Inside the inner space of the Lake of Life, Ditian, Bear Lord, and the other ferocious beasts arrived.
The instant they entered, they saw Huo Yuhao standing in the center. Floating on either side of him were two condensed essences of bloodline.
On one side, a golden essence radiated power and destruction; on the other, a silver-white essence carried the aura of elements and creation.
"This is…the bloodline essence of the two Lords!" Ditian immediately recognized their origin.
Huo Yuhao was trying to fuse the two Dragon God essences, but the bloodlines repelled each other and refused to merge.
The Dragon God's dual aspects—Creation and Destruction—were just like Life and Destruction: inherently irreconcilable.
Back then, the Dragon God had forcibly fused these two aspects to form the Dragon God's seat, but the unstable foundation eventually caused the split.
Now Huo Yuhao faced the same situation. He could brute-force the fusion, but he had a better method.
In the God Realm, Yuhao split off a portion of his own bloodline and sent it into the space beneath the Lake of Life.
Once he had obtained the bloodline of the God of Eternity, he threw this essence into the air.
The three bloodlines—one left, one right, one center—drew together under his divine control.
The Eternal God's bloodline harmonized Creation and Destruction, becoming a mediating force between the two opposites.
Within Creation lay Destruction; within Destruction lay Creation—a cycle of birth and death, forming Eternity within change.
"If that little brat can insert himself into the Dragon God's inheritance, then it's perfectly reasonable that I, Huo Yuhao, do the same," Yuhao said.
The three bloodlines fused. Radiant light filled the entire space.
Ditian, Bear Lord, and the other soul beasts saw within the brilliance the phantom of a nine-colored divine dragon manifest.
"The Dragon God—it's the Dragon God, our Lord!" Ditian was overcome with excitement.
But when the light faded, what lay at the center was a single egg.
"All right. This is the Dragon God. It needs time to hatch. By using the Golden Essence of all living things here, you can accelerate the incubation. It will take around a hundred years." Huo Yuhao instructed the Ice-Fire Dragon Kings and the beasts of the Star Dou Forest.
"We can wait that long. Thank you, great Eternal God, for granting our soul beast race its own deity." Ditian bowed gratefully. By this time, the Ice-Fire Dragon Kings had already explained the earlier misunderstanding to the beasts of the forest.
Yuhao nodded. "Until the new Dragon God is born, your soul beast clan will heed my command."
"As your will. Until the Dragon God's birth, Ditian—and indeed all soul beasts of the Star Dou Forest—will follow your orders."
And so, Yuhao brought the entire soul beast system under his control:
Through Xue Di, Bing Di, and Xiao Bai, he took the Extreme North.
Through the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, he took the oceans.
And now, through Ditian and the Star Dou Forest, he claimed the land.
The entire Douluo Continent's soul beasts fell under Yuhao's dominion.
As the saying goes: seize momentum, then seize territory.
Meanwhile, our poor little brat, unaware of these grand moves, still dreamed on—believing himself to be the Child of Destiny, the Shura God's chosen youth, destined to fight for the thrones of Life, Destruction, and Dragon God.
In truth, he was no more than a turtle in a jar, waiting for Yuhao's hand to tighten the lid.
A Flower Blooms, Two Branches Each
Once the greatest sect under heaven, the Clear Sky Sect had declined into ruin.
Its plaque had been forcibly replaced with one reading "Rat Hole." Not a single disciple dared take it down.
But even in its decline, the Rat Hole was rife with power struggles and treachery.
At first, after the sect was sealed off, only a few remained—just "a couple of stray cats." The crippled Title Douluo Tang Xiao alone remained as the sect's facade.
Tang Xiao, once bearing a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, was a Title Douluo.
But after a shattered spine left him disabled, he could only muster Soul Douluo-level strength.
Still, as the only titled "rat" in the Rat Hole, the others tolerated him.
This fragile balance lasted until half a year ago.
At that time, Tang Lie successfully advanced to Title Douluo, obtaining an eighty-thousand-year ninth ring, earning the title Lieyang (Blazing Sun).
