"I'm a cripple. I only survived until today by relying on my strength to recklessly hunt Soul Beasts, without caring whether I lived or died."
The next second, Qian Xunji suddenly burst into loud laughter. He leapt down from the command platform and walked straight up to Lei Meng, personally pulling the towering, two-meter-plus strongman to his feet.
"A cripple? Who dares call you a cripple?"
Qian Xunji stared intently at Lei Meng's fists, his booming voice ringing out across the entire training ground:
"Listen up, all of you! It's not that you lack Martial Souls. Your Martial Souls have already completely fused with your bodies and organs!
"This is called a Body Martial Soul!"
The more than two hundred people on the training ground instantly raised their heads, their eyes filled with disbelief and fervor.
Body Martial Souls?
They weren't useless?!
"Lei Meng, you developed your Body Martial Soul all the way to Soul Sage rank entirely on your own, without anyone's guidance. You're a true genius!" Qian Xunji patted Lei Meng's sturdy shoulder.
"Starting today, all two hundred of you will be assigned to the Divine Body Battalion, which answers directly to Pope Hall."
Qian Xunji glanced at the others, whose highest cultivation had only just reached Soul King rank, and waved a hand grandly:
"Spirit Hall will provide you with resources and the most savage sparring partners. I'll personally write cultivation methods tailored to Body Martial Souls. In the future, you'll be Spirit Hall's sharpest blades, tearing through every enemy! Tell me, are you willing?"
"We're willing to die for His Holiness the Pope! We're willing to die for Spirit Hall!"
The eyes of the more than two hundred people who had once been called "useless" were red as they roared, their voices shaking the heavens and earth.
A true man would die for the one who understood him. With just those few words, Qian Xunji had bound the embryonic Body Sect of the future firmly to his own war chariot.
After inspecting the Divine Body Battalion, Qian Xunji returned to Pope Hall in high spirits.
He had just picked up a cup of tea to soothe his throat when another red-robed cardinal, drenched in sweat, came tumbling into the study. He held a letter high in his hands, its seal stamped with multicolored wax.
"Your Holiness the Pope, something terrible has happened!"
The cardinal dropped to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling:
"This... This is a joint letter signed by the royal families of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, the Upper Three Sects, and more than a dozen other large and small sects. It just arrived by urgent courier from the Heaven Dou Empire!"
"Oh? So many people signed it together?"
Qian Xunji raised an eyebrow. He showed no sign of alarm, but instead set down his teacup with interest and took the heavy letter.
He broke the seal and quickly scanned the parchment. The sneer at the corner of his mouth grew wider and wider.
The letter's wording was extremely forceful, even carrying a hint of exasperated threat.
Its central point was simple: Spirit Hall's publication of General Theory of Martial Souls was seriously damaging the "traditional order" of the Soul Master World on Douluo Continent.
By selling Martial Soul knowledge cheaply to commoners, Spirit Hall had dealt a devastating blow to the recruitment of entry-level talent by the Two Great Empires and the various sects.
Those talented commoners who had once been forced to sell themselves to nobles just to obtain knowledge were now all flocking to Spirit Hall to sign up!
At the end of the letter, the five major powers arrogantly issued a joint ultimatum:
Spirit Hall was to immediately stop printing General Theory of Martial Souls!
It was also to publicly destroy every copy already sold throughout the continent. Otherwise, the Two Great Empires and the Upper Three Sects would regard Spirit Hall as a public enemy and impose joint sanctions at any cost.
"Bang!"
Qian Xunji casually tossed the joint letter, a document that would have made any other faction's legs go weak, onto the table. He couldn't help letting out a brazen laugh.
"Hahahaha... Sanction me? Destroy the books? These exploiters of the old era must think I've dug up their ancestors' graves. They're so frantic they're hopping mad!"
Qian Xunji rose to his feet. A dangerous glint of murderous intent flashed in his deep, dark-purple eyes.
The monopoly on knowledge was the foundation on which these noble sects ruled Douluo Continent. Now that he had smashed that foundation to pieces, how could they not be frantic?
Ning Zhen, who had paid an astronomical price to buy Bibi Dong, and Yu Yuanzhen, who had come by earlier, had probably been strong-armed by the other families into signing the letter. After all, this wave had even affected the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's supply of recruits.
"Your Holiness the Pope, this... This is every top faction on the continent except us! If they really unite against us, how should we respond?" The kneeling cardinal was pale with fear.
"Respond?"
Qian Xunji sneered.
"Go. Deliver my decree to every Spirit Hall Branch across the continent."
Qian Xunji looked down at the joint letter, his gaze brimming with haughty disdain for the world:
"Not only can we not stop, we have to increase production! Tell the printing houses to run off more copies of General Theory of Martial Souls at once. Starting tomorrow, every book comes with free eggs!"
"If these fools think a few scraps of paper can frighten Spirit Hall, they're gravely mistaken. Since they want to play at joining forces to pressure us..."
"Then I'll play along—and give the map of Douluo Continent a little shake while I'm at it!"
Looking at the joint letter, sealed with multicolored wax, Qian Xunji showed not the slightest fear of being forced from power. Instead, he spread out a gold-edged parchment scroll.
"Since these remnants of the old era are so eager to jump up and down, I'll build them a stage and let them put on a good show."
Qian Xunji dipped his brush in ink and swept it across the page, writing a reply so brazenly worded that it was impossible to find fault with.
The letter was simple: His Holiness the Pope had received the distinguished leaders' demands.
The matter of General Theory of Martial Souls concerned the future of Soul Masters across the continent. Arguing about it in letters was hardly dignified.
Next Monday, at Jialing Pass,
He would host a tea gathering, and they could settle the rules face-to-face, hammering them out in the open.
No waiting beyond the appointed time. They would bear the consequences.
"Someone, send this back the way it came, at top speed. While you're at it, send a copy to all those second-rate sects on the list, just to add to the excitement."
After tossing the letter to the cardinal, Qian Xunji strolled out of Pope Hall and headed straight for the Worship Hall.
For a grand confrontation with the continent's top factions, relying on him alone—a level-ninety-five Pope—to hold the stage would still be enough to fight, but it would hardly look impressive.
As soon as he entered the Worship Hall, he saw Grand Pontiff Qian Daoliu playing chess with Second Worship Golden Crocodile Douluo. Ever since eating the Immortal Herb and gaining a tremendous boost in strength, the two old men had been glowing with health every day, looking at everyone as if they were no more than easy prey.
"Father." Qian Xunji walked over and explained how the Upper Three Sects and the Two Great Empires had joined forces to pressure them.
"Bang!"
Before the black stone in Qian Daoliu's hand could hit the board, Golden Crocodile Douluo had already crushed a fine white jade chess piece in his palm.
"They've gone too far!" Golden Crocodile Douluo glared, his beard bristling.
"These ungrateful bastards! The Pope kindly offers commoners a little knowledge, and they dare to join forces to pressure us? Big brother, enough talk. Give me the Judgment Order, and I'll go stretch my legs right now."
Qian Daoliu sneered as well. "Second brother's right. Ji'er, why waste your breath on these parasites who do nothing but exploit the common people?
"We should just attack them. I'll lead the charge myself and hang all those so-called sect masters and emperors from the walls of Spirit City to dry in the wind."
Before you continue