Regarding the Saintess

"The main thing is that everyone in the academy, both teachers and students, is gossiping about one thing: the Pope intends to appoint Hu Liena as the Saintess of Martial Soul Hall, but for some reason, she hasn't made the final decision yet. Ever since this rumor started spreading, that fox has been acting as if her tail is stuck up in the sky. Perhaps due to the conflict between the Worship Hall and the Pope Hall, the Pope is deliberately ignoring Sister Xue and me, even though we are older than that vixen. But I'd like to see if the Pope can still pretend not to see anything once Xiaoshuang, who is younger than Hu Liena and has better talent, enters the academy? When that vixen loses the position of Saintess, her expression will surely be a sight to behold."

"Is that all? I thought it was something serious. It's just a Saintess title; it's boring. If she wants it, let her have it. Don't tell me you actually care, Sister Yao?" Qian Ningshuang looked at Tian Yao with a bored expression. As a transmigrator, the thought of people calling her 'Saintess' every single day sounded absolutely mortifying.

"It's not that I care much about the position itself. But throughout history, the Holy Sons and Saintesses of Martial Soul Hall have almost exclusively come from our Qian and Tian families. You can count the number of outsiders who have held those titles on one hand. And among those few, every single one was a top-tier talent of their era. No matter how I look at it, Hu Liena just doesn't measure up."

Just as Tian Yao said, she didn't truly care about the position. She would have been perfectly fine with Qian Renxue or Qian Ningshuang becoming the Saintess, as their talent and lineage were undeniable. She wouldn't even have minded if a few other familiar friends took those roles.

But Hu Liena? Forget it. In terms of background, she was just a commoner who got lucky with a mutated martial soul. In terms of talent, while one couldn't say there were tons of people better than her in Martial Soul City, there were certainly a few.

Another reason was that, as a Spirit Master of the Spirit Control System, it was questionable whether she could truly uphold the prestige of being the Saintess of Martial Soul Hall.

One must realize that the title of Saintess is considered the pinnacle of the current generation, and challengers would be endless.

It wasn't that Tian Yao looked down on Spirit Control System masters. According to the archives of Martial Soul Hall, such masters were rare, but rarity didn't equate to strength; they relied on tricky, unpredictable methods. Once an opponent's soul power exceeded their own, a Spirit Control System master was essentially helpless. Tian Yao herself had often pinned Hu Liena down and beaten her precisely because her own soul power was superior.

Of course, most Spirit Control System masters had decent soul power, and under normal circumstances, they were quite formidable. But the problem was, no one could guarantee that among the countless challengers, there wouldn't be someone with higher soul power than Hu Liena.

If such a situation were to occur, where would Martial Soul Hall hide its face?

Furthermore, Hu Liena was a Control System master. How to put it—Control System masters were indeed the soul of a team, but that only applied to team battles. Once it came to a one-on-one duel, very few Control System masters could truly shine.

When that time came, she couldn't exactly bring a whole team with her, could she? If she did, would the title of Saintess belong to Hu Liena, or to the team?

"Alright, since you don't care about the title, stop sulking. If you really don't want to see her face, just drop out. What could you possibly learn in that academy anyway? With the guidance of our grandfathers in the Worship Hall, staying there is nothing more than a waste of time."

Qian Renxue reached out with her other hand, patted Tian Yao's head, and comforted her as she sulked.

She paused for a moment, then continued:

"Besides, whether that Hu Liena becomes the Saintess or not, or whether her expression is pleasant or ugly, it doesn't really matter. If the person in the Pope Hall wants to give it to her, let her. Without the recognition of the Worship Hall, and lacking the actual skill to back it up, her title of Saintess will truly be nothing more than a title. Xiaoshuang, you shouldn't go to the academy either; don't go there and make yourself miserable."

Under other circumstances, if she could make the person in the Pope Hall unhappy, Qian Renxue would be delighted and would help in any way she could. But using Qian Ningshuang as a pawn to annoy the Pope Hall? Forget it; her little sister was the most important thing.

"That's right, Xue'er is correct. Yao'er, if you're truly that angry, once this spirit hunting trip is over, Grandfather will take you to withdraw from the academy. At that time, you can have your friends withdraw as well. We old folks have nothing but time, so we can teach you ourselves. Can the academy possibly teach you better than we can? Let the Pope struggle with the Martial Soul Academy as she pleases."

Tian'e, who was outside the carriage, also chimed in at the right moment to comfort his granddaughter.

The conflicts between the younger generation were, at their core, just mutual dislike. As long as they didn't interact and stayed out of each other's sight, they would eventually forget about it over time.

But the conflicts between the adults were not as simple as mere dislike. The "certain reasons" Tian Yao mentioned for the Pope's delay were precisely because of Tian'e himself.

If he hadn't taken the lead in opposing it, that little girl named Hu Liena would have been the Saintess long ago.

Part of the reason was Hu Liena's talent. With Qian Renxue as a shining example, Tian'e didn't think much of Hu Liena's talent, and now that there was an even stronger Qian Ningshuang, he thought of her even less.

In Tian'e's heart, Hu Liena, as a disciple of the Pope, wouldn't even be able to compare to the descendants of the Worship Hall in the future.

The first reason he didn't think highly of her future was the quality of education. One side received education from teachers who were at most Spirit Douluos, while the other had the constant, personal guidance of several Super Douluos. How could they compare? Yes, Hu Liena was the Pope's disciple, but did the Pope have that much time to personally tutor her? Meanwhile, they, the elders of the Worship Hall, were always available.

Secondly, there was the issue of resources and access to knowledge. In terms of general resources, as the Pope's disciple, she wouldn't be much worse off than Tian Yao and the others. However, the most important resource for a Spirit Master—Spirit Bones—was where the gap would widen significantly.

Before the Pope Hall and the Worship Hall had their falling out, the accumulated Spirit Bone resources of Martial Soul Hall were shared. But after the split, the Pope Hall would be lucky to have six Spirit Bones to their name.

As for the Worship Hall, while he wouldn't say they had enough to give every junior a full set, they could certainly provide one for each person. The strongest among them could even get a few more, and once they old folks passed away, each of them would likely inherit another one or two.

Then there was the matter of theoretical knowledge. This might seem useless to a Spirit Master's raw strength, but it greatly enhanced a Spirit Master's insight and experience. Often, a Spirit Master's survival and opportunities depended entirely on their own judgment and experience.

The truly precious theoretical knowledge of Martial Soul Hall was all kept in the Wuhun Research Institute under the Worship Hall. He wasn't intentionally restricting the Pope Hall's people from accessing it; they were free to enter and read at any time.

The problem was that the Pope was confident that a certain "theoretical master's" theories were the best, and she looked down on the Worship Hall's research. Would her subordinates dare to look at it? If a disciple of the Pope were to lower herself to read it, how could she command respect in the future?

As for that certain master's theories, to be fair, they were somewhat useful for ordinary Spirit Masters. But if a genius were to believe them, unless they had truly incredible luck, they would essentially be ruined.

"Let's stop talking about these annoying things. Xiaoshuang, tell us a story."

Just as Tian'e was lost in thought, Qian Renxue's voice from inside the carriage interrupted his contemplation.