"If you want to find me, come to Sea God Island." This message quickly spread across the continent, and countless people became curious about the mysterious Sea God Island and its location.
Soon, an even more shocking piece of news emerged. It was said that many years ago, the Spirit Hall had attempted to attack Sea God Island, but the two thousand soul masters they sent were almost completely wiped out. Even two Title Douluos had fallen.
This secret, which no one knew who had leaked, added even more mystery to the unknown island.
With this, it seemed that the Spirit Hall had lost a total of three Title Douluos to the people of Sea God Island. Moreover, the Spider God Church, which posed a significant threat to them, also seemed to have ties to this island...
The entire Douluo Continent was now waiting for the Spirit Hall's response.
Having suffered such losses and being publicly challenged, if the Spirit Hall were to swallow this humiliation, they would no longer deserve to be called the continent's top power.
However, before anyone could hear the Spirit Hall's response, an even more explosive piece of news broke out.
Centered around the city of Hanhai, several Spirit Hall branch halls in surrounding cities had been dismantled by a young man within a few days. Everyone inside had been killed, with no survivors.
This...
Although the Spirit Hall had recently destroyed many so-called "Spider God Church branches," which seemed like a reasonable target for retaliation, everyone knew the truth.
These "Spider God Church branches" were mostly just fronts set up by local wealthy families to show support. They had little to do with the actual Spider God Church, and very few actual members of the church were present.
On the other hand, the Spirit Hall's branch halls were established with great effort over the years, and the people inside were genuine Spirit Hall members.
At a glance, it was clear who was losing more.
Moreover, while dismantling the Spirit Hall's branches, the young man also announced that any spirit masters willing to join the Spider God Church should come to Sea God Island for an interview in a month.
Spirit masters who had left the Spirit Hall would be given priority.
This was adding insult to injury! It was like slapping the Spirit Hall's face repeatedly and then stomping on it.
In the meeting hall of the Spirit Hall's Elder Hall, the atmosphere was tense. Almost everyone supported mobilizing the entire Spirit Hall to attack Sea God Island.
They hoped to regain some lost dignity and completely eradicate the Spider God Church to eliminate any future threats.
However, two people remained silent. One of them was Bibi Dong. Normally, she shouldn't have been involved in the Elder Hall's affairs.
But since this concerned the survival of the Spirit Hall, and she was, after all, the Pope of the Pope's Hall, she was reluctantly included in the discussion.
Frowning, she seemed to ponder for a long time before finally saying in a cold voice, "I abstain. Do as you see fit."
She had always been quite interested in the Spider God Church. In fact, half of the church's current influence was likely due to her.
But now, the Spider God Church seemed to be growing too fast—fast enough to potentially disrupt her plans.
The other person who remained silent was the Grand Worship, Qian Daoliu.
He stroked his beard as if recalling some old memories. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Are you all certain it was the people of Sea God Island who did this?"
"Yes," one of the elders nodded. "They themselves announced it. Besides, in this world, only they would have the strength and audacity to do something like this."
"Hmm..." Qian Daoliu fell silent again. It had been decades since he last saw her. Given her temperament, this didn't seem like something she would do.
Then, a thought crossed his mind. Well, that thing would have to be retrieved sooner or later. Why not take this opportunity?
"Prepare yourselves. I will accompany you to Sea God Island."
"Grand Worship..." Two elders stood up as if to dissuade him, but he raised his hand to silence them.
"Do as I say. No more words."
Meanwhile, Fang Chang, having completed his tasks, quietly returned to the sunken ship at the bottom of the sea and found the Sea Spider Clan.
"Why are you back so soon?" Little Gold pouted, looking at Fang Chang as if he were a heartless scoundrel.
He had told them he would be going to the mainland for a while, possibly for several years. Yet, he had returned after just a few days.
"This is my territory too. Why can't I come back?" Fang Chang wrapped a spider leg around Little Gold, grinning mischievously.
"Hmph," Little Gold feigned annoyance but leaned closer to Fang Chang.
"Enough fooling around. I came back because there's something important I need to handle," Fang Chang said, releasing her and lowering his voice as her two sisters approached.
"Tell the clan members to be cautious these next few days. Avoid getting too close to Sea God Island or the surface of the sea."
"Also, send some people to keep an eye on the area around Sea God Island. Watch for any humans coming from the mainland to land on the island."
Little Gold looked at Fang Chang's sly expression and giggled. "What trouble have you caused this time?"
Whenever he got serious, something always happened in the sea. This time, he had probably brought some disaster to Sea God Island. After being together for years, Little Gold was quite familiar with Fang Chang's methods.
"You'll find out soon enough," Fang Chang teased, not giving a straight answer.
Over the next few days, Fang Chang spent most of his time in "stealth" mode, lurking around Sea God Island as if waiting for something.
He had already stirred the pot to this extent. He was confident the Spirit Hall would come. After all, for a major power, the most important thing was their reputation.
If they lost face, their influence would inevitably decline rapidly.
However, Fang Chang didn't yet know who the Spirit Hall would send to deal with Sea God Island. He could only wait for them to arrive before making his next move.
On the eighth day after Fang Chang returned to the Sea Spider Clan, the Spirit Hall's forces finally arrived.
The group came on three large ships, each over a hundred meters long and forty to fifty meters wide. Each ship could easily accommodate over a thousand soul masters.
With three ships, the number of soul masters likely exceeded three thousand, and their soul power levels were not weak. Clearly, they were elite forces carefully selected by the Spirit Hall.
The three ships stopped about two or three miles from the shore of Sea God Island. Most of the soul masters on board crowded the sides of the ships, curiously gazing at the island.
In the past, Sea God Island would have sent people to "welcome" them long ago. But after two devastating defeats, the sea soul masters on the island had suffered heavy losses, and even the sentry posts along the shore were unmanned.
Qian Daoliu looked at the scene with some confusion. After about ten minutes, he gave the order for the Spirit Hall's forces to land on the island.
It was only then that the people on Sea God Island noticed them. The remaining sea soul masters rushed toward them, weapons in hand.
Fang Chang, meanwhile, found a good spot to hide and watched the conflict from afar.