's stiff body and began to wail in grief. The sudden palace coup and the tragic death of the emperor were massive blows to the royal family. These two men were on the verge of total emotional collapse.
Xue Beng was trembling all over as tears and snot streamed down his face. Whether his emotions were genuine or fake, the sheer panic and deep sorrow of a royal family member facing such a sudden disaster were clearly written all over his face.
Watching this miserable scene take place right before his eyes, Marshal Ge Long forcibly suppressed the surging grief and burning rage in his heart. After all, he was the high commander of the military and still retained a shred of logical reason. Immediately, his sharp gaze swept across the chaotic, blood-stained battlefield. His eyes finally landed on Ning Fengzhi, who looked incredibly pale and whose spirit power was highly unstable.
Marshal Ge Long walked over and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, "School Master Ning, what exactly happened here? Your Majesty was fine just a short while ago. How could His Majesty suddenly pass away like this?"
Upon hearing this direct question, Ning Fengzhi took a deep breath and immediately steadied his racing mind. He knew he could not let anyone, especially those in the military and the royal family, have even the slightest suspicion regarding the true cause of Emperor Xue Ye's death.
He had to firmly cement the conclusion that Spirit Hall had poisoned Emperor Xue Ye in everyone's minds. It was a heavy burden because he was the one who had made the final decision to have Yang Wudi attempt to detoxify the emperor earlier.
If these people found out that Emperor Xue Ye had actually been killed by the treatment itself, the consequences would be catastrophic for everyone involved.
After a long moment of tense silence, Ning Fengzhi adjusted his expression and said in a deep, sorrowful voice, "Marshal Ge Long, it was all because of Spirit Hall. That Crown Prince Xue Qinghe was actually a treacherous spy sent by Spirit Hall.
He had disguised himself as the Crown Prince for years. He colluded with many powerful Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall to launch this palace coup. He even administered a highly complex and strange poison to Your Majesty long before launching the attack.
Although we fought to the death to provide reinforcements and successfully repelled those powerful enemies, the poison Your Majesty was afflicted with was truly too sinister and fierce. The toxin had already penetrated deep into his marrow and his very life origin."
Speaking up to this point, he paused for a brief moment. His heavy gaze swept over Yang Wudi, who was standing to the side. Yang Wudi looked incredibly pale, and there was still a trace of fresh blood on the corner of his mouth.
Ning Fengzhi sighed deeply and continued, "Poison Douluo and Clan Head Yang both did their absolute best to investigate the condition. They confirmed that the intense toxicity had become completely entangled with Your Majesty's life origin, making it entirely incurable by regular medicine. Clan Head Yang even went so far as to use his family's secret acupuncture technique.
He risked his own safety and spirit power to draw out the poison for Your Majesty, attempting to fight for a tiny sliver of hope. Alas, this poison from Spirit Hall is truly too venomous. Just a moment ago, the hidden toxicity suddenly backlashed and erupted with full force. Your Majesty, he simply could not hold on."
Ning Fengzhi did not continue speaking. He only shook his head heavily as tears glistened in his eyes. He had deliberately blurred the specific process of Yang Wudi's acupuncture treatment and omitted the exact details of why it failed. He chose to only emphasize Yang Wudi's risky, best efforts and the extreme intensity of the foreign poison. By doing this, he successfully shifted the entire blame for Emperor Xue Ye's death onto the true culprit, Spirit Hall.
Following Ning Fengzhi's careful guidance, Marshal Ge Long looked down at Emperor Xue Ye's miserable state of death. Black blood was still slowly flowing from his seven orifices, and his entire face had turned a horrific purple-black color. Then, he looked up and saw Yang Wudi's completely exhausted appearance after the failed treatment. Because of these sights, most of his sudden doubts were instantly dispelled. The doubts were quickly replaced by a raging fire of fury.
Marshal Ge Long gritted his teeth tightly and said, "Spirit Hall, what a wicked Spirit Hall! For this blood grudge, the million-strong army of our Heaven Dou Empire will definitely fight you to the very death!"
Just then, a large pile of rubble not far away suddenly shifted with a loud groan. Immediately after, a rather disheveled, blood-stained figure struggled to crawl out from within the deep rocks. It was none other than Tang Xiao, the master of the Clear Sky Sect.
He had previously been heavily injured and blown away by the terrifying power of Gold Crocodile Douluo, which had buried him deep in the palace ruins. At this moment, he was severely injured. His internal aura had withered to the absolute extreme, and he could barely even maintain his Clear Sky Hammer Spirit. He could only struggle to lie on the ground and use his weak arms to support his heavy body.
Looking around the area with blurry vision, Tang Xiao saw Emperor Xue Ye's lifeless remains and noticed the complex expressions on the faces of Ning Fengzhi and the others. He forced himself to stand up and began to walk over toward them with stumbling, uneven steps. However, he had only walked a few steps closer when a sudden change occurred.
"Tang Xiao!"
A furious shout filled with monstrous rage and bone-deep hatred suddenly rang out through the open courtyard. Yang Wudi, who had originally been weak and leaning against a broken stone pillar, was now like a lit explosive. His eyes instantly turned a brilliant, crimson red. Disregarding his own severe internal injuries, his spirit power began to surge madly around his body once again.
Eight powerful spirit ringsāyellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, blackālit up on his body simultaneously, showing his status as a powerful Spirit Douluo. The formidable Soul Breaking Spear appeared in his hands and emitted a shrill, angry humming sound. Its sharp tip pointed directly at the stumbling Tang Xiao.
"What a Great Clear Sky Sect! What an ungrateful, heartless person you are, Tang Xiao!" Yang Wudi's voice trembled violently with extreme anger as he spoke. "Back then, our Breaking Clan was completely loyal to your Clear Sky Sect.