Though ordinary among Title Douluo, he was nonetheless whole-bodied and strong—unlike the crippled Tang Xiao.
The first thing Tang Lie did after his breakthrough was call a Clear Sky Sect Elders' Assembly.
At the meeting, Tang Xiao sat in his wheelchair, face dark, as Tang Lie led the other elders. They glared at Tang Xiao with disdain, utterly lacking the respect due to a Sect Master.
"You…why are you looking at me like this? What do you mean by this? I am your Sect Master!" Tang Xiao demanded angrily.
"You are the Sect Master—yes. But soon, you won't be," Tang Lie sneered.
The second elder said coldly, "By unanimous decision of the Elders' Council, you, Tang Xiao, are unfit to remain as Sect Master. We have resolved that the position will pass to the newly advanced Title Douluo, Lieyang Douluo Tang Lie."
"That's right, Tang Xiao. Step down willingly."
"Tang Xiao, your bloodline brought disgrace upon us, leaving the Clear Sky Sect in its current miserable state. If you have any shame at all, hand over the position!"
Tang Xiao looked helplessly at the elders who bore down on him, his voice trembling.
"You…you all… When my grandfather built the Clear Sky Sect's prestige, none of you spoke like this!"
"That was then. This is now. Don't talk to us about past glory while we rot in the present. If not for Tang Hao, your line wouldn't have dragged us into ruin!" the fifth elder spat.
Tang Lie sneered, eyes calm.
"Tang Xiao, it's not that I want to seize your seat, but the elders have had enough of you. Still, if you think this unfair, we can settle it the traditional way—the Clear Sky way."
With that, Tang Lie raised his Clear Sky Hammer. Unlike others, his hammer bore a fire attribute.
Nine spirit rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—rose around him. His Title Douluo aura at level 91 exploded forth.
Tradition dictated: the Sect Master was whoever won the duel.
Tang Xiao had one more level and even a hundred-thousand-year ring, but with a broken spine, he had no chance.
"…Fine. I will abdicate. The Sect Master's seat is yours, Tang Lie," he said, resigned.
Ever since the "Rat Cave" sect leader's position shifted, Tang Lie, who became the new sect leader, began carrying out sweeping acts of exclusion.
First, he had Tang Tian, Tang Jie (Tang Chen's father), and Tang Meng (Tang Chen's grandfather) removed from the ancestral shrine.
What's key is that Tang Lie's actions won cheers from within the Clear Sky Sect.
No matter how Tang Xiao tried to stop it, he couldn't stop the fury of the "rats" of the Rat Cave. Many of their relatives had died at Tang Hao's hands. Because of Tang Hao, they had been hunted by Spirit Hall. With Tang Hao missing and Spirit Hall overwhelmingly powerful, their hatred had nowhere else to go, so naturally they vented it on Tang Hao's entire bloodline.
Thus, Tang Tian, Tang Jie, Tang Meng—and even Tang Xiao's direct lineage—were directly struck from the ancestral tablets.
Still not satisfied, the sect members even dug up Tang Tian's grave, opened his coffin, desecrated his corpse, and scattered the ashes of Tang Jie and Tang Meng—pouring all their resentment over lost kin and their hatred for Tang Hao and Spirit Hall onto their remains.
A few days later, Tang Lie, together with the council of elders, made a public declaration:
"I announce that Tang Xiao and Tang Chen are expelled from the Clear Sky Sect. You are no longer members of our sect." Tang Lie declared bitterly.
Yes—Tang Lie even expelled Tang Chen, the once-revered hero of the Clear Sky Sect.
"You can't do this! I admit Tang Hao committed unforgivable crimes. But Tang Hao is Tang Hao—what does that have to do with my grandfather? Without my grandfather Tang Chen, would the Clear Sky Sect have today's glory?" Tang Xiao shouted angrily.
"Hmph. Yes, Tang Chen once led the Clear Sky Sect to glory. But so what? Are we still the number one sect in the world?"
"Tang Chen's sin was having a grandson like Tang Hao. If not for Tang Hao, would my son have died?"
