The crowd came forward, surrounding Yu Xiaogang and saying:
"Exactly, exactly, Teacher of the Gods, you must be mistaken. Look how much these three children resemble the God of the Future, Tang San."
"Yes, Teacher of the Gods, you've misunderstood. Why couldn't the Clear Sky Hammer mutate into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? So naïve!"
Yu Xiaogang, his crew-cut swollen into a pig's head, sat on a gilded chair looking around blankly at the soul masters correcting his "mistakes." His heart filled with grievance and helplessness.
In the end, Tang San even hosted a grand banquet, celebrating the fact that all three of his sons had awakened impressive martial souls with innate full soul power—each one full of potential.
At the banquet, leaders of all the factions offered sweet words of congratulations, blessing Tang San and Xiao Wu with a long and happy union.
When the feast was over, Tang San and Tang Hao took Xiao Wu back to their chamber.
With a thud, Tang San smashed his fist against the wall in fury. His eyes were bloodshot, his breath heavy like a raging bull as he glared at Xiao Wu.
"Xiao Wu… shouldn't you give me an explanation? What's going on with these three children?"
Xiao Wu answered casually:
"Didn't I already say? Their martial souls mutated."
"Mutation? Hahaha!" Tang Hao barked out a laugh of rage. He summoned the Clear Sky Hammer and demanded:
"Tell me, how could two tool-type martial souls—Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer—mutate into beast martial souls like the White Tiger and Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon?"
"How should I know?" Xiao Wu folded her arms and turned her head aside.
Tang San took a deep breath, his face twisted in pain.
"Xiao Wu… there's no one else here. Just tell me the truth. Isn't Tang Wubai Dai Mubai's bastard? Isn't Tang Wule Bu Le's bastard? And isn't Tang Wuheng Yu Tianheng's bastard?"
He suddenly froze, as if realizing something. His lips murmured:
"Tang Wuheng… Yu Tianheng. Tang Wule… Bu Le. Tang Wubai… Dai Mubai…"
Tang San rushed to the baby cradle. Gazing at the four infants, his eyes locked onto one with fiery red hair—Tang Wujun. In that instant, the child's face overlapped with Ma Hongjun's in his mind. Tang San's eyes turned bloodshot, his breath ragged.
"Tang Wujun… Ma Hongjun."
Next, his eyes fell on another:
"Tang Wuka… Oscar."
"Tang Wutian… Feng Xiaotian."
"Tang Wubeng… Xue… Beng!" His final words erupted as a roar.
Tang Hao, hearing this, showed disbelief on his face. He strode up to the cradle and looked at the four children. His aged features twisted grotesquely. The thought that the grandsons he had cherished all this time were actually other men's sons made his eyes flush red with rage.
"One birth with triplets, another with quadruplets—seven children, seven fathers—and not a single one belongs to my Xiao San?! Xiao Wu, do you even know what you've done?"
Tears welled in Xiao Wu's eyes as she shot back:
"Tang Hao, are you accusing me of secretly being with other men and bearing their children? Hmph, before you doubt me, why don't you doubt yourself first? Back then, you forcibly took me away. For a whole year I was under your constant surveillance. In your eyes, I married Xiao San, lived with him, bore him children. Did you ever see me with another man? Answer me!"
Tang Hao hesitated for a moment before roaring back:
"Then how did you hide it from me, sneaking off to be with those bastards? Martial souls don't lie! A child's martial soul comes from their parents. If you didn't betray my Xiao San, then how did Tang Wuheng, Tang Wubai, and Tang Wule awaken those martial souls? And why do they look so much like…"
"Who knows?" Xiao Wu turned her head and said lightly, "Maybe, when Dai Mubai and the others fused their martial souls with me back then, some energy residue was left behind. That could have caused these martial soul mutations in the children. Yes—that must be it!"
"Hahahahaha…" Tang San laughed until tears streamed down his face.
"Xiao Wu, do you really think I should believe that?"
"Believe it or not, that's your choice." Xiao Wu replied indifferently.
Her attitude drove Tang San past the edge. His eyes reddened, his breath came in furious gasps.
"All I know is this: the martial souls awakened by these children are not mine. They carry the blood of other men. They're not my children. I'll kill them!"
Driven mad, Tang San hurled a hidden weapon straight at Tang Wule.
