An innocent man was guilty of possessing a jade,
Something like a God-bestowed Spirit Ring, something that so severely upset the balance, would absolutely attract the frenzied coveting of the entire continent if it were ever exposed,
Seeing the unprecedentedly grave expression on Qian Xunji's face, Zhu Yan nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, Teacher. Yan'er won't breathe a word of it!"
"Good. Sit cross-legged and guide it with your mind."
Qian Xunji pressed the orb of light against Zhu Yan's brow.
In an instant, yellow light unfurled into streams of radiance, completely enveloping Zhu Yan's petite body.
Unlike the violence and resentment that came with absorbing a Spirit Ring from a hunted Soul Beast, the Adaptive Soul Ring's energy was gentle and pure. It continually tested and widened Zhu Yan's meridians, slowly climbing until it touched the physical limits she had forged through a month of medicinal baths. Only then did it gradually stop rising.
Half an hour later,
"Bzz—"
A clear, crisp cat's cry rang through the secret chamber. Zhu Yan's eyes flew open, and a pair of deep purple-black cat ears sprang up from her head. Sharp claws also shot from her hands,
while beneath her feet, a deep, bright-yellow Spirit Ring pulsed slowly,
"Six hundred and thirty years!"
Qian Xunji swept her with his spiritual power, and a smile immediately tugged at the corner of his mouth.
With a month of training and medicinal baths, Zhu Yan had forcibly raised her physical limit by more than two hundred years. Don't underestimate those two hundred years. They might not mean much in terms of strength, but they affirmed her will and proved her potential for the future.
"How does it feel? What Spirit Skill did you get?" Qian Xunji asked with keen interest,
Zhu Yan didn't answer. Instead, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly, and the yellow Spirit Ring beneath her feet flashed,
Whoosh!
Right before Qian Xunji's eyes, Zhu Yan's petite body vanished like a drop of ink falling into the night, slipping silently into the shadow of a thick stone pillar on the floor,
Not a trace of her presence leaked out. Even the fluctuations of her Soul Power had dwindled to almost nothing,
"Interesting..." Qian Xunji examined her carefully. Soul Masters below Soul Ancestor would have a hard time detecting this kind of concealment, unless they specialized in spiritual power,
The next second,
Zhu Yan's figure emerged like a ghost from the shadow of the chair behind Qian Xunji. With practiced ease, she stopped her sharp claws less than half an inch from his throat,
"First Spirit Skill: Shadow Escape."
Zhu Yan retracted her claws and emerged fully from the shadows, her little face alight with excitement,
"Teacher, as long as there's a shadow, whether it belongs to a person or an object, I can instantly slip into it, hide my presence, and move seamlessly between any shadows within thirty meters!"
Qian Xunji couldn't help clapping in praise. "Excellent! Vanishing without a trace, following like a shadow—this is absolutely a god-level opening move that every assassin dreams of!"
Still, after praising her, Qian Xunji poured a bucket of cold water over her,
"It's a god-tier skill, but don't get carried away." Qian Xunji turned and tapped her forehead,
"There are no truly invincible skills in this world. Your Shadow Escape can hide your presence, but when you face a powerful expert with high-level spiritual detection, they can still sense the faint fluctuations of Soul Power in the shadows."
"Remember, an assassin's essence lies in a single, deadly strike and in patience. Until your spiritual power is strong enough to completely block all detection, never use this skill recklessly in front of a true powerhouse. Otherwise, you'll be walking straight into a trap."
Zhu Yan's heart tightened. She immediately put aside her pride and nodded respectfully. "Yan'er will remember!"
"Come on. You've absorbed your Spirit Ring. Now I'll take you somewhere."
Qian Xunji waved his hand and led Zhu Yan out of the secret chamber, heading straight for the Supreme Library of the Spirit Hall, deep within Pope Hall—a place only the Pope and a handful of core elders were permitted to enter.
When he pushed open the heavy oak doors, an ancient, weighty scent of books washed over them,
The enormous bookshelves rose dozens of meters high, stretching all the way to the vaulted ceiling. They were densely packed with rare books and confidential archives spanning thousands of years of Douluo Continent history,
"Teacher, what are we doing here? Are we going to study more advanced Martial Soul Theory?" Zhu Yan asked curiously, looking around,
She knew that Spirit Hall had recently published a General Theory of Martial Souls, and it was selling like crazy on every street and alley.
"Martial Soul Theory?"
Qian Xunji walked over to a broad mahogany table and casually tossed a hardcover copy of the General Theory of Martial Souls onto it.
"The basic knowledge in this book can certainly save you some detours. But you only need a few days to read it through and commit the weaknesses of different Martial Souls and the habits of Soul Beasts to memory. That will be enough."
Qian Xunji turned and pointed to the dusty old archives, thick as bricks.
"For an ordinary Soul Master, understanding Martial Soul Theory is enough to live well. But for my disciple—for a top assassin who will dance on the edge of a blade—it's nowhere near enough."
Qian Xunji walked to a bookshelf, pulled out an old sheepskin scroll with a musty scent, and handed it to Zhu Yan. Four large characters were written across it: Chronicles of the Continent.
"What can truly make you invincible and let you see through every enemy isn't the so-called Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls. It's this."
Qian Xunji's gaze was deep as he spoke earnestly:
"Yan'er, you need to understand one thing. On the Douluo Continent, no matter how flashy the Spirit Skills or how bizarre the Martial Souls, the ones ultimately wielding them are 'people.'"
"And people can never escape greed, fear, betrayal, and the hunger for power. That includes me."
"Those so-called righteous sects, those sect masters and emperors who never stop talking about benevolence and morality—tear off their hypocritical masks, and all you'll find inside is nauseating scheming over profit. What happened to your elder sister is the best example."
Clutching the thick history book, Zhu Yan's small hands tightened slightly. Her expression grew complicated and solemn.
"Teacher, you mean I should learn from history how to see through people?" Zhu Yan was quick-witted; she understood at once.
"Exactly."
Qian Xunji nodded in satisfaction. He walked to a tall window beneath the vaulted ceiling. Sunlight fell on his snow-white Papal Robe, yet it brought not the slightest warmth—only a sense of coldness.
"You will read, carefully and thoroughly, every record Spirit Hall has kept over these thousands of years: all the struggles between sects, the rise and fall of empires, the betrayals and conspiracies. Chew them to pieces and swallow them whole!"
Qian Xunji turned around, his voice reverberating through the library like the tolling of a temple bell:
"Go and see how peerless geniuses who once stood above all others met their deaths because they trusted the wrong people. Go and see how brothers as close as flesh and blood turned against each other over a few Spirit Bones, stabbing one another in the back!"
"Remember: there's nothing new under the Angel. The betrayals and conspiracies that have already happened in this world will surely return in another guise and play out all over again!"
Before you continue