Chapter 285. Tang Chen will lead the anti-Spirit Hall alliance.
"I never imagined the Clear Sky Sect would have such a glorious past," Xue Qinghe said in shock. Yu Xiaogang said, "Think about what the Spirit Hall did to the Clear Sky Sect. Now that Tang Chen has returned, given his personality, how could he not seek revenge against the Spirit Hall? Now we can win over the Clear Sky Sect. With Tang Chen's prestige, the forces that were previously hesitant will definitely choose to side with our anti-Spirit Hall alliance. At that time, once the alliance is established, we can quickly launch a war and crush the Spirit Hall."
"Alright, Grand Preceptor, I'll leave the matter of winning over the Clear Sky Sect to you," Xue Qinghe said.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, leave everything to me," Yu Xiaogang said calmly.
When Ning Fengzhi of.the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School received this news, he almost jumped three feet high.
"Sect Master, what's making you so happy?" Chen Xin asked.
"Tang Chen is back," Ning Fengzhi said.
"Tang Chen? That invincible Tang Chen?" Chen Xin said.
"That's right." Ning Fengzhi smiled. "This is the best news I've heard in a long time."
His eyes filled with reminiscence:
"Back in Qian Daoliu's era, when the Spirit Hall was judging various forces and eliminating dissidents, Tang Chen emerged, slightly surpassing Qian Daoliu. The Clear Sky Sect became the number one sect in the world, and also took up the banner of balancing the Spirit Hall. Our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon School united under the Clear Sky Sect to jointly resist the Spirit Hall's growing ambition and desire."
"During that period, the Spirit Hall's power was somewhat restrained, and the continent tended towards balance; it was the golden age of the entire continent."
"The golden age is gone. Tang Chen disappeared, and no one has emerged to balance the Spirit Hall's influence. In recent years, the Spirit Hall's influence has grown stronger and stronger. Qian Xunji will not be content with his current position. His ambition is to place all living beings on the Douluo Continent under his dirty rule, which I absolutely cannot tolerate."
"That's why I've been advocating for unity and cooperation among all parties all these years. Unfortunately, no matter how united the three upper sects are, they're no match for the Spirit Hall. But now, Tang Chen is back," Ning Fengzhi said.
Gu Rong smiled and said, "So, you mean that with Tang Chen back, will that golden age of the past also return?"
Ning Fengzhi shook his head, his eyes filled with excitement, and said, "I don't know, but one thing is certain: Tang Chen's prestige will definitely allow us to unite more forces. The more united we are, the greater our chances of victory against the Spirit Hall. We might even be able to crush the Spirit Hall in one fell swoop and create a bright future for all our forces."
"Alright, enough said. Let's prepare gifts and visit the Clear Sky Sect."
On the Douluo Continent, in a coastal city, a woman wearing a cloak and a veil covering her face walked across the continent.
She was Poseidon, who had just arrived.
After arriving on the Douluo Continent, Poseidon had encountered many novel things.
For example, the Spirit Hall's newspapers and media, and she had also come into contact with the production of soul tools.
When Poseidon had nothing to do, she liked to read newspapers to pass the time.
However, she didn't take the contents of the newspapers seriously. The clever Poseidon saw the Spirit Hall's intentions in this particular newspaper.
The evil Spirit Hall was using the newspaper to spread their message to the public, thus misleading them. But this didn't matter to Poseidon. As long as the Spirit Hall's mouthpiece didn't reach Seagod Island, the Spirit Hall and Seagod Island would keep to themselves.
However, in this newspaper, Poseidon saw a small line in a corner:
Tang Chen Returns, Where Will He Lead the Clear Sky Sect?!
Poseidon's pupils trembled slightly, and she looked down.
The page reported the news of Tang Chen's return to the Clear Sky Sect. When Poseidon received this news, she was incredibly excited.
"Tang Chen, Tang Chen, you're finally back!"
At this moment, Poseidon wished she could sprout wings and fly to the Clear Sky Sect to catch up with Tang Chen. As for the Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, Qian Daoliu? She couldn't even be bothered to look at them!
"Lord Sea God, before heading to the Spirit Hall, could I perhaps visit the Clear Sky Sect first?" Poseidon clasped her hands together and prayed softly, her voice tinged with a hint of pleading.
Although she couldn't disobey the Sea God's command, Poseidon wanted to tell Tang Chen the whole story first, to ask him to wait for her. She could marry Qian Xunji, but she wouldn't let him touch her.
