A Man's Words Are Lies

"As for this Immortal Herb Catalog..." Qian Jun looked somewhat embarrassed. Asking a junior for it truly left him unable to open his mouth.

"First Master, just take it. I've already memorized it by heart." Qin Xuan smiled.

"Mm." Douluo Qian Jun nodded slowly and went along with it. "Take Jing Ni back and rest for the night first. The room on the top floor has always been kept for you. Someone cleans it every day. Later, I'll discuss it with the Grand Worship and arrange new opponents for you tomorrow."

Qin Xuan nodded, then seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "Oh, right, First Master, didn't you ask me to find a way to create a sword technique like Second Master's, one that can complete Martial Soul Fusion with you? I've figured it out now."

"Is that true?" Douluo Qian Jun's eyes instantly lit up, but when he thought of the Immortal Herb Catalog in his hands, he still suppressed his impatience.

Before Spirit Hall's interests, such personal gains and losses meant nothing.

Besides, there was plenty of time. Even if they completed Martial Soul Fusion and found an opportunity for a breakthrough, it was not something that could be achieved in a day or two. He had already waited so long; what was another day or two?

"There's plenty of time. Let's wait until you finish the matches tomorrow. Jing Ni's belly is quite large already. The child surviving after you took her through Hell Road can be called a miracle. Get some proper rest tonight."

"Also, the killing intent in both of your bodies needs to settle. Otherwise, when you travel the Soul Master world in the future, that uncontrollable killing intent could easily expose your whereabouts and place you in danger."

After taking Qin Xuan and Jing Ni to the fourth floor of the Elder Hall and arranging rooms for them, Douluo Qian Jun impatiently headed toward the room behind the main doors at the center of the Elder Hall.

He was most likely going to find Qian Daoliu and report Qin Xuan's situation, as well as the matter of the Immortal Herb Catalog.

The rooms for worship-level members were enormous, nearly a thousand square meters in total, and exceptionally spacious and bright.

Though it was called a room, it would not be wrong to call it a suite.

There was a hundred-square-meter living room, three bedrooms of roughly a hundred square meters each, and the master bedroom even had its own bathroom. There was also a shared bathroom, a kitchen, and an enormous cultivation room for secluded training.

It had been specially equipped for Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo elders. The facilities inside were comprehensive, all fitted with Soul Tools rarely seen in the outside world. The worships' residences were of the highest grade and lacked nothing. Their living arrangements were no worse than the Pope's.

Qin Xuan had grown up in Spirit Hall and had lived here before, so he had long become accustomed to it. After arranging a bedroom for Jing Ni, he returned to the living room, relaxed his taut nerves for once, and lay down on the soft sofa.

Jing Ni came out of the room and sighed. "The facilities in this Elder Hall are truly luxurious. Compared to this, the palaces where the seven kings of high status lived in our world were nothing."

With his hands behind his head, Qin Xuan shifted into a more comfortable position. "This is the Elder Hall that represents the highest combat power of the continent's number one Soul Master organization. Other than special cases like me, which one of them isn't a powerful Titled Douluo?"

Jing Ni asked, "Is it really all right to hand over such a precious Immortal Herb Catalog?"

While they had been traveling, Qin Xuan had told her about the Icefire Yin Yang Well.

"If that place were so easy to discover, it would have been found long ago. It wouldn't have existed for tens of thousands of years."

"But you don't seem happy here. You even seem as though you're walking on thin ice." Jing Ni sat beside Qin Xuan. He naturally shifted his head over and rested it on her lap, gently stroking her round, swollen belly.

"You could tell?" Qin Xuan sat up.

Jing Ni nodded. "Mm. These past few days by your side, I've seen all sorts of people in this world. There is no shortage of thieves, criminals, murderers, and robbers, but there is one thing: they do not possess overly deep schemes or calculations. What they have more of is a pride that comes from their bones. The stronger they are, the more so it is."

"Your teacher did not doubt the things you said downstairs just now. He did not even intend to verify them. If those words had reached the ears of some capable people in high positions in our world, they would have been full of flaws and quickly exposed."

Qin Xuan sighed softly. "That hits the mark. When those in high positions possess power that can disregard armies, they gradually lose themselves in that power and only worship the strength in their hands. They disdain conspiracies and tricks, and even if they use them, they do so terribly."

"The result is that when such a person in power encounters an enemy skilled in scheming who also happens to possess strength, even if that enemy is not particularly cunning, it is still easy for them to lead that ruler's faction onto the path of destruction."

Upon hearing this, Jing Ni instantly fell silent. After a long while, she suddenly raised her beautiful eyes and looked directly at Qin Xuan. "Actually, if there is anything you need, you can ask that teacher of yours for help. I can tell that his feelings for you are not false."

Qin Xuan neither confirmed nor denied it. "They are indeed not false, and I know his kindness toward me is genuine. He sincerely treats me as his disciple. But compared with a disciple he took in halfway through like me, he is more loyal to Spirit Hall. Loyal to the Angel Lineage. And the Pope is the current heir of the Angel Lineage."

"Do you have a conflict with the Pope?" Jing Ni asked in surprise.

As far as she knew, the Pope was Spirit Hall's highest ruler on the surface. Other than the seven great worships, even those Titled Douluo elders had to obey his orders.

Qin Xuan was the disciple of a worship, possessed exceptional talent, and was hailed within Spirit Hall as a genius second only to Saintess Bibi Dong.

The Pope should have held great expectations for such a rising talent.

Could it be because Qin Xuan had threatened the position of the Pope's disciple, the first in line to inherit the papacy?

"Mm." As Qin Xuan spoke, he explained why he had entered Slaughter City.

After listening, Jing Ni fell silent once more. Sure enough, no matter the world, there was no shortage of ugly human hearts.

That man had actually lusted after his own disciple's body.

"If it were the leader of your Web, what would he do if he heard that I had returned?" Qin Xuan wrapped an arm around Jing Ni, his hand beginning to wander over her body.

Though Jing Ni felt somewhat uncomfortable, she did not stop him and answered decisively, "You would not have returned. He would have sent someone to kill you on the way to Slaughter City."

Qin Xuan smiled. "But Qian Xunji is not the leader of your Web. Though he is stronger than your leader and his heart is filthy enough, he lacks the corresponding means to command others."

"He has the strength of a Titled Douluo, the status of heir to the Angel Clan, and a Peerless Douluo father who is invincible in the sky."

"He sits firmly on the throne of Spirit Hall's Pope entirely because of those factors."

"If I had not wanted to marry Saintess Bibi Dong, he would not even have paid attention to a minor figure like me."

"In his eyes, only Titled Douluo are qualified to catch his attention."