The Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul Spear and the Domain of Destruction

"Great-grandfather, Second Grandpa, Third Grandpa, Fifth Grandpa..."

The brother and sister hurried forward, then dropped to their knees, calling out seven times in succession before the two finally stopped.

The seven old men before them were precisely the current pillars of the Qiangu Clan.

Others might not have known, but the brother and sister were well aware of just how strong these seven old men actually were.

The strongest among the seven was the brother and sister's great-grandfather. He was at least one hundred and eighty years old, and his cultivation had already reached rank ninety-eight.

Aside from him, the Second and Third Grandpas the brother and sister had just addressed were both Super Douluo-tier powerhouses, while the other four were all Title Douluo.

For seven Title Douluos to hail from the same clan in this era—just how flourishing was that? Yet extremes met; Qiangu Che understood that such prosperity demanded a price.

Only, this price...

Qiangu Che was still deep in thought when the white-haired old man sitting at the head of the seat looked at him and spoke warmly:

"Che, come here."

Qiangu Che snapped out of it in a second, then got to his feet and approached his great-grandfather.

The old man extended a somewhat withered hand to pinch Qiangu Che's wrist, a trace of a smile surfacing in his eyes.

"Not bad. Even before awakening your Martial Soul, you have the physical fitness to rival a Soul Grandmaster. Right, have you taken the Mystic Water Pill?"

"I have, Great-grandfather."

Qiangu Che answered obediently.

"Mm, very good." The old man smiled slightly, his aged face bearing a gentle and benign expression, completely devoid of the aura of a peerless powerhouse.

"Che, you are one of the only two direct-line blood descendants of the clan's fourth generation, so the clan has been very rigorous with you since childhood and made you bear a lot of pressure that you shouldn't have at your age. In the future, the things you must shoulder will be even heavier, and moreover, these are things you cannot escape."

The old man's expression grew somewhat solemn, and that pair of turbid eyes grew bright with a rare intensity.

"Great-grandfather asks you here: for the hardships you have suffered, do you hold any resentment or hatred in your heart?"

"And for those things you must shoulder in the future, are you willing to undertake them, to bear them?"

Upon hearing this, Qiangu Che replied with almost no hesitation:

"Great-grandfather, I have no regrets, and I am willing to undertake the responsibilities and mission I ought to shoulder."

"When Ancestor Wuchen changed our clan's surname to Qiangu, it was precisely with the hope of passing down the glory belonging to the clan and the Coiling Dragon Staff for a thousand ages, immortal. Since I was born into the clan and have received the clan's all-out cultivation, naturally I will not be ungrateful."

"Good! Good! Good!"

Watching the determination in Qiangu Che's eyes and that burning, fervent sincerity, Qiangu Qing uttered the word "good" three times in a row, and the other six old men couldn't help but reveal satisfied smiles.

"Then Great-grandfather asks you again: to what extent do you wish to reach in the future?"

This question made Qiangu Che ponder for a moment. Then, looking into Qiangu Qing's sharp, falcon-like eyes, he said word by word:

"Supporting the cloudy heavens above, probing the netherworld below, traversing all ages, I alone am supreme."

Sixteen characters, arrogant yet eye-catching. The seven Title Douluos led by Qiangu Qing all had their breathing hitch simultaneously, and even the bystanders like Qiangu Yunmei and Yang Shu looked at Qiangu Che in shock.

No one had expected that Qiangu Che, who usually seemed mild in temperament, harbored such immense ambition in his heart.

Especially his demeanor when uttering those words—that poised, high-spirited appearance made people feel a shock that sprang from the depths of their hearts!

Hahaha— The ecstatic roar of laughter nearly blew off the roof of the clan's grand hall. Qiangu Qing stood up and said nothing more, merely raising a hand in a sweep under the expectant gazes of the many elders, and a massive Hexagram Array instantly materialized beneath Qiangu Che's feet.

They were old now, but they had all been as young and hot-blooded as Qiangu Che once.

Furthermore, they knew best what the people of their Qiangu Clan truly needed.

Resources, talent, opportunity—these were all important, but most important of all was to possess a heart that dared to fight against the heavens!

Yet even though Qiangu Che was only six years old, based purely on his past and present performance, Qiangu Qing and the others concluded that Qiangu Che had a boundless future ahead of him!

As for whether Qiangu Che would awaken a trash Martial Soul during the subsequent awakening?

