The moment that hammer appeared, every member of the Clear Sky Clan present—whether elder or disciple—felt the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul behind their backs let out a violent hum. It was a sense of absolute submission and adoration originating from the deepest depths of their bloodlines and souls.
"This... this is..."
The pupils of the leading elder contracted violently, and the hand gripping his hammer's handle began to tremble.
Tang Hao ignored their shock. A divine pressure, far exceeding the limits of the mortal realm and belonging to a true god, slowly descended like a towering mountain, enveloping the entire field.
Under this pressure, the several Titled Douluo felt their breath hitch. It was as if every bone in their bodies was groaning, and even the circulation of their soul power became sluggish. This was not hostility, but an insurmountable, absolute gap in the very level of their existence.
"The Clear Sky is here. Why do you not kneel?"
Tang Hao's voice was not loud, yet it sounded like a divine decree from the highest heavens, exploding in the depths of everyone's soul.
"The Clear Sky Hammer... divine pressure... You, you are..."
One elder seemed to recall a name that existed only in the sect's most ancient legends. His lips quivered, and his eyes were filled with a mix of fanaticism and disbelief.
"I am Tang Hao!"
Boom!
Those four short words were like a lightning bolt of creation, shattering the fog in everyone's hearts.
The Haotian Douluo, Tang Hao! The legendary figure from ten thousand years ago, the father of the Sea God, Tang San.
He had returned.
"Ancestor! It is the Clear Sky Ancestor!"
"The Ancestor has descended to the mortal realm!!"
After a brief, deathly silence, an earth-shattering cheer erupted, mingled with the sound of sobbing.
The leading elder could no longer support himself. His knees buckled, and he fell heavily to the ground. Tears streamed down his weathered face as he cried out hoarsely, "Unworthy descendant Tang Long, pays respects to the Clear Sky Ancestor. May the Ancestor be eternally blessed!"
"We pay our respects to the Clear Sky Ancestor!"
Behind him, the crowd of elders and disciples all knelt, their foreheads pressed firmly against the cold rock, their bodies shaking with excitement.
Heaven knew how they had survived these past days.
Ever since the First Sect Master Niu Tian, Second Sect Master Tai Tan, and the Young Mistress Tang Wutong—the one in whom the sect had placed all its hope—had all perished in that so-called "Holy Grail War" in Radiant City, the very sky of the Clear Sky Clan had collapsed.
Grief, anger, fear, and confusion intertwined, causing this once unified sect to show signs of internal strife for the first time. Some advocated for descending the mountain for revenge, while others argued for continued endurance. They argued incessantly in the council hall every day, yet could produce no viable solution.
But now, it was fine. The Ancestor had returned, and he had returned with the power of a god. All the fear, uncertainty, and bickering ended at this moment. They finally had a backbone—a true pillar capable of supporting the heavens.
Looking at the kneeling clansmen, Tang Hao retracted the Clear Sky Hammer and his divine aura, his facial features softening significantly. He personally stepped forward to help the leading elder, Tang Long, to his feet.
"Rise. We are all family. Lead me to the hall and tell me—after I left, what happened to the sect and the continent?"
The Clear Sky Clan Council Hall.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Tang Hao sat upon the Sect Master's throne, while Ah Yin stood quietly by his side. They listened to Tang Long's raspy, grief-stricken voice recount everything that had transpired over the years, especially the world-shaking upheavals of late.
When the names Niu Tian and Tai Tan were mentioned, Tang Hao's grip on the armrest tightened unconsciously, his knuckles turning white from the force.
And when the name "Tang Wutong" was linked with the word "perished," the previously silent Ah Yin trembled violently.
"What did you say?"
Her voice was soft, yet it carried an uncontrollable tremor. She took a step forward, staring intently at Tang Long. "Say it again. Xiao Qi... what happened to her?"
Elder Tang Long did not dare look directly into Ah Yin's beautiful eyes, which were brimming with a sorrow that seemed ready to overflow. He lowered his head and repeated with difficulty:
"Reporting to the Ancestress... the Young Mistress... she, along with the First and Second Sect Masters, perished in Radiant City (Mingdu City)."
Boom.
Ah Yin's mind went blank; her entire world seemed to spin.
Wutong...
