Outside Tian Shui City, in a canyon hundreds of miles away, a green-robed elder was picking a poisonous herb and feeding it to a jade-green small snake coiled around his arm.
At that moment, a massive ice-blue light pillar shot straight into the sky from afar, drawing the green-robed elder's attention.
"What a powerful aura. Could this phenomenon be the descent of some divine relic?"
The green-robed elder's expression immediately turned solemn as he sensed the distant yet still overwhelming pressure.
This green-robed elder was naturally Dugu Bo. After learning that Tang Hao had been rescued, he immediately transferred his assets and arranged for his granddaughter Dugu Yan to be placed in a safe location.
Even so, he still could not feel at ease. Although he had survived a life-and-death transformation and barely resolved the outbreak of his poison, slightly increasing his strength, compared to Tang Hao at his peak—and the force capable of rescuing Tang Hao from Spirit Hall—he was still far inferior.
For this reason, he needed even greater power, power sufficient to stand without fear of the Clear Sky Sect.
"Perhaps… this is an opportunity!"
After a brief hesitation, Dugu Bo made a decisive move, transforming into a streak of green light heading toward the direction of the pillar of light.
Dugu Bo was not the only one who made this decision. Many soul masters who believed they had enough strength to wade into this troubled waters also rushed toward Tian Shui City, hoping to take a share of the benefits.
As for those without sufficient strength, they chose instead to relay the news back at the fastest speed possible.
Spirit Hall, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the two great empires…
All major and minor forces would soon receive news of the anomaly in Tian Shui City.
Of course, this did not include the Clear Sky Sect.
Because when the Clear Sky Sect sealed its mountain gates, it abandoned all its affiliated forces in order to act quickly.
Without these forces, the Clear Sky Sect now relied entirely on Tang Yuehua within Heaven Dou, and information could only be transmitted when goods were transported in and out.
But in truth, this matter had little to do with the Clear Sky Sect. Even if they knew about it, what could they do?
Could they really abandon their seclusion and come out to compete for benefits? The current Clear Sky Sect did not have that courage.
Above Tian Shui Academy, Shui Wuhen opened his eyes, a flash of ice light disappearing within his pupils.
After refining the divine fragment of the Ice God's throne within the Icebound Throne, Shui Wuhen's authority had increased once again.
Without relying on spirit beasts, he could now directly create spirit rings out of thin air with his own power.
Moreover, the spirit rings he created could not only reach the maximum limit his body could currently withstand, but were also more perfectly compatible with himself than any other spirit ring.
This undoubtedly filled Shui Wuhen with excitement. After all, with his current situation, it was extremely difficult to obtain suitable spirit rings by hunting spirit beasts.
Not to mention whether he could even find suitable soul beasts, even if he did, he might not be able to defeat them.
Thus, Shui Wuhen immediately chose to create his own spirit rings and broke through to the Title Douluo level.
However, what he did not expect was that his spirit rings were actually ice-blue in color.
"Ice blue… this seems even stronger than that 990,000-year soul beast ring. Could this be a legendary divine spirit ring?"
Shui Wuhen looked at the ice-blue spirit rings surrounding him, thinking inwardly.
Divine spirit rings were said in legend to be possessed only by gods, containing the power to burn mountains and boil seas.
The next moment, information from the spirit ring poured into his mind, and Shui Wuhen immediately understood the spirit skill contained within it.
No, perhaps it should be called a divine skill, as its power had already surpassed ordinary spirit skills.
"Good. With my current strength, if that Deep Sea Demon Whale King does not have any hidden trump cards, he should not be my opponent anymore."
Although Shui Wuhen had just broken through to Title Douluo, he was confident of this.
When he had just broken through Soul Douluo, he and Articuno together were already able to contend with the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.
Now that he had become a Title Douluo, his strength had increased by who knows how many times compared to before, already surpassing the combat power the Deep Sea Demon Whale King had previously displayed.
Unless the Deep Sea Demon Whale King possessed a trump card stronger than that energy armor, he would not be Shui Wuhen's opponent now.
Retracting his spirit rings, Shui Wuhen slowly returned to the secret chamber through the broken opening above.
Shui Bing'er's eyes lit up as she looked at him. "Brother, your ninth spirit ring…"
"I'm not too sure either. I'll tell you after I figure it out," Shui Wuhen replied.
"Oh."
