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...At this point Tang Yuehua could no longer hold back her feelings; she spun around and clutched Xuan Ming's hand, her eyes full of pleading.
"Xuan Ming, I know they committed grave crimes. Tang San assassinated a high minister of an allied nation, Yu Xiaogang incited war—both are capital offenses. But… there are still many innocent people in Clear Sky Sect! Ordinary Disciples, women and children, the old and the young, and the people of the four single-attribute Families… they did nothing; they were merely swept along by the Sect."
"Right now they've been escorted to Spirit City and locked in the sunless death cells. The Elders of Spirit Empire advocate executing the lot as a warning."
"Xuan Ming, I beg you… can you spare those innocents? I won't ask for Tang San or Tang Hao, but the others… can they have a way out?"
Looking at the tear-stained woman before him, Xuan Ming sighed softly.
He reached out and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"I thought it was some earth-shattering matter. Since you're the one asking, how could I possibly refuse to give you Face?"
"However…" Xuan Ming's tone shifted, a probing look in his eyes, "these events took place in Sun Moon Empire, inside Spirit City's death cells. You've stayed in Moon Pavilion all this time—how do you know the details so well?"
Even the specifics of Tang San's engagement and assassination were crystal clear; ordinary information channels couldn't supply that.
Tang Yuehua sniffed, calmed herself, and said, "It was… Bai Chenxiang."
"Bai Chenxiang?" A vague figure surfaced in Xuan Ming's mind. "The little girl from Speed Clan?"
"Mm." Tang Yuehua nodded. "That's her. She's the granddaughter of Speed Clan Chief Bai He—my uncle's granddaughter. By seniority she should call me cousin-aunt."
"That child… has followed Tang San all these years. Maybe out of shared misery, maybe something else—she's utterly devoted to him. When Tang San's assassination failed she wasn't involved, but as kin she was dragged back with the rest."
"Last year I got word and secretly visited Spirit City's death cells," Tang Yuehua whispered. "I saw the girl. She was skin and bones, no light left in her eyes. Sobbing, she told me everything that had happened."
"She said she doesn't hate anyone, only fate for toying with her. She begged me—if there was any way—to save the children who hadn't yet grown up. They've been on the run since birth, never had a single peaceful day, never known what a home is, never known what tomorrow might bring…"
At this point Tang Yuehua's voice choked again.
"That child is truly innocent. And there are many like her in those cells. Xuan Ming, Spirit Empire has now unified the continent, and you've even become a god. To you and the Empire today, the remaining forces of Clear Sky Sect pose no threat whatsoever."
"Since that's so, can we… not repeat what happened to Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan back then?"
Looking into Tang Yuehua's hope-filled eyes, Xuan Ming smiled.
He gently pinched her cheek. "Why the tears? Didn't I already promise you?"
"Let's go."
Tang Yuehua blinked. "Where?"
"To Spirit City, of course—to the death cells."
"To haul your unlucky relatives back from the gates of hell. And while we're at it, I'd like to see what a wreck Tang San looks like now—he almost had a cozy little Family life, yet ended up playing himself into a death cell."
He hadn't killed Tang San back then because of Xiao Wu; after all, Tang San had accompanied her for those years at Nuo Ding Academy and was one of her few good friends.
In any case Tang San couldn't stir up any real waves, so keeping him alive was no big deal.
He just hadn't expected the aftermath to be so outrageous—space torn apart, stars shifted.
When Tang Yuehua's feet touched solid ground again, the scene before her made her momentarily lose her breath.
It was Spirit City.
Yet it was no longer the Spirit City in her memory.
Viewed from high above, the city—once merely the Holy Land of Spirit Masters—had expanded outward several times over.
The original walls had long been demolished, replaced by ring after ring of brand-new, neatly planned districts.
Towering soul-engine structures and quaint Douluo-style buildings stood side by side; wide streets bustled with carriages and pedestrians, the prosperity now surpassing even the old Heaven Dou Imperial City.
It was no longer merely a symbol, but a true super capital capable of housing millions—a radiant pearl set in the heart of the continent.
"Come, let's go to the council hall."
Xuan Ming did not stroll through the city with her; a single stir of his Divine Thought and the two of them flickered through space like phantoms, landing directly before a majestic, somber black hall.
This was once the side palace of the Supreme Pontiff Palace; now it was the highest seat of power in the Spirit Empire—the Imperial Council Hall.
At this moment the hall was thick with tension, drawn bows and drawn blades.
Along both sides of the long council table sat the entire senior hierarchy of the Spirit Empire.
Among them were former Cardinals of Spirit Hall, Clan Chiefs of Sects that had later submitted, and top military commanders.
At the head sat Ning Fengzhi, current Lord Regent of the Spirit Empire.
The passage of time seemed to have left few traces on that refined Sect Master's Face; instead it lent him greater depth and steadiness. Yet now his brows were locked, betraying a thorny dilemma.
"Lord Regent, I don't understand what you're still hesitating over!"
A red-robed Elder slammed the table and surged to his feet, eyes blazing. "Those Clear Sky Sect remnants collude with the Sun Moon Empire, assassinated State Preceptor Xu Hong, and even plot to borrow troops to retake the continent! What is this if not treason? If we don't execute the lot as a warning, where is the majesty of our Spirit Empire? If other powers follow their example, how will the Empire rule?"
The Elder's words instantly found resonance.
"Exactly! If you don't pull up the roots, the weeds grow back! We should never have let them flee to Sea God Island back then!"
"They must die! And the four single-attribute families with them—no survivors! Let the world see the price of betraying the Empire!"
Voices of agreement rose and fell; the whole chamber reeked of bloodlust.
To these hard-liners who had walked through blood and fire, only blood could maintain dominion.
Ning Fengzhi sat at the head, quietly watching until the uproar ebbed, then slowly spoke.
"Kill them? After we kill them all—then what?"
His gaze swept the room. "In the present Douluo Continent, who dares resist the Spirit Empire?"
Everyone looked at one another; no one answered.
"No one." He answered his own question, calm and certain. "From those seated here to the peasants in the fields, even to the Sun Moon Empire across the ocean—who does not regard the Spirit Empire with deep awe? Who dares offend its dignity?"
"Since that is so, why continue squandering violence?"
"My lords, the Empire's authority was built through a balance of favor and force. The previous purges have already spilled enough blood. The hatred of conquered nations, the bitterness of perished clans—all have turned into deep dread that weighs on every heart."
"In such times, further limitless slaughter will only backfire."
"Nine chances of death and one of life breeds fear, because people believe that if they submit they can survive."
"But if there is no life at all—only madness remains!"
"When people see certain death whichever path they take, they become the most terrifying of beasts; even if they cannot tear a strip from the Empire, they will still splash it with blood!"
"The Clear Sky Sect is guilty, yet in those dungeons are many ordinary Disciples who knew nothing, swept along by the tide—women, children, the old. To butcher them all would only breed more hatred and panic, bringing no real benefit to imperial rule."
Ning Fengzhi's ringing words plunged the hall into a hush.
But he had not convinced everyone.
The red-robed Elder sneered. "Lord Regent, your speech sounds noble. But do not forget—that is the Clear Sky Sect, once the foremost Sect under heaven! How stubborn their bones are, you know better than we. To spare them is to rear a tiger! If Her Majesty the Supreme Pontiff were still here, she would never show such womanish mercy!"
Invoking Bibi Dong was, in today's Spirit Empire, almost a clinching move.
Though Bibi Dong had Ascended more than a year ago, the awe she left behind still loomed like a mountain over every head.