Chapter 186: Formation

As the Spirit Hall's Soul Masters began a massive rout, the entire battlefield has completely turned around.

In the central square of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo still preside over the overall situation, periodically assigning various actions for all personnel, including pursuing the Spirit Hall's Soul Masters, sorting internal sect members, summarizing sect personnel losses, and so on. Of course, the Spirit Hall had set many fires in the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect earlier, and just putting out the flames is already troublesome.

Lin Gong stays by Yang Xiong's side, surrounded by countless Purple Emperor Bamboo. Yang Xiong's condition is currently rather special, and it's unknown how long full recovery will take; if disturbed by others, real danger could arise.

The others begin to chase the fleeing Spirit Hall personnel, essentially launching a pincer attack.

Especially the three major single‑attribute families, led by Yang Wudi and Niu Gao, are now like tigers released from a cage, fully unleashing themselves to hunt down the Spirit Hall members.

Originally the three major single‑attribute families bore a sea‑deep hatred for the Spirit Hall; now with such a great opportunity, how could they not give chase?

Jian Douluo also pursues the two Title Douluo of the Spirit Hall, but unfortunately both the Demon Bear Douluo and the Spirit Vulture Douluo are just too fast in their escape.

If a Title Douluo uses all its strength to flee, beyond the pincer slaughter it's hard to actually kill it.

The Spirit Vulture Douluo's martial soul, Fire Eagle, possesses extremely fast flight; now, disregarding its injuries, it has pushed its flight speed to the limit, moving far too fast.

The Demon Bear Douluo also ignores its wounds, using all its strength to fly toward the Spirit Hall, apparently risking its life in the escape.

In the end, Jian Douluo feels helpless; since it cannot chase the opposing Title Douluo, it will slaughter more of the ordinary Soul Masters that come to attack.

Jian Douluo summons countless sword qi, and the sky becomes like a torrent of massive sword rain, killing countless black‑clad Soul Masters on the spot.

The entire war lasted a full two hours, after which the remaining Spirit Hall personnel finally fled almost entirely, leaving behind countless corpses.

After the war, Ning Fengzhi listened unusually solemnly to the various reports.

Although the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect achieved an unprecedented great victory this time, under any circumstances war has no true victor, especially when facing the attacking Spirit Hall Soul Master Corps.

Even though the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect received the information early, the attack was so rushed that the first wave also claimed many lives.

Soul Master losses number between seven hundred and eight hundred, accounting for nearly twenty percent of the sect's internal personnel; more troubling, the ten percent of disciples who were out on errands kept receiving frequent bad news.

Given this, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect has roughly five thousand Soul Masters in total, with overall losses estimated at just over one thousand, a loss ratio exceeding twenty percent.

The loss of a thousand Soul Masters is only part of the losses; ordinary people within the sect suffered even more, with many children and women lost.

Not to mention, after the massive destruction, the entire sect is like a sea of fire, with countless losses; if tallied in money, the figure would be astronomical.

In contrast, the Spirit Hall's Soul Master losses are even more staggering; early on Dugu Bo and Jian Douluo killed many, later Jian Douluo pursued more, and just from the corpses counted, the number already exceeds six thousand, with many bodies shattered or turned to ash, not to mention the severely wounded Soul Masters who fled.

Yet even so, Ning Fengzhi stayed up all night on the square, handling all the sect's various matters.

As for why he is on the square, on one hand he serves as the sect's backbone, giving everyone confidence; on the other, the sect's affairs are truly overwhelming. After the great battle, everyone is physically and mentally exhausted, needing absolute leadership and control, otherwise chaos ensues, especially for a support‑type sect like the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

After a full night, Yang Xiong's body seemed to undergo a gradual metamorphosis; the killing aura around him grew stronger, as if he were a demon emerging from hell.

His whole body astonishingly siphoned air energy at high speed, and the three shattered soul bones began to gradually regrow.

When Yang Xiong regained consciousness again, it was already the next morning.

Yang Xiong looked around; besides Lin Gong, Jian Douluo was also sitting beside him with eyes closed, and his parents and older brother were also seated by his side.

His older brother Yang Wei instantly rejoiced: 'Xiao Xiong, you finally woke up; you look so terrifying.'

Yang Xiong felt his whole body unbearably sore, as if every bone had been crushed, yet they were rapidly regrowing.

Especially, Yang Xiong observed his body and felt it had broken through some limit; his soul power had reached Level 70, appearing much stronger than before.

'Dad, Mom, big brother, Teacher Lin, Teacher Jian Douluo, I should be fine now; thank you for your concern.'

After a round of comforting, especially after Jian Douluo and Lin Gong carefully examined Yang Xiong's body, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yang Xiong's condition after yesterday's battle was indeed too strange, seeming to contradict the normal state of the Soul Master World.

Ning Fengzhi, upon seeing Yang Xiong recover, truly let out a sigh of relief.

Yang Xiong hurriedly spoke: 'Sect Leader, how were our sect's losses yesterday?'

Ning Fengzhi sighed: 'Although our Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect achieved a great victory, counting both sect disciples and those out on errands, the losses likely exceed a thousand people; additionally countless ordinary people and children were lost, and the material losses are incalculable. Even after ten years, recovery may not be possible.'