Once the Sea God changed his mind, she would definitely leave the Spirit Hall and go find Tang Chen! She could only silently pray that Tang Chen would forgive her after hearing this.
Xiao Dongzi's voice arrived at the opportune moment in Poseidon's ears.
"No, you must go to the Spirit Hall immediately to propose to Qian Xunji. As for Tang Chen, forget about it!" Xiao Dongzi's voice was cold and sharp.
Poseidon's heart shattered at the sound of the Sea God's merciless voice. Her eyes filled with resentment:
"Lord Sea God ," she said, "that weasel-faced Tang Chen should take a good look at himself. Does he deserve you?"
With that, the Sea God ended the connection.
Helpless, even knowing Tang Chen was at the Clear Sky Sect, Poseidon had no choice but to steel herself and head to the Spirit Hall.
If Tang Chen were at the Clear Sky Sect, and knew she had proposed marriage to the Spirit Hall's Pope Qian Xunji, what would he think of her?
Poseidon dared not imagine; she could only obey the Sea God's demands.
After all, losing love meant losing so much, losing faith, losing everything!
At the Clear Sky Sect, a grand banquet was held. Almost all the major powers, except for the Spirit Hall and those close to it, were present. Dai Mubai represented the Star Luo Empire, Yu Xiaogang represented the Heaven Dou Empire, and Ning Fengzhi personally represented the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
All other forces, large and small, also arrived at the Clear Sky Sect.
"I, Ning, congratulate the Clear Sky Sect on welcoming back Senior Clear Sky Douluo!" Ning Fengzhi congratulated.
"Congratulations to you too!" Tang Hao raised his glass in celebration.
After all the big shots arrived at the Clear Sky Sect, a disciple shouted,
"The Sect Master has arrived!"
Everyone looked over, wanting to see if Tang Chen had returned.
Footsteps echoed from the back corridor, each step carrying an immense sense of pressure. Even before he arrived, people could feel the oppressive aura emanating from him.
The doors opened, and Tang Chen, simply dressed and with a robust physique, showed no signs of age. On the contrary, he still possessed the unparalleled domineering and world-conquering aura of his youth as he entered the scene.
Even Chen Xin, a long-established title holder, had to submit to his imposing presence.
Tang Chen stood before the world, his hair and beard now completely white, yet still retaining the domineering and unparalleled aura of his youth.
Those who knew the truth couldn't help but feel sorry for Tang Chen, remembering his departure to search for the land of godhood.
Even a prodigy like Tang Chen couldn't obtain that elusive divine position; how could they possibly succeed?
Tang Chen sat down in the sect leader's seat and said, "Thank you all for coming to my Haotian Sect."
After speaking, Tang Chen's tiger-like eyes swept around, and he suddenly asked, "Sect Leader Ning, why aren't the people from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan here?"
Ning Fengzhi stood up and said, "Your Majesty Haotian, something has happened to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Yu Yuanzhen died at the hands of the Spirit Hall, and Yu Luomian launched a coup, purging the anti-Spirit Hall faction of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and the pro-Spirit Hall faction rose to power. At this point, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has become a puppet of the Spirit Hall."
Hearing this, Tang Chen said, "Hmph, the Spirit Hall has been making constant moves these past few years. It's clear that this junior, Qian Xunji, has quite the ambition, perhaps even greater than his father's back then."
"It's time to teach them a lesson,"
Tang Hao said. "Grandpa, you're right. The Spirit Hall needs a good talking-to. Back then, Qian Daoliu wanted to lead the Spirit Hall to become a true overlord, but after your warning, the Spirit Hall had to hide its ambitions, which brought decades of peace to the continent. Now, the Spirit Hall is restless again, and we really need to give them another warning."
Tang Chen nodded and said, "Unfortunately, the Clear Sky Sect is not the same as it used to be. With the Clear Sky Sect's strength alone, I'm afraid it's difficult to teach the Spirit Hall a lesson."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaogang immediately stepped forward and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, our Heavenly Dou is planning to form an anti-Spirit Hall alliance to gather any forces that oppose the Spirit Hall and jointly attack it, bringing lasting peace and tranquility to the continent. If you have this intention, you can lead the anti-Spirit Hall alliance."
"Previously, we traveled among various forces on the continent, trying to win them over to form an alliance. However, the Spirit Hall's strength was simply too overwhelming, causing all parties to hesitate and dare not make a move. If the Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance were led by you, I believe that it wouldn't be long before an alliance against the evil tyranny of the Spirit Hall would be established," Yu Xiaogang said decisively.
