Tang Lie and Tang Wei stood facing one another in the forbidden area of the Clear Sky Sect.
Above them loomed a shattered cliff face, its surface etched with ancient, weather-worn characters—records of ancestors who had once split mountains and crushed rivers with a single hammer strike. The air here was heavy, oppressive, as if the spirits of generations past were silently watching.
Tang Wei did not immediately summon his spirit.
Instead, he slowly raised his head and looked at the mottled inscriptions, his voice calm yet carrying an unmistakable weight.
"You can still turn back now."
Tang Lie let out a short, mocking laugh.
"That line suits you better." His eyes were cold, sharp with contempt. "The Sect's inheritance should have stopped clinging to Spirit long ago."
"Strength," he said, each word biting, "is the only foundation."
Tang Wei's expression finally changed. Rage surged across his face.
"And then what?" he thundered. "Decades later, the Tang Clan collapses completely, leaving nothing but an empty shell called the Clear Sky Sect?!"
"If the Tang Clan's disciples are truly capable," Tang Lie shot back, "they won't fall to that point."
"Do you even remember what it means to be a Tang Clan disciple?!" Tang Wei roared.
"It's precisely because I remember that I must cultivate disciples of other clans!" Tang Lie shouted in return, veins bulging at his temples. "If they were half as ambitious as they should be, would I need to do this?!"
He took a step forward, his aura surging.
"If we don't change—if we don't adapt—then not decades from now, but within twenty years, the Tang Clan, together with the Clear Sky Sect, will—"
"Be reduced to ashes!"
The clash of wills grew sharper, their spirit pressure colliding invisibly, shaking loose gravel from the cliff walls.
At that moment, a third figure stepped into the forbidden area.
Tang Xiao.
The instant he crossed the boundary, his brows knit slightly.
A faint fragrance drifted through the air—subtle, elusive, almost impossible to notice unless one paid close attention.
Because it was so light, and because Tang Xiao had rarely entered this forbidden area before, he instinctively attributed it to wild herbs and ancient spirit plants growing here. He did not suspect poison.
Still, unease flickered in his heart.
Strange.
He had rushed over, suspecting Tang Wei might have laid a trap here—but nothing seemed overtly abnormal. The terrain was unchanged. The aura fluctuations were normal.
Yet the tension was unmistakable.
Before Tang Xiao could investigate further, the confrontation at the center of the forbidden area erupted violently.
"Tang Lie!" Tang Wei bellowed, no longer restraining himself. "You have betrayed the Sect's tradition! Today, I will cleanse the Clear Sky Sect!"
His spirit power exploded outward.
The Clear Sky Hammer appeared in his grasp, crackling with thunderous force. With a deafening boom, he swung downward, the hammerhead descending like a collapsing mountain.
Tang Lie sneered.
His seventh spirit ring flared brilliantly, and a colossal phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer manifested behind him, its presence crushing the air itself.
But—
Just as he prepared to counterattack, Tang Lie's expression abruptly twisted in horror.
His spirit power… wouldn't move.
It wasn't gone—but it felt clogged, as though thick mud had been poured into his meridians. Circulation slowed to a crawl, refusing to respond no matter how fiercely he urged it.
"What—?!" Tang Lie's pupils shrank. Panic surged through him as he desperately forced his meridians.
Tang Wei's eyes flashed.
He did not hesitate.
"Mountain Crushing Hammer Art—Heaven and Earth Collapse!"
The Clear Sky Hammer screamed through the air, carrying power capable of shattering peaks.
At that critical moment, Tang Xiao moved without thinking.
"Stop!"
He leapt forward, summoning his own Clear Sky Hammer, spirit power surging as he tried to intercept the strike.
But the instant his spirit activated—
The fragrance in the air suddenly intensified.
Tang Xiao's heart sank.
His spirit power froze, as if gripped by invisible chains. Circulation slowed violently, collapsing mid-flow.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed across the air.
Tang Wei's hammer shattered Tang Xiao's hastily formed defensive barrier, then pierced straight through Tang Lie's chest without losing momentum. The violent aftermath of spirit power erupted inward, pulverizing bone and flesh alike.
"Sect Master—!"
