Where Did This Ant Come From?

How should unscrupulous merchants be punished?

First, their craft of deceiving others through evil means should be abolished, and the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul that gave them the ability to appraise treasures should be destroyed.

Then strip them naked, hang a sign reading "I Am an Unscrupulous Merchant" around their necks, and parade them through the streets for public humiliation.

Their deceptive skills would be gone, and so would their reputation.

Qian Xunji looked Ning Xia up and down and found that this descendant of the Seven Treasures Ning Clan was rather delicate-looking.

A man with such refined features, fair and smooth skin, and a slender, lean figure should be given as a benefit to unmarried female Spirit Masters in their fifties or sixties.

"Destroy his Martial Soul. Strip him naked, hang a sign on him, and parade him through the streets."

Qian Xunji had delivered his judgment.

The moment Ning Xia heard it, his vision went black, and he nearly fainted.

Compared to Yu Xiaogang of the Blue Lightning Jade Clan and Tang Yin of the Clear Sky Tang Clan, this sentence had spared his life.

But it had only spared his life.

Once his Martial Soul was destroyed, he would become even more useless than a commoner who had never awakened Innate Soul Power.

Perhaps, after returning to the sect, he could still serve as a breeding stallion and produce descendants.

But if he were stripped naked, made to wear a sign, and paraded through the streets, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Once he received such a punishment that disgraced his sect and clan, Ning Xia would become the greatest sinner of the Seven Treasures Ning Clan.

"Who are you to dare set up a private court and judge a member of the Seven Treasures Ning Clan?!"

Ning Hai arrived by carriage. Upon hearing Qian Xunji's judgment of Ning Xia, his eyes turned red with rage. Disregarding his dignity, he leaped down from the luxurious carriage, strode forward, pointed at Qian Xunji, and shouted furiously.

To destroy the Martial Soul of a direct descendant of the Ning Family who possessed the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul—

Such an act was equivalent to becoming enemies with the Seven Treasures Ning Clan and the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Even more excessive was the intention to strip him naked, hang a sign on him, and parade him through the streets, trampling the dignity of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect beneath their feet.

Who in the Spirit Master World did not know that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect cared most about its reputation?

After slapping them across the face, he intended to stomp on that face twice more.

He was trying to sever the very foundation of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

He wanted to ensure that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could no longer recruit talented Spirit Masters born into commoner families.

Ning Xia saw the sect master arrive with the sect-protecting Fire Dragon Douluo and several Spirit Saint elders.

The terror and despair on his face were instantly replaced by joy and relief.

The sect master had come, so he would be able to leave intact.

His Martial Soul would not be destroyed, and he would not be stripped naked, forced to wear a sign, and paraded through the streets to be pointed at by those mud-legged peasants.

"Where did this ant come from, barking wildly before me?!"

Qian Xunji's tone was like a blizzard descending in the dead of winter, sending a chill through everyone present.

As he spoke, he raised a hand, extended his index finger toward Ning Hai, and fired a beam of golden Soul Power.

Fire Dragon Douluo sensed deadly danger. As he summoned his Martial Soul, he grabbed Ning Hai by the shoulder and yanked him backward, shielding him behind himself.

He faced Qian Xunji's attack head-on.

The golden Soul Power ray that should have blown Ning Hai's head apart pierced straight through Fire Dragon Douluo's shoulder instead.

The lingering golden flames within his body continuously burned away his Soul Power, startling him inwardly.

Golden flames that burned another person's Soul Power—this was an ability of the Angel Clan's Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul.

There was only one such lineage on Douluo Continent. No others existed.

This mysterious Limit Douluo, who had suddenly descended from the sky upon the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, wearing full armor that concealed his appearance, was a member of the Angel Qian Family.

Other than the current Pope, Qian Xunji, and the former Pope, Qian Daoliu, no one else possessed the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul.

Not only did the other party possess the cultivation of a level 99 Limit Douluo, but upon arriving in Heaven Dou City, he had ordered the arrest and judgment of criminals.

Only someone from the Angel Qian Family would do such a thing.

When Ning Hai saw Fire Dragon Douluo injured and bleeding, his heart jolted, and he said anxiously, "Uncle Fire Dragon..."