"Yes! If not for Tang Hao, even if we weren't number one, we wouldn't be this miserable today. Tang Hao is guilty, and so is Tang Tian who bore him, and so is Tang Chen who bore Tang Tian!"
"Tang Chen was selfish. With his ambition to become a god, he abandoned us. If he had stayed as an Ultimate Douluo, he could've at least protected our sect for another two or three centuries."
"Right! Tang Chen was selfish! I support expelling his whole bloodline!"
"Your lineage is a disgrace to the Clear Sky Sect! You are unworthy of the Tang name, unworthy of wielding the Clear Sky Hammer! Get out!"
Faced with this expulsion, Tang Xiao wanted to resist. But Tang Lie crippled him—leaving him half-paralyzed and destroying his martial soul, reducing him to a useless cripple.
Suppressing Tang Xiao's resistance, Tang Lie glared at him with hatred:
"Tang Xiao, my son and my father both died because of your precious younger brother Tang Hao. You are his elder brother—you will bear his sins!"
"Tang Lie! If you have a grudge, go after Tang Hao! Go after Spirit Hall! Bullying the weak and fearing the strong—what kind of ability is that?" Tang Xiao roared in anguish.
At his words, a flicker of guilt crossed Tang Lie's eyes.
Of course he knew who the real enemies were—Tang Hao, and Spirit Hall.
But Tang Hao's overwhelming power, along with Spirit Hall's, had carved itself into Tang Lie's heart like an immovable mountain.
At only ninety ranks, Tang Hao had already slain a level 95 Title Douluo. By now, his power was unimaginable. Even with Ultimate Douluo strength, Tang Lie didn't dare dream of revenge. He was simply terrified.
Since he didn't dare go after Tang Hao or Spirit Hall, he could only crush the weak instead. Tang Xiao was crippled. Tang Tian was dead. Tang Chen was trapped in the forbidden divine realm. Easy targets.
Innocent? Perhaps. But if they were innocent, where could Tang Lie vent the raging hatred in his heart?
Thus, his twisted reasoning reflected the general sentiment of the sect. That's why they carried out such grotesque, incomprehensible actions.
"Tang Xiao! I will settle accounts with Tang Hao one day! But until then, remember—everything you suffer now is thanks to your precious younger brother! Crawl through this world as a useless cripple!"
With that, Tang Lie called two disciples:
"Throw Tang Xiao out of the sect!"
"Yes, Sect Master."
The two disciples grabbed Tang Xiao by the arms, dragging him like garbage, and tossed him outside the Rat Cave.
Tang Xiao lay outside like rotting flesh, his eyes lifeless.
He reflected bitterly on his pitiful life. Born into glory—Clear Sky Sect, innate full soul power, praised by his grandfather as one of the "Clear Sky Twin Stars."
Once, he and Tang Hao were close brothers. But when they both fell for kind and beautiful Ah Yin, everything changed.
Ah Yin loved him—Tang Xiao. But Tang Hao stole her away, leaving him crippled.
Years later, to protect the child Tang Hao forced Ah Yin to bear, Tang Hao slaughtered the sect's strongest. Ah Yin pitied his crippled body and sacrificed herself to him—becoming his ninth soul ring. Yet Tang Hao struck him down again.
Now, the sect blamed him for all of Tang Hao's sins.
His heart was filled with overwhelming hatred—toward Tang Hao, toward the Clear Sky Sect.
But since the sect could redirect their hatred onto him, where could he vent his own?
Tang Xiao's despair was bottomless.
"Xiao~"
A soft, gentle call awakened him.
The familiar voice infused him with life. He looked up, saw a pair of elegant dark-blue high heels, and followed them upward—Ah Yin was looking at him.
Tang Xiao froze. He closed his eyes, opened them again, his voice hoarse but trembling with emotion:
"Ah Yin… is it really you? Ah Yin!"
Ah Yin gazed at him. In her memory, she had loved him—loved him enough to sacrifice her life. His ninth soul ring was born from her.
But now, upon seeing Tang Xiao again, she felt nothing. Not even a ripple. She couldn't understand how she'd ever loved him.
"Ah Yin!" Tang Xiao dragged his broken body, inch by inch, toward her.