The Azure-Robed Chief Deacon, Wu Jie

Meng Xuanji walked alone through one of the corridors in the Papal Hall.

Inside the maze-like Papal Hall, Meng Xuanji had, unsurprisingly, gotten lost.

"It truly deserves to be the supreme holy land every soul master on the continent dreams of. It's built with more grandeur than even the royal gardens. If the people living here had no soul power, they'd probably be exhausted to death just getting around."

After joining Spirit Hall, Meng Xuanji naturally had the right to walk around the Papal Hall. As long as he did not foolishly wander into any restricted areas, no one would bother him.

As the sky gradually darkened, Meng Xuanji began to grow anxious.

"What do I do? Am I really going to sleep on the street tonight?"

Just as Meng Xuanji was at his wits' end, a man in a long azure robe approached from the corridor opposite him.

According to Meng Xuanji's memories, this should be one of the Papal Hall's azure-robed chief deacons, a rank above ordinary white-robed deacons.

These people generally possessed strength between that of a level-thirty Soul Elder and a level-fifty Soul Ancestor. Unlike the yellow-robed chief deacons stationed in local regions, if they were assigned elsewhere, they were qualified to serve as bishops of branch halls.

"Big brother, could I trouble you for directions?" Meng Xuanji stepped before Wu Jie and asked cautiously.

Wu Jie, who had been deep in thought, was genuinely startled by the child who had suddenly appeared at his side. Since when could children wander freely through the Papal Hall? Whose child was this?

"What's your name? Where are your parents?"

Though reluctant, Wu Jie ultimately did not make things difficult for the little boy before him.

"My name is Meng Xuanji. I'm a student who joined Spirit Hall today. Big brother, could you tell me where my residence is?"

"A student? I do remember something like that."

Wu Jie rubbed his chin.

"Head northwest from here. When you reach the end of the corridor, look west, and you'll see the apartments where you live. Oh, right, don't go to Three Pure Ones Hall. That's where those with innate soul power of level eight or above live. Hmm? That's not right. Why is your soul power level ten?"

Wu Jie rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Hehe, because I have innate full soul power, big brother!" Meng Xuanji proudly pointed at himself.

"I'm one of only two people with innate full soul power this year."

At last, he had a chance to show off. Meng Xuanji immediately felt much better.

"That impressive?! Good, good, good. Then congratulations to you. But I have matters to attend to, so I won't keep you company any longer. Until we meet again."

Wu Jie had no interest in staying to flatter Meng Xuanji. Compared to that, he had more important tasks to handle.

Meng Xuanji, left standing there, nearly turned to stone on the spot.

That wasn't right!

According to the plot in the book, shouldn't this person have fawned all over him after hearing that he had innate full soul power? He should have showered him with endless praise, personally led the way just to build a connection, taken him to the freshmen apartments, and let him make a huge show of himself before the other students!

The plot was wrong!

Meng Xuanji suddenly turned around and looked at Wu Jie's departing figure, not even bothering to look back.

He remembered this person.

Not because he bore a grudge against him, but because this man was unusual.

He seemed different from most people in Spirit Hall, completely out of place in this world of constant bootlicking.

Would someone like him really not be pushed aside by others? Even the Platinum Bishops who appeared in the novels had all been the sort to look down on people.

"What an odd person. Maybe I can ask around about him more when we meet again."

Following Wu Jie's directions, Meng Xuanji quickly found his residence.

It was already night. Looking at the brightly lit Three Pure Ones Hall, which resembled a royal palace, Meng Xuanji found everything utterly wondrous.

"This is my first time staying somewhere like this. It's far grander than any five-star hotel. The only places that could compare are probably those ancient royal gardens."

Meng Xuanji strode forward and pushed open the doors, bringing the banquet in the hall to an abrupt halt.

At that moment, everyone's eyes turned toward the late-arriving genius, and faint contempt appeared on their faces.

"Hey, isn't that the evil soul master from this morning? Do you remember him?"

"Of course I remember. His martial soul scared the life out of me. I almost got strangled to death from behind!"

"Ahem, can we stop bringing up the strangling thing? I already apologized to you."

Listening to those malicious remarks, Meng Xuanji instead felt considerably more at ease.

Heh, yes. This was the Douluo Continent he knew.

"Oh, isn't this our great genius, Meng Xuanji? Innate full soul power! Tsk, tsk, tsk. Too bad you're an evil soul master, and an orphan who's had no parents since childhood. Hahaha, what a scumbag with good luck."

The drunken Yan walked over with a wine bottle in hand and cursed at Meng Xuanji without restraint.

"Hahahaha!"

Deafening laughter instantly erupted throughout the hall, unbearably grating in Meng Xuanji's ears.

"Are you jealous because Hu Liena and I were chosen together as the Pope's students?"

Meng Xuanji bluntly and decisively exposed the truth Yan had kept hidden in his heart.

"What? What did you just say?! Say that again if you dare! I'm not jealous! I'm a genius of Spirit Hall—why would I be jealous of you?!"

"Tch. A coward who doesn't even dare admit he's jealous. How stupid."

"Are you looking for a beating?!"

Overcome by rage, Yan raised the wine bottle and swung it toward Meng Xuanji's head!

"Yan! Stop!"

Xie Yue, standing nearby, had intended to stop him, but he was clearly too late.

Bang!

The wine bottle shattered!

But it had not struck Meng Xuanji's head. It had struck a tentacle of the Blue Silver Emperor.

"This is? The Blue Silver Emperor? Ugh!"

Whoosh!

The enraged Blue Silver Emperor lashed out with a whip-like strike, sending Yan's body flying like a cannonball into the banquet table.

With a series of crashes, wine spilled all over the floor. Even Yan's face bore a glaring bloody scar, blood continuously streaming from it.

"Hiss, that hurts like hell."

Yan lay on the floor, unable to get up for the moment. After being sent flying by the Blue Silver Emperor, his limbs felt weak and limp, utterly devoid of strength.

"Meng Xuanji, calm down. This isn't a place for fighting!" Xie Yue immediately stepped forward in the manner of an older brother to rebuke Meng Xuanji.

Very soon, a group of people voluntarily gathered behind Xie Yue. Meng Xuanji had clearly been isolated from the rest.

"Oh? So this is a marketplace for you dogs to bark in? Heh, what does it have to do with you if I beat a biting dog? Didn't you hear him barking at me just now?"

Meng Xuanji's icy gaze swept over Xie Yue and the people behind him.

The Sha Qi in those bewitching purple eyes instantly intimidated everyone present.

Tentacles of the Dark Blue Silver Emperor continuously spread outward from beneath Meng Xuanji's feet, covering half the hall's walls in the blink of an eye.

Against the backdrop of those blood-dark tentacles, Meng Xuanji looked like a demon that had crawled out of hell. These children, all only six years old, did not dare meet his eyes.

Even the ever-arrogant Xie Yue was so shocked by those strange pupils that he could not speak for a long while.

It was as if the moment he opened his mouth, the Dark Blue Silver Emperor would send him flying just like Yan.

Seeing everyone's mouths clamp shut in fear, Meng Xuanji merely smiled disdainfully.

"I never expected that this enormous Three Pure Ones Hall housed nothing but a pack of dogs who loved imitating people's incessant barking. Heh, how utterly ridiculous."