But Xiao Wu teleported in front of Tang Wule, activating her Invincible Golden Body to block the deadly strike. She shouted furiously:
"Tang San, you beast! If you want to kill your own son, then kill me first!"
Behind her, Tang Wuheng, Tang Wule, and Tang Wubai said nothing, but their eyes glared at Tang San with deep hatred. A moment ago, they had all felt his killing intent.
"The little brats dare look at me like that?!" Tang San seethed with rage. He bellowed at Xiao Wu:
"Xiao Wu, their martial souls aren't mine, their blood has nothing to do with me! Are they still my sons?"
"Is bloodline really that important? Haven't these children been calling you 'Father' all this time? Was that all for nothing?" Xiao Wu retorted righteously.
Tang Hao roared:
"So you admit they're bastards, then!"
"So what if they are? So what if they aren't? What of it?!" Xiao Wu countered.
"What of it?!" Tang Hao's face froze in disbelief. He stared at Xiao Wu like she was insane, then broke into bitter laughter.
"Hahahaha, Xiao Wu, do you even realize? On the Douluo Continent, in any clan, any sect—if a woman takes another man and bears bastards, then whether it's the cheating man, the woman, or the bastards themselves—all must be executed to cleanse the clan's shame! And you, as the Tang family's daughter-in-law, future matriarch of the clan—you've committed such a shameless act, you—"
"Oh? Then kill me first! Come on, kill me! Smash Xiao Wu's head with your Clear Sky Hammer!" Xiao Wu pointed at her forehead, daring him.
"You… you… Hahahaha, fine! I'll grant your wish!"
Tang Hao's eyes turned blood-red, his breath ragged like an enraged beast. In his fury he lost all reason, grabbing his Clear Sky Hammer in his hand.
But just then, deep in Tang San's mind, the Asura God's divine trial issued a warning:
Warning: Sheath bearer is facing a life-threatening crisis. Satisfaction level decreasing. If the sheath dies, or satisfaction falls past the threshold, the divine trial will be deemed a failure.
"Father, stop!" Tang San rushed forward to block his father.
The divine trial's warning jolted him back from the brink of madness. Combined with his feelings for Xiao Wu, he could not bear to see her die beneath his father's hammer.
With his finger, Tang San wrote two characters—Divine Trial—on Tang Hao's back. That reminder made Tang Hao, who had nearly lost his reason, finally calm down.
---
Just moments ago, father and son had been consumed by anger, losing all sense of reason. But after receiving the Asura God's warning, their rationality returned. And when they thought things through carefully, they were horrified to discover—
Even knowing those bastards weren't Tang San's children, they still had to treat them kindly, raising them as though they were his own sons.
It wasn't only because the divine trial demanded it, requiring them to satisfy Xiao Wu.
It was also because, back when Xiao Wu was pregnant, she had forced them to swear an oath—an oath witnessed by the sheath of the Asura Divine Sword—one that could never be broken.
At the very least, until Tang San ascended as the Asura God, they could not touch these illegitimate children.
Tang Hao and Tang San were dumbfounded, unsure of what to do.
"Come on, smash me with your Clear Sky Hammer! If you don't dare, then you're nothing but a coward." Xiao Wu, seeing father and son hesitate, grew arrogant. Pointing at her rabbit head, she mocked: "Go on, kill Xiao Wu! Maybe I'll even explode into a hundred-thousand-year soul bone. Or is it that the great 'Tang Hao' has no guts?"
Her words made Tang Hao's face scrunch like he was constipated. Hammer in hand, he couldn't smash her, but neither could he not smash her.
"No guts, right? Hahahahahahaha!" Xiao Wu sneered. "So it turns out that you Tang Hao are just a flashy piece of trash!"
"You—!" Tang Hao's face turned crimson like a boiled crab.
"Xiao Wu!" Tang San could only choke down the humiliation, wanting to say something.
"Hmph! You wanted to kill our children, and you still dare call me Xiao Wu? You're not worthy." Xiao Wu shot him a look of disgust, then gathered her children. Three clung to her, she carried another in her arms, and she marched straight out.
"Xiao Wu, where are you going?" Even though Tang Hao knew they had no choice but to endure Xiao Wu's recklessness for the sake of the divine trial, he still couldn't show her any face.
"If you two won't accept the children, and you've no guts, then where else would Xiao Wu go? I'll take them home!" Xiao Wu declared.