Although Shui Bing'er had many questions in her heart—why Shui Wuhen also obtained a spirit ring without hunting a spirit beast like her, and why the ring was an unprecedented ice-blue color—since Shui Wuhen did not explain, she did not ask further.
She understood her brother well. If he was willing to tell her, she would naturally know.
At that moment, Shui Wuhen looked around and, upon seeing the hole in the ceiling, could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Such thick stone—he would not have been able to break through it so easily before, yet it was shattered instantly by the commotion of his breakthrough.
Then Shui Wuhen took a breath.
"Bing'er, we've stayed in this secret chamber long enough. It's time to go out."
He had not kept track of time, as in a deep cultivation state it was impossible to perceive the outside world unless life-threatening danger occurred.
Even so, Shui Wuhen could still sense the passage of time. He was certain this retreat had lasted longer than any of his previous cultivations.
Shui Bing'er's eyes lit up at his words.
After all, she was only an eighteen-year-old girl, full of youthful energy. She could dedicate most of her time to cultivation, but living only for cultivation was too dull.
So she quickly nodded and followed Shui Wuhen out of the chamber.
When they stepped outside, Shui Yue Ruo was already waiting.
In fact, the commotion caused by Shui Wuhen had attracted many people from the academy, but they had all been dismissed by Shui Yue Ruo.
"I'm sorry, Dean, I damaged your secret chamber," Shui Wuhen said.
Shui Yue Ruo chuckled softly. "It's fine. It's just a chamber, it doesn't cost much to repair. Rather, your performance just now completely refreshed my understanding."
"Dean Yue Ruo, forgive me. My strength was insufficient before, and my spirit ring configuration was somewhat shocking. If exposed, it would cause trouble. Even now, if possible, I still do not wish to make such a commotion."
Shui Wuhen smiled somewhat helplessly.
"Oh? Insufficient strength before?"
Shui Yue Ruo immediately caught the key phrase, her gaze flashing.
"From what you're saying, exposing such secrets is merely troublesome to you?"
She could sense absolute confidence in his tone—confidence so strong that even such shocking secrets did not bring him fear.
This was not normal. Even if Shui Wuhen was a Title Douluo, he could not withstand the combined pressure of Spirit Hall, the upper three sects, and the two great empires alone.
"Those who wish to come, let them come," Shui Wuhen said casually.
At this point, three black-robed figures suddenly appeared in the sky above Tian Shui Academy.
Their eyes scanned the academy before locking onto Shui Yue Ruo.
"You must be the dean of this academy. That pillar of light earlier came from here. Do you know what happened?"
One of them asked.
Shui Yue Ruo's expression immediately turned solemn upon seeing them, as she recognized their identities.
The Black Cloak Three Fiends—three brothers, each above rank 86, sharing a mutual mind and skilled in combined attacks. It was said they could even fight a Title Douluo together.
Clearly, they were not opponents she could handle.
Shui Wuhen was about to step forward to deal with them when an unexpected change occurred.
A figure wrapped in green mist arrived from afar in an instant, appearing above Tian Shui Academy.
As the green mist dissipated, an old man in a green robe appeared—Dugu Bo.
His arrival made the expressions beneath the black cloaks of the Three Fiends change drastically.
"Poison Douluo, Your Excellency."
Despite their displeasure, they still respectfully greeted him.
Dugu Bo nodded slightly, then quickly scanned the surroundings.
"Strange… the pillar of light clearly originated here, but why can I no longer sense that aura?"
After some inspection, Dugu Bo frowned.
This was not what he had expected. He thought it was the opening of some relic, but instead it was Tian Shui Academy—and there were no signs of any relic opening.
Soon, Dugu Bo noticed the hole above the secret chamber, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"That is… a secret chamber?"
Dugu Bo muttered before asking downward, "Who is inside the chamber?"
Judging from the situation, that hole must have been caused by the person inside. The chamber was built from extremely sturdy stone; to create such a hole was definitely not the work of an ordinary person.
The Three Fiends also noticed the hole and immediately pressed, "Answer quickly! Who is inside the chamber?"
At that moment, Shui Wuhen shook his head helplessly.
He knew these people would not leave without answers—it was time for him to step in.
"No need to ask. I was the one inside earlier."
With that, Shui Wuhen flew into the air, rising to the same height as the others.
"What?"
The Three Fiends' pupils contracted sharply.