The little girl who, back in the Divine Realm, loved to cling to her side, hugging her arm and acting spoiled, begging her to use the Blue Silver Domain to weave a swing... The granddaughter who inherited the bloodlines of Tang San and Xiao Wu, possessing the twin martial souls of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess and the Clear Sky Hammer, hailed as the most brilliant jewel of the new generation in the Divine Realm...
How could she be dead?
Had she not descended to the mortal realm merely for tempered experience? With the protection of the Divine Realm's providence and the hidden safeguards left by Tang San, how could she possibly die in a mere lower plane?
An unbelievable grief, like the sharpest of blades, carved into her heart over and over again. Beneath her feet, countless strands of Blue Silver Grass surged frantically from the floor of the hall, only to wither and turn to ash in an instant, repeating in a cycle. This was the manifestation of her divine power spiraling out of control due to her mental anguish.
"Raaaaagh—!!!"
A suppressed, primal roar, like that of a wounded beast, erupted from deep within Tang Hao's throat. He stood up abruptly, his hulking frame trembling with extreme rage.
A visible surge of dark-red killing intent rose from his body like a literal flame. The temperature in the council hall plummeted, and the air became thick and smelling of blood.
He stepped out of the hall and stood at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the churning sea of clouds.
"This is too much!!"
He roared toward the heavens. With a backhanded swing, he struck toward a distant, towering secondary peak.
This strike did not use the Clear Sky Hammer; it was a pure discharge of divine power. A massive palm made of divine energy, large enough to blot out the sky, formed in the air and slammed into the thousand-meter-high mountain with Peerless force.
RUMBLE—
Under the terrified gazes of all the Clear Sky Clan disciples, that indestructible mountain peak shattered like a sand sculpture in the wind. In a single moment, it was silently and completely... reduced to drifting powder.
One palm, and the mountain was erased.
A violent shockwave swept out, causing the sea of clouds to tumble and the sect's main hall to groan and vibrate.
Despite the outburst, the fire in Tang Hao's chest did not diminish; it burned even hotter. He turned around, his bloodshot eyes staring at Tang Long as he asked, word by word, "How did they die? Who did it?!"
Tang Long was pushed back several steps by the sheer killing intent, his face ashen. He shook his head bitterly.
"Ancestor... we... we do not know. The First Sect Master only mentioned they were going to Radiant City (Mingdu City) for a 'Holy Grail War' concerning godhood, and then there was no more news. We only know that of the dozens of sect elites who went with them, not a single one returned. The sect's secret techniques could only sense that their life force had been extinguished, but as for who killed them or how it happened, we are entirely in the dark."
"You don't know?" Tang Hao's brow furrowed into a deep scowl.
"Yes, Ancestor," another elder added indignantly. "Our only ally, Shrek Academy... was also recently razed to the ground. Not a soul was left alive. We have lost all channels for outside information. Now, the Sun Moon Empire's army has already invaded the Heavenly Soul Empire. We feared... feared that the enemies who killed the Young Mistress would follow the trail to find us, so we... we did not dare act rashly."
"What? Shrek was also destroyed?"
This news sent Tang Hao and the barely composed Ah Yin into another state of immense shock.
Shrek Academy was Tang San's alma mater and a vital piece of their plan. With the Golden Ancient Tree suppressing its providence, how could it be wiped out just like that?
As Tang San's parents, they were intimately familiar with his designs. Tang San had been strategizing from the Divine Realm with the ultimate goal of having Tang Hao replace the plane's will with his own divine soul, turning the entire planet into the Tang family's private domain. Meanwhile, Ah Yin was to merge with the planet's life core to become the new Tree of Life, governing creation.
To this end, Ah Yin had followed Tang San's old example and separated a powerful strand of her divine sense to descend to the mortal realm. It had entered the Golden Ancient Tree to link with Shrek Academy's providence and set the stage in advance.
Thinking of this, Ah Yin's expression changed drastically. She immediately closed her eyes, sending her vast divine sense across space to sense the avatar that should have been of the same root as herself.
However, all she sensed was a void of deathly silence. That connection had been severed from the very source, as if by an invisible pair of scissors.
"My avatar... is gone," Ah Yin opened her eyes, her voice carrying a trace of chill. "It isn't sleeping, nor is it sealed. It has been... completely erased from existence by some power."
