Ranking the Ninth: The Spirit Hall's Fifth Offering, Level 97 Guang Ling Douluo! (Please Follow!)

Only Gu Yuena had keenly caught the fleeting smile in Gu Yuan's eyes.

Clever as she was, she understood at once. The corners of her lips curved into an involuntary, breathtaking smile.

So... he wanted to go out, too.

What a good excuse.

Just as Gu Yuan took Gu Yuena's hand and prepared to leave the Star Dou Great Forest, another sudden change occurred!

The Sky Screen, which had dimmed after its ranking of Tang Hao ended, once again blazed with golden light without warning!

The radiance was more restrained than when Tang Hao had been ranked, yet it was even more imposing, as if it held the power of some indisputable law.

"Again?"

Di Tian abruptly looked up, wariness filling his golden dragon eyes.

Daming and Erming stopped kowtowing as well, staring blankly at the sky.

Gu Yuan and Gu Yuena halted and exchanged a glance. They both saw a hint of curiosity in the other's eyes.

"Yuan, who do you think this ranking will be about?"

Gu Yuena asked curiously.

Gu Yuan answered without hesitation:

"It should be someone from Spirit Hall.

After all, Spirit Hall has the most Titled Douluo. Tang Hao could fight above his level, but his true strength was affected by many factors. His body was riddled with old injuries, so he could only unleash his power for a short time."

"Spirit Hall's number of Titled Douluo, on the other hand, is the real deal."

"Mm!"

Gu Yuena nodded slightly, lost in thought.

She and Di Tian, along with the other Soul Beasts, hadn't visited the human world in many years.

Enough time had passed for things to change greatly.

Still, it matched what Gu Yuena knew: Spirit Hall was the most powerful force on Douluo Continent.

Under the astonished, expectant, or fearful gazes of countless Soul Masters across the continent, new golden characters slowly formed at the center of the Sky Screen.

This time, it wasn't a personal appraisal, but an entirely new ranking!

[Ranking the Top Ten Hidden Powerhouses of Douluo Continent]

[Ninth Place]

Spirit City, Papal Palace.

Bibi Dong sat on the Papal throne, a hint of solemnity flashing in her beautiful eyes.

She had just felt a trace of satisfaction at Tang Hao's ruined reputation, but now her heart stirred.

Hidden powerhouses?

Bibi Dong was confident that her current strength surpassed Tang Hao's.

If Tang Hao could rank tenth, then surely she wouldn't fare badly.

Thinking of how detailed the ranking of Tang Hao had been—and how it had also exposed his sordid past—Bibi Dong couldn't help but feel a flicker of unease.

If the Sky Screen ranked her...

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Fengzhi's expression instantly turned grave. Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong, standing beside him, also grew solemn.

"Hidden powerhouses... What exactly is this Sky Screen trying to do?"

Ning Fengzhi murmured to himself.

"If we're talking hidden powerhouses, Spirit Hall definitely has the most Titled Douluo concealed away!"

Chen Xin said in a deep voice.

He had every reason to know.

His father had died at the hands of Qian Daoliu of Spirit Hall.

Although Qian Daoliu hadn't shown himself for decades,

a Soul Master who reached the Titled Douluo realm could gain a hundred years of life with every increase in Soul Power.

How many years had it even been?

Chen Xin had never considered the possibility that Qian Daoliu was already dead.

And Chen Xin knew that Spirit Hall still had several Super Douluo beneath Qian Daoliu, all immensely powerful.

"This ranking is meant to expose all the hidden Titled Douluo powerhouses in Spirit Hall, laying them bare before the world."

Chen Xin paused, then continued:

"That way, everyone will understand just how great a threat Spirit Hall is!"

Gu Rong nodded in agreement.

Amid the countless guesses, golden light continued to ripple across the Sky Screen, and the details of the ninth-place entry finally appeared.

[Person: Guang Ling Douluo]

[Affiliation: Spirit Hall's Worship Hall, Fifth Offering]

[Soul Power: Level 97 Power Attack System Douluo]

[Martial Soul: Guang Ling Ice Bow]

[Reason for Ranking: He is over ninety years old, yet has the temperament of a child and the looks of a young man—a true "old boy."

His Martial Soul, the Guang Ling Ice Bow, possesses both light and ice attributes. It can fire "Invisible Arrows"—silent, invisible, and impossible to trace—the most exquisite assassination technique in the world.

Though he is playful and mischievous, and has a temper now and then, he is utterly loyal to Spirit Hall's Six-Winged Angel lineage.

With Level 97 Soul Power driving his supreme speed and Invisible Arrows, he is powerful enough to threaten any top-tier powerhouse on the continent while chatting and laughing.]

Utter silence.

When these words were clearly branded into everyone's mind,

the whole continent fell into a silence more complete than any before.

Countless Soul Masters gaped, yet not a sound came out.

Their minds seemed to have crashed under the impact of two phrases: "Level 97" and "Spirit Hall's Fifth Offering."

Spirit Hall... had been hiding such a terrifying Level 97 powerhouse?!

And Level 97 was only the Fifth Offering?

How powerful, then, were the other Offerings?

Shrek Academy.

"N...ninety-seven?!"

Zhao Wuji's voice trembled. At that moment, the title "Immovable Wisdom King," of which he had been so proud, seemed utterly laughable.

An Offering of Spirit Hall he'd never even heard of was a full twenty-one levels above him!

Flender's glasses nearly slipped off. He pushed them back into place, his eyes behind the lenses filled with shock.

"The Worship Hall... The place rumored to hold the true foundation of Spirit Hall. I never imagined... it was real!

And they've revealed a Level 97 powerhouse right off the bat!"

Dai Mubai, Oscar, and the others were even paler.

For the first time, they felt so clearly just how insignificant they were before the colossal force that was Spirit Hall.

Tang San stood rooted to the spot, dazed. This revelation struck his heart like another heavy hammer.

He regarded Spirit Hall as his mortal enemy.

But he had never imagined that his enemy's strength far exceeded anything he could have conceived!

If an "unknown" Fifth Offering was already Level 97, what of the Fourth Offering and Third Offering ahead of him?

And the legendary Grand Worship?!

Despair—a deeper despair—began to spread through his heart.

Meanwhile, in Spirit Hall's Worship Hall,

the ancient hall stood behind the Elder Hall, shrouded in clouds and mist year-round. The atmosphere inside was somewhat strange.

A youth who looked only seventeen or eighteen, with a handsome face and a playful smile always tugging at the corners of his mouth, sat cross-legged atop a stone pillar. Bored, he toyed with a crystal-clear longbow, as if it had been carved from light and ice.

"Ugh, I'm so bored... The Grand Worship won't let me go out and play. I'm stuck here every day until I'm practically growing moss..."

As Guang Ling Douluo grumbled under his breath, several old men with equally unfathomable auras emerged from deep within the hall and looked at him with complicated expressions.

At their head was the Second Worship, Golden Crocodile Douluo, whose hair and beard were white, yet whose face was as rosy as an infant's.

"Guang Ling," Golden Crocodile Douluo said gravely, "you've made the list."

(Regarding the Golden Dragon King in the Forbidden Land of Gods: the lore says that rather than being bound, he trapped himself in the Dragon Cocoon to absorb the Divine Realm's power and strengthen himself, eventually breaking through to the God King level.)