The Loyal Ci Xue and She Long

Smack!

Dai Yan had barely finished speaking when another slap struck her left cheek, leaving a handprint.

"You wretch! Apologize to the Young Hall Master!"

Dai Weisi groaned inwardly. His foolish sister nearly made him spit blood from sheer frustration.

Clearly, Dai Yan had taken none of his earlier warnings to heart.

After slapping Dai Yan, Dai Weisi did not wait for her response. He stepped forward, placed one hand against his chest, bowed slightly, and offered a noble's salute.

"Young Hall Master, I am Dai Weisi, eldest prince of the Star Luo Empire.

"We meant no harm. My younger sister's upbringing has been lax, and she offended you without thinking.

"I am willing to offer one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Please be magnanimous and let this matter pass."

As a member of the imperial family, Dai Weisi ordinarily had no need to be so courteous to Qian Zong. But Qian Zong had accused them of attempted assassination, leaving him no choice but to lower his head.

More importantly, Dai Weisi had only just noticed that Qian Zong was injured, while Dai Yan had attacked with the intention of crippling him.

What was more, his family's Soul Douluo had indeed injured Qian Zong in their clash. Soul Masters from every faction present had witnessed it.

With Qian Zong branding them assassins now, they had no way to explain themselves.

It was like yellow mud falling into their trousers—no explanation would make it look clean.

If they refused to yield, Qian Zong and his party would have every reason to arrest them.

Dai Weisi did not believe a place as important as the Martial Soul Library lacked powerful guardians.

Their best hope was to make a great matter small, then make a small matter disappear.

But would Qian Zong really let them off so easily?

Obviously not.

"Good! Very good! You dare treat an attempt on my life as a joke.

"Star Luo Empire, let me see who gave you the courage to provoke Spirit Hall."

Giving Dai Weisi no chance to object, Qian Zong pinned the accusation on them and gave the order.

"Ling Yuan, go all out. Cripple them."

Countless Soul Masters were present to witness the incident. Once fighting broke out and the Star Luo Empire's guilt was established, word that its princess had openly insulted and attempted to assassinate the Spirit Hall Young Hall Master inside the Martial Soul Library would spread across the continent within half a month.

Then Spirit Hall would have a righteous cause to send troops against the Star Luo Empire.

Even if the so-called Upper Three Sects dared intervene, they could simply turn a deaf ear—let the turtles chant their scriptures—then march their entire army in and settle everything after the battle.

As for Spirit Hall losing?

That was simply impossible.

It was only because Spirit Hall's current leadership lacked ambition and had minds that hardly worked like normal people's. Otherwise, neither the empires nor the Upper Three Sects would still have a place.

"Sixth Soul Skill: Thunderclap Blast!"

Ling Yuan had once been a lone operator, carrying out Spirit Hall missions by herself. She had never faced a situation where she had to protect someone and fight at the same time while lacking the strength to do both. Her frustration had been building with nowhere to go.

At Qian Zong's command, she stopped thinking and unleashed her sixth Soul Skill.

Purple lightning gathered in Ling Yuan's palm, forming a ball of light half as tall as a person that hovered in the air.

Crackling thunder rang through the Library. Ling Yuan aimed at the Star Luo Empire party and thrust her hand forward.

The ball of light shot toward them like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

"Fourth Soul Skill: Rock Shield: Eternal Ruins!"

Wei Cang's Martial Soul was the Black-Armored Giant Rhino. He was a level eighty-three defense-type battle Soul Douluo.

When he released his fourth Soul Skill, a stone shield covered in rhinoceros-armor patterns appeared before him.

Purple lightning struck the shield, broke into arcs, and dispersed with a roar.

A huge crack opened in the shield, which looked on the verge of shattering.

Yet moments later, the crack vanished.

Wei Cang had likely repaired the shield with Soul Power.

Ling Yuan's luck is terrible. She ran straight into someone who counters her. She can't fight him at all. Qian Zong stared, speechless.

