Shocking, the Gatekeeper is Actually a Peerless Expert!

After the welcome banquet, Meng Xinghe had barely returned to the Spirit Pagoda when his phone began chiming with a string of notifications.

"They're here."

He took out his phone. Gu Yuena beside him did the same, unlocking hers and selecting the message sent by her teacher, Leng Yaozhu, from among the many notifications.

Leng Yaozhu: Nana, quick, open today's trending topics. There's urgent news.

Urgent news?

It was Qiu'er's Golden Apple incident!

Gu Yuena reacted instantly, rapidly opening the news app. The front-page headline immediately came into view.

<Shock: The Old Gatekeeper Is Actually a Peerless Expert!>

Beneath the bold headline was a photograph of an elderly man dressed in plain clothes, who looked kindly and approachable.

⊙?⊙!

Wasn't this supposed to be about Qiu'er's Golden Apple incident?

Oh, there it was. There it was.

The top headline occupied seventy percent of the homepage, while the remaining thirty percent listed other major news. One article took up a third of that space.

<Peace Ambassador Attacked, and the Target Was Actually...>

Gu Yuena quickly tapped into it and skimmed through it at a glance.

"Phew, it's good that Qiu'er is fine. What kind of lousy headlines are these? They scared me half to death."

By then, Meng Xinghe had finished reading the news as well. He turned to Gu Yuena with a smile.

"Isn't that how self-media works these days? The more eye-catching the headline, the more people it draws in, and the more traffic it gets."

"You're just worried, so you've lost your composure."

"Who... who's worried about that brat? I was just afraid the Golden Apple had been stolen." Gu Yuena argued, her little face flushing slightly.

After saying that, she lowered her head to her phone and pretended to read the front-page article.

The report said that the old man in the photograph was the gatekeeper of Holy Spirit Cathedral, also known as the Night Watchman. During the attack on the Peace Ambassador, he had revealed the strength of a demigod.

So this old man was no ordinary person. He was the current chairman of the Holy Spirit Cult's Cardinal Council, His Excellency Electrolux, the Holy Law Douluo.

"So it was him."

Di Tian had mentioned him before—an outsider from another world, with only an incomplete fragment of divine consciousness remaining.

Yet he had made an indelible contribution to the Douluo Continent and the entire soul beast race, because he had invented the Soul Spirit Method.

After that fragment of his divine consciousness had recovered, he used the laws of heaven and earth on Douluo Planet to transform himself into a soul beast as well. He had also participated in the Reincarnation Plan, taking human form and cultivating anew.

Di Tian simply had not said where Electrolux had gone after taking human form, or what identity he had assumed.

Now she knew. He had gone to the Holy Spirit Cult, become chairman of the Cardinal Council, and even taken on the side job of guarding the gate.

Why did all these older generation powerhouses like to conceal their identities and do such ordinary work? Guarding gates, sweeping floors...

As Gu Yuena thought this, she completely forgot that she was likely far older than all of them.

"Now that Electrolux has revealed his strength, the Holy Spirit Cult has three Limit Douluos. That puts it above the Spirit Pagoda."

The Spirit Pagoda only had two Limit Douluos publicly known: its former Pagoda Master, Qian Gu Dieting, and its current Pagoda Master, Qian Gu Dongfeng.

Before this, the Holy Spirit Cult also had only two publicly known Limit Douluos: its current Pope, Yali, and the current head of the Inquisition, the Angel Douluo. Now, it had gained another—the current chairman of the Cardinal Council, Electrolux.

Now, in terms of the number of Limit Douluos, only Shrek Academy in the entire Douluo Federation could surpass the Holy Spirit Cult.

The Heaven's Favored Douluo, the Vast Sea Douluo, the Light and Dark Douluo, and the Sky-Piercing Douluo—Shrek alone had four Limit Douluos. If the Heartless Douluo and Passionate Douluo of the Tang Sect were included, that made six Limit Douluos, three of whom were demigods.

For certain reasons, Shrek Academy's influence across the continent was far weaker than it had been ten thousand years ago. Yet in certain regions, its influence was far greater than Shrek's had been ten thousand years ago.

(After the Sun Moon Empire unified the Douluo Continent, Xu Tianran publicly declared that he would put on a Shrek school uniform and take a stroll through Shrek Academy. The moment he finished speaking, however, he was struck dead by a bolt of lightning descending from the sky. The throne was inherited by the crown prince born from Juzi and a Xu Clan prince borrowing his seed.

Tang Wutong took on the responsibility of rebuilding the Tang Sect. The rebuilt Tang Sect merged with Shrek Academy's soul guidance department.

Under Meng Xinghe's secret guidance, there was no Sea God Legion among the Federation's eight great legions, only the West Sea Legion. The Sea God Clan still existed, but it had merged into Shrek Academy. Thus, the Vast Sea Douluo Chen Xinjie was no longer the master of the War God Hall, but an elder of Shrek's Sea God's Pavilion.

Finally, the Heaven's Favored Douluo, who had not been cuckolded, lived to the present day.)

"The Spirit Pagoda has a hidden Qian Gu Qingfeng. That's an open secret among the Federation's upper ranks. In their eyes, the Spirit Pagoda has long had three Limit Douluos, all from the same soul master clan. The Holy Spirit Cult only surpasses the Spirit Pagoda in the eyes of ordinary people."

Meng Xinghe continued along Gu Yuena's train of thought. "Also, your teacher Leng Yaozhu is a genius soul master with the potential to become a Limit Douluo. Her chances of breaking through are very high."

"In the eyes of ordinary people, the Spirit Pagoda has two Limit Douluos. But in the eyes of the Federation's upper ranks, it will soon have four, enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with Shrek Academy. And with its friendly relationship with the soul beasts, it carries far more weight than Shrek."

Gu Yuena caught the implication behind his words.

"You mean the Federation is wary of the Spirit Pagoda?"

"Well, the Qian Gu Clan is wildly ambitious. It makes sense for the Federation to be wary."

"Put it this way." Meng Xinghe shook his head. "If soul masters are compared to an army, then soul spirits are weapons, and the Soul Spirit Method is the secret formula for making those weapons."

"Soul masters are the strongest army in the world, yet the secret formula for making their weapons is controlled by a private faction. If you were part of the Federation's upper ranks, what would you think? What would you do?"

"Peaceful coexistence between humans and soul beasts is the trend of the times. That cannot be changed. Nor would the Federation dare turn a calm river into raging waves capable of capsizing a boat. So what they want is to obtain this weapons formula from the Spirit Pagoda. That has been the direction of their efforts all these years."

Hearing this, Gu Yuena immediately recalled the tangled and complicated situation within the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. It truly fit the saying: when the forest grows large, every kind of bird can be found in it.

If Sima Jinchi had not served as her cold and ruthless personal bodyguard, who knew how many twists and turns she would have faced as the disciple of the Spirit Pagoda's Vice Pagoda Master?

"Humans truly are complicated creatures. And now, I am too..."

She did not reject complexity.

Only those who had been well protected since childhood could remain innocent and pure forever.

She was the ruler of all soul beasts. To shoulder the responsibility resting upon her, she had to embrace complexity. After all, the world was fundamentally a vast dye vat. Once one waded through it, no one knew what color they would be stained.

Perhaps this was what humans called growing up.