This Place and This Seat Have Destiny

"Yue Guan?" Qian Daoliu frowned slightly, taking a moment to dredge the name from his memory.

"That Soul Douluo at level eighty-three who's always pinching his fingers like an orchid?

If we take him, won't he just slow us down?"

"We need his brain, not his brawn."

At this point in the timeline, Yue Guan was likely still grinding away to build his seniority, not even having touched the threshold of a Titled Douluo.

But he was the closest thing to a living "encyclopedia of plants" on the Douluo Continent; without him, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well would be nothing more than a golden mountain one was too ignorant to mine.

"Fine! As you wish!" Qian Daoliu was decisive, immediately dispatching his men.

"Summon Yue Guan to the Elder Hall at once."

A short while later.

In the outer courtyard of the Martial Soul Hall, Yue Guan was watering his beloved potted plants when he received the summons.

"The, the Worship Hall? The Great Elder is summoning me personally?"

Yue Guan's face, more delicate and feminine than any woman's, was etched with anxiety.

As a level eighty-three Soul Douluo who had only recently been promoted, he rarely even caught a glimpse of the Pope, let alone the Great Elder.

Why would the Great Elder want him? Had he been caught stealing the Pope Hall's premium flower fertilizer the day before yesterday?

With a heavy heart, Yue Guan arrived at the Elder Hall, trembling.

As he stepped through the door, The Great Elder Qian Daoliu stood with his hands behind his back, while on the other side stood a handsome man with flowing white hair and deep, inscrutable eyes.

Is that the Pope?

Since when did the Pope look like that?

"Subordinate Yue Guan, pays respects to the Great Elder! Pays respects to... His Holiness the Pope!"

Cold sweat poured down Yue Guan's face. Why did His Holiness's aura feel so...

And what was with that head of white hair?

"Rise."

Qian Xunji looked down at the trembling, effeminate man before him, a capitalist's smile curling his lips. "Yue Guan, pack your things.

This Seat and my father are taking you to the Sunset Forest to pick up some stock."

Sunset Forest.

Guided by the system, The group successfully located the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

The three descended to the bottom of the valley. At this time, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was completely unclaimed territory.

That old poison-master Dugu Bo was likely still off in some forgotten corner playing with snakes, suffering from snake venom while stuck as a Soul Saint.

Before their eyes lay a strange spring interwoven with red and blue, surrounded by a ring of plants radiating treasures of every color.

Yue Guan, who had been trembling the entire journey, felt his legs go weak upon landing. When he saw the scene before him, he froze in place, his peach-blossom eyes wide as copper bells.

"This... this is one of the three legendary treasure basins, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well."

Yue Guan's voice trembled.

He scrambled toward a white medicinal herb radiating a biting chill, his hands hovering in mid-air, wanting to touch it but not daring to:

"Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, that's the Infernal Delicate Apricot, and... my heavens, the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum."

Yue Guan felt he had never fought such a wealthy battle in his life.

Qian Xunji watched Yue Guan's rustic display, patted him on the shoulder, and spoke calmly:

"Since you recognize them, get to work. Use your most professional methods—jade tools, gold shears—don't damage the roots or the medicinal properties."

"I want every single immortal herb here."

Yue Guan shuddered, instantly shedding his fanatical expression for one of utmost solemnity.

He pulled various jade boxes and gold shears from his storage Soul Tool, his hands moving with practiced efficiency as he became the most formidable gardener in the Martial Soul Hall.

As a plant-type Soul Douluo who loved flowers more than his own life, he tackled this task with more zeal than if he were being promoted or enriched.

Qian Xunji watched the busy Yue Guan and turned to Qian Daoliu.

"Father, this place has excellent feng shui; plants grow here at ten times the normal rate. It can provide a continuous yield in the future. When we return, we should assign two trusted elders to be stationed here permanently and declare the surrounding area a forbidden zone. Trespassers will be executed."

Qian Daoliu nodded slightly.

A treasure land that seized the fortune of heaven and earth like this would never be ignored once discovered.

Soon, Yue Guan had stripped the perimeter of the most mature immortal herbs and placed them respectfully before Qian Xunji.

Qian Xunji's gaze swept across the pile of iridescent immortal herbs.

He naturally had no use for the Ice and Fire herbs; his current martial soul was the Twelve-Winged Original Sin Fallen Angel, which followed a path of extreme darkness, destruction, and devouring. However, he could save them for his child in the future.

Soon, his gaze settled on a strange lotus that was pitch-black all over, its petals rotating slowly like miniature black holes.

"Your Excellency the Pope has a sharp eye."

Yue Guan followed his gaze and lowered his voice to explain, "This is the 'Nether Soul-Devouring Lotus', which grows on the edge of the extreme yin zone of the Yin-Yang Well.

It naturally contains the power of shadow and devouring; if an ordinary soul master were to touch it directly, they would be drained of their soul power and reduced to withered bones in an instant."

"This is the one."

Qian Xunji did not waste words; he reached out and drew the Nether Soul-Devouring Lotus into his palm.

His Fallen Angel soul power instantly enveloped the lotus, forcibly suppressing its backlash before he swallowed it.

There was no violent clash of energy, nor was there the pain of marrow-cleansing and bone-forging.

The moment the Nether Soul-Devouring Lotus entered his body, it transformed into an extremely pure black torrent, greedily devoured to the last drop by the Twelve-Winged Original Sin Fallen Angel within him.

Qian Xunji's soul power bottleneck, which had been stuck at level 89, was easily pierced like a thin sheet of paper under the scouring of this homologous extreme dark power.

Level 90, achieved as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

The moment his soul power broke through, the system's notification sound rang in his mind as expected.

[Detected that the host has successfully intercepted an immortal herb, severing a major opportunity for the original protagonist group.]

[Mission rewards issued: one adaptive soul ring, complete collection of primary Soul Tool technology.]

The surrounding air rippled without the slightest warning.

A colorless soul ring appeared out of thin air above Qian Xunji's head.

Although it looked unremarkable on the outside, its aura seemed naturally perfectly matched to his Fallen Angel martial soul.

At the same time, a memory crystal engraved with complex arrays fell silently into his palm.

Standing to the side, Qian Daoliu was shocked.

As a level 99 peerless Douluo, his perception of the surrounding space was sharp to the extreme.

There had been absolutely no energy fluctuations there a moment ago, yet this strange soul ring and that odd crystal had simply manifested directly into reality.

No soul beast had died; this was true creation from the void.

Qian Xunji stood up, casually toying with the memory crystal containing the Soul Tool technology in his hand, and met Qian Daoliu's gaze.

"Father, the divine gift has arrived."

Qian Daoliu took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again a few seconds later, the last trace of doubt in the depths of his eyes had completely vanished.

Except for a supreme deity truly standing above all living beings, there was no second power in this world capable of performing such a miracle that defied common sense.

He was now firmly convinced that a mysterious existence far surpassing the Angel God stood behind his son.