To that, Qiangu Qing declared it was purely blind worry.

Based on the resources the Qiangu Clan had piled onto Qiangu Che over the years, even a pig should have turned into a one-in-a-million god among pigs.

Not to mention that Qiangu Che was an existence whose father possessed Innate Full Soul Power, whose mother had innate rank-nine soul power, whose sister possessed Innate Full Soul Power, and who himself was naturally precocious and different from ordinary people.

A warm sensation appeared once more throughout his limbs and bones, and Qiangu Che only felt a powerful and violent force suddenly surge within his body.

That feeling was as though a sleeping giant dragon was awakening inside him, subsequently struggling to burst out of his body.

Aargh—

A stirring dragon roar resounded through the entire grand hall, rich golden light burst forth from within Qiangu Che, and a terrifying pressure descended abruptly.

That majesty was somewhat akin to dragon might, but it wasn't all that pure; instead, it resembled the condensation of pure heaven and earth power even more.

"A golden dragon! Truly a golden dragon!"

A trace of satisfaction manifested in Qiangu Qing's eyes.

The inherited Martial Soul of the Qiangu Clan was the Coiling Dragon Staff, which housed the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul, but the quality of the same Martial Soul could also differ by a gulf as wide as heaven and earth.

And the method to distinguish the quality of the Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul was very simple: it was to look at what color the Evil-Breaking Dragon coiled upon it was!

The ancestors of the Qiangu Clan had researched and developed the Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul for nearly a thousand years, ultimately concluding that a Coiling Dragon Staff coiled with dual golden and silver Evil-Breaking Dragons possessed the best innate quality, with the golden dragon slightly outperforming the silver one.

As for Martial Souls like Qiangu Yunmei's, which had innately mutated benignly into a black dragon Coiling Dragon Staff, they were likewise among the most powerful batch of Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Souls. Their destructive power was extremely astonishing, and their quality infinitely approached a Super Martial Soul. Precisely because of this, although Qiangu Yunmei had a nasty temperament, no one could find any fault with her cultivation talent.

As the golden light grew increasingly intense, countless golden light specks gradually condensed behind Qiangu Che to form a gigantic golden dragon.

That giant dragon roared up at the sky, then soared straight up into the heavens, before diving back down headfirst to charge straight into Qiangu Che's body.

The coiling dragon has spirit, gathering the dragon into a staff!

Qiangu Che couldn't help roaring hoarsely. The golden dragon that had rushed into his body seemed to be fusing with a certain existence within him, after which they all surged toward his right hand.

A flash of golden light burst forth, but what appeared was not the staff head coiled with a dragon's head, but rather a supremely sharp spear blade that seemed capable of piercing through space.

"The Soul-Breaking Spear!"

Standing in the rear, Yang Shu cried out in alarm, but the moment the words left her mouth, she realized she had misjudged.

The Soul-Breaking Spear was pitch-black throughout, and even its spear blade carried black flames of destruction. While Qiangu Che's spear blade bore some similarity to the Soul-Breaking Spear, the whole thing was sharper, carrying a dense aura of destruction. Just by gazing at it with one's eyes, one's soul actually had a sensation of being pierced through.

"Not a Coiling Dragon Staff?"

Qiangu Che's seventh grandfather muttered aloud, and the others couldn't help exchanging low-voiced murmurs.

"Silence!"

Right at that moment, Qiangu Qing gave a low shout, and the grand hall plunged into stillness once more.

And right at that moment, Qiangu Che's Martial Soul finally revealed its full appearance.

It was a brilliant silver-bodied longspear. A golden dragon coiled around the spear shaft, its dragon head holding the blade at the apex, emitting faint, intermittent dragon roars as it raised its head, causing the surrounding space to ripple slightly.

The spear blade was slender and sharp, spewing out dual golden and silver colored light flames. Those light flames lingered long without dispersing, seemingly resonating with the dragon roars.

Furthermore, that silver spear shaft was completely engraved with incomprehensible ancient seal script. Runes circulated, complementing the seal script, simultaneously bearing the noble aura of the golden dragon and displaying the sharp might of propping up the heavens—it possessed an extraordinary bearing.

The moment this longspear appeared, a golden ripple resembling sea wave patterns rapidly enveloped the entire grand hall, causing everything around to inexplicably take on a dreamy, unreal sensation.

