Angel Descent, Spirit Hall's Reward

"Xiao Xue, hold Grandpa's hand tightly. We're teleporting over."

Qian Daoliu lowered his head and looked at his granddaughter, a complicated look in his eyes.

"All right, Grandpa."

She blinked her large eyes as she spoke and tightened her grip on her grandfather's sleeve.

The gentle halo radiating from Qian Daoliu gradually intensified as he drew forth a special power from the Angel Statue in the Worship Hall behind him.

Following some mysterious connection, a Light Gate appeared before them.

"Qian Jun, I'll leave the Worship Hall in your care for a while."

After he stepped through the Light Gate, Qian Daoliu's voice lingered in the air.

"Rest assured, Big Brother."

Even though the Light Gate had already closed, Qian Jun Douluo still solemnly thumped his chest.

Inside the spacious hall, Salas stood in respectful silence, showing not the slightest impatience.

Suddenly, he seemed to sense something. He snapped his head up and looked toward the majestic Angel Mural that covered an entire wall.

Gentle light radiated from the mural. The enormous angel seemed to come alive, exquisite and magnificent, like a deity descending into the mortal world.

Hum!

A faint hum reverberated through the room as an oval Light Gate slowly unfolded before the angel's image.

"This!"

Salas was too astonished to speak. He had known that the Worship Hall might send someone, but he had never imagined that they would arrive in such an extraordinary fashion.

A middle-aged man wearing simple yet elegant white robes stepped out of the Light Gate. He appeared to be only in his forties, yet his weathered, storied eyes told anyone who saw him that he was an elder tempered by time and rich in wisdom.

With his left hand, he held the hand of a little girl who looked no more than six years old.

"Greetings, Worshipper."

Salas stepped forward and bowed. He only knew that everyone in the Worship Hall was at least a Super Douluo; he did not know precisely who its members were. Thus, he addressed anyone who came from there as a Worshipper.

Naturally, Qian Daoliu did not put on airs or announce his status as the Great Enshrined. He merely nodded and spoke calmly.

"Rise. Where is the theory?"

Salas hurriedly presented Tang Shan's theory with both hands.

"Arrange a room for me."

Qian Daoliu was in no hurry to read it. Instead, he first had Salas arrange accommodations.

"As you command. Then I shall take my leave."

Only after seeing Qian Daoliu nod did he withdraw.

From beginning to end, he never asked who the little girl beside the Worshipper was. He knew his boundaries, even though he already had a vague suspicion about her identity.

Qian Renxue had remained silent as well. Her mother's coldness throughout her childhood had affected her personality. Things were better in the Worship Hall, where all the grandfathers had watched her grow up, allowing her to show some of her natural childishness. Outside, however, she instinctively put on a mask, trying to distance herself from everyone else.

Once Salas had withdrawn, Qian Daoliu simply sat cross-legged on the floor and drew his granddaughter into his arms.

"Xiao Xue, let's take a look at this unusual martial soul theory together."

Little Qian Renxue pursed her lips and curiously turned her attention to the bold, elegant handwriting.

"Does the age of the soul rings a soul master can absorb really depend on their physical condition, Grandpa?"

After reading the entire theory, Qian Renxue asked curiously.

"It should indeed have quite a lot to do with physical condition."

Qian Daoliu's gaze was calm. This theory was certainly unusual. It clarified some vague ideas he had accumulated over all his years of cultivation.

"Then, Grandpa, should I train my body as it suggests, so I can absorb older soul rings?"

The anticipation in Qian Renxue's voice left little doubt about her intentions.

If I can achieve a thousand-year second ring, or even a thousand-year first ring, surely I'll catch that woman's attention.

"There's no need to train."

Qian Daoliu dashed his granddaughter's hopes without hesitation. Seeing the disappointment on her delicate little face, he could not resist rubbing her head.

"My dear granddaughter, you've missed the point of this theory. Its focus was never physical training, but the relationship between physical condition and the age of the soul rings one can absorb. In other words, as long as your physical condition improves, you can absorb soul rings beyond the usual age limit, even without training."

As Qian Renxue's expression brightened, a gentle smile appeared on Qian Daoliu's face.

"Your Grandpa Qian Jun was right. Even though god trials can increase the age of your soul rings, the better your foundation, the greater the benefits afterward. And your grandpa has no shortage of ways to strengthen your body."

As he spoke, a slight flicker passed through Qian Daoliu's eyes. Turning his hand over, he produced a soul bone shaped like a human left leg, radiating a sacred aura.

"Xiao Xue, this is one of the pieces of Angel God Armor passed down through our Angel Clan. It is a soul bone ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years old. Once you absorb it, the improvement to your physique will be enough for you to withstand a Thousand-Year Soul Ring."

Faced with such an enormous temptation, Qian Renxue instead grew calm.

"Grandpa, didn't you say I would absorb the skull bone? Why has it become a limb bone?"

"Ah! Xiao Xue, have you really thought this through? With your innate level 20 talent, if you devoted yourself to cultivation, you could likely become a Soul Saint before twenty without much trouble. Why insist on coming to the Heaven Dou Empire for this scheme to replace the crown prince?"

