An Encounter with the Two Generals, Return to Spirit City

After about an hour, Qian Xunzong successfully converted the energy contained within the Thirty Thousand Year Soul Ring. Three Soul Rings—purple, black, and black—circled around him, while Soul Power surged through his body.

"Haha, excellent! Purple, black, black for your first three Soul Rings—you're the first in the continent's history! How do you feel?"

Hearing this, Qian Xunzong clenched his fist. "I feel great. That Radiant Light Sword Dragon Beast gave me a powerful single-target soul skill called Radiant Light Judgment Slash. Its power is extremely formidable. And my Soul Power has now reached level thirty-seven in one leap."

"Level thirty-seven?" Qian Daoliu was somewhat surprised, but after thinking it over, he found nothing too unusual about it. After all, the Soul Power boost brought by a Five Thousand Year Soul Ring, a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, and a Thirty Thousand Year Soul Ring was an enormous amount of energy for a Soul Elder.

"Yeah, but my Soul Power seems to be denser than usual. Otherwise, I feel like even reaching Soul Ancestor wouldn't have been a problem."

Hearing this, Qian Daoliu stepped forward and placed a hand on Qian Xunzong's shoulder. After roughly three breaths, he lowered his hand and said, "Not bad. Your Soul Power is indeed exceptionally pure. It must be the Angel God's blessing taking effect."

Upon hearing Qian Daoliu's words, Qian Xunzong's mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes inwardly. Tch, what does this have to do with the Angel God? I already paid my respects to her, and all she gave me was a blessing. Nothing practical at all... terrible review!

Just then, a strange radiance emanated from the Radiant Light Sword Dragon Beast's body. Energy gradually flowed from its left arm before finally forming a golden Soul Bone.

"Oh, pretty lucky. You even got a Soul Bone."

Qian Xunzong was just about to raise his hand and take the Soul Bone when a flash of golden light suddenly streaked toward him. He sidestepped it. There was no killing intent behind the attack; it had merely been meant to stop him. Qian Xunzong looked toward its source.

The Jade Balance Xiejing Beast also looked in that direction. "Awoo~"

Two figures emerged from the nearby woods. One wore a golden brocade robe, his features as alluring as peach blossoms. When he smiled, the corners of his eyes curved into gentle arcs. The fragrance of plants and trees lingered around him, and he was as refined as jade, almost like a woman.

The other was clad in black robes. The exposed half of his face had hard, cold lines marked by dark patterns, while his eyes were as deep as frigid pools. An icy aura that warned strangers away radiated from him, wild and untamable.

"Who are you? Why are you stopping me?"

Qian Daoliu also looked at the two men and saw through their cultivation with a single glance. "These two should be around twenty years old. Both have only just entered the Soul King level. They can be considered two little geniuses..."

The young man in the pale brocade robe stepped forward, looked at Qian Xunzong, and said with a smile:

"Little brother, don't misunderstand. I'm Yue Guan, and this is my friend, Gui Mei. We'd like to make a deal with you. Might I ask your name, little brother?"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei, Spirit Hall's Two Generals!!

Qian Xunzong smiled. He hadn't expected to run into these two oddballs. It was quite a coincidence.

"Oh, I'm Qian Xunzong. What kind of deal do you want to make? Let's hear it."

Hearing this, Yue Guan was about to speak when he suddenly felt someone tugging on his clothes. Turning around, he saw Gui Mei's grave expression as he urgently urged, "Chrysanthemum Guan, hurry and leave!"

Yue Guan followed Gui Mei's gaze and met Qian Daoliu's eyes directly. In that instant, his soul shuddered violently, as though he had glimpsed an incomparably sacred and terrifying existence. Enormous waves rose in his heart.

When did this man get here? We didn't sense even the slightest trace of his presence just now. An expert—an expert far beyond us... Run!!

"Little brother, this was all a misunderstanding. My brother and I will take our leave at once. Farewell!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yue Guan and Gui Mei turned to flee, but Qian Xunzong chuckled. "Don't be in such a hurry. I'm rather curious about this deal you mentioned..."

The moment his words fell, a wave of pressure descended directly upon the two men, leaving them unable to move their feet. They turned and saw Qian Daoliu slowly approaching. Gui Mei hurriedly said:

"Please forgive us, Senior. We two juniors had absolutely no malicious intentions. We can compensate the young master for our earlier offense..."