Yang Xiong was also shocked, never expecting that after so many preparations, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's battle would be so brutal.

Nevertheless, regardless, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect still won the great war, and did not suffer any real bodily harm.

Especially, Jian Douluo did not, as in the original work, lose an arm to ascend, so his cultivation path remains intact, and perhaps there is hope for further advancement.

After thinking carefully for a long time, Yang Xiong spoke: 'Sect Leader, condolences; although we suffered some losses this time, the Spirit Hall should have lost more, and they likely won't be able to launch a large‑scale war again in the short term.'

Ning Fengzhi nodded: 'Indeed, just from the corpses of the black‑clad attackers we tallied, the number is already at least six thousand; adding those reduced to fragments by soul skills or turned to ash, their casualties are probably no less than seven thousand.'

'Even if the Spirit Hall is as formidable as ever, they cannot muster such numbers in the short term; this time they will likely need a prolonged period of recuperation before recovering.'

'Especially since the Spirit Hall this time lost two Title Douluo, which truly damages them to the core.'

Yang Xiong, a bit puzzled, asked: 'Sect Leader, which two Title Douluo of the Spirit Hall were killed? The Demon Bear Douluo should have fled, right?'

Inside, Yang Xiong actually hoped the Demon Bear Douluo hadn't died; although he lost to it today, if he trains harder, in three to five years he could fully surpass the Demon Bear Douluo and perhaps even kill it without assistance.

One must know that Yang Xiong managed to draw even with the Demon Bear Douluo thanks not only to Ning Fengzhi's ultimate support but also Oscar's Ultimate Green Sausage; otherwise, with Yang Xiong's Level 69 soul power, a fight against a Title Douluo would be impossible.

One should know that in a regular fight, Yang Xiong considers his combat power barely at Title Douluo level, but when life and death are at stake, Title Douluo display terrifying strength; as his teachers say, in the Douluo World each Title Douluo possesses supreme talent, top‑tier martial soul, extraordinary willpower, and many opportunities—none can be lacking.

Ning Fengzhi, rarely showing a smile, said: 'Xiao Xiong, don't worry; the Demon Bear Douluo fled, and although Uncle Jian pursued all the way, that guy, disregarding the army being besieged, has already escaped back to the Spirit Hall.'

'Given time, you will certainly be able to personally defeat the Demon Bear Douluo, and then avenge today's defeat.'

Yang Xiong gritted his teeth: 'Sect Leader, teachers, rest assured, next time I will definitely slay the Demon Bear Douluo with my own hands, and absolutely avenge today's humiliation.'

Ning Fengzhi hesitated a moment before speaking: 'Xiao Xiong, how do you think our sect should be arranged now?'

Yang Xiong's face showed a hint of confusion: 'Sect Leader, haven't we already repelled the Spirit Hall's enemies? What further arrangements are needed?'

Ning Fengzhi's face bore a bitter smile: 'This battle caused our Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect severe losses; if it weren't for you and Yang Wudi and their aid, plus your many prior deployments, our losses would have been truly massive.'

'Now our vital energy is heavily damaged; although the sect still has four thousand Soul Masters, if the Spirit Hall continues to eye us like a tiger, our coming days won't be easy.'

'So I intend to move the sect into Heaven Dou City; then we can mutually rely on the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, and thus quickly restore our strength.'

Yang Xiong's mouth twitched at this remark, wondering why the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's situation now seems vastly better than in the original, yet Ning Fengzhi still wants to move the sect to Heaven Dou City.

Moreover, according to the original storyline, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect originally suffered heavy losses in the Spirit Hall Soul Hunting Operation, the Heaven Dou Palace Coup was further shadowed by Qian Renxue, and the remaining Soul Masters were hit again, causing the sect's power to decline repeatedly.

Furthermore, because the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect is so entangled with the Heaven Dou Empire, it essentially became a main force on the final battlefield; this process inevitably incurred massive losses, and eventually even the Sword Bone Douluo fell.

Yang Xiong thought carefully before speaking: 'Sect Leader, have you considered that our massive Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, if truly moved to Heaven Dou City, might not get along so well with the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.'

'The Heaven Dou Imperial Family currently lacks top‑tier experts, which is why they heavily rely on our Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect; but if one day they themselves produce many Title Douluo, conflicts and mutual suspicion could arise, and we would be in trouble.'

"You should know that the Heaven Dou Empire has been fully training Soul Grandmasters these years; although they lack top‑tier Soul Grandmasters, the number of ordinary Soul Grandmasters in the Tianzuo Imperial Family is not fewer than ours. If the day comes when they turn hostile, we might not even be able to escape."

Yang Xiong said this only after careful consideration; since ancient times, although the royal family and sects have had some connections, none has ever been as unusually close to the royal family as the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

Although the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect is now relatively wealthy and in its heyday, if it were to decline even a little someday, it would likely be completely devoured by the royal family.

Ning Fengzhi became extremely serious the moment they heard this, and especially after hearing the words Yang Xiong said next, their expression changed dramatically.

(End of Chapter)