A gust of wind seemed to sweep through the hall, forcing Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou back involuntarily nearly twenty meters before they could regain their footing and focus their gaze back on Nie Kong, who remained seated, utterly unmoved, at the center of the tempest.

“Has the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ begun?”

“Why is it different from before?”

This sudden turn of events caused Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou to exclaim in shock, a deep wave of astonishment flickering in their eyes.

“Boom!”

As if a thunderclap had violently exploded within the hall, an aura of power so intense it made the spirit tremble plummeted down from the skies thousands of miles high. In an instant, it pierced the roof of the ‘Battle Tone Hall’ and enveloped the silent, seated figure of Nie Kong.

“This, this…”

Seeing this, Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou were dumbstruck, their faces etched with shock.

Though the aura was invisible and intangible, both men sensed its presence with unusual clarity. It shared the same origin as the strange atmosphere that had permeated the air when the earlier ‘Heart Drum Battle Tone’ sounded, but the difference in strength was astronomical. The former was like an ocean; compared to this new presence, the latter felt like a mere, small river…

…

At this moment, within the boundaries of War God Mountain, all Eighth-Rank masters and Ninth-Rank powerhouses turned their gazes toward the Battle Tone Hall in stunned silence.

“Hmm?”

At the summit of War God Mountain, a white shadow flashed. A man clad in white appeared upon a massive boulder jutting out from the cliff face. He possessed frosty brows, snow-white hair, and a long, trailing white beard beneath his chin, yet his face was youthful and his skin smooth, making his exact age impossible to discern. Only his eyes, bright as distant stars, seemed to contain an infinite antiquity.

“Nine-Nine Battle Tone?”

Gazing intently at the void above the ‘Battle Tone Hall,’ the white-robed man murmured the phrase. A faint, almost imperceptible blush rose on his young, handsome face, before his slender eyes narrowed slightly, and he swept his wide sleeves outward.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Amidst near-inaudible whistling sounds of the wind, two immense, formless currents of energy seemed to spiral towards the space above the ‘Battle Tone Hall’ following the movement of his sleeves. In the next breath, the beam of powerful aura was completely obscured, vanishing without a trace.

Immediately after, the white-robed man’s figure grew increasingly faint until he melted seamlessly into the smooth cliff face behind him, disappearing completely. Only a voice, thin as a silk thread, drifted softly through the void: “‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ has appeared again… This is the second time in our Zhan Clan’s history. I wonder which little fellow achieved this. I hope nothing untoward happens…”

…

Within a tranquil hall situated midway up the mountain, a faint murmur suddenly sounded: “What a powerful disturbance… Could it be the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’… Hmm? What happened? It vanished? Did the Old Ancestor make a move?”

Amidst a string of rapid questions, a tall, elderly man dressed in black, perhaps in his sixties, strode quickly out of the hall door. His face shifted rapidly between surprise and confusion, yet his steps did not falter as he moved toward the direction of the ‘Battle Tone Hall,’ covering a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

…

In the quiet, elegant pavilion within the city at the foot of War God Mountain, a middle-aged woman of dignified bearing suddenly closed the scroll she had been reading. She looked up toward the distant void, her expression flickering between joy and worry.

Moments later, the woman set the book aside, and her graceful figure vanished abruptly…

…

At nearly the exact same moment, across War God Mountain and the city below, streams of figures sped forth from all directions.

Battle Tone Hall.

Watching Nie Kong enveloped by that formidable aura, Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou finally snapped back to reality, disbelief still plastered on their faces.

“Thump!”

Suddenly, a deep drumbeat sounded.

Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou involuntarily opened their mouths, expressions of having seen a ghost contorting their faces.

Logically, they should never have been able to hear the drumbeat while Nie Kong was undergoing the ‘Heart Drum Battle Tone.’ Yet this time, both heard it clearly and distinctly. The sound was not loud or fierce, but extraordinarily peaceful, washing over them like a spring breeze, leaving them feeling so refreshed they wished it would sound several more times.

“Is this truly the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’?”

Zhan Tianlun muttered in disbelief, glancing at Zhan Tianyou beside him, only to find him utterly dumbfounded. Clearly, the current situation left even this elder of the ‘Battle Tone Hall’ completely bewildered and unable to comprehend.

The final ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ was completely different from the preceding eight rounds?

“Whoosh!”

An extremely faint sound of air being pierced entered the ears of Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou. They quickly turned their heads and saw a tall, dark silhouette gliding into the hall. His face was rugged, and a Ming Star flickered between his brows, emitting a mesmerizing, soul-capturing radiance.

“Clan Leader!”

The two were startled inwardly and quickly bowed. The newcomer was none other than the Zhan Clan Leader, Zhan Yunlan! It seemed the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ had alarmed many people; now that the Clan Leader had appeared, the other experts and powerhouses of the Zhan Clan would likely arrive soon as well.

Zhan Yunlan waved his hand. As soon as he entered the hall, his gaze locked onto Nie Kong.

Moments later, sensing the powerful aura cloaking Nie Kong, Zhan Yunlan’s brow twitched slightly, and his eyes showed a hint of excitement. However, this quickly gave way to a trace of undisguised regret on his face.