Qian Xunzong looked at the two with a faint smile and said to Qian Daoliu, "Dad, let's hear them out. If what they say isn't any good, it won't be too late to kill them afterward."

Hearing this, Qian Daoliu nodded, and the pressure immediately vanished. Yue Guan and Gui Mei instantly felt the weight lift from them and let out breaths of relief. They exchanged bitter smiles and no longer dared to run.

"Speak. What do you two mean? If you dare lie..."

Hearing Qian Daoliu's words, Gui Mei gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and clasped his hands toward Qian Daoliu.

"Please forgive us, Senior. We had just obtained our fifth Soul Rings and were passing through this place when we discovered that Soul Bone. Greed overtook us, and we wished to make a deal with your esteemed son to exchange for it. It was all this junior's idea. I beg Senior to spare my friend."

Hearing Gui Mei's words, Yue Guan was startled and hurriedly stepped forward. "Senior, this has nothing to do with Gui Mei. My martial soul has the light attribute, so I was the one who grew greedy for this Soul Bone. If you wish to kill us, then kill us both..."

"Yue Guan, I fucking **..."

"Heh, the two of you are quite devoted to each other..." Qian Daoliu said indifferently. Then he looked at Qian Xunzong. "I'll take a look around the area. Handle this yourself."

"Sure thing, Dad."

With that, Qian Daoliu's figure flashed and vanished. Gui Mei and Yue Guan immediately breathed sighs of relief, their backs soaked with sweat. The pressure Qian Daoliu had brought them was simply too great.

Yet even after Qian Daoliu left, neither man dared act rashly. They merely looked at Qian Xunzong. Qian Xunzong smiled, then walked forward and took the Soul Bone into his hand.

"A left arm bone from the Radiant Light Sword Dragon Beast. It contains its offensive methods and possesses a dense light attribute. It would be greatly beneficial to light-attributed soul masters."

Then Qian Xunzong gestured toward the two with the Soul Bone and smiled. "Want it?"

"No, no, no..." Yue Guan hurriedly waved his hands. The Soul Bone seemed like a burning-hot potato to him. How could he dare take it? This thing was deadly.

"Don't be like that. I already said I wanted to hear about your deal. Go on, tell me. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll let you go." Qian Xunzong leaned against the Radiant Light Sword Dragon Beast's corpse, smiling.

Hearing this, Yue Guan took a deep breath and said:

"Young Master, we originally intended to make an exchange with you. You look quite young, and although the two of us are weak, we've had decent luck and possess Soul King-level cultivation. We were willing to help you hunt your future Soul Rings. With our combined strength, we're confident that we could kill even a twenty-thousand-year soul beast.

"So we intended to use that in exchange for the Soul Bone."

"Oh? Then why didn't you just kill me and take it? Wouldn't the Soul Bone have ended up in your hands that way?" Qian Xunzong was somewhat curious. After all, Soul Bones were treasures born from rivers of blood. Killing and robbing others for treasure was perfectly normal.

"Uh... we did consider that, but seeing that you were only six or seven years old, we couldn't bring ourselves to do it."

Yue Guan added inwardly, We also had no idea you had such a powerful father!

Hearing Yue Guan's words, Qian Xunzong put on a look of sudden realization. "Oh~ So my young age saved my life."

Yue Guan and Gui Mei smiled awkwardly, but Qian Xunzong's next words nearly scared them to death.

"However, I'm not very satisfied with this deal. If I hadn't been young, I probably would've died already. I still don't want to let you go."

Hearing this, Gui Mei quickly said, "Young Master, the two of us are willing to compensate you. As long as it is something we possess, we will not refuse."

"Do you think I'd lack whatever little things you have?"

That was true. His father was an expert far beyond them, so his foundations had to be immense. How could he possibly care about their paltry scraps?

"Still, since neither of you hurt me just now, I'll give you two choices. First, stay here and feed the soul beasts. Second, from today onward, you two will follow me as my subordinates and obey my orders. Choose."

"Two! We choose two!!" The two men, their desire to survive at its peak, answered at once.

"A wise choice." Qian Xunzong snapped his fingers and said, "Then follow me."

"Yes, Young Master." The two exchanged bitter smiles. Not only had they failed to obtain the Soul Bone, they had even sold themselves into service.

"Dad, it's settled. Let's go." Qian Xunzong called out to the surroundings. The next second, Qian Daoliu appeared beside him. He glanced at Gui Mei and Yue Guan standing behind Qian Xunzong, and the two hastily forced flattering smiles.

"Alright, let's go."