Was Spirit Hall short on Spirit Bones?
After tens of thousands of years of accumulation, naturally, it wasn't.
Or rather, they weren't short on ordinary Spirit Bones.
The upper echelons of Spirit Hall in this era were all devout followers of the Angel God. They wouldn't hunt Soul Beasts on a massive scale for rare Spirit Bones the way other forces did, all for the sake of obtaining Spirit Bones with special bloodlines.
Aside from Spirit Bones acquired by chance during Soul Hunting, Spirit Hall's collection had been accumulated and passed down over the years, or bought on the open market.
Most Spirit Bones available on the market were of mediocre quality.
Even Ten Thousand Year Spirit Bones were rarely anything special.
After all, a Spirit Bone's value depended not only on its age, but also on what kind of Soul Beast it came from, whether its attributes were compatible, what its Soul Bone Skill was, and how intact it was.
The elders of Spirit Hall were top-tier in both talent and Martial Soul. They would only fuse with Spirit Bones if they had special bloodlines or were compatible with their own Martial Souls. As for the Spirit Bones in Spirit Hall's Treasure Pavilion, it was hard for any of them to catch their eye.
Besides, Spirit Hall was a vast organization with clear rules: a Spirit Bone could only be awarded for rendering great service.
For all these reasons, even the elders of Spirit Hall didn't have many Spirit Bones.
Even an existence like Golden Crocodile Douluo had only three Spirit Bones. One was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Bone, which he had obtained by hunting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast alone. The other two were five and three thousand years old.
Given his status and the contributions he had made, he could easily have entered Spirit Hall's Treasure Pavilion and chosen a Spirit Bone suited to him. But he had never done so.
The reason was simple: he had no interest in ordinary Ten Thousand Year Spirit Bones. Only a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Bone with a Golden Bloodline could catch his eye.
"Father, thank you!"
Hearing Qian Daoliu say this, Qian Xunji immediately brightened.
Yue Guan's contributions certainly entitled him to a Spirit Bone, but Gui Mei wasn't eligible for the same treatment.
Her father was clearly giving her an opportunity to win people over.
After giving a few more instructions, Qian Daoliu left Spirit Hall and headed straight for the sea.
He made no attempt to hide his figure or his aura.
His actions were naturally meant to intimidate the petty and ambitious.
He hadn't shown himself for several years, and he'd heard that some people were beginning to question Spirit Hall's authority. Qian Daoliu wanted the world to know that he, Angel Douluo, was still alive—and that anyone who faced his daughter had better remember that a Level 99 Peerless Douluo stood behind her.
As for whether leaving the Worship Hall would invite an attack on Spirit Hall, Qian Daoliu wasn't worried.
With Golden Crocodile there, no one but Tang Chen could invade Spirit Hall.
And as for Tang Chen, Qian Daoliu believed that given the friendship between them, he wouldn't stoop to such underhanded tactics.
"Angel Douluo Qian Daoliu—he's still alive!"
In Heaven Dou City, a lean, sharp-featured old man looked toward Qian Daoliu in the distant sky. A glint flashed in his eyes as his fierce aura erupted.
His fighting spirit soared.
He had been stuck at Level 97 for many years, unable to advance.
Even his cultivation of the sword had reached a bottleneck.
He yearned for a battle of extremes, a clash at the pinnacle of swordsmanship, to find the opportunity to advance further.
Of the powerful figures of the age, he had set his sights on two.
Spirit Hall's Grand Elder, Qian Daoliu, titled Angel, a Level 99 Limit Douluo.
Clear Sky Sect's master, Tang Chen, titled Clear Sky, a Level 99 Limit Douluo.
Compared to the latter, he was more eager to challenge the former and seek a breakthrough.
That was because the former, too, was a swordsman.
"Angel Douluo Qian Daoliu, I'll be waiting for your return at Spirit Hall!"
The tall, lean old man stared fixedly at the distant sky. Though they had never crossed swords, as fellow swordsmen, he could sense the keen aura radiating from Qian Daoliu.
He was certain that Qian Daoliu held the key to advancing both his cultivation and his swordsmanship.
But his opponent clearly had more important matters to attend to at the moment. Challenging him now would be unwise.
"Chen Xin, come. We're going to Spirit Hall!"
The tall, lean old man looked at his son, who was also a Titled Douluo, then rose and headed straight for Spirit Hall.
The old man's name was Chen Jianjun.
He was the greatest swordsman on the Douluo Continent.
Inside Clear Sky Sect, the current Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Chen, also sensed Qian Daoliu's aura.
"What's that old rascal making such a grand display for?"
Tang Chen couldn't make sense of Qian Daoliu's actions.
At first, he'd thought Qian Daoliu had come to challenge him.
But it soon became clear that Qian Daoliu wasn't heading toward Clear Sky Sect.
"Grandfather, I want to learn the Nine Absolute Techniques of Clear Sky!"
Just as Tang Chen was preparing to set out and see what Qian Daoliu was up to, a burly young man ran up to Tang Hao and proudly declared that he wanted to learn Clear Sky Sect's secret arts.
"Hao'er, since you're so determined and aren't afraid of hardship, I'll teach you the Clear Sky Secret Arts today."
Seeing his exceptionally gifted grandson, Tang Chen immediately abandoned the idea of going to stop Qian Daoliu.
Instead, he turned to devote himself to teaching his grandson, Tang Hao.
As for Qian Daoliu, there was no need to pay him any mind.
No matter what he got up to, he still wouldn't be Tang Chen's match.
"Hao'er, once you've inherited Clear Sky Sect's secret arts and gained the strength to fight opponents above your level, I'll take you to make a wager with Qian Daoliu."
"That old fellow is proud. When he sees that you're no match for his daughter, he definitely won't refuse the bet."
"Once you win, ask to marry his daughter and bring the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul into our Clear Sky Sect."
"Although that old rascal isn't much of a fighter, the Angel Martial Soul in his family is quite good. Get your hands on his daughter and do your best to keep the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul in our sect."
"If this succeeds, our Clear Sky Sect will have the Clear Sky Hammer as its mainstay and the Six-Winged Angel as its support. We'll truly rule the entire continent."
As Tang Chen guided Tang Hao in practicing Clear Sky Sect's secret arts, he also laid out his mission.
"Qian Xunji? I heard that woman's older than me. I'm not marrying her!"
Young Tang Hao was in his rebellious phase and rejected the idea without hesitation.
Thud!
With a dull impact, Tang Hao was sent flying by a blow from Tang Chen's hammer.
"I'll marry her, I'll marry her..."
"Grandfather, that's not what I meant. I just think she cultivates too slowly, her talent is too poor, and she's older than me. She's nowhere near good enough for your grandson."
"She could be a concubine, but she doesn't have what it takes to be my primary wife."
After taking a hammer blow, Tang Hao immediately knew better and hurriedly lowered his head to apologize, though his tone remained full of pride.
"Haha, my grandson's got spirit!"
Tang Chen laughed instead of getting angry.
The future heir of his Clear Sky Sect ought to carry himself with such domineering confidence.
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