This time, everyone including Qiangu Qing couldn't remain seated.

They were all powerful soul masters above the Title Douluo tier, so naturally it wasn't difficult for them to discern what kind of existence this golden ripple blanketing the entire grand hall actually was.

A domain! An innate companion domain!

Qiangu Che's mutated longspear Martial Soul had actually been born with a companion domain!

The importance of a domain to a soul master went without saying, but conversely, acquiring a domain in the first place was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Qiangu Qing stepped forward in a single stride, pressing a hand onto the shoulder of the newly awakened Qiangu Che, his gaze as obsessed and heated as a pervert looking at an unrivaled beauty.

"Che, tell Great-grandfather, what are your Martial Soul and domain called?"

Qiangu Che gripped the longspear in his hand tightly. Martial Soul and soul master were originally one; in that very instant, he had already comprehended all the information regarding his Martial Soul.

"Great-grandfather, my Martial Soul is named the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul Spear. As for the domain... I wish to call it the Domain of Destruction."

"The Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul Spear and the Domain of Destruction, is it?" Qiangu Qing was slightly startled, then laughed heartily, heavily patting Qiangu Che's shoulder.

"Che, you are good! You are truly good! With you in the clan, prosperity and stability for at least the next three hundred years are secured, and the glory of our ancestors shall ultimately be re-manifested upon you."

As his voice fell, the smile on Qiangu Qing's face vanished, and an imposing aura that brooked no dissent—refined through the precipitation of time—rose from his body.

His gaze swept across everyone present, and then he slowly spoke:

"Starting today, the position of patriarch of the Qiangu Clan shall be inherited by Qiangu Liting, and Qiangu Che shall be the young patriarch of the Qiangu Clan. Everyone, do you have any objections?"

Qiangu Liting was precisely the father of the brother and sister, Qiangu Che. He was the same age as Yang Shu this year, and having just acquired his ninth soul ring some time ago, he was currently in seclusion to consolidate his cultivation.

His inheriting the position of patriarch was a nailed-on certainty, but Qiangu Che...

"This..." The six elders looked at each other in dismay, after which Qiangu Che's second grandfather spoke up:

"Eldest Brother, Che's talent is beyond doubt, but his Martial Soul..."

Qiangu Qing understood the misgivings of several of them. He snorted coldly, and a pressure that held down the heavens erupted abruptly from his aged body.

"So what if the Martial Soul isn't a Coiling Dragon Staff? A staff and a spear are merely forms that a weapon takes. What our Qiangu Clan has relied on to endure for thousands of years is not that piece of wood! It is the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul residing within it! The Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul is precisely the symbol engraved within our Qiangu Clan's bloodline."

"Since Che's Martial Soul is both an innate super-benign mutation and inherits the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul, why shouldn't he be qualified to be this young patriarch!?"

After finishing these words, the imposing aura on Qiangu Qing receded slightly, and everyone in the grand hall finally felt their breathing grow somewhat smoother.

"Eldest Brother's words make sense. Just now, we were short-sighted..."

After a brief silence, Qiangu Che's second grandfather was the first to stand up. The hesitation between his brows had dissipated, replaced by a firmness.

With a leader, the other five also rose one after another, successively speaking to endorse Qiangu Qing's decision.

Seeing this, Qiangu Qing nodded in satisfaction. He lowered his gaze to look at Qiangu Che beside him, fell silent for a fleeting moment, and then spoke:

"Che."

"Great-grandfather, I am here." Qiangu Che raised his head, gazing into the old man's eyes.

"Starting today, you are the young patriarch of the clan. I, your great-grandfather, declare in the name of the clan's thirty-seventh patriarch: if any among your offspring in the future can inherit your Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul Spear Martial Soul, the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul Spear shall, alongside the Coiling Dragon Staff, become the Qiangu Clan's most orthodox inherited Martial Soul."

This move served two purposes: first, to help Qiangu Che consolidate the orthodoxy of his position as the clan's heir; second, to subtly encourage Qiangu Che to spread his branches and leaves widely for the clan in the future.

There was no help for it; the inheritance of the Qiangu Clan's direct lineage had truly withered far too much up to now.

The heavy responsibility of revitalizing the direct lineage naturally fell upon Qiangu Che's shoulders.

Qiangu Che's expression tightened, and then he said earnestly:

"Great-grandfather, I will work hard."