But what did you do for us? Your sect provoked Spirit Hall, yet you chose to close your gates and let our four single-attribute clans stand at the very front as helpless scapegoats! Do you know how many of my innocent Breaking Clan members died tragically because of your cowardice? Do you know how much of our family property was utterly destroyed? Even my own younger brother, Yang Wushuang, was taken from me!"
Yang Wudi took a step forward, his spear shaking with rage. "Now that the vile scum of Spirit Hall has just been repelled, His Majesty has just passed away, and the entire nation is in a massive crisis, you coward have finally decided to crawl out from the dirt? Do you want to see if the evil deeds your Clear Sky Sect has committed are deep enough? I, Yang Wudi, will say this right here today! The blood debt of Spirit Hall must be collected in the future, but the debts of your selfish Clear Sky Sect must also be settled right here today!"
As soon as his final words fell, he suddenly exerted massive force with his feet. His heavily injured body burst forward with astonishing speed. His entire person followed the movement of the heavy spear, and he quickly transformed into a resolute, black streak of light. The sharp tip of the spear was concentrated with all the grief, indignation, and sharpness of the entire Breaking Clan. It thrust fiercely toward the completely unprepared Tang Xiao's heart. He attacked in the simplest, most direct, and most fearless posture possible.
"Go to hell!"
This spear thrust was entirely unreserved, carrying a killing intent that soared straight to the heavens. Clearly, no one in the area had expected that Yang Wudi would suddenly launch a deadly attack at this exact moment. They never thought he would target Tang Xiao, who had just crawled out of the ruins and was obviously severely injured from the previous battle.
Seeing this sudden development, Ning Fengzhi's expression changed instantly. He wanted to speak out to stop the madness, but he realized it was already far too late. A strange green light flashed deep in Dugu Bo's eyes, but he remained still and did not make any move to stop the attack. Prince Xue Xing, Xue Beng, Marshal Ge Long, and the other soldiers were still enduring the deep pain of losing their emperor. They were even more stunned on the spot by this sudden, violent internal infighting and could not react in time.
Tang Xiao's pupils shrank to the size of needles. Because he was heavily injured and exhausted, he had absolutely no time to activate any defensive Spirit Ability. He could only barely hold the heavy Clear Sky Hammer horizontally in front of his chest, attempting to block the incoming strike using pure physical strength.
Yang Wudi struck with pure, unbridled fury. The Soul Breaking Spear transformed into a life-claiming black streak, its speed and ruthlessness reaching their absolute physical limit. With Tang Xiao's heavily injured and broken body, his reaction speed was not just a beat slow; it was incredibly sluggish. The heavy Clear Sky Hammer, which he had hastily held up to block the strike, was easily knocked askew by the sharp tip of the spear. The attack had condensed all the hatred and sharpness of the Breaking Clan.
The sharp tip of the spear pierced deeply into Tang Xiao's shoulder blade without any resistance. It instantly brought out a heavy spray of bright red blood.
"Ugh, ah!" Tang Xiao groaned in intense pain. The agonizing feeling made his already unsteady footsteps even more staggering, and he nearly fell to his knees.
But this dangerous encounter was only the beginning of Yang Wudi's assault. The blood-red light in Yang Wudi's eyes grew even more intense and crazed. With a sudden flick of his strong wrist, the long spear shaft erupted with a terrifying, high-frequency vibration. It was the Breaking Clan's ultimate secret technique, the Vibration technique.
The sharp tip of the spear vibrated violently inside Tang Xiao's open wound. Its internal destructive power increased sharply in an instant, tearing apart muscles and veins.
"The first strike is for my innocent Breaking Clan members who died unjustly because of your sect!" Amidst his angry, booming shout, Yang Wudi forcefully pulled the spear out and thrust it forward again. This time, he aimed straight for Tang Xiao's waist and abdomen. Tang Xiao barely managed to turn his upper body sideways in a desperate move. The sharp spear tip grazed his ribs with a loud sound, tearing open a deep blood groove that was deep enough to see the white bone underneath.
"The second strike is for the century-old foundation of my Yang Family that was completely destroyed by your choices!" Tang Xiao suffered repeated heavy injuries from the continuous attacks. His remaining spirit power began to quickly dissipate into the air, and his protective spirit power barrier almost vanished entirely. He could only rely on his deep combat instincts to dodge the strikes in a highly disheveled manner. Large bloodstains were rapidly spreading over his torn clothes and body.
"The third strike is for my poor younger brother, Yang Wushuang!" Yang Wudi was now filled with extreme grief and deep indignation. His figure followed Tang Xiao like a dark shadow that could not be shaken off. The third strike transformed into several fast spear shadows that were incredibly difficult to distinguish between real and fake. They covered all of Tang Xiao's vital points, looking as though they were about to completely pierce through his head and end his life.
Watching this terrifying scene unfold, Ning Fengzhi's expression changed instantly. He shouted urgently, "Clan Head Yang, stop this madness at once!"
Marshal Ge Long and the surrounding guards were even more dumbfounded by this ruthless pursuit. It had all happened in the blink of an eye, and they did not know what to do for a moment. But just at the exact moment when Yang Wudi's fatal strike was about to completely end Tang Xiao's life, a sudden change occurred.
A dull, thunderous sound of something breaking through the air echoed out. It carried a scorching and highly violent aura, suddenly attacking from the very edge of the palace ruins. Everyone present only felt a blinding red light flash before their eyes.
Immediately after, a massive Clear Sky Hammer appeared. It was burning with dark red flames all over its body, appearing as if molten lava was flowing freely on its heavy head. It crashed down like a falling meteorite with completely unstoppable force. The massive hammer smashed fiercely onto the exact tip of the Soul Breaking Spear that Yang Wudi had thrust out.