Within Spirit City, the solemn yet bustling atmosphere seemed even more intense than usual.
The towering Pope Palace and Worship Hall cast enormous shadows beneath the sunlight, like dormant beasts silently confronting one another.
Soul Masters hurried along the streets, most of them wearing the tense expressions of those who sensed a great battle approaching.
The Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, this grand event that gathered the continent's young elites, held an especially extraordinary significance for Spirit Hall, the sacred ground of Soul Masters.
It concerned not only honor, but also the nerves of every internal faction and the rise and fall of their future influence.
Deep within the Worship Hall, Qian Daoliu's figure appeared soundlessly in the vast, solemn hall.
He still wore that simple white robe, his silver hair meticulously arranged, his expression calm, as though he had merely returned from a stroll. Yet only he knew that this return marked the end of one chapter.
Nine years had passed.
Ever since the little girl with the Snow-Crested Swan and Six-Winged Angel Twin Martial Souls awakened in the imperial palace, he had taken on the identity of Liuyun and become the most important guide on her path of cultivation, presenting himself as an ordinary Soul Douluo expert.
He had watched her grow from an ignorant child into the empire's famed prodigy, her Soul Power now nearing level sixty. He had taught her everything he could, and she had learned enough to surpass her teacher.
The current Bai Xue had reached a considerable level of maturity, whether in Soul Power cultivation, combat awareness, or her understanding of her own Martial Souls.
Ordinary guidance was no longer necessary for her. What remained depended more on her own insight, the tempering of time, and breakthroughs gained through genuine life-and-death battles