Soon, under Qian Daoliu's orders, every Titled Douluo in Spirit Hall except Bibi Dong appeared in the council hall.
It was called a council hall, but in truth it was merely a side hall that had been hastily cleared out.
Spirit Hall's main hall had been trampled flat by the beasts that day, and the side hall had also mostly collapsed in the aftermath of that Thunderlight Fist tonight. Web-like cracks still marred the walls, and the crossbeams overhead hung crookedly, as if they might come crashing down at any moment.
The Titled Douluo sat or stood about the hall, none of them looking particularly pleased.
Qian Daoliu stood in the center of the hall. The Angel Martial Soul behind him had withdrawn, but the pressure of a Limit Douluo still seemed to permeate the air, weighing down the atmosphere throughout the side hall.
"I made a move just now. I couldn't keep them here."
The instant the words fell, the entire side hall went silent.
All the Titled Douluo present looked at one another, their faces marked by the same shock and disbelief.
The Grand High Priest had personally made a move, and still hadn't been able to keep them here?
This was Qian Daoliu, famed as invincible in the skies, the very pinnacle of speed!
If anyone else had said this, they would never have believed it. They might even have taken it as an insult to Qian Daoliu and struck out in a rage.
But those words had come from Qian Daoliu himself!
As everyone stared at him in astonishment, Qian Daoliu continued.
He extended his right hand and slowly curled his five fingers in the air, as if trying to recapture the figure that had eluded him moments ago.
"That Golden Light Eagle's speed..."
Qian Daoliu paused. A trace of deeply concealed worry flashed through his aged eyes.
"Its speed has already surpassed the level of 'spatial leaps.'"
An elderly high priest beside him furrowed his brow. "Spatial leaps? Isn't that an ability possessed by god-level powerhouses in legend?"
"No." Qian Daoliu shook his head. "A spatial leap is when you tear open a gap in space and jump from one place to another.
"That instant is indeed fast, but while doing so, the user cannot observe or sense the outside world.
"To put it simply, it's like closing your eyes and jumping to your destination."
He paused, and his gaze grew profound.
"But that Golden Light Eagle is different.
"Every time it beats its wings, it creates ripples in space, like a wave spreading across water.
"It doesn't tear through space. It glides along its surface, like a stone skipping across the water."
"Its wings don't need to tear through the barriers of space. It only needs to find the gaps in space to skim through at a speed almost like teleportation."
At this point, Qian Daoliu paused, his voice growing even more somber.
"That isn't a flight-type Soul Skill. It's... a way of moving that's a whole level above every speed-type Soul Skill on the continent today!
"In my two hundred years of experience, no human Soul Skill has ever reached that level."
Silence fell over the hall once more.
The Titled Douluo looked at one another, all seeing the same question in each other's eyes.
Then where had this thing come from?
Qian Daoliu didn't answer the question on their minds. Instead, he shifted to another matter.
"But what's even more terrifying is that Titan Giant Ape."
At the mention of that name, Qian Daoliu suddenly paused.
But the others had already involuntarily recalled the figure that had blotted out the sky that day.
The demonic ape whose dark-golden bone wings crackled with lightning when spread wide.
The monster that had punched two high priests who were Titled Douluo deep into the ground.
The Titan Giant Ape that had fought Golden Crocodile Douluo head-on without falling behind.
Nearly everyone present had fought that giant ape.
Except for Golden Crocodile Douluo and Qian Daoliu, all of them had been crushed!
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan glanced down at the bandage wrapped tightly around his left arm. The limb hung against his chest at an unnatural angle, and even lifting it was difficult.
Ghost Douluo Gui Mei unconsciously raised a hand to touch his chest. His ribs had been cracked by Thunderlight Fist, and they still ached faintly.
This was one subject they truly didn't want to discuss...
Qian Daoliu continued.
"I struck that Titan Giant Ape squarely in the chest with Holy Light Judgment."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand.
A dark-red mark remained in the center of his palm.
The mark radiated outward, as though something had burned it from the inside out. A wisp of black aura still lingered faintly along its edges.
"My holy light was reflected back."
When Qian Daoliu said this, Golden Crocodile Douluo, who had remained silent until then, abruptly raised his head.
His dark-green eyes were filled with unconcealed shock.
Qian Daoliu's Holy Light Judgment was reputed to be the Angel Martial Soul's strongest single-target purification skill. Even Golden Crocodile himself wouldn't dare take it head-on.
