Chapter 58: Falling Devil Douluo and Qian Xunji
After his old man, Qian Daoliu, kicked him out,
Qian Xunji sent his subordinates to find out where the enshrined elders had gone.
The intelligence came back: they had gone home to spend time with their grandchildren.
The enshrined elders had gone back to teach their younger generations before, but those youngsters had been so untalented that watching them had only made the elders' hearts ache. In the end, they had stopped going out much, preferring not to see them.
Now that they had finally improved their talent, the elders were in high spirits and had something to look forward to, so they had gone home to focus on raising their younger generations.
Only Great Enshrined Qian Daoliu remained at the Worship Hall to keep the place.
"This is outrageous! They're shirking their duties—it's simply lawless! The old man's getting on in years and can't keep them in line. Leave this sort of thing to me!" As he spoke, Qian Xunji changed his tune, looking as if he were exhausting himself for the sake of Spirit Hall.
"All right, I'm off. I won't be staying here for the next few days. If the old man comes by, don't tell him where I went." After instructing the steward who served under him, Qian Xunji sensed that Qian Renxue had arrived and immediately left to avoid trouble.
Qian Renxue's restraint period had ended.
After leaving the Pope Palace,
Qian Xunji recalled the strength of the enshrined elders, weighed his options, and decided to start with the brothers Qianjun Douluo and Falling Devil Douluo.
They weren't much older than Qian Xunji, more or less of his generation, and they had spent the least time in the Worship Hall.
As members of a family that had produced enshrined elders, Qianjun Douluo and Falling Devil Douluo's families both lived in Spirit City. The brothers were even neighbors, so Qian Xunji could find both of them at once.
He took out his token. The servants immediately went to report his arrival, while the sensible steward showed Qian Xunji to the reception room to wait and brought out tea and refreshments.
In the training room, Qianjun Douluo and Falling Devil Douluo were teaching their grandsons how to use their Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul.
Every weapon-type Martial Soul Master had to go through this. For example, Guang Ling Douluo's grandson had a bow for a Martial Soul, so in addition to cultivating Soul Power, he also had to learn archery.
Their family's ancestral Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul naturally had corresponding Self-Created Soul Skills. They had often trained their children in those skills when they were young, and now that the boys had awakened as Soul Masters, they had begun teaching them how to use them properly.
The two boys hadn't been lazy when they were young, either; they had built a solid foundation. Once their Soul Power Level reached the necessary threshold, they had naturally been able to use the Self-Created Soul Skills.
Falling Devil Douluo and Qianjun Douluo were both satisfied. Just as they were about to move on to the next stage, a servant came to report that His Holiness the Pope had arrived.
"What's he here for?" Falling Devil Douluo asked, troubled.
As a Super Douluo and an enshrined elder of the Worship Hall, Falling Devil Douluo naturally wasn't afraid of His Holiness the Pope, Qian Xunji.
But over the years, he had watched the Great Enshrined, whom he respected and admired, get pushed around by the man. He had also seen all the ridiculous stunts the Pope had pulled.
Before establishing the Alchemy Hall, His Holiness the Pope had even wanted to build an army again and send troops to Sea God Island.
He had shouted about reclaiming the glory of the Angel God, burning the heretics, and how the sea belonged to humanity.
The Great Enshrined had hung him up and beaten him for three days and three nights before he finally gave up.
But later, Falling Devil Douluo had happened to see His Holiness the Pope secretly meet with an elder from the Elder Hall. After that, the elder had declared that he was going into seclusion to cultivate and had never appeared again...
Falling Devil Douluo had sent people to investigate. Someone who looked like that elder had left Spirit City, and judging by the direction and route, he had gone to the coast.
It seemed...
He had even taken a little girl with him.
Falling Devil Douluo wasn't stupid. He immediately realized that the Pope had definitely pulled a few strings behind the scenes.
After learning this, he had secretly reported it to the Great Enshrined.
Then His Holiness the Pope had been beaten again.
He had been beaten that afternoon.
That evening, Qian Xunji had shown up at Falling Devil Douluo's home, sarcastically giving him an earful. He had also subjected the children to a thorough brainwashing session, and every one of them had clamored to hunt Evil Soul Masters and become the future hope of Spirit Hall.
Luckily, I became a Super Douluo and didn't stay in the Elder Hall. Otherwise, this petty Pope would definitely have made things difficult for me.
A few days ago, Falling Devil Douluo had gone to the Pope Palace to ask Qian Xunji for an Immortal Pill, and Qian Xunji had focused all his fire on him.
Qianjun Douluo knew what his younger brother had been through and consoled him. "At least we're both Super Douluos. If we join forces, even if he's the Pope, he can't do anything to us."
"But, but..." Falling Devil Douluo couldn't put his misgivings into words.
But what if he went off the rails again?!
The two brothers walked together to the reception room. Qian Xunji had already eaten ten plates of refreshments, ordered five plates of fruit, and gone through three pots of tea.
Remembering that Falling Devil Douluo had reported him behind his back, Qian Xunji's appetite soared. He wanted to eat as much as possible from his rival's home, and even wanted to take the leftovers with him.
After Falling Devil Douluo had reported him that time, Qian Xunji had eaten at his home for a whole year.
Only when Falling Devil Douluo couldn't take it anymore and complained again had Qian Daoliu dragged Qian Xunji back with a dark expression.
