Title: Angel

"Grand Elder, was there really any need for you to come personally? Even among titled Douluo, we've destroyed quite a few. Sending any two Elders would have been enough," an attendant said in the Elder Hall at Spirit Hall headquarters.

"No. Only a few years have passed, and people have already forgotten Spirit Hall's strength again. Does a single titled Douluo think he can turn the world upside down? I'll act personally and let them understand that the gulf between titled Douluo is even greater. They can continue to exist not because I can't destroy them, but because I don't want to. Have they forgotten the name Qian Zhenggan in just a few short years?"

Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys had always been an effective way to intimidate others. Upon seeing the information reported from below, Spirit Hall's Grand Elder decided to act personally. Yet sometimes, the chicken in your eyes might be a Phoenix in disguise.

Spirit City was far from that city. Even with a flying Spirit Master delivering the news, half a month had passed by the time they arrived. It was midsummer, and if not for several ice-element Spirit Masters, those corpses would have long since rotted away. Yet in Qian Zhenggan's eyes, those corpses were full of holes in the story.

Though the scattered fragments could no longer be examined, the Hall Master's corpse did not look as though he had been killed by external force.

"Your report said the recruitment failed, and the other side killed him directly?"

"Yes, Grand Elder..."

"Hmph. A titled Douluo—would killing him require such methods? There are no external wounds on his body, yet the meridians throughout him are severely damaged. If the other party had used poison, there shouldn't even be a corpse left. Tell me the truth. Don't force me to use other methods. I'm only giving you this chance because you're from the Healing System. Think carefully before you speak."

He had never expected the Grand Elder to come personally. Spirit Hall's founding had relied greatly on this man's efforts back then. Qian Zhenggan, a level 99 Peerless Douluo, possessed the God-Bestowed Martial Soul of the Six-Winged Angel and a monstrous Spirit Ring configuration. Even ordinary titled Douluo would fall with a wave of his hand. He could be called Spirit Hall's greatest fighting force.

Under the pressure Qian Zhenggan deliberately released, the Healing System Soul Saint broke out in a cold sweat. In less than a few minutes, he spilled the Hall Master's entire previous plan. He merely owed the other man a small favor. Helping him submit the report had already repaid it; they were hardly friends who would die for one another.

Though a Healing System Soul Saint like him was a treasure in most people's eyes, the man before him absolutely would not care. If Qian Zhenggan said he would do it, then he would. He had never expected this Grand Elder to come here in person, and he lost all desire to conceal anything, revealing everything he knew.

"Interesting. Forcing us to submit, are you? A true open scheme. Even knowing the truth, we still have to deal with that person, or Spirit Hall will lose all face. He actually plotted against the entire Spirit Hall. That is quite a heavy stake he placed. If I'm not mistaken, this matter has already spread through all the surrounding nations, hasn't it?"

This was an open scheme. He knew that, for the sake of its reputation, Spirit Hall would inevitably act to eliminate the other side. As long as revenge could be achieved, the price paid did not matter.

"This is the first time, and the last. If you dare do such a thing again, watch your head. Since he went this far, he must have left behind some means to pinpoint the other party's location."

"Yes, Grand Elder. The cocoon left behind by his Spirit Skill retains a distinctive scent. Humans cannot detect it, but these trained Soul-Tracking Bees can follow that scent."

"Move out."

Yet after the Soul-Tracking Bees were released, they did not track the target as he had claimed. Instead, they buzzed around aimlessly. This showed that the source of the scent had long since been removed. Seeing Qian Zhenggan's unfriendly gaze, he explained.

"Grand Elder, I don't know why this is happening either... The Hall Master told me to do it this way." Naturally, humans could not detect it, but Spirit Beasts could. Not one member of that group had been human, and Ye Qing had long since evaporated that foul scent with Soul Power.

"Useless. I still have to do it myself. Retrospective Reflection." Although Qian Zhenggan was the current Angel Douluo, the six Spirit Bones of the Angel God Set had long since ceased to be on him. As God-Bestowed Equipment, they naturally did not require the owner's death to be passed to the next successor. The Qian Family had its own unique method. Those six Spirit Bones had been passed down when his son became a titled Douluo.

Retrospective Reflection was the skill of his new Spirit Bone. It could recreate a person's previous movements; the more Soul Power invested, the further back in time it could reveal. As he activated his Spirit Bone Skill, a pale golden silhouette appeared in the distance, precisely at the location of the former marketplace. The humanoid silhouette began to leave, and Qian Zhenggan flew in the direction indicated by his Spirit Bone Skill.

As he flew, his expression gradually turned grave. They were already deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, yet that golden figure showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it gradually moved toward the Core Area closer to the surface.

"Even a titled Douluo could not possibly live in a place like this, unless it was originally a Spirit Beast. Could Spirit Beasts transform into humans?"

Spirit Hall had only been established for a few years. Much knowledge that would become common sense in the future remained an unsolved mystery at present. For example, there had never been any record of a Spirit Beast transforming into a human.

He was uncertain about something that had never happened before, but he was certain that a Spirit Master capable of traveling through such a place could not possibly be ordinary. It seemed things were not as simple as he had imagined.

At last, a castle entered his field of vision. Even viewed from the sky, it was extraordinarily magnificent, enough to display the craftsmen's exceptional skill. But for such an exquisite castle to appear in a place like this was clearly abnormal. At that moment, the golden phantom completely dissipated.

"Is this the place?" He had only paused there for a few brief seconds when several enormous ice spears shot toward him from the direction of the castle.

"Human, why are you here?!"

The light image created by his retrospective technique was not visible only to him. The people within the castle saw the dissipating silhouette, and especially after sensing the aura of a human Spirit Master upon it, naturally reacted. In terms of speed, however, Snow Empress was superior. Very quickly, Qian Zhenggan discovered that he had been surrounded. In the sky, Ye Qing, Di Tian, and Snow Empress stood around him. Several powerful auras could even be felt on the ground.

He had arrived at a very bad time. Ye Qing's castle had long since become a gathering place for Super Spirit Beasts, and there were especially many Spirit Beasts present today.

Qian Zhenggan was very strong, but facing the three around him, he had no confidence. The two men were far stronger than he was, and even the weakest woman was no weaker than him. If they attacked together, he would inevitably meet his end.