Qiangu Wangyan

Boom—!

When the four characters "Qiangu Wangyan" finally appeared across the Sky Screen,

it was as if a thunderclap from the heavens had exploded in the hearts of countless people across two eras!

[Douluo II Period]

In the plaza of Shrek Academy, the students who had been standing up for Wang Yan just moments ago

now stood frozen, as if struck by lightning. The color had drained from their faces.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao... They felt a chill shoot from the soles of their feet straight to their scalps.

So all that gentle concern, all those sincere words of encouragement, all those long days and nights he had devoted himself to helping them... had all been lies!

It had all been a carefully woven deception, spun by an infiltrator seeking revenge!

"You're actually a remnant of Spirit Hall..."

Xuan Zi's voice was hoarse.

He stared fixedly at Qiangu Wangyan on the ground. His cloudy old eyes showed not only shock and fury, but also a deeper fear surging within them—a fear he hadn't even realized he felt.

He never would have imagined that Wang Yan's true identity was that of a surviving descendant of Spirit Hall!

At that moment, regret filled his heart beyond words.

If only he'd known, he never should have chosen him!

Now look what had happened. The Sky Screen had exposed his true identity, and who knew what else it might reveal!

After all, Wang Yan knew many things he shouldn't...

A murderous gleam flashed through Xuan Zi's eyes!

His hand, clamped around Wang Yan's shoulder, tightened sharply. Soul Power surged from his palm, nearly crushing Wang Yan's bones!

He had to kill him before he revealed the truth!

[Douluo I Period]

The Worship Hall.

This was the most sacred place in all of Spirit Hall, cloaked year-round in silence and solemnity.

But now, that silence had been shattered completely.

When the Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul first appeared on the Sky Screen, Qianjun Douluo, the Sixth Enshrined, and Demon Subduing Douluo, the Seventh Enshrined, who stood in attendance in the hall, had already grown suspicious.

Now, as the four characters "Qiangu Wangyan" appeared, every question was answered in an instant!

Both of their burly frames shuddered violently.

"Qiangu!"

Across the entire Douluo Continent, there was only one family with that surname!

They were the most loyal guardians of the Angel Clan!

"The Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul... The Qiangu surname..."

Qianjun Douluo's voice was dry and hoarse, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"That child... is a descendant of our Qiangu Clan!"

Demon Subduing Douluo's expression grew impossibly complicated.

After the brief shock came a crushing sense of shame.

Their own descendant had been branded a "hypocrite" by Heaven's rankings, before the eyes of the entire continent!

"Great Enshrined!"

The two of them dropped to their knees with a thud, bowing their heads in shame.

"Our descendant has brought disgrace upon Spirit Hall. His crime deserves death!"

"Please punish us, Great Enshrined!"

Seated in the place of honor, Qian Daoliu had remained motionless as a boulder, eyes closed in meditation. Now, he slowly opened them.

His golden eyes were deep and calm, as if they could see through the ages.

"Punish you? Why?"

His voice was as still as a quiet well, giving nothing away.

"Rise. This is not your fault."

"Great Enshrined..."

They wanted to say more, but Qian Daoliu raised a hand and stopped them.

"You see only disgrace. But I see the future."

A trace of inexplicable emotion entered Qian Daoliu's voice.

He rose and walked slowly down the steps, gazing thoughtfully at the sky beyond the hall.

"Ten thousand years from now, there is a Heaven Dou Empire and a Sun Moon Empire. Shrek Academy has grown stronger than ever..."

"But Spirit Hall is nowhere to be found."

"The answer is already clear."

Qian Daoliu spoke softly, but his words struck Qianjun and Demon Subduing Douluo like a heavy hammer.

The answer they couldn't bring themselves to believe came to every mind.

Spirit Hall... had been destroyed in the future!

"And Tang San and that Shrek Academy must be the culprits behind our destruction."

"This child..."

Qian Daoliu's gaze returned to the Sky Screen, to the young boy swearing an oath in blood.

"He concealed his identity and endured in silence, bearing alone the blood feud of Spirit Hall's destruction as he infiltrated enemy territory."

"He is a hypocrite in the eyes of the world, but to Spirit Hall... he is our last hero!"

Hero!

The word made Qianjun and Demon Subduing Douluo tremble.

They lifted their heads and looked again at the figure on the Sky Screen. The shame and indignation in their eyes had faded.

In their place were boundless grief and a trace of... pride!

Yes. For revenge, for the final glory of Spirit Hall, what did the paltry charge of hypocrisy matter?

The footage on the Sky Screen continued.

[Qiangu Wangyan's knowledge of Martial Souls did not come, as he claimed, from the library of Shrek Academy.]

[It came from...]

The scene changed, revealing a vast underground palace beyond imagination.

Countless texts and records were arranged by category on enormous bookshelves.

Its collection was hundreds, even thousands of times more extensive than the library of Shrek Academy!

[This was Spirit Hall's central archive, where its most precious texts from across the continent had been gathered and studied by countless scholars!]

[It was the most precious wealth Spirit Hall had accumulated over thousands of years!]

In the scene, the young Qiangu Wangyan absorbed the long-lost, classified knowledge like a sponge.

[Spirit Hall had a history of such antiquity that its understanding of Martial Souls was beyond anyone else's imagination.]

The scene changed again.

Qiangu Wangyan, now a grown boy, held a book with a worn cover.

It was none other than Master Yu Xiaogang's Theory Collection.

In the earlier scene that had moved countless people, he had treasured this book as if it were priceless.

But now, the Sky Screen revealed something entirely different.

The young Qiangu Wangyan was speaking with an older man beside him, who was also a surviving descendant of Spirit Hall.

His face was openly scornful and contemptuous.

["Yu Xiaogang? That worthless fool who was cast out of his clan because of a Martial Soul Mutation? How could someone like him deserve to be called 'Grandmaster'?"]

As soon as those words were spoken, Yu Xiaogang's expression changed instantly in Shrek Academy of the Douluo I Era.

But that was only the beginning!

["His theories are riddled with errors and full of holes!"]

["They're nothing but secondhand ideas and ignorant conjecture!"]

["Any basic text on Martial Souls in Spirit Hall's archives is a hundred times more profound than his theories!"]

["Calling them trash would be giving them too much credit!"]

On the Sky Screen, Qiangu Wangyan's voice was cold and mocking.

["If I didn't need a cover story for my extensive knowledge, which came from Spirit Hall, I wouldn't even bother mentioning that fool's name."]

["I never expected Shrek Academy to have made so little progress after ten thousand years. They still treat this trash theory as gospel?"]

["What a joke!"]

["Still... even trash has its uses."]

The young Qiangu Wangyan closed the book, the corner of his mouth curling in scorn.

["Everyone knows Yu Xiaogang, but no one knows how great Spirit Hall was."]

["I can use the pretext of studying his trash theories to hide where my real knowledge comes from."]

["They'll only think I'm Yu Xiaogang's admirer and successor. They'll never suspect that the wisdom I possess comes from Spirit Hall!"]

["A perfect disguise, don't you think?"]

[Douluo I Period]

Boom!

Qiangu Wangyan's merciless judgment landed like the most resounding slap, striking one person squarely across the face.

Yu Xiaogang froze.

His face turned from red to purple, then from purple to white.

A surge of blood rushed uncontrollably from his chest to his head!

"Pfft—"

A mouthful of blood burst from Yu Xiaogang's lips!

His body trembled violently. He pointed at the sky, his lips quivering, but not a single word came out.