Shock lingered on Qian Renxue's stunning face.
She was no fool. In an instant, she understood the earth-shattering significance behind this message and the far-reaching impact it could have—enough to make all of Douluo Continent tremble.
She drew a deep breath, trying to calm the storm raging inside her. Yet her violet eyes had grown more solemn and murderous than ever before.
She clearly remembered the secret histories of Spirit Hall. Decades ago, the previous Pope—her father, Qian Xunji—had personally led Spirit Hall's elite forces in an attempt to conquer Sea God Island and bring that overseas enclave of Sea God worshippers under Spirit Hall's rule.
But that expedition had ended in a crushing defeat. Spirit Hall had suffered heavy losses...
That battle had been one of Spirit Hall's greatest setbacks in nearly a century, and it had firmly established Sea God Island as an unshakable hegemon of the seas.
"Decades ago, we attacked them and made an enemy of them..."
Qian Renxue's voice lowered, touched with a chill. She agreed, "And now they've found a divine inheritor before Spirit Hall has... Grandfather, no wonder you're taking this so seriously, even summoning me back in such a hurry. This Sea God Inheritor really is the greatest threat to us in the future—and the greatest unknown."
She raised her head and looked sharply at Qian Daoliu, a hint of probing in her voice. "Grandfather, in your estimation, what are this person's chances... of successfully inheriting the Sea God Godhood?"
That was the crux of the matter.
A failed divine inheritor was nothing more than an exceptionally gifted enemy.
But a successful Sea God would be an entirely different matter. It would mean that Sea God Island had a true god walking among mortals!
The power of such a presence would surpass all worldly forces.
Qian Daoliu fell silent for a moment. Light shifted in his golden eyes as he seemed to recall everything he had witnessed on Sea God Island.
The mysterious flag, for instance, and the child's pure Ocean Blessing Mark—as well as the complicated look in Bo Saixi's eyes when she spoke of him.
At last, he spoke slowly, with unshakable certainty. "At least... eighty percent."
"Eighty percent?!" The lake of Qian Renxue's heart, only just beginning to settle, was struck by another boulder!
Her violet eyes flew wide, disbelief written across her stunning face. For a moment, she thought she must have misheard.
"How... how is that possible?"
Qian Renxue's voice rose slightly with shock as she cried out, "Grandfather, you should know better than I do how difficult the divine inheritance trials are! They're a path of transformation from mortal to god, with deadly peril at every step and death lurking at every turn! Throughout history, how many peerless talents have fallen on the road to godhood, reduced to dry bones? For an ordinary genius, even a fifty-percent chance would be a blessing from heaven! And you... you're saying eighty percent?!"
It was utterly beyond her understanding! An eighty-percent chance of success meant that, unless the Sea God Inheritor she had yet to meet died before his time, inheriting the godhood was practically a foregone conclusion!
What a terrifying prospect!
Seeing his granddaughter struck speechless with shock, Qian Daoliu wore a bitter, complicated smile.
He understood why Qian Renxue found it so hard to believe. When he had reached that conclusion himself, he had been no less shaken than she was now.
"It's hard to believe, isn't it?"
Qian Daoliu's voice held the weary resignation of someone who had seen the ways of the world. "But I'm afraid that's the truth. Xiao Xue, some beings are born to defy convention and work miracles."
He paused, then began to reveal a glimpse of what he had seen of that child. "First, there's his Martial Soul. I saw it with my own eyes: a flag called the Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag. Its quality, the aura it gives off—an aura almost like the laws at the source... I can swear to you, on the strength of my century of experience and the glory of the Angel God, that it's in no way inferior to the Six-Winged Angel passed down through our Qian Family! In certain ways, it even feels... more ancient, more profound, as if it contains a power beyond this world's understanding."
Qian Renxue's breath caught.
Not inferior to the Six-Winged Angel?
Perhaps... even superior?
It sounded like sheer fantasy!
After all, the Six-Winged Angel was a god-level Martial Soul, a symbol of the Angel God's bloodline, and one of the highest-ranking Martial Souls on Douluo Continent.
What kind of Martial Soul could rival it, or even surpass it?
Qian Daoliu paid no heed to his granddaughter's shock and continued, "Second, there's his talent. You know that, thanks to the Angel God's bloodline, our Qian Family children usually possess ten levels of Innate Soul Power. The other ten levels are a divine blessing. But he... was born with a pure twenty levels of Innate Soul Power."
"Twenty levels of... Innate Soul Power?!" Qian Renxue drew in a sharp breath, her slender body trembling involuntarily.
This was more than a genius. He was a monster!
A freak who had shattered the Soul Master World's age-old iron law!
Starting at level twenty meant that, as soon as he awakened his Martial Soul, he could become a Soul Grandmaster simply by obtaining a Soul Ring!
What an utterly terrifying rate of cultivation!
"I..." For a moment, Qian Renxue didn't know what to say.
A Martial Soul no weaker than a god-level Angel, and twenty levels of Innate Soul Power... Someone like that truly was a darling of fate, one even the gods would favor.
"So, Grandfather..."
Qian Renxue's voice was hoarse, heavy with a weight she had never felt before. "Facing an enemy like this, a future Sea God... what should we do? Should we... attack Sea God Island again and kill him before he can grow stronger?"
As she spoke, a cold, resolute murderous intent flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes.
As Spirit Hall's Saintess and its future ruler, she knew the wisdom of pulling up the roots to prevent the grass from growing back.
An enemy who was destined to become a god was simply too dangerous.
Yet Qian Daoliu slowly shook his head. "Start a war? Easier said than done. Have you forgotten the lesson from decades ago? Bo Saixi guards Sea God Island, and the Seven Sacred Pillars' guardians defend it. With the advantage of their terrain, its defenses are as impregnable as a fortress. Besides..."
He looked at Qian Renxue, his gaze deep and unreadable. "He's only twelve. He received the Sea God Inheritance six years ago, when he was just six and had only just awakened his Martial Soul."
"Twelve years old? He received the inheritance at six?"
Qian Renxue was struck by the news all over again.
A six-year-old child, chosen by the Sea God?
What did that mean?
It meant that from the moment he awakened his Martial Soul, he had basked in divine light, receiving the god's direct attention and protection!
Would the Sea God stand by and watch his inheritor be killed?
"That's right. Six years old."
Qian Daoliu confirmed it. "That's exactly why I believe he has an eighty-percent chance of inheriting the godhood. The Sea God chose him when he was so young, before his potential had fully emerged, and even bestowed divine light upon him as a blessing. That means the Sea God has absolute faith in him and great expectations for him. With the Sea God's power, how could he let his inheritor die so easily during the trials? And that's not even considering his heaven-defying Martial Soul and talent. The Sea God would never let such a perfect inheritor slip away."
Before you continue