Yet that Titan Giant Ape had not only taken it head-on, but had reflected the holy light back?
"That's not all." Qian Daoliu lowered his hand and looked into Golden Crocodile Douluo's eyes as he continued, one word at a time. "There's another power within that Titan Giant Ape."
His tone grew more grave than ever as he described that aura.
"Cold."
"Dark."
"Violent."
"It doesn't belong to any known system of power on the Douluo Continent. It comes from another source, another law, another order."
"It... made my Angel Martial Soul tremble."
The entire hall fell speechless.
If anyone else had said, "My Angel Martial Soul trembled," every Titled Douluo present would have laughed it off.
But the one who had said it was Qian Daoliu.
Limit Douluo Qian Daoliu.
The inheritor of the Angel Martial Soul!
In the dead silence, Qian Daoliu finally voiced his theory.
"I suspect that deep within the Star Dou Forest, there's a power far beyond the continent's current understanding. It might even be... a faction."
He slowly looked around at the Titled Douluo present.
"A Titan Giant Ape with wings."
"A Golden Light Eagle as fast as a spatial leap."
"And that girl, who was only an ordinary Soul Ancestor during the day, yet possessed a domain at night."
Qian Daoliu enunciated each word.
"These are probably just the tip of the iceberg of that faction."
His theory sent shock through the entire hall.
Everyone's expression changed.
A winged Titan Giant Ape... was already outrageous enough.
A Golden Light Eagle as fast as a spatial leap... even more outrageous.
And that girl, who had just taken part in the Soul Master Tournament that day, whose Soul Power was at most a little over Level 40, yet who had taken down more than a hundred Soul Masters on her own with an Illusion Domain at night...
"Outrageous" wasn't enough to describe it. It was pure fantasy!
And Qian Daoliu was saying that all of this was just the tip of that faction's iceberg?
Then how terrifying was the faction's true strength?
Golden Crocodile Douluo furrowed his brow. "Does the Grand High Priest mean that Spirit Hall has provoked an existence it should never have offended?"
Qian Daoliu was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"It's too early to say that."
"But these Soul Beasts underwent such enormous changes in less than a day. Without a power behind them that far exceeds the continent's understanding, it would be absolutely impossible."
Silence fell over the hall once more.
After a long while, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan spoke up.
His voice trembled sharply, and even the hand he held in a delicate orchid-finger pose was shaking slightly.
"Th-then... what should we do now?"
He swallowed, his voice dropping even lower.
"...Should we stay out of their way?"
"Stay out of their way?"
Qian Daoliu glanced at Yue Guan. His voice was not loud, but carried an unshakable force.
"Spirit Hall has stood for hundreds of years. We've never backed down from anyone!"
"We have to investigate this thoroughly!"
"I'm assigning several tasks now."
Qian Daoliu's aged but still keen eyes swept across those present. His voice was steady and powerful, carrying unquestionable authority.
"First task: Tang San must be killed."
"Whatever the case, this all began with Tang San.
"Spirit Hall has stood for hundreds of years, and no one has ever schemed against us like this.
"If we don't execute him, what will become of Spirit Hall's dignity?"
His words visibly eased the tension in the hall.
To be honest, all the Titled Douluo present had been holding in their anger.
Their main hall had been trampled flat by Soul Beasts during the day, and that Titan Giant Ape had paid them a second visit that night. Even Chrysanthemum Douluo had been gravely injured by a single slap.
Tracing everything back to its source, it had all been caused by that brat named Tang San.
If he hadn't repeatedly exposed Xiao Wu's identity during the Soul Master Tournament, and if he hadn't secretly used Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to make the Lovesick Heartbreak Red on Xiao Wu fall off twice, how would Spirit Hall have provoked that fiend in the Star Dou Forest?
Tang San would have to pay for all of it.
But Ghost Douluo Gui Mei furrowed his brow, a flicker of concern passing through his eyes beneath the shadow of his hood.
"Grand High Priest," he said, his voice hesitant, "Tang San has Tang Hao protecting him. He is, after all, the Clear Sky Douluo. Can we... kill Tang San?"
At the question, several people in the hall couldn't help furrowing their brows.
Tang Hao.
Clear Sky Douluo.
Those two names carried far too much weight on the Douluo Continent.
Back when Spirit Hall had hunted the Blue Silver Emperor, several Titled Douluo had joined forces, yet Tang Hao had smashed them into grievous injuries with a single blow apiece. Even the previous Pope, Qian Xunji, had fallen beneath his Clear Sky Hammer.