Fire Dragon Douluo urgently interrupted him. "Xiao Hai, run! That is—"

Fire Dragon Douluo had only gotten halfway through his words when his eyes widened, and his voice abruptly stopped.

Qian Xunji had failed to kill Ning Hai with his first strike, so he seamlessly launched a second move.

Combining spiritual power and Soul Power, he created dozens of golden short swords out of thin air.

Driven by spiritual power, the golden short swords began to spin rapidly before shooting out like cannonballs.

They exceeded the speed of sound, giving Fire Dragon Douluo and the Spirit Saint elders no time to react.

Instant kill.

Ning Hai, sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect; Fire Dragon Douluo, the sect-protecting Douluo; and several Spirit Saint elders—

Unable to withstand Qian Xunji's serious strike, all of them were slain.

When Ning Xia witnessed this, the joy on his face vanished instantly, replaced by panic and helpless terror.

Dead. Dead. They were all dead.

The sect master, the sect-protecting Douluo, the Spirit Saint elders—they were all dead.

With a single move, nearly half of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's high-level combat strength had been wiped out.

Fire Dragon Douluo might have only been an aged and frail level 91 Titled Douluo, but he was still a Titled Douluo. How could the gap be so immense?

Ning Xia watched Qian Xunji step forward and collect the sect master's and the others' corpses, yet he could do nothing.

He felt that he truly was a useless disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

But due to innate limitations, those who possessed the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul could never become powerful Battle Spirit Masters.

"Your Excellency, you killed the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and their sect-protecting Douluo," a Spirit Hall deacon said tremblingly.

Those few brief seconds had felt more exciting than his entire life.

A Titled Douluo powerhouse had actually been instantly killed by another Titled Douluo powerhouse!

If he had not seen it with his own eyes and had only heard it secondhand, he would definitely have scoffed, "What nonsense."

Qian Xunji paused upon hearing that.

He had not expected that among the people he had instantly killed just now were the current sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and their sect-protecting Douluo.

They were that weak?

How had they taken their place among the Upper Three Sects?

Was Spirit Hall too strong?

Or were the other Spirit Master forces outside too weak?

That move with dozens of golden short swords firing in spiraling volleys was a newly created technique he had modified based on his own fourth soul skill.

Leaving aside Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo, there were still several people within Spirit Hall who could block that move.

It could not be considered some ultimate technique.

But the opponents' performance had been far too pathetic. Before they could even react or use their Spirit Ring skills, they had been instantly killed.

"That was only your illusion. What sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? What sect-protecting Douluo?" Qian Xunji said casually.

His opponents had been so weak that he refused to admit he had killed them.

If word got out that they had died by his hand, would that not bring glory to their faces?

To be killed by a Limit Douluo was such an honor.

That kind of treatment was not something one could obtain merely by wanting it.

Being killed by a Limit Douluo already proved that one's strength was sufficiently formidable.

Qian Xunji strongly suspected that the natives of Douluo Continent would brag like that.

"Was it really an illusion?" the Spirit Hall deacon asked doubtfully.

"There are not even any corpses, so it must have been an illusion." Qian Xunji openly lied and denied reality.

The only reason he bothered explaining was that he found it troublesome and did not want to waste time on pointless matters during the Asura God Trial.

For example, wiping out the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Heaven Dou Royal Family, the two forces that competed with Spirit Hall for talented commoner Spirit Masters.

With a swift motion of his blade, his second brother was dead. His fine clothes were torn apart. Ning Xia fainted, and a sign was hung on him as he was paraded through the streets.

Qian Xunji continued judging criminals, striving to complete the Asura Third Trial as soon as possible.

Outside Heaven Dou City.

Countless nobles and wealthy merchants rode in carriages, lining up to enter the city.

The emperor had issued an order: do not listen, do not listen.

But since it concerned a Titled Douluo powerhouse, they had to come.

The well-informed great nobles had already detected that something was amiss based on intelligence reports.

Feeling that their lives were in danger, they joined forces overnight and prepared to strike first.

The great nobles refused to believe that with all of them united—hundreds of Spirit Masters and tens of thousands of well-equipped guards—they could not bury a single Titled Douluo beneath sheer numbers.

Those who killed others would themselves be killed.