Ling Yuan's Martial Soul was fire-attributed, and its flames were normally red.

But as Soul Power gathered, the red flames grew hotter and transformed into purple flames.

Their intense heat could ionize the air, producing arcs of electricity the same color as the flames. Thus, Ling Yuan's Martial Soul possessed the power of lightning as well as fire.

The Soul Beasts whose rings Ling Yuan had acquired were also lightning-attributed, giving her attacks and piercing power far beyond those of an ordinary Soul Douluo.

But the man before her possessed an earth-attributed defensive Beast Martial Soul. It insulated against heat, did not conduct electricity, and boasted formidable defense.

Against him, Ling Yuan's attacks were weakened considerably.

"You still dare resist? None of you will leave here alive today!"

Qian Zong had hoped Ling Yuan would put on a show before the various factions and bolster Spirit Hall's reputation. Instead, she had run into someone who countered her abilities.

To keep Spirit Hall's prestige from suffering, Qian Zong hesitated no longer. He pointed at the Star Luo Empire party and ordered:

"Attack. Cripple them."

Now that he was Qian Daoliu's grandson, it would be a waste of the title not to act a little arrogant.

Boom!

The moment Qian Zong finished speaking, two Titled Douluo emerged from the third floor, stepping through empty air. They stood above the atrium and looked down on everyone in the Library.

Their overwhelming presence swept across the hall like towering waves, making even the air tremble.

"T-Titled... Douluo!"

Dai Weisi swallowed. Terror crossed his face, and he instinctively took half a step back.

He had guessed the Library had powerful guardians, but he had never imagined they were Titled Douluo.

And there were two of them.

The expressions of Chu Yan, Zhu Chen, Wei Cang, and Su Yu changed drastically. All four Soul Douluo felt their muscles twitch.

Against two Titled Douluo, they had no chance of resisting.

They could not even escape.

This disaster had grown far beyond their control.

Titled Douluo stood at the pinnacle of Soul Master cultivation, recognized across the continent as its strongest fighters. Each could hold back an army of ten thousand.

An ordinary Soul Master might never see one in a lifetime.

Yet today, two had appeared at once.

"Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

"Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

On both the first and second floors, onlookers from every faction straightened and bowed when the Titled Douluo appeared.

Some even dropped to both knees and bowed their heads to the floor.

"I've never seen either of them. Who are these two Excellencies?"

"Two unfamiliar faces? Could they be newly appointed Elders of Spirit Hall?"

"That's... Porcupinefish Douluo and Snake Lance Douluo. They vanished more than twenty years ago. I never expected to see them again here."

"No, I must report to the sect master at once. Two Titled Douluo guard the Martial Soul Library. We cannot take it by force."

The two Titled Douluo who had appeared were Ci Xue and She Long.

After taking on the duty of protecting Qian Renxue, the two had all but vanished from the Soul Master World. Aside from Soul Masters of their generation, no one recognized them.

Some even took them for newly promoted Titled Douluo.

But the Martial Soul Library had become a melting pot, packed with people from every major faction and countless unaffiliated Soul Masters. Quite a few older visitors recognized Ci Xue and She Long.

"I am Chu Yan, a guard of the Star Luo Imperial Family. Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

"I am Zhu Chen, a guard of the Star Luo Imperial Family. Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

"I am Wei Cang, a guard of the Star Luo Imperial Family. Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

"I am Su Yu, a guard of the Star Luo Imperial Family. Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

The four Soul Douluo had lost all their earlier arrogance. Every one of them lowered his head and bowed.

Ci Xue and She Long never once gave the Star Luo Empire party a proper look. After hovering in the air for a moment, they flew to Qian Zong's side.

Then they dropped to one knee, placed one hand before themselves, and saluted.

"Greetings, Young Hall Master!"

Given their seniority and standing, neither man needed to kneel even before the Pope.

But the person before them held a status far beyond the Pope's.

They had spent so long clawing their way up from the bottom that they knew exactly how to read a situation.

At a moment like this, if kneeling would help, the sooner they knelt, the better.