---
Chapter 12 – The Rising Storm and the Peak Before Ascension
Nine years had passed since Tang San founded the restructured Tang Clan. In those nine years, the continent had changed. The clan's influence now reached across empires, its shadow cast over the lands like a looming mountain. Spirit Hall no longer acted with impunity, and the Sun Moon Continent had long since acknowledged Tang Clan's rise. With every passing year, new prodigies emerged under the clan's refined merit system, and a continent-spanning aura of tension thickened.
Now, the grand tournament had advanced to the State-Level, where the best city teams gathered to compete for the right to advance to the imperial stage. Factions from all across the empires—Heaven Dou, Star Luo, Sun Moon, and even the rogue powers—sent their best under-20 geniuses.
Each victory was more than just honor—it was a step closer to earning the rare technique Tang San had personally crafted: Five-In-One Strike. A divine-grade martial technique that only one could possess. And none knew how close its power was to transcending mortal limitations.
Meanwhile, hidden in the deepest chamber beneath Tang Mountain, Tang San sat cross-legged, engulfed in deep meditation.
The spirit energy within him surged like a tsunami crashing against stone cliffs. His eight spirit rings glowed with a terrifying crimson-gold brilliance—each over 300,000 years old, reforged through his Spirit Rebirth Technique, a method none but he could cultivate. And above them, his final ring—a luminous ring with faint divine inscriptions—shimmered ominously.
His twin martial spirits—Clear Sky Hammer and Blue Silver Emperor—hummed in synchrony, resonating with his soul as he neared a peak few had ever touched.
Rank 98 Peak.
Yet Tang San did not cross. His godhood was not complete. Though he had forged a normal-grade godhood through comprehension and countless years of cultivation, he had shattered it. It was not enough.
"I want... a Supreme Godhood," he whispered to the void.
He would not ascend like others. Not until everything was in place.
His wife—now a Peak Rank 99 Spirit Beast Douluo—stood silently beside him, guarding the chamber. Her beauty had only become more ethereal as her control over her dual forms matured. Yet she never ascended either. She waited—for him. Tang San had vowed that when she became a god, it would not be ordinary—it would be a complete divine inheritance worthy of her soul and sacrifice.
Aboveground, the Tang Clan was thriving.
The Three Departments—Resource Collectors, Fighters, and Spirit Weapon Smiths—worked in coordination like veins of a living organism. The Outer Faction trained new members, the Inner Faction nurtured core talents, and the Main Faction housed Rank 90+ Douluo, all of them elite.
With the integration of the Haotian Clan, Tang Clan now boasted:
10 Super Douluo (Rank 90–95)
4 Supreme Elders (Rank 96–98)
Countless Elders and Experts, including spirit masters that could challenge entire sects alone.
And amidst them all, Tang San remained a hidden pillar. He was known as the Ancestor, never appearing unless the future of the clan hung in balance.
---
Back in the State-Level Tournament Arena, tensions ran high.
The arena was vast, centered in Tianqi State, surrounded by floating spirit barriers and reinforced with divine alloys to withstand Spirit Emperor clashes.
Among the finalists, Tang Clan's team stood out—not just for their unity, but their seamless cooperation. The leader, a calm but sharp-eyed youth named Tang Yu, was already Spirit Emperor Rank 60+, a prodigy whose martial spirit had evolved from Tang San's own line. By his side were two spirit weapon users, a control-type soul master, a healer, and two assault-type members.
Each of their techniques was forged by Tang San's disciples, including:
Three-In-One Strike – an offensive fusion of the first three rings.
Whirling Void Blade – a spirit weapon technique that combined stealth and burst.
Chain of Piercing Qi – a control technique that disrupted ring activation.
As the matches continued, the Tang Clan easily defeated teams from White Forest and Vermillion Plains. But when they faced the Heaven Shadow Sect—a dark faction sponsored by remnants of Spirit Hall—the battle turned vicious.
The Heaven Shadow leader, a brutal youth named Luo Jin, wielded a spirit martial weapon known as the Nightmare Crossbow, and had a spirit ring configuration that shocked all: five rings above 100,000 years. It was impossible by normal logic.
Whispers spread. Forbidden spirit ring grafting? Beast fusions? Unnatural means?
Luo Jin sneered as his team opened the battle with lethal force.
The clash was brutal. Tang Yu barely evaded a fatal strike by sacrificing a fourth ring, momentarily losing function in his arm. Yet, with a perfect counter-strike combining their martial souls, the Tang Clan struck with their perfected Five-In-One Strike—a simulated preview of the technique offered as reward.
The arena cracked. Luo Jin was defeated.
Spectators from all major forces—Spirit Hall, War God Temple, even rogue elements—watched with dark eyes.
And far away, hidden in the spiritual dimension, Tang San opened his eyes.
"They are watching," he murmured.
Behind him, divine patterns shimmered in his spiritual sea. His shattered godhood had begun to reforge, this time not into Normal, but toward High or Elite grade.
"I must go further."
The tournament had become more than a test—it was bait. A trap to lure the continent's hidden talents, factions, and schemes into the open. Tang San's plan had just begun.
And when the Empire-Level Tournament began, chaos