At that moment, the Asura God's divine trial sent another warning:
Warning: Asura Sword Sheath satisfaction level is dropping. If satisfaction falls below the threshold, you will lose your qualification for the divine trial.
Warning: If Xiao Wu leaves the clan with the children, you will be unable to fulfill your vow and will be punished by the Asura God.
Hearing this double warning, Tang San broke out in a cold sweat.
He rushed forward, blocking Xiao Wu's way. "Xiao Wu, my wife, don't go!"
"Your wife? From the moment you tried to kill our children, you lost the right to call me that." Xiao Wu turned her head away coldly.
Tang Hao, seeing the severity of the situation, swallowed his pride as a father-in-law. He stepped forward, blocking Xiao Wu and the seven "gourd babies."
"Xiao Wu, what just happened was a misunderstanding. We're all family. There's no need to go that far."
"Oh? 'Tang Hao,' tell me—what exactly did we misunderstand?"
"M-misunderstanding…" Tang Hao stammered, glancing at the children. "Yes, you're right, Xiao Wu. These children are all yours and Xiao San's."
"Heh." Xiao Wu sneered. "Didn't you just say their martial souls weren't Tang family's, so they were bastards? Now you're suddenly claiming Wubai and the others are Tang family's children?"
"Yes, yes, you're right. It's because of your past martial soul fusions with Dai Mubai and the others. Some residual energy remained in your body, leading to the mutations in the children's martial souls." Tang San, swallowing humiliation, spoke quickly.
"Right, right! It must have been the residual fusion energy that caused the mutations. Xiao Wu, I was there when you and Xiao San married, when you gave birth. Wubai, Wule, Wuheng—they must be Xiao San's children. It was our misunderstanding." Tang Hao added.
Xiao Wu chuckled. "Oh? So now you agree with me—that Wubai and the others are mutated because of martial soul fusion residue. But—"
"But what?!"
"But I'm still taking the children back to my Star Dou Great Forest. What can you do about it?"
Shoving Tang Hao aside, Xiao Wu led the children toward the exit.
Tang San panicked. He dropped to his knees in front of Xiao Wu, tears streaming down his face, his expression like someone suffering from constipation.
"Xiao Wu, don't go. I, your San-gege, beg you. Please give me another chance. Look—San-gege will kowtow to you!"
Bang! He lowered his proud head, smashing his forehead against the floor.
Lifting his head to see Xiao Wu unmoved, he hurriedly added: "If one isn't enough, then two!" He kowtowed again.
Tang Hao, though seething with hatred for Xiao Wu and the seven brats, knew this concerned the Asura divine trial and the Tang clan's future. So he too dropped his pride, kneeling beside Tang San.
"Xiao Wu, Wuheng, Wubai, Wule… just now, father-in-law misunderstood you all. I'll give you an apology." Bang! He kowtowed as well.
"Xiao Wu, as long as you stay, I'll make it up to you and the children. I swear it!" Tang San declared.
"Oh? That sounds tempting. And how do you plan to make it up to us?" Xiao Wu asked.
"Whatever you want, I'll do it for you, Xiao Wu." Tang San said eagerly.
"Good."
With that, Xiao Wu pulled out a scroll from behind her. She unfurled it, and the long parchment trailed down to the floor.
Father and son looked at the contents. At the very top, in bold letters, it read:
"I, Tang San, swear in the name of the Asura God—"
Below it stretched hundreds of clauses, all safeguarding Xiao Wu's and her children's rights. Even worse, many clauses protected her "male best friends"—ensuring Tang San could not harm them, guaranteeing her freedom to continue fusing martial souls with them, and even securing the rights of any future children born of "fusion residue mutations."
The more Tang Hao read, the darker his face became. The more Tang San read, the greener his face turned.
This wasn't a treaty—it was a blatant unequal contract, one that legitimized Xiao Wu's "open relationships."
"This—" Tang Hao pointed at the scroll, his face twisted like constipation.
"Oh? Can't do it? Hmph. So much for your promises of 'compensation.' Just empty words. Children, let's go." Xiao Wu scoffed, turning to leave with the seven "gourd babies."
"No! Xiao Wu, I agree. I swear it—" Tang San shouted desperately.
But Xiao Wu cut him off:
I want you to summon the entire alliance. Before all the factions, in broad daylight, you will swear this oath publicly!