Ning Fengzhi also said, "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School sincerely invites Your Majesty Haotian to join the Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance. I believe that within the alliance, there is no one with your prestige sufficient to lead the entire Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance."
Dai Mubai also expressed his opinion, "Your Majesty Haotian, on behalf of the Star Luo Empire, I sincerely invite you to join the Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance and form an alliance against the Spirit Hall." With each force stepping forward to express their support, Tang Chen pondered for a moment and said, "Since everyone has extended such an invitation, then I, Tang Chen, will accept it without hesitation." Afterwards, Tang Chen and the others drank and chatted merrily, and then Tang Chen proposed organizing the first internal meeting of the Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance three months later.
After the banquet, Tang San went to see Yu Xiaogang and Dai Mubai.
Tang San said to Dai Mubai with some disappointment, "Mubai, I originally thought that dealing with those kingdoms and duchies and unifying the country would be easy for both you and the Star Luo Empire. I just didn't expect the Star Luo Empire to end up like this."
Dai Mubai said with a face full of resentment, "It's all because of those damned guys at the Rose Academy. Our Star Luo Empire was already planning to take action against those duchies and duchies, but then the Rose Academy exposed our Star Luo Empire's Soul Master Legion plan. After the evil Soul Master incident came out, the peasants revolted, the nobles were in turmoil, and even the lords who were granted land by our ancestors started to have thoughts of independence. The soldiers of the army began to waver, and the entire Star Luo Empire was in turmoil."
"There was nothing we could do. My father could only send out the person in charge of the Soul Master Legion plan to be beheaded, but that didn't salvage the empire's lost prestige. We had to mobilize the army ourselves to quell those Soul Master concentration camps."
"However, the Star Luo Empire mobilized its army and wiped out the Soul Master Legion that the Star Luo Empire had invested heavily in training. This was like fighting with both hands simultaneously; the left hand broke the right, but the left hand was also injured. After a year and a half of civil war, the Star Luo Empire's national strength weakened. The lowly people of the rotten region of Asdeka caused trouble. They launched a rebellion with the Soul Master Legion trained by the Rose Academy, and the Asdeka region became independent from the Empire."
"This was intolerable to the Star Luo Empire. If they were allowed to become independent, one, two, three, or four vassal states would become independent. After the civil war ended, the Star Luo Empire had not yet recovered and entered into three campaigns against the Asdeka region."
"But we did not win these three wars, which led to the successive independence of the Star Luo Empire's vassal kingdoms and duchies over the years."
As he finished speaking, Dai Mubai's eyes were filled with resentment. He was already the Crown Prince, and the future Star Luo Empire was his. He hoped to inherit a strong Star Luo Empire, not a weak one.
Dai Mubai said angrily, "If you ask me, we should have sent a legion back then to wipe out everyone in the Asdeka region. Leave no land, but no people, let them become extinct, and that would have saved us from all this mess."
He then looked at Tang San and said, "Little San, did you manage to leak your hidden weapon techniques to the Spirit Hall?"
Tang San immediately shook his head, saying, "That's impossible. I would never give my hidden weapons to the Spirit Hall." Dai
Mubai then took out a Zhuge Repeating Crossbow and handed it to Tang San, saying, "This was used by the rebels in the Asdeka region. Judging from the direction it came from, it originated from the Spirit Hall. It's common practice for Spirit Hall Soul Masters to be equipped with Soul Guidance Devices, and for ordinary legions to be equipped with hidden weapons."
"This...this is impossible," Tang San said.
He hadn't passed on his hidden weapon skills to anyone, not even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. In his previous life, he was willing to produce a large number of hidden weapons for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School because the Tang Sect was there, having gathered the Power Clan and gained the loyalty of tens of thousands of blacksmiths. Only then did he dare to entrust his hidden weapon technology to his trusted confidants. But in this life, he only had Titan, Taino, and Tailong under his command. Even if only Tang San produced the hidden weapons, he wouldn't pass them on to others.
However, this thing before him was a hidden weapon of the Spirit Hall standard.
Could there be two possibilities? Tang San recalled the Tang Sect's ultimate techniques used by the Rose Academy team in the Soul Master Competition.
The first possibility was that a traitor had emerged within the Tang Sect in his previous life, and after learning the Tang Sect's ultimate techniques and hidden weapons, he passed them on after his rebirth.
The second possibility was that there was someone else like Tang San who had been reborn from the Tang Sect in his previous life.
(End of this chapter)