Tang Hao and Ah Yin looked at each other, both seeing an unprecedented gravity in the other's eyes. The severity of the situation far exceeded their imagination. A mysterious force capable of silently erasing a deity's avatar, destroying Shrek Academy, and slaying their granddaughter and a host of masters... this was no longer a power the mortal world should possess.
Right then, both Tang Hao and Ah Yin felt a sudden jolt in their hearts. They snapped their heads up, looking toward the southwestern horizon.
In their divine perception, the laws of the plane in that direction were undergoing an extremely violent and frenzied collision. A familiar and powerful divine aura surged into the sky, gold and black intertwining to form the phantom of a colossal tiger that seemed to prop up the heavens.
That was the martial soul fusion skill of Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing. Its power was comparable to a First-Class God.
"It's Mubai and Zhuqing," Tang Hao immediately recognized the power. "They have encountered a powerful foe; they are fighting for their lives."
"To be able to push them to such a state..." Ah Yin's gaze became incredibly sharp.
After instructing the Clear Sky Clan to guard the sect closely and under no circumstances act impulsively, Tang Hao and Ah Yin did not delay for a second.
"Go."
Divine light erupted from both of them, transforming into two streaks of light—one black and one blue—that tore through the sky. With a speed exceeding lightning, they raced toward the center of the divine power eruption: the wasteland.
Meanwhile, on the official road leading toward the western coast, two figures were advancing.
"Really, Rongrong, why are we walking so slowly? Wouldn't it be faster to just fly there?" Oscar complained as he walked.
Beside him, Ning Rongrong remained as charming as ever, though a hint of unnoticeable worry lingered between her brows. She shot Oscar a glare.
"What do you know? That Abyss City is not simple. If we fly there so grandiosely, what if we're mistaken for enemies? Let's keep a low profile, enter the city to gather information first. That's never wrong."
"Alright, alright, whatever you say," Oscar smiled dotingly.
However, in the next second, the smiles on both their faces froze. Simultaneously, they stopped in their tracks and looked toward the distant west. A violent, tragic, yet incredibly familiar surge of divine power swept over their senses like a tsunami.
"This feeling... it's the Hell White Tiger!"
The playfulness on Oscar's face vanished instantly, replaced by gravity. "And the power is more than ten times stronger than when we sparred in the Divine Realm. They are burning their god-positions!!"
"It's Boss Dai and Zhuqing!" Ning Rongrong's face turned pale as she cried out in alarm. "Who could force them to use such a suicidal move?!"
The Shrek Seven Devils were as close as siblings. If Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing were in trouble, they could not possibly stand by.
"Regardless of who it is!" Ning Rongrong shouted anxiously. "Xiao Ao, we have to get there now! Boss Dai and Zhuqing must be in massive trouble!"
"Right!" Oscar did not hesitate. He grabbed Ning Rongrong's hand, and the God of Cookery's divine power within him erupted without reservation.
Divine light shimmered around them as they transformed into a brilliant streak of color, changing direction and flying at full speed toward the source of the divine energy that was rapidly peaking before abruptly plummeting.
On the wasteland, a silent game between death and rebirth was taking place.
The massive crater torn open by the divine battle was like an ugly scar permanently seared into the earth. The edges of the pit were glazed with glass-like rock, formed from soil that had been melted by extreme heat and then rapidly cooled, reflecting an eerie light under the sun. Deep within the pit, one could occasionally see flickering purple sparks of residual lightning and distorted cracks in space that had yet to fully dissipate.
All of this wordlessly testified to the destructive and terrifying nature of the battle that had just occurred.
However, in stark contrast to the scene of devastation, the vast land outside the crater was different. A layer of fresh, emerald-green grass covered all the areas that had been turned to scorched earth by the shockwaves of the battle, like a magnificent carpet. Amidst the grass, unknown wildflowers swayed in the wind, and the air was filled with the fragrance of earth and a life force so dense it was almost tangible.
A brilliant streak of light cut through the sky, stopping abruptly at a high altitude a thousand meters away from the crater, revealing the figures of Ning Rongrong and Oscar.
"This... this is..."
Oscar looked down at the bizarre sight—half hell and half heaven—and his handsome face was written with shock, his voice dry. He could clearly perceive the lingering, violent aura of a First-Class God from the martial soul fusion of Dai Mubai and Zhuqing within the crater, mixed with several other divine-level energy echoes that were entirely different.
Even just these residual energies were enough to make him, a Second-Class God, feel a tremor in his heart.
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