Elemental Sword Casket, Qian Juechen!

Star Luo Empire, Wind-Gathering Mountains.

Amidst the towering peaks, clouds and mist swirled. Mountain after mountain, as if shaved flat by sharp swords, stood firmly here, and the vegetation on the mountains, swept by the fierce winds, clung tightly to the slopes like surging sword qi moving with the gale.

This was precisely the location of the Wind Sword Sect.

Inside the sect's grand council hall, a golden-haired young man in white was holding a portrait and conversing with the current Wind Sword Sect master, Feng Bailong.

The portrait depicted a kindly old man.

"Uncle, Uncle Fu watched me grow up. After my mother passed away, I was young and left without support. All these years wandering outside, I relied entirely on Uncle Fu to take care of me."

"Now that he has reached the end of his natural life and passed away, according to his dying wish, fallen leaves return to their roots and his soul returns to his homeland, so I brought him back to personally handle his final arrangements."

Wind Sword Sect master Feng Bailong looked at the young man before him, then glanced at the old man in the portrait he held. Unknowing what it brought to mind, he sighed softly.

"Juechen, rest assured, I will properly arrange everything for Uncle Fu. He is a man of our Wind Sword Sect, a meritorious servant of our Wind Sword Sect, and I will not let his incense and ancestral worship be cut off."

Gazing at the portrait before him and the young man beside it, looking at his familiar face, a trace of reminiscence flashed through Feng Bailong's eyes.

Uncle Fu had originally been the steward sent by him to his younger sister when she married. Back then, their Wind Sword Sect surrendered to Spirit Hall, reaching an alliance with them, and his younger sister Feng Qingyao even married the pope of the time, Qian Xunji, becoming the legitimate wife of the Spirit Hall pope.

How prosperous the Wind Sword Sect had been that year, and how magnificent that wedding was.

With Spirit Hall's help, the Wind Sword Sect's influence surged during those years, even faintly showing the momentum to become the head of the lower four sects and rival the upper three sects.

Yet who could have imagined that this dream-like reality would ultimately end in tragedy.

In the very first year of her marriage into Spirit Hall, his sister conceived a child for the Qian family. This should have been a joyous occasion for all, but who could have expected that she would ultimately encounter dystocia during childbirth and tragically pass away.

Fortunately, the Grand Priest at the time summoned the head of the Nine-Hearted Begonia Ye Family, which narrowly protected their only child.

That was Qian Juechen, who now stood before him.

Looking at Qian Juechen before him, a trace of gratification flashed in Feng Bailong's eyes.

Although Qian Juechen did not inherit the Qian family's legacy of the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, missing out on the legendary divine inheritance and the pope's position,

he instead inherited the bloodline of their Wind Sword Sect and, based on the Wind Sword Martial Soul, underwent a beneficial mutation into the extremely special Elemental Sword Casket Martial Soul. With every soul ring absorbed, he could acquire a sword representing an ultimate element from the casket.

Qian Juechen today, counting his age, was barely a little over twenty, yet he had already become a Contra powerhouse standing at the pyramid's apex of the continent, a presence on equal footing with himself.

Such an outstanding child could be considered a comfort to his younger sister's spirit in heaven.

Feng Bailong patted Qian Juechen's shoulder, wishing to dispel the sorrowful atmosphere, and reminisced, "Juechen, the last time you and I met was ten years ago. Back then, Uncle Fu still brought you back to the sect to learn the swordsmanship passed down in our Wind Sword Sect. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed."

"You've already become a Contra powerhouse, and your uncle now is probably no match for you anymore," Feng Bailong said teasingly.

Hearing this, Qian Juechen merely smiled, then waved his hand. "Uncle, your words flatter me too much. How could Juechen ever dare to cross swords with you? All of my swordsmanship was learned from you; how could a disciple possibly win against his master?"

"Cut the act, you brat is still putting on a show for me here. Your uncle is a sect master after all, and I can still analyze the strength between us. You don't need to be modest; the blue comes from the indigo and yet surpasses it—this is what I am happy to see," Feng Bailong scolded with a smile, somewhat displeased by Qian Juechen's feigned modesty.

"So, what is it? Will you continue traveling the continent this time, or are you planning to head back?" Feng Bailong hesitated for a few seconds first, but when he thought of Spirit Hall's current state, he still couldn't help asking.

Head back? Where could he return to? Naturally, it was Spirit Hall.

Qian Juechen knew why his uncle would bring this up; his smile gradually faded, and his expression slowly grew solemn.

