Chapter 49: What Decent Person Plays Separately? (Part 1)

Chapter 49: No Upright Person Plays Their Own Game (Part 1)

"Ah, my young friend, you flatter me. The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan is hardly worthy of such a grand title as the Greatest Clan in the World."

Although Ning Fengzhi had no idea why Zhong Yan had launched into such a lavish display of praise right off the bat, his first instinct was to decline regardless of the reason. If the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan were to accept such a title and let word get out, what would the rest of the world think of them? As for keeping it a secret? One only needed to look at the person sitting before them—the newly appointed Holy Son of the Spirit Hall and the direct disciple of Pope Bibi Dong.

In fact, Ning Fengzhi was already preparing himself to handle the inevitable rumors should this leak.

Zhong Yan waved his hand dismissively, smiled faintly, and said, "Ah, you are entirely worthy of it."

Ning Fengzhi replied with a matching smile, "We are not worthy, truly not worthy."

However, the smile vanished from Zhong Yan's face in a split second. With an indifferent expression, he dropped a chilling statement: "I say you are worthy, so you are worthy."

His tone brooked no room for rejection from Ning Fengzhi.

Ning Fengzhi instantly收敛 (withdrew) his smile as well, while Sword Douluo behind him let out a soft reprimand, "Audacious!"

A wave of lethal pressure emanated from Sword Douluo, who made no effort to conceal his intent as he pressed his imposing aura directly toward Zhong Yan.

Yet, even faced with the peerless Sword Douluo himself, Zhong Yan did not flinch in the slightest, releasing his own aura to push right back.

Sword Douluo had already sensed the Spirit Ancestor rank fluctuations on Zhong Yan, so he had initially applied the pressure of a level 50 expert. But even at level 50, that pressure carried the weight of Dust Heart's personal cultivation.

Seeing that he could not even force Zhong Yan to summon his martial soul, and that the boy still wore an entirely relaxed expression, Dust Heart inwardly muttered, "What a fine lad!"

He then slowly began to escalate the spirit power pressure he was exerting.

Level 51, level 52, ..., level 60.

"Clang!" With a sharp sound, an exceptionally formidable spear materialized in Zhong Yan's hand.

Immediately following that, the spirit ring configuration of one yellow, one purple, and two blacks left both Dust Heart and Ning Fengzhi utterly shaken on the spot.

Dust Heart quickly withdrew his pressure. The looks the two men now cast toward Zhong Yan were not only filled with high regard, but also carried a faint, underlying trace of danger.

Regardless of what the two of them were thinking, Zhong Yan had already achieved his objective. The talent and strength he had displayed were more than enough to make these two individuals seriously listen to what he had to say. After all, an identity as a Holy Son alone was not enough to command people's attention; in this world, one ultimately had to rely on strength to speak.

Zhong Yan put his spring-breeze smile back on, acting as though nothing at all had just happened.

"Now then, sirs, might you be willing to give me your full attention?"

Ning Fengzhi promptly resumed his scholarly smile. "What kind of talk is that? Please, my young friend, speak your mind."

"Broadly speaking, the powers of the present world are divided into three factions, and the same goes for the clan hierarchy in the master world: the Upper Three Clans and the Lower Four Clans."

"The Upper Three Clans are led by the Clear Sky Clan, yet they have been so frightened by the Spirit Hall that they have hidden themselves away from the world for years, even abandoning their four affiliated clans. Long ago, they lost the dignity and brilliance befitting an Upper Three Clan."

"As for that Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, there is nothing much to say; they rely entirely on a single individual to hold them up. But your Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan is different. Boasting two Super Douluos, over a dozen Spirit Douluos, and more than seventy Spirit Saints, do you truly harbor not the slightest ambition?"

Ning Fengzhi and Dust Heart exchanged glances before both picked up the cups of tea before them.

[This child effortlessly pointed out the high-end combat power of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan. Even if I wanted to conceal it, I couldn't hide more than a few. Has the Spirit Hall truly grown to such terrifying heights?]

After taking a sip of tea, Ning Fengzhi figured it out. This boy had come to tear away the pretenses; since that was the case, he might as well cut straight to the point and drop the beating around the bush.

"How can you say we harbor no such ambitions? But what of it? The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan cannot attain the number one spot with the Spirit Hall standing ahead of us, and the so-called alliance of the Upper Three Clans is nothing more than a joke. Moreover, no matter how powerful or wealthy the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan becomes, it cannot alter the fundamental truth that we are a support-type clan. Even without your Spirit Hall, we cannot defeat the Clear Sky Clan."

Zhong Yan smiled gently. "What if the Clear Sky Clan were to cease to exist? Besides, have we ever claimed that the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan are our enemies? Have we ever taken any action detrimental to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan?"

Ning Fengzhi could only maintain his silence. Although I can see right through the Spirit Hall's intentions, I truly do not possess a shred of concrete evidence.

Ning Fengzhi let out a long sigh. "No."

"In that case, why must we make ourselves enemies?" Zhong Yan smiled lightly, picked up his own teacup, and took a sip.

He then continued, "Besides, do you truly understand this continent?"

"The Clear Sky Clan currently possesses seven Titled Douluos, led by Tang Hao and Tang Xiao. Your Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan has two, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has one, and within the borders of the Heaven Dou Empire, there is only Dugu Bo."

A trace of shock flashed across Ning Fengzhi's eyes. "The Clear Sky Clan actually has so many Titled Douluos? Then why do they—"

"Why are they still forced by us into sealing their mountain gates?" Zhong Yan picked up his nearly empty teacup, continuing Ning Fengzhi's sentence at a leisurely pace.

"You see, you understand nothing about the Spirit Hall. My teacher is currently a level 97 Super Douluo, and she remains the only twin-martial-soul master in the entire spirit master world to have ever reached such a realm."

"Furthermore, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo have both reached level 95. As everyone knows, the Spirit Hall also possesses seven Titled Douluo elders, though their strength falls below level 95."

"I imagine Sword Douluo is aware of that person—the level 99 Angel Douluo, the sole peerless Douluo on the entire continent at level 99, who serves as the Spirit Hall's ultimate trump card. But what you do not know is that within the Spirit Hall, the First Elder also commands a Hall of Elders, within which reside another six enshrined Douluos who have all surpassed level 96!"

Zhong Yan suddenly lowered his voice, offering a faint smile as if sharing a secret.

"And, the Spirit Hall still holds one truly genuine trump card."

[A trump card? Can something that is spoken aloud still be considered a trump card?]