A Troublesome Family

At the far end of luxurious yet ancient Spirit City, steeped in history, stood a mountain soaring into the clouds.

This mountain was called Pope Mountain. Two highly conspicuous buildings stood upon it, with the one halfway up the mountain being the most magnificent.

It was built entirely in a colonnaded style, with a domed roof and a facade covered in golden material that gleamed brilliantly under the sun. This building was Pope Hall.

The other building stood atop the mountain. It was far smaller than Pope Hall, roughly one-third its size, and had a somewhat similar structure, except its exterior was white and lustrous as jade. It was far less eye-catching than Pope Hall.

This building was called Douluo Hall.

If Pope Hall was the place of faith for ordinary Soul Masters across the continent, then Douluo Hall was the place that high-ranking Soul Masters yearned for with fanatic devotion. Everyone took pride in being able to enter Douluo Hall.

Inside Douluo Hall, at the center of the great hall, stood a trapezoidal stone platform nearly three meters tall.

Upon the platform stood a gigantic Angel Statue over ten meters tall. The angel bore six wings on its back and held an enormous golden sword aloft, thrusting toward the heavens. Most peculiar of all, a faint layer of golden flames seemed to flicker in and out of sight around that golden sword.

Upon closer inspection, this Angel God Statue seemed to possess a soul.

Before the Angel Statue stood a middle-aged man clad in brilliant golden armor. His shoulder guards resembled the wings of a Six-Winged Angel. He was over two meters tall, with dazzling golden hair.

This man was one of the continent's strongest experts, the rank 99 Ultimate Douluo, Qian Daoliu.

At this moment, Qian Daoliu held his forehead, his face full of distress. What could trouble such a supreme powerhouse of the continent? The matter came from himself. He was Qian Daoliu, yet he was not Qian Daoliu.

"How did I transmigrate?"

Qian Daoliu muttered inwardly. He sighed, composed himself, rubbed the space between his brows, and sorted through the information.

At this point in time on Douluo Continent, his unfortunate bargain-bin son, Qian Xunji, had gone to capture the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor to compensate Bibi Dong and make up for his past mistakes. He had failed, been beaten half to death by the newly become Title Douluo Tang Hao, and was now lying in a sickbed.

Bibi Dong seemed to have truly been moved by Qian Xunji and had taken the initiative to prepare medicinal soup for him. Qian Xunji also believed his efforts had touched Bibi Dong. Greatly gratified, he had begun calling her his good disciple again.

The original Qian Daoliu had likewise been deceived by Bibi Dong's actions. He truly believed the family was about to become harmonious again and was deeply comforted.

But in truth, this was a deceptive web woven by a spider before its hunt. The moment the web was complete would be the moment Qian Xunji died.

"What a troublesome family."

Qian Daoliu sighed again. He felt relieved, yet also deeply troubled. He was relieved because Bibi Dong had not yet devoured Qian Xunji and begun the Rakshasa God Trial. If Bibi Dong had already devoured Qian Xunji and activated the Rakshasa God Trial, then his transmigration here would have been little different from waiting to die.

What troubled him was that whenever he thought of this family, he felt utterly powerless, with no idea where to begin. Bibi Dong was a bomb that could explode at any moment. As for turning this ticking time bomb into a dud, the fate of Spirit Hall in the original story had already told him that it was absolutely impossible. The odds were zero percent.

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

Without Qian Xunji, who would offer themselves as a sacrifice to activate the Angel God Position? Surely it could not be himself?

If he made a move against Bibi Dong, his dim-witted bargain-bin granddaughter Qian Renxue would collapse. No one knew what would happen afterward.

Qian Daoliu frowned deeply as he considered how to resolve this. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He had an idea. Since the crisis could not be defused, and delaying it was merely wishful thinking, then he would shift it elsewhere.

He only needed to remove the block representing Bibi Dong from the triangle and replace it with another block.

Could the human world of Douluo Continent possibly produce a woman identical to Bibi Dong? Of course not. There might be an infinitesimal chance of finding someone who resembled her in appearance, but their Martial Souls could never be identical. Other than Bibi Dong, who else on the continent possessed the Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul? Furthermore, Bibi Dong was a top genius of the continent, an Soul Douluo-level Soul Master practically guaranteed to become a Title Douluo.

There might not be one among humans, but there were soul beasts. In the original story, Bibi Dong's ninth Soul Ring had come from a hundred-thousand-year Death Spider Emperor. The Death Spider Emperor happened to have the exact same First Martial Soul as Bibi Dong. And Qian Renxue seemingly did not know that Bibi Dong possessed Twin Martial Souls. Few in the entire Spirit Master World knew of it.

As for appearance, when a hundred-thousand-year savage beast transformed into human form, it could shape its looks however it wished. Figure, height, appearance—everything could be chosen freely.

He could discuss it with a hundred-thousand-year Death Spider Emperor and have it transform into Bibi Dong's appearance to replace her for several decades. Once Qian Renxue inherited the Angel God Position, she could take the Death Spider Emperor to the God Realm and turn it into a God Beast. Such a windfall, with nothing but profit and no loss—the Death Spider Emperor surely would not refuse.

After settling the issue of Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu's expression turned solemn. He thought of Spirit Hall's second greatest enemy, Tang San. Since he had already transmigrated, Tang San would inevitably become his enemy in the future. Enemies had to be eliminated. Who cared how old he was? Even eggs had to be shaken apart, and earthworms had to be split vertically.

Tang San was currently with Tang Hao. Tang Hao presumably had not yet taken Tang San to Holy Soul Village and was instead somewhere on Douluo Continent.

In the original story, Qian Xunji's death led Spirit Hall to attack the Clear Sky Sect, while Qian Daoliu pursued Tang Hao for some time. Later, after Tang Hao learned that the Clear Sky Sect had suffered grievous losses, he became guilt-ridden and disheartened, retreating into semi-seclusion in Holy Soul Village.

"Golden Crocodile."

Qian Daoliu's icy voice echoed through Douluo Hall. Before long, a tall elderly man appeared. His features were aged, yet his vitality and blood energy were exceptionally vigorous.

This old man was Spirit Hall's most senior figure and its second strongest expert, the rank 98 Golden Crocodile Douluo.

"Big Brother, what are your orders?"

The various priests of Worship Hall addressed one another as brothers, with their rank determined by strength. Though Golden Crocodile Douluo was older and of higher seniority, Qian Daoliu was stronger, so Golden Crocodile Douluo addressed him as Big Brother.

Qian Daoliu said solemnly, "Second Brother, immediately lead all the elders of Elder Hall to the Clear Sky Sect. Announce to the Spirit Master World that Tang Hao consorted with a soul beast and even produced offspring. Demand that the Clear Sky Sect hand Tang Hao over. Otherwise, leave not a chicken or dog alive in the Clear Sky Sect."

"Understood, Big Brother."

Golden Crocodile Douluo felt that having him lead all the elders of Elder Hall to pressure the Clear Sky Sect into handing someone over was somewhat excessive, but he had absolute faith in Qian Daoliu and raised no objections.

Having laid out his plans for dealing with Bibi Dong and Tang San, Qian Daoliu went to Pope Hall, preparing to meet his troublesome family.