“Thump!”

The drumbeat sounded again, and Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou once more experienced that comfortable ease, this time even more intensely.

At this point, Zhan Yunlan suddenly asked, “What is his name?”

“Nie Kong,” Zhan Tianlun replied reflexively.

“Nie Kong…”

Muttering the two words several times, Zhan Yunlan sighed with a complex expression, “What a pity, what a pity. I never imagined that the second person in our Zhan Clan to hear the final three rounds of the Battle Tone would be an outer-clan disciple.”

“The second one?”

Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou were shocked.

They had always assumed that since the appearance of the ‘Heart Drum Battle Tone,’ no descendant of the Zhan Clan had managed to survive past the ‘Seven-Nine Battle Tone.’ But judging by the Clan Leader’s words, someone had experienced the final three rounds before Nie Kong, and furthermore, had listened to the complete ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ just like Nie Kong?

If so, why had even elders like them never heard any mention of it?

Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou exchanged glances. Although their hearts were filled with doubt, since Zhan Yunlan hadn't offered an explanation, they didn't press further. As the two stood wondering, more figures successively entered the hall.

“Whoosh!”

“Whoosh!”

“…”

In less than a minute, more than a dozen figures filled the Battle Tone Hall, and voices immediately rose: “…”

“It truly is the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’!”

“Though an outer-clan disciple, he is still one of our Zhan Clan people. After a thousand years, another disciple capable of hearing the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ has emerged; this is truly a blessing for the Zhan Clan. Tianlun, you have rendered our clan a great service.”

“Whether it is a blessing or a curse remains to be seen…”

“As soon as the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ began, the aura fluctuations were completely shielded by the Old Ancestor. Now, only those of us within the Battle Tone Hall know what has happened; outsiders can never detect it. As long as we do not let this news leak, we should avoid the accident that befell us a thousand years ago.”

“That’s right. Regardless of what, our Zhan Clan cannot miss this opportunity again!”

“…”

The steady, unhurried drumbeats vibrated in everyone’s hearts, but as time passed, the sounds within the hall diminished as figures departed one by one. Soon, only Clan Leader Zhan Yunlan and the initial three remained in the Battle Tone Hall.

Zhan Yunlan withdrew his gaze from Nie Kong and looked at Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou, his expression turning exceptionally grave: “Tianlun, Tianyou, you now know. Throughout the history of the Zhan Clan, almost everyone listening to the ‘Heart Drum Battle Tone’ struggled to pass the ‘Six-Nine Battle Tone.’ However, one person managed to endure through the ‘Seven-Nine Battle Tone’ and listened to all eighty-one beats. At that time, our entire clan was ecstatic, which led to the news leaking. As a result, one month later, our Zhan Clan was ambushed and besieged by dozens of high-level Black Spirit Masters, resulting in heavy casualties. Even that ancestor who heard the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone’ died from severe injuries…”

He paused slightly. “Do you understand what I mean?”

Zhan Tianlun’s heart leaped. “Clan Leader means that if the news from the ‘Battle Tone Hall’ leaks today, our Zhan Clan might suffer the same fate as a thousand years ago, and even Brother Nie Kong might not be able to keep his life?”

Zhan Tianyou frowned. “Clan Leader, who exactly were the people who attacked our Zhan Clan back then?”

“Who? Perhaps…”

Zhan Yunlan’s lips moved slightly, as if deep in thought.

Perhaps who?

Neither Zhan Tianlun nor Zhan Tianyou heard the remainder of the Clan Leader’s contemplation, leaving their doubts to multiply. A thousand years ago, the Zhan Clan’s strength would not have been much weaker than it is now. Throughout the entire Netherworld, no Super-Tier Sect would dare attack the heart of the Zhan Clan on War God Mountain, much less inflict such heavy casualties, unless… several Super-Tier Sects joined forces!

But this possibility seemed incredibly slim. Without a threat to their own survival, which sect would rashly undertake such an action, merely to eliminate one Zhan Clan descendant who had heard the complete ‘Heart Drum Battle Tone’?

Or was the significance of having heard the complete ‘Heart Drum Battle Tone’ for a Zhan Clan disciple not as simple as it appeared on the surface?

“Tianlun, Nie Kong was brought back to the Zhan Clan by you. Do you know his background before he became a disciple of that lower-tier sect?” Zhan Yunlan’s voice broke through the chain of anxious thoughts of Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou.

“This… I did ask, but Brother Nie Kong said he couldn't remember anything that happened before he appeared in Water Cloud Town,” Zhan Tianlun replied with a helpless smile.

“Amnesia?”

Zhan Yunlan frowned. “I will have someone investigate this matter thoroughly. Nie Kong is now a disciple of our Zhan Clan. Even though his surname isn't Zhan, since he endured until the ‘Nine-Nine Battle Tone,’ his importance to the clan is self-evident. Regardless of what, we must guarantee his safety. You will not breathe a single word of today’s events to anyone.”

“Yes.”

Seeing Zhan Yunlan’s solemn expression, Zhan Tianlun and Zhan Tianyou felt a deep sense of gravity within them.

…

…