"The Clear Sky Sect is gone?"
Tang Chen almost thought he misheard, but seeing that Lin Mu didn't seem to be joking, he had no choice but to accept the result. In an instant, endless bitterness welled up in his heart.
Although he had stopped interfering in the sect's affairs long ago, as the sect's Former Head and Supreme Elder, he had left several ultimate techniques to the sect, naturally not wanting it to be destroyed.
Suddenly, Tang Chen's eyes flashed, and he guessed, "Was it Qian Daoliu's doing?"
Looking at the two great empires, only one force could destroy the Clear Sky Sect: the Spirit Hall, which had stood for ten thousand years.
After all, with the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul and the ultimate techniques he left behind, the Clear Sky Sect had firmly established itself as the number one sect in the world; no other force possessed the strength to destroy it. Except for the Spirit Hall, with its ten thousand years of history.
Thinking of this, a raging fire burned in Tang Chen's eyes. He had thought Qian Daoliu would keep his promise, but unexpectedly, he destroyed the Clear Sky Sect while he was away, showing no martial ethics whatsoever.
Seeing Tang Chen's reaction, a strange glint flashed in Lin Mu's eyes. He muttered to himself, "If Qian Daoliu hadn't kept his promise, the Clear Sky Sect would have been destroyed twenty years ago."
In his view, the Spirit Hall wouldn't even need Qian Daoliu to personally intervene to destroy the Clear Sky Sect. Sending the other six worship elders and several elders from the Supreme Pontiff's Palace would have been enough, but Qian Daoliu hadn't done so. This showed that Qian Daoliu had already shown mercy.
Of course, part of the reason was his fear of Tang Chen's retaliation. After all, he didn't know Tang Chen's specific situation and couldn't be sure if he had passed the Divine Trial.
If Tang Chen had passed the Divine Trial, the entire Spirit Hall wouldn't be able to bear the wrath. Even if they conceded, facing Tang Chen in his exploded state, Qian Daoliu wouldn't be able to defend himself, let alone dodge the Great Sumeru Hammer.
For some reason, most soul masters prefer to withstand attacks head-on. Only agility-type and support-type soul masters actively dodge attacks; other soul masters, even when they could avoid them, prefer to withstand the opponent's attacks to prove their strength.
For example, Qian Daoliu insists on comparing his weaknesses to the opponent's strengths. If Tang Chen were to use aerial advantage to wage a war of attrition, he would most likely be no match for Qian Daoliu.
After some thought, Lin Mu suppressed his thoughts and said, "Although the Clear Sky Sect is gone, most of its members are unharmed."
Hearing this, Tang Chen immediately breathed a sigh of relief. But he quickly realized something was amiss. If the sect's disciples had all survived, why would the Clear Sky Sect cease to exist? This simply didn't make sense.
"Brother Lin Mu, are you hiding something from me?" As he spoke, Tang Chen stared directly at Lin Mu, his gaze as deep and unfathomable as a cold pool.
Seeing this, Lin Mu remained calm and composed. He had previously been certain he didn't want Tang Chen to know those things, but now it was different. Tang Chen only had less than half a month to live; even if he knew the truth, it wouldn't matter.
"I established a sect, and the Clear Sky Sect was merged into it and renamed Hammer Hall," Lin Mu said succinctly.
Upon hearing the words "Hammer Hall," Tang Chen was completely dumbfounded. A full half-minute passed before Tang Chen came to his senses, looking at Lin Mu with a complex expression.
He had calculated everything, but he hadn't expected Lin Mu to be the one to make the move. With Lin Mu's unparalleled strength, destroying the Clear Sky Sect would be effortless.
However, he truly couldn't understand why Lin Mu would attack the Clear Sky Sect. Although their time together was short, he could tell that Lin Mu didn't have much desire for fame or fortune.
Having reached the Limit Douluo level before the age of thirty, even if he wanted the title of the world's number one weapon martial soul and the world's number one sect, he wouldn't need to destroy the Clear Sky Sect.
Moreover, Lin Mu's disciple and his great-grandson, Tang San, was also a member of the Clear Sky Sect; there was no reason to have conflict.
Even now, Tang Chen hadn't lost his mind. Although the Clear Sky Sect was gone, at least its members had survived, and most of the sect's disciples were unharmed.
From another perspective, he was already a dying man, and the Clear Sky Sect merging into Lin Mu's forces wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
After Lin Mu became a god, the position of sect leader would definitely be inherited by Tang San. Compared to his original plan, it was just a change of name.
After a long while, Tang Chen finally calmed down and asked, "Brother Lin Mu, I want to know why you did this?"
"The Clear Sky Sect came looking for trouble, so I punished them a little," Lin Mu said calmly after a moment's thought. "As for why I subdued the Clear Sky Sect, there's only one reason: Little San needs someone to forge hidden weapons for him, and the Clear Sky Hammer soul masters are perfect for that."
Hearing this, Tang Chen smiled bitterly. The world's number one weapon martial soul was, in Lin Mu's eyes, was merely a forging tool.
Undeniably, a Clear Sky Hammer soul master was indeed very suitable to be a blacksmith. Especially when paired with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique, forging weapons was twice as efficient, saving considerable physical strength and time.
After a moment, Tang Chen asked again, "Why would the Clear Sky Sect cause you trouble?"
"That's a long story, and it's quite a cruel one for you. Are you sure you want to know?" A cold glint flashed in Lin Mu's eyes as he spoke.
He never felt he had done anything wrong in killing the Tang brothers, Tang Xiao and Tang Hao. Strictly speaking, he hadn't killed Tang Xiao and Tang Hao; they died at Tang San's hands.
But regardless, their deaths were inextricably linked to him. However, he had given Tang Hao many chances, but Tang Hao hadn't cherished them.
Seeing Lin Mu's attitude turn noticeably colder, Tang Chen's expression gradually became serious. Things were probably far more complicated than he had imagined. After a moment of silence, he said resolutely, "I want to know the specifics."
"Alright, to put it simply, about twenty years ago, the Spirit Hall sent people to hunt down your grandson, Tang Hao, shortly after Tang San was born."
Lin Mu then recounted the whole story in detail. The turning point came with Tang San's near-tragic childhood, marked by the Spirit Hall's hunting of 100,000-year-old soul beasts and his apprenticeship at Nouding Academy, finally allowing him to live a decent life.
However, things didn't go as planned. Tang Hao, who had almost never fulfilled his responsibilities as a father, suddenly appeared and even attacked Tang San repeatedly.
Ultimately, these conflicts erupted after Tang Hao took Ah Yin away. If Tang Hao had trusted Tang San even a little more, or treated him better, none of this would have happened.
"How could this be?"
Tang Chen's expression became dazed. Although he hadn't spent much time with his two grandsons, they were still his bloodline and the inheritors of his Clear Sky Hammer martial soul.
What he found most unacceptable was that Tang Hao deserved all of this, and even causing the death of his elder brother, Tang Xiao. Thinking of this, Tang Chen suddenly felt a surge of anger and coughed up a mouthful of blood.