Words Like Knives, Each Stabbed into Qian Daoliu's Heart

"Two million-year soul rings!"

Even with his rock-solid Dao heart, Qian Daoliu couldn't help but gasp.

The martial soul Huo Yuhao had awakened held an incredibly high status within the Dragon Clan.

Even if it were merely a descendant's bloodline, the entire Soul Beast race would be willing to expend such resources.

That was a million-year Soul Beast; it had sacrificed itself without a second thought.

"Yuhao, what are your soul skills?"

After slightly mending his Dao heart, Qian Xunji turned his attention back to the boy.

A million-year-level soul skill must possess immense power.

However, the more powerful a soul skill, the greater the soul power consumption. He wondered if this would prevent Huo Yuhao from fighting for long periods during his early, weaker stages.

Huo Yuhao didn't answer directly. "Teacher, Senior Brother, please do not reject my spirit power."

A flicker of light flashed through Huo Yuhao's eyes. As Qian Xunji and Qian Daoliu looked at him with curiosity, they suddenly felt something enter their minds.

They could clearly see the surrounding environment—whether it was above their heads, the ground beneath their feet, or the blind spots behind obstacles, everything was rendered in sharp detail.

They could even see the slight movements of the soul masters standing guard outside the Pope's Palace with perfect clarity.

Huo Yuhao's voice resonated in their minds at the perfect moment.

"These are the two most practical skills from my first soul ring: Spirit Detection and Spirit Sharing. I can feed everything scanned by my spirit power back to my teammates, and I can also capture and predict the subtle movements of my opponents."

"Spirit Sharing is like an unrestricted chat room; under my guidance, we can communicate without barriers through spirit power."

"The Ice Silkworm race does not possess strong combat capabilities, so for now, I am merely an auxiliary-type soul master."

Qian Xunji latched onto the key point. "In other words, there are more?"

"There is also Spirit Interference, which can cause opponents to misjudge and lead to mistakes."

Qian Xunji nodded; he understood.

"Father, if you had possessed Yuhao's support back then, you wouldn't have lost to that hammer-wielding brute from the Clear Sky Sect."

Being able to see every tiny movement—one had to realize that for high-level soul masters, even the slightest bit of prediction was enough to influence the entire outcome of a battle.

Qian Daoliu's face darkened. "Nonsense! In a battle between two people, how could a third party intervene!"

Huo Yuhao seemed to grow interested and asked his senior brother.

"Senior Brother, has Teacher ever lost to someone else?"

That hammer-wielding brute must have been Tang Chen.

According to the timeline, Qian Xunji shouldn't have even been born when the two of them fought.

Qian Daoliu wasn't the type to speak ill of others behind their backs, so how did he know?

"About forty years ago, Father, who is hailed as the strongest in the sky, and Tang Chen, the former sect master of the Clear Sky Sect, known as the strongest on land, fought for three days and three nights on the peak of the Clear Sky Sect. In the end, Father suffered a crushing defeat."

Qian Daoliu looked at his son helplessly. "I was only one move away from Tang Chen."

Qian Xunji smiled politely. "But that's not what the people of the Clear Sky Sect say. They claim you were soundly defeated by their old sect master and even swore an oath that you would never let Spirit Hall set foot in their sect again."

It wasn't as if Qian Xunji hadn't traveled the continent.

Disciples of the Clear Sky Sect often went out to travel, and that group always looked at people from Spirit Hall with an arrogant, disdainful attitude.

For no other reason than that the strongest of Spirit Hall, Pope Qian Daoliu, had lost to their old sect master!

"Strongest Spirit Hall," my foot!

It was through the boasting of those disciples that Qian Xunji had learned of this incident.

It was just that his father's image in the mouths of others was too pathetic. After beating up those loose-lipped disciples, Qian Xunji hadn't told Qian Daoliu about it, not wanting to upset him.

But since his junior brother asked about his father's dark history, he certainly had to tell him!

"Ah?" Huo Yuhao displayed a look of surprise and asked Qian Daoliu curiously.

"Teacher, as the strongest in the sky, how did you end up fighting the strongest on land? Did you stand on the ground to fight him? Wouldn't that be abandoning your own advantages?"

Qian Daoliu was left speechless by his disciple's question. "Since we were to decide the victor, naturally, I had to face the enemy head-on."

"Then, as a spirit-type auxiliary soul master, will I have to fight people with brute strength in the future?"

Prompted by Huo Yuhao, Qian Xunji also realized the point.

"That's right, Father! Why did you accommodate Tang Chen back then, landing on the ground to fight a brute who only knows how to swing a hammer, instead of making him find a way to fly into the sky to fight you?"

"Senior Brother, I know!" Huo Yuhao's eyes sparkled. "Teacher's action is what they call 'capsizing in the gutter'!"

"Teacher was very confident in his own strength, thinking he could defeat that big hammer even after giving up his advantages. To be able to fight for three days and three nights while outside his comfort zone—that big hammer's strength truly wasn't worth Teacher's concern. It's just that Teacher was one move short, and the tide of battle turned!"

Qian Xunji felt that his junior brother's words made perfect sense!

"Exactly! Junior Brother, you're right!"

"Father gave up his aerial advantage and still fought Tang Chen for three days; what right do those hammer-swingers have to look down on Father!"

His junior brother was truly the clear-headed, real angel of the world!

It directly solved the problem that had plagued him for years!

Huo Yuhao wore an expression of utter disdain. "They won unfairly, and to think they're still badmouthing Teacher behind his back—these people are truly vile."

Qian Daoliu's mouth twitched speechlessly at the side.

If you two put it that way, doesn't it just make me look like a fool?

"Tang Chen's talent is formidable. The Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique inherited by their Clear Sky Sect allows for the stacking of power, with each strike stronger than the last. After eighty-one strikes, the explosive force unleashed already surpasses level 99."

"Then couldn't you just dodge it?"

The people of the Clear Sky Sect knew that no one would be foolish enough to stand still and wait to take their ultimate move after it had been charged for so long, which was why they invented the Seal Art to restrict their opponent's movements.

Yet, there were still many ways to break through this restriction.

Qian Daoliu could have broken it easily, but he was too much of a gentleman, insisting on comparing raw strength with a brute.

Qian Xunji seemed to have become his junior brother's echo at this moment. "Exactly! Knowing it's hard to block, why would anyone still choose to take it head-on?"

"When you put it that way, their Clear Sky Sect's martial soul doesn't seem all that impressive—it's just a bit harder than the rest."

Huo Yuhao and Qian Xunji went back and forth, every word a blade, and every blade stabbing straight into Qian Daoliu's heart.

It led Qian Daoliu to ponder the question himself.

Was he truly a bit foolish back then to abandon his aerial advantage and choose to take that move head-on while fighting Tang Chen?

Little did he know, Huo Yuhao, who had steered the conversation toward this topic, was not only giving him a verbal thrashing but was also dragging Qian Xunji into the fray.

However, after this in-depth discussion, surely Qian Xunji wouldn't go and face Tang Big Hammer head-on anymore, right?