In the year 10086 of the Douluo Calendar, several shocking events occurred across the continent.
Firstly, the Pope of Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji passed away, and Tang Hao from the Haotian Sect broke through to become a Titled Douluo, making him the youngest Titled Douluo on the continent.
Secondly, following the Pope’s death, the Spirit Hall deployed its Angel Corps to attack the Haotian Sect. The current sect leader, Tang Zhen, was killed, and the sect suffered heavy casualties. Only Tang Xiao and about a hundred others survived, leaving the Haotian Sect with just a few remaining members. Furthermore, it was publicly declared that Tang Hao was no longer a disciple of the Haotian Sect.
The four affiliated sects of the Haotian Sect—the Po, Min, and Yu clans—surrendered to the Spirit Hall under the leadership of their clan chiefs. The Li clan split, with the clan leader Titan taking some members and leaving.
Thirdly, Qian Guyue from the Qian family was appointed the new Pope of the Spirit Hall.
In the Worship Hall.
Sigh Sitting on a stone bed, Qian Guyue opened his eyes, a hint of red flashing through his pale purple pupils.
"Still not working?" he frowned, sensing something off within his body.
"What's the problem?" Ever since Qian Guyue discovered that this world did not have the concept of an inner core, he had been researching it alone without success.
Was the method wrong? Or was there another reason?
Thinking this, Qian Guyue couldn’t help but look up at the sky.
As a genius of the Qian family, he had access to all the confidential files of the Spirit Hall.
Unlike his previous world, which was atheistic, this world had gods.
Not to mention, his own Six-Winged Ice Angel's prototype was the Six-Winged Angel, also the deity worshiped by the entire Qian family and the Spirit Hall.
Though ancient texts mentioned that gods should not interfere with the mortal world, Qian Guyue just laughed at this notion.
After all, gods were once human!
Surely, their human flaws didn’t simply vanish upon becoming divine! The so-called rule of non-interference was just to control the weak; the strong make the rules but aren’t necessarily bound by them.
If the interests of the gods were threatened in the mortal world, Qian Guyue didn’t believe a mere phrase could restrain them.
"Let’s go out for a walk," Qian Guyue shook his head. "When will this system wake up?"
It had been twenty years. Twenty whole years! Do you know how I've spent these years?
"Waiter, a pot of tea and a dish of edamame," Qian Guyue called out, sitting at a stall.
"Right away, sir. Just a moment."
"Hey, have you heard?" whispered a passerby at the next table.
"What did you hear?" the others at the table asked curiously.
"I heard that Tang Hao of the Haotian Sect has become a Titled Douluo."
"What? A Titled Douluo! Really?"
"Come on, brother, tell us more!" Another passerby eagerly poured the storyteller a cup of wine, which he modestly accepted.
About the notable figures on the continent, though they hadn’t seen them, they knew a few, especially since the Spirit Hall was centrally located on the continent, with many merchant convoys passing through daily.
There’s a Titled Douluo lurking in the shadows here.
Hmm, Tang Hao? Hearing this, Qian Guyue, who was still sipping tea, lit up.
He knew of this current twin star of the Haotian Sect.
Tang Hao was the most talented in the Haotian Sect after Tang Chen, and some even said that his achievements might not fall short of his grandfather, Tang Chen.
Oh, he's already broken through to become a Titled Douluo.
"I remember, isn't Tang Hao just over forty years old?" someone exclaimed.
"My God, the youngest Titled Douluo on the continent!"
"Yes, the youngest Titled Douluo."
The youngest Titled Douluo? Hearing this, Qian Guyue scoffed with disdain. Tang Hao was probably about forty-three or forty-four years old now. Indeed, his title-level cultivation was the youngest on the continent.
But if he were brought to the Spirit Hall, not to mention Qian Guyue, even Bibi Dong had already reached the level ninety realm, and she was much younger than Tang Hao!
"It really is true that comparisons can be odious! I'm still just a minor soul master!" The speaker’s tone carried a mix of envy and jealousy, but no hatred.
After all, Tang Hao had the backing of the Haotian Sect, the number one sect in the world, while they were just ordinary soul masters.
"By the way, I heard that the Pope of the Spirit Hall went out with several Titled Elders half a year ago. Does anyone know what they went to do?"
Qian Xunji went out? And took several elders with him? Could it be a major event? After all, it was rare for both the Pope and the elders to move out. But Qian Guyue expressed ignorance about this. He had been in seclusion at that time.
At that moment, a woman in red walked in. The men's eyes were instantly drawn to her.
After all, among the soul masters on the continent, female soul masters were rare, let alone strong ones.
But no one approached her. This was, after all, Spirit City. If anyone caused trouble here, the enforcers of the Spirit Hall would show them what cruelty meant.
After scanning the room, the woman, Yan Ying, came over and sat down in front of Qian Guyue.
"Pretty idle, huh?" Yan Ying commented, picking up a cup and pouring herself some tea.
"What's going on?" Qian Guyue asked, surprised at first, but then quickly realizing something must be up, especially after hearing about the Pope's outing and Tang Hao's breakthrough.
Although he was a member of the Qian family, the old man generally wouldn’t seek him out unless it was something important.
And Yan Ying was the messenger.
"Pope Qian Xunji has passed away," Yan Ying’s voice rang in Qian Guyue’s ears. She was shocked when she relayed the message from Qian Daoliu, given that the current Pope Qian Xunji was still young, in his fifties, and unlikely to have died from illness.
Qian Guyue’s eyebrows furrowed imperceptibly but quickly smoothed out. Looking around at the ongoing lively conversations, it was clear that Yan Ying had used soul power to convey the message to him privately.
This was a soul power-based method of communication, very practical, but with a clear disadvantage: the two parties had to be close, and if there were a stronger person present, they could intercept the information.
"Let’s go see the old man," Qian Guyue decided, already guessing what might have happened.
Rising from his seat, he left a silver soul coin on the table, and the two left for the Worship Hall.
Along the way, Yan Ying briefly explained the situation.
Approximately half a year ago, not long after Qian Guyue had begun his seclusion, Qian Xunji received a report about a hundred-thousand-year soul beast that had taken human form in the human world.
Hearing this, Qian Xunji immediately sent Gui Mei from the Elders' Hall to investigate.
Whether true or not, a hundred-thousand-year soul beast was a big deal—it was sure to drop a soul bone, and while the Spirit Hall had many soul bones, most were of low grade, and higher-aged soul bones were rare.
Previously, there had been a ranking of the items most beloved by soul masters on the continent, with soul bones and hundred-thousand-year soul rings at the very top.
A hundred-thousand-year soul ring could grant a soul master two additional soul skills, giving them a crucial advantage in battle by having one more soul skill than their opponent.
And unlike soul rings, soul bones could be detached; soul bones fallen from others could be used by anyone else, meaning if you possessed a soul bone, it could naturally detach from you as you aged, and your descendants could still use it.
The final message was that there indeed was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in humanoid form near Tang Hao of the Haotian Sect.
Elated, Qian Xunji immediately wanted to act. Even if he couldn’t use it, wouldn’t it be great to acquire another soul bone to enrich the Spirit Hall’s treasury?
Initially, he wanted to bring Qian Guyue along, but Qian Guyue was already in seclusion. With no other choice, Qian Xunji went alone.
