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Bibi Dong led a group of Title Douluos into the gates of the Hao Tian Sect. Upon entering, they saw stone furniture everywhere, exuding a sense of heaviness.
"The number one sect in the world? This is what it looks like inside? How disappointing!"
Bibi Dong found the interior of the Hao Tian Sect too plain and unimpressive. She walked straight to the sect leader's stone chair and sat down.
After testing it, she found it hard and uncomfortable—nothing compared to her Papal Throne. But for now, she had no choice but to sit there temporarily, waiting for the White Gold Cardinal of the Spirit Hall to report the battle losses and gains.
Li Luochen naturally noticed that Bibi Dong looked uncomfortable sitting on that stone chair. It was time for the "filial son-in-law" mode to kick in.
Li Luochen retrieved a soft cushion and a comfortable backrest from his storage-type soul-guiding artifact and handed them to Bibi Dong, who readily accepted them.
This brat certainly knew how to play his cards right.
With the cushion and backrest, Bibi Dong sat much more comfortably, crossing her legs and closing her eyes as she waited for good news to come her way.
"Reporting to Your Holiness the Pope! In this operation to annihilate the Hao Tian Sect, we completely wiped out over twelve hundred elite disciples of the Hao Tian Sect and killed five elders.
The Spirit Hall suffered the loss of over three hundred members, with fifteen hundred injured."
A White Gold Cardinal reported.
"Excellent!"
Bibi Dong was very satisfied with the casualty ratio. Though over three hundred were lost, the Spirit Hall provided generous pensions for their families, and the organization could afford to take care of them!
...
"Reporting to Your Holiness the Pope! After tallying up the wealth of the Hao Tian Sect, we obtained approximately three million gold soul coins, along with various treasures worth around one and a half million gold soul coins, totaling four and a half million gold soul coins!
We also recovered over ten pieces of ten-thousand-year soul bones (not including those given by you to the Title Douluo elders), over twenty pieces of thousand-year soul bones, and over ten pieces of hundred-year soul bones."
Ba Tian Douluo added, "The fleeing branch of the Hao Tian Sect has been completely eradicated, with assistance from the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family. They secured an additional seven million gold soul coins in wealth."
...
"Reporting to Your Holiness the Pope! We have not found the bodies of Tang Xiao, the sect leader of the Hao Tian Sect, or the criminal Tang San. It is said that they went soul hunting some time ago."
"Excellent, very good! Let them escape for now. They are nothing but two insignificant clowns. I have no fear of them. With Tang Xiao being a cripple at only Soul Douluo level?
And though Tang San possesses twin martial souls, he doesn't know how to cultivate them properly. For now, he poses no threat. Leave him to Elder Li.
Today marks a great victory for the Spirit Hall! Our warriors have proven invincible! The so-called number one sect under heaven, the Hao Tian Sect, is nothing but a pile of rubble before our might.
Issue my command: withdraw the troops back to the Spirit Hall! I will generously reward our warriors!"
Bibi Dong waved her hand grandly as she spoke.
Li Luochen couldn't help but notice how Bibi Dong seemed to grow more imperious with each passing day. How could someone like her still look so regal?
It seemed that many things had changed. Li Luochen wondered what the unification of the entire Douluo Continent under the Spirit Hall would look like. He would just have to wait and see.
Not long after, at the gates of the Hao Tian Sect mountain stronghold,
The thousands of Spirit Hall soul masters reassembled into a single formation. At this moment, the air around the troop was thick with bloodlust.
Having just emerged victorious from a fierce battle, their morale was sky-high! If Bibi Dong had wanted to lead this army into battle now, they could easily sweep through the capital of the Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City!
Of course, Bibi Dong wouldn't do such a thing. Attacking a city would result in heavy casualties for the soul master army, and the Spirit Hall wasn't yet ready to absorb the foundations of the Star Luo Empire—they needed more preparation.
Empires were different from sects. Even the weaker of the two empires, the Tian Dou Empire, had a standing army of millions and a powerful royal soul knight regiment. Their strength could not be underestimated.