"Grandpa, I'm not doing this for Spirit Hall. I know that once I become a god, no one will be able to stop me. However brilliant Spirit Hall's plans might be, they will be nothing but a sideshow before my future power. I just want to prove to that woman that I will surpass her by far, in every way."

Her delicate face was taut, her eyes filled with unshakable determination and resolve.

Watching his granddaughter radiate such coldness, Qian Daoliu opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. Helplessly, he could only exchange the soul bone for another.

It was a complete skull bone, resembling a miniature skull. Yet the bright, sacred aura it emitted made it seem not frightening, but solemn and majestic.

Just then, a soft knock came from outside, followed by Salas's report.

"Worshipper, your room is ready. Is there anything else you require of me?"

Qian Daoliu rose and pushed open the door, giving a slight nod to Salas, who stood respectfully awaiting his instructions.

"Lead the way. Once we reach the room, you may withdraw. There's no need to attend to us; simply carry out your usual duties. We will leave on our own once our business is finished. Until then, act as though we aren't here."

"As you command." Salas glanced at the theory in Qian Daoliu's hand, hesitating to speak.

Noticing his gaze, Qian Daoliu realized that he had yet to explain how the theory should be handled—whether it should be classified as core Spirit Hall material or actively circulated.

"Publish this theory in our Spirit Hall's Martial Soul Daily. Award its creator ten thousand Gold Soul Coins."

After respectfully acknowledging Qian Daoliu's instructions, Salas led the way.

Thinking about the martial soul theory, then looking at the granddaughter whose hand he held, Qian Daoliu's expression grew oddly strange.

He had to admit that his granddaughter was much like her mother. One had disregarded both the debt she owed Spirit Hall for taking her in and raising her and her duties as its Holy Maiden, insisting on falling in love with a castoff from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan who could not even get his theories right;

The other disregarded her extraordinary talent, wanting to become the Heaven Dou Crown Prince to prove that she was better than her mother.

Both had every advantage, yet refused the proper, straightforward path and insisted on taking crooked routes.

Fortunately, Xiao Xue would at worst waste some of her talent. She probably would not follow in her mother's footsteps.

Looking at the theory in his hand, Qian Daoliu could not help chuckling at his own thoughts.

Surely Xiao Xue wouldn't be swept away by someone who studied martial soul theory, just like her mother. How could that happen?

After seeing a martial soul theory of this caliber, he refused to believe that Xiao Xue could be fooled by anyone else's "martial soul theories."

As for the scholar publishing the Three Theories of Martial Souls, whatever else might be said about them, they had to be at least thirty. Otherwise, such an achievement would be impossible. Was someone going to tell him that a child around Xiao Xue's age had developed this theory? Impossible, unscientific, and utterly unrealistic...

"Fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three..."

Sitting cross-legged on the ground with his short little legs folded beneath him, Tang Shan watched with great interest as his older brother struggled through another burpee. By now, Su Yuntao's clothes were completely soaked with sweat, and tiny grains of salt dotted his exposed skin. Clearly, his sweat had dried and soaked him again repeatedly before leaving those grains behind.

In Tang Shan's previous life, burpees had been hailed as a miraculous fat-burning exercise. Forget ten—even after five, an ordinary person could clearly feel their heart pounding faster and the blood rushing through their entire body.

That was why the exercise had earned its fat-burning reputation.

Sweating while blood circulation accelerated combined internal and external processes, dramatically boosting metabolism and naturally causing weight to drop rapidly.

Of course, Su Yuntao was not doing burpees to lose weight, but to train his whole-body coordination.

It looked like nothing more than a combination of squats, frog jumps, and push-ups, but its combined effect far surpassed doing a hundred repetitions of each exercise separately.

With Su Yuntao's current physique, doing a hundred uninterrupted repetitions of each of those three exercises would only make him break a sweat. Yet just over fifty burpees had already brought him close to exhaustion.

Bang!

The loud crash of the door interrupted Su Yuntao's movements. He could not spare a thought for who had made such a racket, nor did he care whether the floor was clean. He simply flopped onto the ground and gasped for breath.

Tang Shan looked toward the sound and saw Su Haichao burst in excitedly. At the sight, the sharp-minded Tang Shan's eyes lit up.

"Dad, did it work?"

When Su Haichao nodded without hesitation, Tang Shan could not help clenching his fists. Judging from his father's expression, the rewards had to be substantial. His future looked promising. With enough resources to get started, the rest would depend on his own efforts.

"Spirit Hall gave us ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. I've already sent people out in secret to look for information on thousand-year whale rubber. We should have something before long."

Hearing this, Tang Shan was a little surprised. "Dad, aren't you going to get some whale rubber for yourself?"

Su Haichao shook his head. "Shanzi, at the end of the day, this is money you earned yourself. Your older brother is lucky that you're willing to spend it on him. As your father, how could I spend my own son's money? Most importantly, I'm about to break through to Soul Ancestor. A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring comes with the soul beast's Soul Shock, so a ten-thousand-year fourth ring is clearly impossible. Rather than waste thousand-year whale rubber to add a few hundred years to my soul ring, I'd be better off saving the money for your future cultivation resources."

P.S. Thanks to readers 52HERTZ929 and DR True Red K for the recommendation votes. Please point out any typos you find.