Tang Xiao's eyes split open in fury and disbelief as Tang Lie's body was flung backward like a broken puppet, crashing heavily into the ground more than ten meters away.
Tang Lie lay there, blood pouring from his mouth. His eyes were wide, filled not with pain—but with utter shock.
He could not believe it.
Not that he had lost—but that Tang Wei had truly intended to kill him.
And worse—had used poison.
Tang Wei slowly withdrew his Clear Sky Hammer, his face expressionless.
"Those who betray the Sect," he said coldly, "deserve death."
Tang Lie's gaze fixed, unmoving.
His eyes never closed.
"Shameless wretch!" Tang Xiao roared, enduring the agony of his chaotic spirit power. "In a proper duel, you resort to poison?! You disgrace the Clear Sky Sect!"
"Disgrace?" Tang Wei sneered. "Allowing outsiders to defile the Tang Clan's bloodline—that is the real disgrace."
Tang Xiao tried to force his spirit power again. The more he urged it, the stronger the stagnation became.
Cold sweat poured down his face.
"When?" he demanded hoarsely. "When did you poison us?!"
Tang Wei wiped the blood from his hammer with deliberate slowness.
Only when Tang Xiao's fury neared explosion did he speak again.
"Don't you already know?"
Tang Xiao trembled.
A terrifying realization struck him like lightning.
"…Little San?"
Tang Wei nodded calmly.
"He added Spirit Coagulation Powder to your tea. Colorless. Odorless. Harmless on its own."
He glanced at the surrounding terrain.
"But combined with the Orchid Fragrance permeating this forbidden area, it obstructs spirit circulation. Even a Douluo cannot clear it quickly."
"Why…" Tang Xiao's voice broke. "Why would he do this—"
"Because you failed to stop Haotian Academy's internal strife," Tang Wei answered flatly. "The Tang Sect is his life's work. He will not allow it to be destroyed."
"We could have won!" Tang Xiao snarled. "We could have saved the academy!"
"And where does that leave him?" Tang Wei countered coldly. "He is the son of Tang Hao—the traitor."
Tang Xiao's body shook.
"If Tang Hao aids you again, what face does Tang San have left? What right does he have to wield the Clear Sky Hammer? How will he stand among Tang Sect disciples?"
Tang Xiao's eyes turned blood-red.
"So…" he whispered, "he chose to betray the Sect Master. Betray me. Betray his own foster father?"
Tang Wei stepped forward, spirit power flowing as he sealed Tang Xiao's meridians with a single strike.
"He didn't know I would kill Tang Lie," Tang Wei said evenly. "He believed I would only force abdication and imprisonment."
"I won't kill you," he continued. "Killing Tang Lie already crossed my agreement with Little San."
"If I kill you as well, he will completely sever ties with the Sect."
Tang Wei stepped back.
"Leave. Go anywhere. Just don't return."
"If you don't want Little San to die by Sect hands—don't force me to kill you."
Tang Xiao stood frozen.
Then he laughed.
A hollow, broken laugh.
"I invited a wolf into the house… a wolf into the house!"
Before Tang Wei could react, Tang Xiao raised his hand and gouged out his own eyes.
Blood splashed onto the ground.
"These eyes," he said hoarsely, "are useless. Let them be buried with the Sect Master."
He flung the bloody orbs beside Tang Lie's corpse, turned, and fled—never once looking back.
After he left, Tang San emerged slowly from the shadows.
"You did well," Tang Wei said, satisfied. "The Sect's resources for you will only increase."
"I want Haotian Academy placed under the Tang Sect," Tang San replied calmly.
Tang Wei hesitated—then nodded.
"Alright."
"Go after Tang Xiao," he added. "Blind or not, he's dangerous."
Tang San bowed slightly and left.
When Tang San finally caught up, he knelt instantly.
Tang Xiao's voice was calm, distant.
"What else do you want to say?"
Tang San spoke of debt. Of obligation. Of sacrifice.
Tang Xiao listened—and saw everything clearly.
"You want to kill the Sect Master, then Tang Wei," he said coldly. "You want everything."
Tang San's expression darkened.
"I won't help you," Tang Xiao said, turning away. "If you kill me, you won't escape responsibility."
Tang Xiao left.
Tang San watched him go.
The sorrow drained from his face.
What remained was ice-cold ambition.
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