A full month passed after Tang San's last encounter, and it wasn't until the next day that he finally regained consciousness. As he blinked his eyes open, he saw his teacher, Yu Xiaogang, sitting nearby. Xiaogang had changed into fresh clothes, but his face and neck were marred with a strange array of cuts and bruises.
"Teacher…"
Seeing Yu Xiaogang's condition, Tang San tried to stand up, but a sharp pain shot through his chest, and his entire body felt drained of strength. He could only manage to push himself into a sitting position.
"Don't push yourself, Xiao San. You're hurt," Yu Xiaogang said quickly, wincing as he moved to support his disciple, despite his pain.
"Teacher, those five... where are they?" Tang San asked through gritted teeth, a deep anger simmering in his eyes as he recalled the events.
"They took our storage soul tools and drained a lot of our blood. But then they left… Killing is forbidden in the outer district of the Slaughter City," Yu Xiaogang replied, his expression strained as he forced a hollow smile.
"Our storage soul tools!"
Tang San's heart sank. He reached for his waist, only to find his prized Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges was missing.
"Damn it!"
A wave of fury surged through him. Not only did the soul tool contain their food supplies, but it also held the hidden weapons he had painstakingly crafted back in Heaven Dou City. Now, without his arsenal, he had lost a crucial advantage in this hellish place.
But as the bitterness welled up inside him, reality struck hard. They were lucky to have escaped with their lives—losing just the storage soul tools was a small mercy in comparison. Tang San's shoulders sagged as he accepted this grim truth.
While the master and disciple were reeling from their loss in the depths of the Slaughter City, far away in Heaven Dou City, events were unfolding at a different pace.
After consolidating the loyalty of the four great clans, Lin Yu ordered Niu Gao, Bai He, and Yang Wudi to bring the remaining members of their clans to the city. Meanwhile, he kept a close watch on the pursuit of Tang San through the spiritual mark he'd left, all while managing the logistics of welcoming the clans to their new base.
Now, a full month had passed since the last livestream, and it was time for the twenty-fifth session to begin.
In Heaven Dou City, Lin Yu sat cross-legged in his temporary residence within the Dugu estate, his mind calm but alert as he awaited the live stream. Unlike others who approached the livestream with eager anticipation, Lin Yu's thoughts were tinged with a trace of unease.
The month-long interval meant the broadcast could show events that strayed from the plot of the Douluo series he had once known. This made him wary, as his prior knowledge offered no advantage in these uncharted territories.
However, he now had three avatars thanks to his Supreme Bone soul skill—Ta Qing, Shang Qing, and Yu Qing—who had been infiltrating the Spirit Hall and the Duke of Nether's domain for almost two years. With their intelligence, he felt more prepared for the unknown challenges that this new broadcast might bring.
And like Lin Yu, every other major faction across the continent made their preparations, including Bibi Dong, who had recently left the Slaughter City.
As the hour struck ten, a wave of unseen energy rippled across the continent. Everyone's vision went dark for a moment.
When sight returned, they found themselves once more in a vast, starry void. Floating before them was the familiar translucent screen of the mysterious livestream space.
[Chrysanthemum Douluo—Yue Guan: @Bibi Dong, Your Holiness, we have returned to Spirit City. Did you succeed in eliminating Tang Hao and his son with Ghost Leopard Douluo's assistance?]
After being delayed by Yu Yuanzhen's intervention, Yue Guan, Gui Mei, and Blazing Eagle Douluo were unable to catch up with Bibi Dong and her party, and they ultimately retreated to Spirit City. With the new livestream starting, Yue Guan seized the chance to inquire about their mission.
In a town not far from the Slaughter City, Bibi Dong sat within a Spirit Hall outpost, recovering from her clash with Tang Chen. Though she had been driven back, Tang Chen's condition at the time had left him incapable of inflicting serious harm.
She had chosen not to continue her pursuit into the Slaughter City. In Bibi Dong's mind, her true enemies lay beyond the mortal realm, in the God Realm—perhaps the Asura God or other divine beings. Tang San was merely a lesser threat in comparison, no matter how determined he seemed.
And so, she replied through the live stream with calm indifference:
[Bibi Dong: Tang Hao is dead. I killed him several days ago. However, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang managed to flee into the Slaughter City, where an unexpected situation prevented me from finishing the job.]
Bibi Dong had her reasons for being vague. After their encounter, she had recognized that the Slaughter King, who wielded the Clear Sky Hammer and employed the Great Sumeru Hammer technique, was likely Tang Chen—the missing patriarch of the Clear Sky Clan whom even Spirit Hall's Great Priest Qian Daoliu had feared.
But Tang Chen's mind was not what it once was; otherwise, he wouldn't have lingered as a twisted ruler of the Slaughter City. She decided to keep this realization to herself. If word got out to the Clear Sky Clan, they might find a way to restore Tang Chen's mind, and that would be a far greater threat than Tang San ever could be.
[Chrysanthemum Douluo—Yue Guan: What? Only Tang Hao has fallen, but Tang San and Yu Xiaogang survived?]
Yue Guan's shock was palpable as he read Bibi Dong's reply. It had taken nearly a month of pursuit, and yet only Tang Hao was confirmed dead. How could the two others have slipped through their grasp?
So, Tang Hao has fallen to the Spirit Hall…
Elsewhere, in the depths of the Clear Sky Clan, Tang Xiao clenched his fists, his face ashen with grief and anger. His brother Tang Hao, his only remaining family, was gone. But he knew better than to let his feelings show openly here.
They had already risked much by aiding Tang Hao and Tang San's escape, angering the Spirit Hall. To further provoke the Hall now might bring catastrophe upon the clan itself. He could only swallow his rage and vow silently, "One day, I will make them pay for this…"