Giving Advice to His Great Grandson

Qian Yufeng's decision was beyond Qian Daoliu's ability to interfere with or stop.

Just as when he was young, in order to wipe out Fallen Spirit Masters, he had mobilized ten Title Douluos to raze their hidden dens to the ground.

"Grandnephew, although you handed all of Spirit Hall's authority to the next generation, plenty of hidden dangers remain."

"Be more careful. Don't be like my big brother, always caring about personal feelings and ending up ruining himself!"

Qian Yufeng reminded him.

Every transition between Spirit Hall Popes came with no small amount of trouble.

Qian Xunji had only succeeded as Pope five years ago and had only broken through to Title Douluo three months earlier. Clearly, he was still unable to suppress certain ambitions.

Qian Daoliu sighed. "Who would have thought Xunji was not a Deity's inheritor? I admit that my judgment was inferior to yours."

This was the first time Qian Daoliu had admitted defeat before an elder.

"If I had listened to your advice back then, Xunji might have had a better path of growth."

"He also would not have become estranged from me because of his mother."

Before Qian Daoliu traveled the continent, Qian Yufeng had made it very clear that he should stay with his wife through her final days.

Unfortunately, for the sake of his agreement with Tang Chen, he still went to keep the appointment without hesitation and traveled to Sea God Island.

When he returned, Qian Yufeng gave him a thorough scolding.

Even the obedient and well-behaved Qian Xunji frequently argued against him.

There was no helping it. The Qian Family had competitiveness and stubbornness etched into their bones.

Back then, Qian Daoliu had encountered Tang Chen of the Clear Sky Sect. That man had cultivated to level ninety-nine through his own strength, stirring Qian Daoliu's desire to compete with him.

Furthermore, after learning from him that an unparalleled expert also existed out at sea, Qian Daoliu could not refuse Tang Chen's invitation.

Even among level ninety-nine Title Douluos, there were differences in strength!

Qian Daoliu wanted to prove that, having received the Angel God's blessing, he was the strongest of the three!

Unfortunately, he gained prestige in the Spirit Master world but lost the wife who had accompanied him for many years.

What was more, he developed feelings for the High Priest of Sea God Island.

That was the reason Qian Yufeng had berated Qian Daoliu.

His wife was gravely ill, yet the bastard ran off and even fell for some strange woman.

What, was he already so old that he wanted to find his son a stepmother?

Add more bloodline to the Qian Family?

At the time, he could not understand why his grandnephew had made such an irrational choice.

But the deed was already done, and he could not stop it.

By then, he had resigned from all positions in Spirit Hall and was merely a retired old man.

In any case, Qian Yufeng found it utterly ridiculous. Every generation of the Qian Family seemed to have this same problem.

The relationship between fathers and sons was truly terrible.

Qian Yufeng had not chosen to marry and have children. He had no desire to watch his own child die before him.

The original work stated that once one reached level ninety, one could live for over three hundred years. Every additional level would increase one's lifespan by at least one hundred years, while level ninety-nine granted a lifespan of one thousand years.

Yet after all these years of observation and research, Qian Yufeng found that even a level ninety-eight Title Douluo only lived to around two hundred and ten years old.

As for level ninety-nine, Spirit Hall's records stated that the longest-lived was Qian Yufeng's great-grandfather, who had lived to three hundred and one.

A vague suspicion formed in his heart. The realm of level ninety-nine likely had even finer divisions, and that was the key to extending one's lifespan.

Qian Yufeng looked at Qian Daoliu and said, "Actually, before you accepted the blessing back then, I strongly opposed it in front of your father."

"This state of self-imprisonment is precisely why I opposed it!"

He had a thousand things he wanted to say, but they ultimately became only a sigh. "No matter what you think, before my big brother died, he said the thing he regretted most was making you, still just a child, shoulder the burden of Spirit Hall."

Qian Daoliu remained silent. After becoming a father, he had come to understand the difficulties his own father had faced.

The estrangement between father and son had appeared in his generation as well.

Yet his son did not understand his actions either, and his mindset grew increasingly extreme.

"The past is like smoke, Second Uncle. I understand it all now."

"I remain in Spirit Hall only to repent for my past mistakes before the Angel God Statue."

"You..." Qian Yufeng shook his head and turned to leave.

The original work had not been wrong about one thing: cowardice existed in Qian Daoliu's heart.

Once outside, Qian Yufeng said to Ling Xin and Ling Su, "Let's go. We'll meet the Pope."

Since he was about to leave Spirit Hall, he naturally needed to inform Qian Xunji, its current helmsman.

Soon after, the three arrived before the Pope Palace.

By sheer coincidence, they ran into Qian Xunji's two loyal subordinates—Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.

"Yue Guan, A Gui, are you two going in to report on your work?" Qian Yufeng asked.

Upon seeing him, the two respectfully replied, "Elder!"

Yue Guan then said, "Elder, Fallen Spirit Masters have been active this month. During the suppression operations, Deacons in various regions have suffered severe losses and urgently need reinforcements."

This was indeed an extremely important matter, and Qian Yufeng frowned slightly upon hearing it.

"Go report first. Tell him I'm here."

"Thank you, Elder!"

Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo hurried into the Pope Palace.

Three minutes later, a knight arrived before Qian Yufeng and respectfully said, "Elder, His Holiness the Pope requests your presence."

Qian Yufeng understood that Qian Xunji had encountered a difficult problem.

Under normal circumstances, he would not have sent someone to summon him.

Qian Yufeng looked at the two maidservants and said, "Wait for me. If I'm not out by lunchtime, go home and wait for me there."

"Understood, Master!" Ling Xin and Ling Su answered.

Qian Yufeng entered the Pope Palace and immediately saw that Qian Xunji's expression was unpleasant.

The two Douluos, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, stood respectfully below and did not dare make a sound.

When Qian Xunji saw Qian Yufeng, he no longer cared about using official titles during work.

"Second Granduncle, they've gone too far! They watched as so many of our Deacons died, yet they refused to send reinforcements."

"What exactly are they trying to do?!"

Suppressing the anger in his heart, Qian Xunji voiced his confusion.

"The alliance formed to face the crisis together has already become one in name only!"

"Neither the Upper Three Sects nor the Lower Four Sects will sit by and watch Spirit Hall grow dominant alone!"

Qian Yufeng spoke calmly. It was all driven by profit.

Spirit Hall's current Deacons were all graduates of the Spirit Academy and could be considered the Pope's students.

The large-scale deaths of young Deacons undoubtedly weakened Spirit Hall's future backbone.

"Three thousand Spirit Master Deacons—I'll remember this debt!"

"Replenishing the missing manpower in branch halls across the regions within a short time is still too rushed!"

Qian Xunji had a terrible headache over this matter. The newest batch of Spirit Academy graduates who met the requirements would not complete their training for another three years.

"My suggestion is to search among the commoners for suitable Spirit Masters and have the experienced ones train the newcomers."

"The number of commoner Spirit Masters is large. This should solve the problem, while also expanding Spirit Hall's influence!"

Qian Yufeng gave his suggestion. Spirit Hall's longstanding strategy had been to select Spirit Masters from the elite class.

The drawback was that the training period was too long, making effective replenishment impossible.

Qian Xunji froze. Wasn't this too rash?

"Second Granduncle, isn't that like searching for a needle in the sea?"

There were many commoners across the continent, but the chance of becoming a Spirit Master was only one in ten thousand, perhaps even lower!

Could a shortage of three thousand people truly be filled in such a short time?