It wasn't that Falling Devil Douluo begrudged the cost of the food. The Pope simply wouldn't behave himself. Every time he came over to freeload a meal, he also insisted on patting the children's heads and delivering his own Douluo-world version of the "Will of Fire." Now every child in the house was a fan of the Pope.
Falling Devil Douluo was afraid that if this went on, all his children would become Qian Xunji's loyal followers.
The steward serving them had gotten used to it, too, and deftly replaced the plates.
Looking at the familiar, handsome blond man before him, Falling Devil Douluo already had a bad feeling before he even spoke.
After he said his piece, even Qianjun Douluo beside him wore a stiff expression.
Chapter 59: Taken Down by an Inequality!
"Brothers Falling Devil and Qianjun, I want to recruit the Lower Four Sects to work for me. Will you help?" Qian Xunji opened with a brilliant remark.
"Uh, Your Holiness the Pope, the Lower Four Sects have already secretly aligned themselves with Spirit Hall," Falling Devil Douluo said after hesitating.
"Brothers Falling Devil and Qianjun, I want to recruit the Four Element Academies to work for me. Will you help?" Almost exactly the same words came out again.
Behind Falling Devil Douluo, Qianjun Douluo's mouth twitched. He finally understood why his younger brother was so afraid of His Holiness the Pope.
Did he have to bring them in whenever he wanted to win over another faction?
There were so many Titled Douluos in the Elder Hall. They could wipe out the Four Element Academies dozens of times over, so why did he have to come to the two of them?
"No, Your Holiness the Pope. We old relics will stay quietly in the Worship Hall and be the remnants of the old era. We won't get in the way of you, the Pope of the new era." Qianjun Douluo stepped in front of his younger brother and spoke with a cold laugh.
He was calling them "brothers" now, but the last time they were in the Pope Palace, he had called them "remnants of the old era" and "decaying souls."
If he hadn't been surnamed Qian and worn the Pope's triple crown,
the enshrined elders would have taught him a lesson long ago.
They finally understood why the Great Enshrined had been so irritable all these years!
"I won't let you talk about yourself like that, Brother Qianjun," Qian Xunji said earnestly.
"Stop calling me Brother Qianjun. I'm fifty-five years older than you. I watched you grow up." One word—"uncle"—and he could move up a generation.
"More or less. Round it off, and we're practically the same generation." Qian Xunji waved a hand magnanimously.
"Heh. Your Holiness the Pope, don't waste your breath. Without the Great Enshrined's orders, we enshrined elders won't leave the Worship Hall to take action." These enshrined elders were Spirit Hall's hidden strength. Apart from Qian Xunji and the Titled Douluo elders, no one knew that these Super Douluos existed.
"Don't bother looking for Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others, either. You'll get the same answer."
Qian Xunji stared fixedly at him, then turned to the steward. "It's dinnertime. When will the food be served?"
Behind Qianjun Douluo, Falling Devil Douluo wasn't surprised by Qian Xunji's sudden change of subject. He had seen this many times before.
They could discuss two matters separately: eat when it was mealtime, then keep arguing afterward.
"Your Holiness the Pope, everything has been ready for some time. This way, please." The professional steward gestured for Qian Xunji to follow.
"Did you make the Crystal Crab Meat Pot I mentioned last time?"
"I gave the orders long ago, and the chefs have worked out the recipe. We just don't know whether it meets your standards."
Watching Qian Xunji follow the steward away, Qianjun Douluo looked at his younger brother. "If I remember right, that's your steward."
"Mm."
"He does this often?"
"..." This time, Falling Devil Douluo didn't answer.
"Thanks for putting up with it!" Qianjun Douluo patted his younger brother on the shoulder to comfort him.
But just then, Qian Xunji, who had only just followed the steward away, came back.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—don't look down on a Pope when he's down!" Qian Xunji glanced at the two of them, flicked his sleeve, and strode out.
Qianjun Douluo had sharp eyes and spotted the Space Soul Tool in Qian Xunji's hand.
"Did he finish eating that fast?" Though he had guessed the truth, Qianjun Douluo felt that, as the Pope, Qian Xunji shouldn't be quite that shameless.
"He usually takes the food to go. And after packing it up, he still goes to see..." Falling Devil Douluo shattered his older brother's comforting delusion.
As he spoke, he realized something was wrong. "Wait, don't let him go to the backyard."
But it was already too late.
Qian Xunji moved fast, and no one dared stop him. He had already gone around patting every child in the backyard on the head and giving them words of encouragement. Now the children were saluting him as he left.
Qianjun Douluo came over with his younger brother and was astonished to find his own grandson among the children.
"No wonder my Xiaoyi keeps coming over here." Qianjun Douluo's voice was gritted with anger.
So the boy had been coming here to get "brainwashed" along with the others.
Looking at his grandson, now brimming with energy and wild-eyed with fervor,
Qianjun Douluo laughed in fury.
"His Holiness the Pope would do better to focus on official matters." Stop trying to win over the children.
"These are all the future of Spirit Hall. As the Pope of Spirit Hall, it's only right that I care about them," Qian Xunji declared righteously.
"That's right, Grandpa! His Holiness the Pope is a good person. Don't be so harsh with him," his wonderful grandson chimed in, standing up for his Pope.
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