Brother, You've Led Me Astray!

Pope's Palace.

Qian Xunji sat upright on the Pope's throne, his golden robes lending his handsome features a dignified air.

But at that moment, the Pope seemed somewhat distracted. His fingers tapped the armrest unconsciously, and his gaze kept drifting toward the hall's entrance.

"Your Holiness?"

The cardinal beside him called softly. Had he said something inappropriate?

His Holiness the Pope looked so stern!

Qian Xunji came to his senses and coughed lightly. "I'll consider what you've said. You may leave for now."

He rose, his robes fluttering, and strode out of the Pope's Palace.

Huo Yuhao left the Worship Hall much later than usual today. As soon as he was out of its grounds, he spotted a familiar figure.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help laughing as he teased him.

"Are you going to find Teacher Golden Crocodile for some combat training, Senior Brother?"

Qian Xunji waved a hand. "I'm always stuck in the Pope's Palace dealing with paperwork. I need to come out and clear my head now and then. You're out rather late today, Junior Brother. Did something happen in the Worship Hall?"

"Ahem. Are my father and Uncle Golden Crocodile still... young?"

If this world had Soul Tools capable of recording images and sound, Qian Xunji would have made sure to record the whole thing.

Huo Yuhao winked at Qian Xunji.

"Junior Brother, is something wrong with your eye?"

"Ji'er." Qian Daoliu appeared behind Qian Xunji without warning, his smile growing ever more kindly. "You seem very eager to see your father turned into a six-year-old child?"

"Ji'er, ever since you took over as Pope, you really have neglected your cultivation." Qian Daoliu sighed, sounding just like a father who had been worrying himself sick over his son. "Although our Spirit Hall doesn't need you, as Pope, to intimidate the great sects in person, your strength still can't be too poor."

"Golden Crocodile is right. You did take over as Pope a little early, but it's not too late to make up for it. From now on, your Uncle Golden Crocodile and I will train you properly every day."

Qian Xunji: "!!!"

Junior Brother, you've led me astray!

You could've warned me through Spirit Sharing, but instead you had to give me that look!

Did you do it on purpose?!

"Come on. There's still plenty of time today, so we'll start now."

With that, Qian Daoliu set off toward the Worship Hall.

Huo Yuhao gave his Senior Brother a look that said, "Good luck."

He used Spirit Sharing to contact Qian Xunji.

"Senior Brother, it's not that I'm being disloyal. My teacher told me to use Spirit Sharing on him as soon as I left the Worship Hall."

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Sharing could connect to many people at once to create a group chat, or link him directly to one person. It all depended on what he wanted.

This time, he hadn't deliberately set out to trip his Senior Brother up. He just wanted to use this opportunity to help his strength improve a little more.

They couldn't let the same thing happen again: a Level 95 Titled Douluo getting beaten half to death by someone who had only just reached Level 90.

Though, it was possible that the Asura God had intervened in that battle.

After all, the Asura God had just brought his precious treasure to Douluo Continent back then. He couldn't have stood by and watched Tang San lose both his mother and his father.

The Worship Hall's Martial Arts Arena.

"Your reactions are too slow. At that speed, your enemy could kill you twice."

"Your defensive weaknesses are far too obvious."

"Left!"

"Your footing's unstable!"

Qian Xunji was beaten black and blue, and felt that taking this beating had hardly been worth it.

Had Uncle Golden Crocodile and his father really been hit by Junior Brother's Soul Skill?!

Besides Golden Crocodile Douluo, Huo Yuhao now had another sparring partner: Qian Xunji.

"Ji'er, if you can defeat Yuhao within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, you won't have to come to the Worship Hall for training anymore."

Qian Xunji's eyes lit up. "Then Junior Brother can't use that shameless Soul Skill."

If Huo Yuhao used Time Cage and simply stood there while Qian Xunji attacked, Qian Xunji could spend his whole life trying and still never break through even one Heavenly Silkworm Body Protection shield.

"Don't worry. Yuhao can even refrain from using the Soul Skills of his First Martial Soul. Likewise, apart from Martial Soul Possession, you're not allowed to use any of your other Soul Skills."

Qian Xunji believed his old man's nonsense and began his own life as Pope, which was about to become a living hell.

Spirit Hall's information network was beyond question.

Once they learned that Huo Yuhao, the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, was looking for Spirit Masters whose Martial Soul was the Jade Phosphor Snake, it took less than half a month for them to put information on every Jade Phosphor Snake Spirit Master on the continent before him.

"Junior Brother, why are you looking for Spirit Masters with the Jade Phosphor Snake Martial Soul?"

Qian Xunji lounged in his chair without a trace of a Pope's dignity, watching Huo Yuhao sift through the files.

"Don't you dislike the people from the Clear Sky Sect, Senior Brother?" Huo Yuhao pulled a file from the stack and handed it to Qian Xunji. "Spirit Masters whose Martial Souls are poisonous usually know a thing or two about medicine as well. Take a look at this Dugu Bo. He seems to be very good at concocting poisons."

Qian Xunji was deeply moved.

His Junior Brother had remembered something he'd said so long ago!

"He's not a Spirit Master from Spirit Hall, and he isn't involved with any other faction either. You could try recruiting him, Senior Brother."

In the original story, Dugu Bo was a gatekeeper among the Titled Douluo. He couldn't beat the other Titled Douluo.

But he could poison everyone until only the Titled Douluo were left.

Of course, Spirit Hall didn't need him for large-scale attacks. They only needed him to concoct all kinds of poisons and make those brawny fools from the Clear Sky Sect suffer exquisite torment.

"You've really put thought into this, Junior Brother."

Huo Yuhao nodded and accepted his Senior Brother's gratitude without the slightest guilt.

"I've been in Spirit City for too long. Why don't I go in your place, Senior Brother? I can visit Uncle Ye along the way, too."

The moment he heard that Huo Yuhao planned to leave Spirit City for a while, Qian Xunji perked up.

"Go, go. Someone your age shouldn't spend all his time thinking about cultivation."

That sort of thing wasn't good for his Senior Brother.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. I'll be back soon!"

Qian Xunji: "..."

In a mountain range not far from Heaven Dou City, the Dugu family lived.

When Huo Yuhao arrived at the Dugu family's home, Dugu Bo wasn't there. Only a young man was at home.

"Little friend, why are you here all by yourself?"

Huo Yuhao studied the man in front of him carefully.

He looked to be around twenty, and wasn't especially handsome.

His skin had a bluish tinge, his lips were dark, his pupils were emerald green, and his hair had a faint green tint as well.

This had to be Dugu Bo's son, who had died young.

His appearance made it clear that he was heavily poisoned.

"I'm here to see Mr. Dugu Bo."

The young man looked surprised, but still let Huo Yuhao inside.

"My father's out on an errand. It'll probably be a while before he gets back."

The Dugu family had a medicinal herb garden nearby, which Dugu Bo tended himself.

He usually spent more time at the garden.

Huo Yuhao hadn't been waiting long at the Dugu family's home when a middle-aged man walked in.

"Why would a little kid like you come looking for me?"

Dugu Bo wasn't surprised that Huo Yuhao knew of him. He'd lived here for a long time and had earned some renown in the area.

"I came to buy poison from you, Mr. Dugu. The more poisonous, the better. The stranger, the better."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao gave him a sweet, innocent smile.

"The more it makes people wish they were dead, the better."