The Spirit Hall excelled at dealing with soul masters, but lacked the ability to handle armies. Trading a high-level soul master for hundreds of ordinary soldiers would be a poor exchange.
However, large-scale soul skills could indeed massacre armies en masse, but most soul masters wouldn't resort to such tactics.
Even Dugu Bo, a Title Douluo renowned for his poison and known for razing cities, avoided such actions unless absolutely necessary. And even when he razed a city, it was only a small one—a rival family stronghold with only a few hundred people.
According to records from the Spirit Hall, there had once been poison-type soul masters who slaughtered civilians en masse, resulting in divine punishment. What was the difference between such mass killings and the acts of fallen soul masters?
Moreover, the current generation of Title Douluos were all highly proud individuals. None of them would stoop to such dishonorable deeds.
Under Bibi Dong's leadership, the Spirit Hall forces withdrew victoriously. The Hao Tian Sect was burned to the ground. With everyone dead, there was nothing left to preserve.
Tang Xiao and Tang San? They weren't considered human! Sooner or later, they would meet the same fate as their sect.
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Several days later!
After the Spirit Hall withdrew, they widely publicized the annihilation of the Hao Tian Sect.
The news spread like wildfire, causing both empires to erupt in chaos!
In the Tian Dou City, Moon Pavilion
A beautiful woman collapsed to her knees in tears upon hearing the news.
"It's impossible, impossible! The sect has been destroyed, and all the uncles and elder brothers are gone. My second brother passed away recently, and my eldest brother... surely he hasn't met with disaster too? Am I the only one left?"
This woman was Tang Yuehua, the younger sister of the sect leader of the Hao Tian Sect. She had established the Moon Pavilion in Tian Dou City, a place that taught court etiquette and brought in substantial income.
Tang Yuehua's beauty ranked among the upper echelons of the Tian Dou Empire, and many nobles coveted her. However, they feared the mysterious power behind her. Emperor Xueye knew Tang Yuehua hailed from the Hao Tian Sect—he both desired her and feared offending the Hao Tian Sect, so he offered her protection.
Outsiders believed that Emperor Xueye and the mistress of the Moon Pavilion shared a close relationship.
Since Xue Qinghe ascended to power, though the Moon Pavilion continued to operate, its influence had waned slightly. Still, it remained unscathed until now. With the destruction of the Hao Tian Sect, Tang Yuehua's last protective umbrella had vanished.
Tang Yuehua could already foresee her grim future—she would likely become a plaything for those vile nobles.
"What are you doing here, trespassers! You dare invade the Moon Pavilion! Do you want to die?"
The supervisor of the Moon Pavilion, a Rank Five soul master with a Ghost King Vine martial soul, attempted to fend off these unwelcome guests. (This supervisor hadn't yet reached the Soul Emperor level.)
"Hmph, lapdog! Your master's home has been destroyed, and you're still playing guard? Step aside! I'm going to have a taste of the Moon Pavilion's lady!"
An ugly middle-aged man cursed loudly, his six soul rings emerging: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black. His overwhelming presence immediately suppressed the Ghost King Vine supervisor.
Tang Yuehua heard the commotion but was powerless to stop it. Though she had a secret passage, reaching it required descending the stairs—and the burly man was already blocking the stairway.
Tears streamed down Tang Yuehua's cheeks as she envisioned her impending fate. She immediately grabbed a sharp blade hidden under her pillow, preparing to end her life rather than let herself fall into their hands.
Just as Tang Yuehua raised the blade to her neck, her delicate wrist was seized by a massive hand.
"What a beauty! Don't kill yourself. Let me enjoy myself first!"
The ugly middle-aged man held the supervisor's head in one hand, having already severely injured him. As soon as he entered, he saw Tang Yuehua attempting to commit suicide.
He couldn't let her succeed—dead women weren't as entertaining as living ones.
"You… let go of me…" Tang Yuehua, stripped of her former elegance and grace, was now consumed by terror. She was truly alone and without aid.
"Heh, so the lady has some fire in her! I like it! Hahaha!"
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