Even now, Tang Hao was missing an arm and a leg, but he was still one of the strongest Titled Douluo alive.
Whoever they sent to kill Tang San would have to get past Tang Hao.
Just then, Golden Crocodile Douluo stood up.
The bandages on him had not yet been fully removed, and blood still seeped from the web of his thumb, split by Er Ming during the day. Yet he rose without the slightest hesitation.
His aged body stood ramrod straight, and suppressed killing intent roiled in his dark-green eyes.
"I'll go kill Tang San."
His voice was hoarse, yet resolute.
The hall erupted in an uproar.
The Titled Douluo present looked at one another, their faces filled with shock.
Normally, Spirit Hall's high priests didn't venture out lightly. The Worship Hall existed to protect the foundations of Spirit Hall, and its high priests wouldn't act unless the situation was a matter of life and death.
Yet Golden Crocodile Douluo, the second-in-command of the Worship Hall and a peerless Level 98 powerhouse, had volunteered to kill a boy at the Soul Ancestor level?
They all turned to Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu slowly nodded.
"Good. Take some men with you."
Everyone's hearts jolted.
The Grand High Priest had agreed?
Did this mean that, in Qian Daoliu's eyes, things had already become so dangerous?
Before the others had recovered from their shock, Qian Daoliu spoke again, issuing his second order.
"Second task: investigate the Star Dou Forest."
His tone grew even more grave.
"I want to know exactly what has changed in the depths of the Star Dou Forest.
"What's the source of the power in that Titan Giant Ape? How did that Golden Light Eagle acquire its speed? And what about that girl's domain ability...
"I want all of it investigated."
Choosing the people for this task required some consideration.
Those sent couldn't be too powerful, or the beings in the Star Dou Forest might notice them.
He had already experienced that Titan Giant Ape's senses for himself. If they sent in a Titled Douluo to investigate, he would probably be discovered before even reaching the forest's core region.
But they couldn't be too weak, either.
The Star Dou Forest belonged to the Soul Beasts, and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were everywhere in its outer regions. If they sent someone below the Soul Saint level, he might be eaten as a snack before he got halfway there.
The people's gazes swept around the hall before settling in unison on someone in the corner.
Bai Changhe.
A Silver-Robed Deacon and a Level 73 Holy Light Soul Saint.
He had just fought that Titan Giant Ape and the Golden Light Eagle, and had made it back in one piece.
Every Titled Douluo present had to admit that, in his place, they might not have gotten away any more neatly under that Titan Giant Ape's Thunderlight Palm.
"Bai Changhe."
Qian Daoliu's gaze fell on him.
Bai Changhe shuddered and hurriedly bowed. "Your subordinate is here."
"This mission is yours. Go to the Intelligence Hall and gather some men. Take a few elite fighters and set out at once to infiltrate the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest. You don't need to enter the core region. Just investigate what's changed on the outskirts."
Bai Changhe opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end he swallowed his words. He clasped his hands in a deep salute. "Your subordinate accepts the order!"
He turned and hurried out of the side hall, heading straight for the Intelligence Hall.
What he didn't know was that the batch of "elite fighters" he was about to take with him was precisely the group Golden Crocodile Douluo had ordered replaced that very day.
The veterans of the Intelligence Hall had all been sent to the Logistics Department to scrub the latrines. The ones who'd taken their places were a fresh batch of youngsters recently transferred from branch halls around the country.
These youngsters were each a bigger genius than the last...
The meeting ended.
As Golden Crocodile Douluo left the side hall, the night wind swept the lingering smoke and dust from the ruins into his face, casting a shadow over his aged features.
He pushed off the ground with the tip of his foot and shot skyward in a streak of golden light, speeding in the direction Tang Hao had taken Tang San earlier that day.
Cold killing intent surged in his aged eyes.
Tang Hao had fought one battle after another that day. His injuries were certainly severe.
His left arm and right leg were already old injuries. He had exchanged several powerful blows with Bibi Dong that day, then been struck a few times by the shockwaves of Golden Crocodile Douluo's own Soul Power. By now, he had to be at the end of his rope.
Strike while he's down and finish him.
Golden Crocodile Douluo vanished into the night sky like a golden shooting star, speeding toward the distant, boundless mountains.
As long as he caught up with Tang Hao and killed Tang San, that scourge, the Spirit Hall would have its answer for all the humiliation it had suffered that day!
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