Chapter 294: Off to the Clear Sky Clan for Amusement
Clear Sky Clan.
Ever since suspecting that Spirit Hall was secretly "swapping the crown prince" in order to seize the Heaven Dou Empire, the entire clan had kept a low profile. Their members trained diligently to raise their strength. They planned to smash Spirit Hall's covert scheme and, in the ensuing battle to wipe out Spirit Hall, exhibit the prowess of the world's number-one clan, the might of the Clear Sky Hammer – to reclaim their summit of glory.
Inside the Clear Sky Clan:
Tang Hao wore a somber expression. With one arm and one leg severed by Qian Xunji, his spirit bone taken, he'd lost all hope of further breakthrough. He could only guide younger clan members in their training.
Word had reached them that the Slaughter City had reappeared on the continent, but the disciples sent to investigate had not yet returned. Tang Hao could only pray his grandfather was unharmed. His grandfather was the Shura God's Grand Priest – the only one who could help Tang San inherit the Shura God's divinity. That was the last hope for the Clear Sky Clan's rise.
"Heh, what am I worrying over? We've been knocked about by Spirit Hall so often, are we supposed to start doubting Grandfather's survival now?"
"With Grandfather's strength, he's the world's best. The Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King so cowardly and afraid of death would naturally make the right call. If he's at Grandfather's side, who could harm him? Qian Xunji and Qian Daoliu aren't even fit to carry his shoes."
Tang Hao's self-mocking smile vanished, replaced by an inexplicable quickening of his heartbeat. A tremor of foreboding surged in his one remaining arm.
What's going on? Alarmed, he raised his left hand to check – blackish light swirled over his right arm's stump, as if in faint vibrations.
In a flash of black, the Clear Sky Hammer appeared, jolting tangibly in his grasp. An intense, bloodthirsty excitement coursed through the hammer, transmitted into Tang Hao. The etched pattern representing the Killing God Domain now gleamed entirely red, and a distinct blood glow gradually emerged across its surface.
Bloodlust, slaughter, terror – all sorts of negative auras oozed from the bloody pattern. Since obtaining the Killing God Domain, Tang Hao had never felt such a shift in it. Ordinarily, these sensations were meant for enemies trapped in that domain.
"What's happening?"
Tang Hao, a rank 93 Title Douluo, unleashed his full mental power to probe the hammer, but couldn't decipher this bizarre change. He hurried to the clan's main hall to find his elder brother Tang Xiao for help.
After the All-Continent Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament ended, Tang Xiao devoted himself to cultivation, no longer spending his efforts balancing power between the clan master's faction and the Elders. Now, his spirit power had reached rank 96 Super Douluo, a mental strength surpassing Tang Hao's.
A similar phenomenon befell Qian Renchuan in Spirit Hall. Striving to push past rank 80, he was baffled to find his Slaughter Angel Spirit suddenly agitated, the Killing God Domain surging with excitement. Immediately, he sought out his father, the invincible Qian Xunji, for an explanation.
Scanning Qian Renchuan's right arm, Qian Xunji saw that Slaughter Angel emit a blood-red radiance. Under the blood-hued Killing God Domain's stimulation, the entire martial spirit glowed like a scarlet lamp.
Even Qian Xunji's own spiritual power failed to clarify the Slaughter Angel's changes, so he tried channeling a wisp of Angelic divine power. When the Angelic Light shone upon Slaughter Angel, the roiling Killing God Domain halted, and the abnormal changes calmed. Likewise, Qian Renchuan's rattled emotions eased.
Using the Angelic Light as a scanner, Qian Xunji discovered that the Killing God Domain etched on Slaughter Angel was maintaining a faint spiritual connection with someone outside. Its function: lock-on.
Through his rank 99 mental power, Qian Xunji sensed that stranger locking onto Slaughter Angel's Killing God Domain wasn't heading for Spirit Hall. Their path diverged slightly.
"Xiaochuan, get Yuehua at once; something big's happening!"
"Yes, Father."
Qian Xunji's face glowed with irrepressible excitement. To lock onto the Killing God Domain, that had to be the Killing King himself, likely trying to learn who'd poisoned his Slaughter City. Among the living who possessed a Killing God Domain were Bibi Dong, Tang Hao, and Qian Renchuan. The Killing King had already fought Bibi Dong – and wasn't her match. So that left Tang Hao and Qian Renchuan.
The King's route clearly wasn't heading to Spirit Hall, so it had to be Tang Hao in the Clear Sky Clan. A Slaughter King rampaging up to the Clear Sky Clan – that scene would be quite spectacular indeed.
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
But in the original timeline, the Killing King never targeted Tang Hao, perhaps because Tang Hao dwelled near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, closer to Sunset Forest outside Heaven Dou City. The sacred ground's draconic aura from the deceased Ice-Fire Dragon King was effectively a god's tomb, making it impossible for the Slaughter King to reach. If he'd truly feared Tang Hao, that wouldn't explain how he tried to kill Tang San and Hu Liena in retribution for the city's downfall, ignoring Tang Hao and Bibi Dong behind them.
Soon, Qian Xunji departed with Qian Renchuan and Tang Yuehua, ostensibly to "rescue" the Clear Sky Clan. In reality, they intended to watch the show, plus claim the Shura Demon Sword and the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King's hundred-thousand-year ring from Tang Chen's body.
High in thousand-meter mountains, mist draped the ridges, waterfalls and forests abounding – a beautiful vista. From below, one might see twin rocky summits, each bearing a carved statue of a man wielding a great hammer.
Between the two mountains stretched a winding stone stair, leading to a giant gate. On the gate's plaque, in bold script, were three characters: "Clear Sky Clan."
"What is that?"
At the gate, an outer disciple on sentry duty pointed at the distant sky, where a vast blood-mist mass rapidly approached. As it neared, the pungent reek of blood churned their stomachs.
Moreover, from within the mist poured monstrous killing intent, laced with toxic corruption.
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