"This Spirit Hall sure knows how to throw its weight around."
The sun was high in the sky. Tang Zhen looked at the empty expanse before Jialing Pass and gave an impatient snort.
"They've made all the great rulers of the continent wait here for one Qian Xunji. Does he really think he's a god? If he doesn't show up soon, this Sect Master won't waste any more time waiting around."
Star Luo Emperor Dai Tianfeng furrowed his brow as well, about to chime in.
Just then, the elderly Titled Douluo standing behind the Star Luo empress suddenly snapped his eyes open and stared up at the sky before Jialing Pass in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, be careful! Whoever's coming is immensely powerful." The old man roared, and nine Spirit Rings burst into view around him.
Everyone's heart tightened. They all looked up in unison.
The cloudless sky was suddenly dyed a dazzling dark gold, as if from nowhere, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Then, accompanied by a sacred chant that made everyone's heart beat in time with it, the clouds above were torn apart with a thunderous rip by a pair of invisible giant hands!
"Sorry to have kept you all waiting."
A rich, commanding voice, with a hint of nonchalance, boomed down from the heavens.
As the eyes of every top figure on the continent narrowed, a Sacred Imperial Carriage drawn by six ten-thousand-year-old Light Unicorns wreathed in pure white holy fire slowly descended, rolling down through the air.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei stood on either side of the carriage, their expressions stern.
Ahead of it stood Qian Jun and Jiang Mo, two peak-level Super Douluos at rank ninety-seven. Gripping their Coiling Dragon Staffs, they radiated such overwhelming, dreadful power that they seemed like two invincible guardian deities.
But that wasn't the most terrifying part.
The most terrifying thing was the man lounging casually on the broad throne atop the carriage, and the gray-robed old man beside him, standing with his hands behind his back and eyes closed, not letting even a wisp of Soul Power escape.
When Tang Zhen got a clear look at the old man's face, his usually arrogant expression turned deathly pale. Even his voice trembled.
"Qian... Qian Daoliu? How did that old monster come out of seclusion?"
Qian Xunji sat on the throne, resting his chin on one hand. His long white hair streamed wildly in the gale, while the disguised Original Sin Thorn Crown atop his head shimmered faintly with an aura of absolute defense.
His deep, dark-purple eyes swept down over the various factions on Jialing Pass's walls, each harboring their own schemes. At last, the villainous smile at the corners of his mouth bloomed without restraint.
"You've all managed to make it."
Qian Xunji slowly rose to his feet. Twelve extravagant wings of light burst open behind him, dyeing half the sky gold.
"Since everyone's here, let's officially begin this meeting to flip the table!"
The pressure of a peak-level Super Douluo at rank ninety-five, wrapped in the sacred, inviolable aura of an Angel, slammed down upon the ramparts of Jialing Pass.
"Ninety... rank ninety-five?"
On the walls, Tang Zhen, Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect, who had been so imperious moments ago, watched his pupils shrink to pinpricks.
"How is this possible? A year ago, he had only just broken through to Titled Douluo! How could he have reached the realm of Super Douluo in a mere year?"
Tang Zhen wasn't the only one. Star Luo Emperor Dai Tianfeng, Ning Zhen of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the others all felt their scalps go numb. He'd leaped several ranks in a single year. Was he eating Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts for breakfast?
Seeing the ghost-struck looks on the faces below, Qian Xunji's smile grew gentler. He wore the Pope's burden of compassion to perfection.
"Everyone, the scenery here at Jialing Pass is lovely today. Let's not waste time arguing."
Qian Xunji raised a finger and casually pointed at Tang Zhen, the most conspicuous person in the crowd. His tone was as mild as if he were ordering from a menu.
"Sect Master Tang, weren't you the most opposed to my publishing the General Theory of Martial Souls? Your Clear Sky Sect has always believed that might makes right."
"Come on up and have a bout with me. If you win, I'll burn every copy of the book. If you lose, then from today onward, things will be done Spirit Hall's way."
Called out in front of all the continent's factions—and especially in front of his two proud sons, Tang Xiao and Tang Hao—Tang Zhen knew that if he backed down, the Clear Sky Sect's reputation as the greatest sect under heaven would be smashed to pieces right here at Jialing Pass.
"Arrogant! You think breaking through to rank ninety-five means you can take this old man for sure?"
Tang Zhen flew into a rage. He kicked off the ground and shot skyward like a black meteor, stopping directly opposite Qian Xunji.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black! His perfectly matched Spirit Rings burst into view. He gripped a Clear Sky Hammer as black as ink and as large as a water vat, unleashing terrifying thunder and gale-force winds.
"Father, smash those bird feathers off him!" Young Tang Hao shouted from below, fists clenched and blood racing.
"Heh. What a noisy blacksmith."
Qian Xunji gave a cold laugh and elegantly raised his right hand.
A towering phantom of a Twelve-Winged Angel, a hundred zhang tall and radiating boundless sacred light, rose up behind Qian Xunji.
But what truly left every powerful figure on the continent utterly dumbfounded, their very breathing arrested, was the Spirit Rings slowly rising beneath his feet!
Red, red, red, red, black, black, black, black, red!
Four deep, abyssal black ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings, and five blood-red ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings radiating such blinding crimson light that no one could look directly at them, pulsed up and down beneath his feet without the slightest restraint!
Four black! Five red!
The entire scene fell silent.
The deathly stillness lasted a full ten seconds. Then the ramparts of Jialing Pass erupted!
"What am I seeing?! Four Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Rings at the very least? His First Soul Ring is already a hundred thousand years old?"
"He's insane! This has to be an illusion! Five Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Rings! Even if you killed every Hundred-Thousand-Year Ferocious Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest, you wouldn't have enough! How can his body withstand that kind of violent energy?"
Ning Zhen's priceless folding fan slipped from his hand with a clatter. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
Yu Yuanzhen's legs gave way. If the people beside him hadn't caught him, the Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would have collapsed on the spot.
Was he even human?
He was a monstrous aberration, one that defied every law of physics and every principle of Martial Soul Theory on the Douluo Continent!
Inside the Sacred Imperial Carriage hovering in midair, Grand Pontiff Qian Daoliu, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
Staring at the four black Spirit Rings and five blood-red ones beneath his son's feet, the rank-ninety-nine Peerless Douluo trembled violently with excitement. He even accidentally yanked off several hairs from his beard, but didn't feel a thing.
"A divine miracle... This is a true divine miracle!"
Qian Daoliu's old eyes brimmed with tears of feverish, near-mad devotion.
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