Spirit Hall—this name was hardly unfamiliar to him. That was the place where he was born, his home.

Ever since his mother passed away, however, he had left that place for the sake of his own cultivation.

Yet as someone familiar with the plot, before leaving, he had not done nothing either.

He had warned his father Qian Xunji and his grandfather Qian Daoliu more than once, telling them they must be on guard against that woman who had awakened twin martial souls, and that was all he could manage.

At that time, his words carried no weight, and no one would possibly believe them, especially since Bibi Dong back then was an peerless prodigy nurtured by Spirit Hall through countless poured-in resources.

They would never question all their previous decisions and all those years of resource investment simply because of a single remark from him.

Precisely because Qian Juechen knew his younger self lacked the capability to change all this, he chose to leave Spirit Hall and embark on a journey across the continent to seek his own path.

He sought to ensure that in the future, he would have the ability to alter all this and change the trajectory of tomorrow.

Over these dozen years, Qian Juechen had poured nearly all his time into cultivation because his martial soul was far too special.

The Elemental Sword Casket demanded extremely rigorous requirements for soul rings; each soul ring he acquired unlocked an ultimate elemental sword. Thus, over the years, to seek fortuitous encounters related to elemental forces and under the guidance of deities as well, he had traveled to nearly every secret realm across the continent.

Whether it was the southern volcanoes, the northern ice plains, the vast deep sea, or the central deserts—those uninhabited, perilous forbidden zones that ordinary soul masters avoided like the plague—they became the places where he continuously explored and lived over these years.

And it was precisely because of life-and-death battles time and again in these harsh environments, through limit-breaking breakthroughs time and again, that he ultimately completed the initial stage of the Seven-Element Divine Trial.

Fire, water, wind, earth, light, darkness, and space—seven distinct yet interconnected ultimate elemental forces were all completely mastered by him.

As for his Elemental Sword Casket, it had finally unlocked a full seven ultimate elemental swords.

He of the present was long no longer the young child of yesteryear who could only stand before the gates of Spirit Hall and earnestly plead with his father and grandfather.

He was a top-tier powerhouse who controlled the seven ultimate elements, possessed Contra cultivation, and could battle multiple hundred-thousand-year soul beasts with a single person's strength.

Furthermore, before his departure, the deity had already promised him that as long as he could completely master the seven elemental forces before reaching one hundred years of age and successfully break through to rank-99 Limit Douluo, the divine position would belong to him.

Because he possessed sufficient capability and lacked any lingering concerns, Qian Juechen finally decided to conclude this nearly twenty years of wandering and secluded cultivation.

His return this time was twofold: first, to send Uncle Fu back to his roots; second, to return to Spirit Hall and take a look.

Qian Juechen raised his gaze toward Feng Bailong at his side, casting his eyes into the distance, and softly said, "It's time to go back and take a look, to see what Spirit Hall has truly become during these years of my absence."

Feng Bailong, standing beside him, turned stern. He could sense that right after Qian Juechen spoke these words, the sharpness radiating from his body surged alongside a boundless fighting spirit.

Feng Bailong instinctively felt somewhat worried. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Qian Juechen waved him off.

"Uncle, there's no need to worry. Spirit Hall is my home. Qian family blood runs through my veins. My grandfather is the Grand Priest of the Worship Hall, and my father is Pope Qian Xunji. No one in Spirit Hall can defy me now."

As soon as he finished speaking, seven distinct elemental forces surged skyward from Qian Juechen.

The elemental forces were independent yet intertwined, forming a powerful elemental storm above the mountaintop where the Wind Sword Sect's main hall stood.

Feng Bailong felt the aura radiating from Qian Juechen and looked up at the elemental storm. His pupils contracted.

Though he had long known that his nephew's strength was probably no less than his own, he still couldn't help feeling shocked and shaken when he truly sensed it.

Was he really only a Soul Douluo? This oppressive aura was something Feng Bailong had felt only from Titled Douluo like Qian Xunji—and, faintly, it seemed even stronger than the pressure Qian Xunji had given him.

The shock in Feng Bailong's eyes gradually turned to elation. With a nephew like this, how could the Wind Sword Sect's future not prosper?

Just as Juechen had said, he was the only grandson of the current Grand Priest, Qian Daoliu, and the only male heir of the Qian family. He bore the great responsibility of carrying on the Qian family bloodline.

What kind of expression would the Grand Priest wear when he saw how much his grandson had changed?

And that madwoman in the Papal Palace, too—it was time she gave up the position that belonged to Juechen and returned it to him!