An Annoying Family

At the very rear of Martial Soul City, a place both luxurious and archaic, steeped in the weight of history, stood a mountain that pierced the clouds.

This mountain was known as Pope Mountain, and upon its heights stood two striking structures. The one situated halfway up the slope was the most magnificent.

It was a purely columnar structure with a domed roof, its exterior facade covered in golden material that shimmered brilliantly under the sunlight. This building was the Pope Hall.

The other structure sat at the very summit. Its scale was far smaller than the Pope Hall—roughly one-third the size—and while the architectural style was similar, its exterior was as white and lustrous as jade, far less eye-catching than the Pope Hall.

This building was called the Douluo Hall.

If the Pope Hall was the place of faith for ordinary spirit masters across the continent, then the Douluo Hall was the site of fanatical devotion for the continent's high-level spirit masters, where everyone took pride in the mere possibility of entering.

Inside the Douluo Hall, at the very center, stood a trapezoidal stone platform nearly three meters high.

Atop this platform stood a massive angel statue ten meters tall; the angel had six wings on its back and held a giant golden sword pointed straight at the firmament. Most peculiar of all, a faint layer of golden flame seemed to flicker and dance around the golden sword.

If one observed this angel statue closely, it felt as if it possessed a soul of its own.

Standing before the angel statue was a middle-aged man dressed in brilliant golden armor, with shoulder guards shaped like the wings of a Seraphim. He was very tall, over two meters, with hair the color of bright gold.

This man was one of the strongest beings on the continent, the 99th-rank Peerless Douluo, Qian Daoliu.

At this moment, Qian Daoliu was clutching his forehead with a look of distress. What could possibly trouble such a supreme powerhouse of the continent? The matter concerned himself. He was Qian Daoliu, yet he was not Qian Daoliu.

How did I transmigrate?

Qian Daoliu muttered to himself in his heart, sighed softly, composed his mindset, rubbed his brow, and sorted through the information.

In the current timeline of the Douluo Continent, his unlucky, good-for-nothing son, Qian Xunji, in an attempt to compensate Bibi Dong for the wrongs he had committed, had failed in his attempt to capture the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor. He had been beaten into a state of semi-paralysis by Tang Hao, who had already become a Titled Douluo, and was currently lying in a sickbed.

Bibi Dong seemed truly moved by Qian Xunji, taking the initiative to brew medicinal soups for him. Qian Xunji, believing his efforts had finally touched her heart, felt immensely gratified and had begun calling her his "good disciple" once again.

The original Qian Daoliu had also been deceived by Bibi Dong's actions, truly believing that the family was on the verge of reconciliation, and was filled with relief.

But in reality, this was a deceptive web spun by a spider before the hunt; the moment the web was fully woven would be the moment of Qian Xunji's death.

What a troublesome family.

Qian Daoliu sighed again. He felt a sense of relief mixed with deep vexation. The relief came from the fact that Qian Xunji had not yet been devoured by Bibi Dong to trigger her Rakshasa God trials. If she had already done so, his transmigration would be little more than waiting for death.

The vexation stemmed from the fact that when he thought of this family, he felt a sense of powerlessness, as if he had nowhere to start. Bibi Dong was a bomb that could detonate at any moment. As for turning this ticking time bomb into a dud, the fate of the Martial Soul Hall in the original story had already told him that it was absolutely impossible; the probability was zero.

Bibi Dong, Qian Xunji, and Qian Renxue were like a triangle; remove any one of them, and the structure would immediately collapse, never to be stabilized again.

If Qian Xunji were gone, who would sacrifice themselves to open the Angel God position? It certainly couldn't be himself.

If he took action against Bibi Dong, his dim-witted granddaughter Qian Renxue would suffer a breakdown, and no one knew what would happen after that.

Qian Daoliu furrowed his brows, pondering a solution. Suddenly, his eyes lit up—he had an idea. Since the crisis could not be resolved and delaying it was merely drinking poison to quench thirst, he would simply replace her.

If he dismantled the block representing Bibi Dong in the triangle and swapped in a new one, wouldn't that solve it?

As for whether one could find a woman in the human world of the Douluo Continent identical to Bibi Dong, that was, of course, impossible. One might find someone with a slight resemblance, but the martial soul could never be the same. Besides Bibi Dong, who else on the continent possessed the Death Spider Emperor martial soul? Moreover, Bibi Dong was a top-tier genius, a Spirit Douluo-level master, and her path to becoming a Titled Douluo was all but guaranteed.

There were none among humans, but there were spirit beasts. In the original story, Bibi Dong's ninth spirit ring came from a hundred-thousand-year Death Spider Emperor. The Death Spider Emperor was exactly the same as Bibi Dong's first martial soul, and it seemed Qian Renxue was unaware that Bibi Dong possessed Twin Martial Souls, a fact few in the spirit master world knew.

In terms of appearance, a hundred-thousand-year fierce beast taking human form could mold its body, height, and features however it pleased.

He could negotiate with the hundred-thousand-year Death Spider Emperor, have it transform into Bibi Dong's likeness to replace her for a few decades, and once Qian Renxue inherited the Angel God position, she could take the Death Spider Emperor to the God Realm to become a divine beast. Such a heaven-sent opportunity was a win-win; the Death Spider Emperor would surely not refuse.

After settling the issue of Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu's expression hardened as he thought of the second great enemy threatening the Martial Soul Hall: Tang San. Since he had transmigrated, Tang San would inevitably become his enemy in the future. If it was an enemy, he had to be eliminated—regardless of age, he would crush the eggs and split the earthworms vertically.

At this moment, Tang San was with Tang Hao. Tang Hao likely hadn't taken Tang San to Holy Soul Village yet, but was hiding somewhere else on the Douluo Continent.

In the original story, after Qian Xunji died, the Martial Soul Hall attacked the Clear Sky Sect, and Qian Daoliu even hunted Tang Hao for a time. Later, upon learning of the Clear Sky Sect's heavy losses, Tang Hao felt guilty and disheartened, eventually semi-retiring to Holy Soul Village.

"Golden Crocodile."

Qian Daoliu's icy voice echoed throughout the Douluo Hall. Soon, an elderly man with a tall, sturdy frame and immense vitality appeared.

This man was the most senior member of the Martial Soul Hall and its second-strongest individual, the 98th-rank Golden Crocodile Douluo.

"Big Brother, what are your orders?"

The various elders of the Worship Hall addressed each other as brothers, with seniority determined by strength. Although Golden Crocodile Douluo was older and of a higher generation, because Qian Daoliu was the strongest, he addressed him as Big Brother.

Qian Daoliu said in a deep voice, "Second Brother, take all the elders from the Elder Hall and head to the Clear Sky Sect immediately. Announce to the spirit master world that Tang Hao has consorted with a spirit beast and produced offspring. Demand that the Clear Sky Sect hand over Tang Hao, or else, leave no living soul within the sect."

"As you command, Big Brother."

Although Golden Crocodile Douluo felt it was overkill to lead all the elders of the Elder Hall to pressure the Clear Sky Sect into handing someone over, he had absolute faith in Qian Daoliu and therefore raised no objections.

Having finalized his plans for dealing with Bibi Dong and Tang San, Qian Daoliu headed toward the Pope Hall, prepared to see his troublesome family.