At the sound of that name, everyone turned their gaze toward him.
They, too, wanted to know what was so special about this child who enjoyed the privilege of holding hands with Her Holiness the Pope.
Miles folded his arms, his face full of anticipation for a good show.
Raine sneered, his eyes brimming with contempt.
Neither believed Shi Meng could awaken some heaven-defying Martial Soul.
Shi Meng walked into the Hexagram Array and glanced back at Bibi Dong and Hu Liena on the raised platform.
Seeing them both watching him, their eyes filled with encouragement and trust, he smiled.
Because he knew this was a guaranteed win.
After all, he was the Herrscher of Temporal Sequence.
As a Herrscher, there was no way his Martial Soul would be weak.
Mortals, prepare yourselves for a dimensionality-reduction strike.
Just then, the Hexagram Array lit up, and a beam of light poured into Shi Meng's body.
Everyone stared fixedly at Shi Meng.
What Martial Soul would this child, favored by both the Pope and the Holy Maiden, awaken?
As the light poured into Shi Meng's body, a blue flame rose from his palm before everyone's eyes.
What kind of fire was that?!
Everyone sensed how unusual the flame in Shi Meng's hand was.
Its color was incredibly deep, like a tranquil ocean abyss, yet also like a flowing starry sky.
They had never seen a flame like it.
"Tch. All smoke and mirrors."
Raine's face was plastered with disdain.
Yet in the next instant, those flames suddenly swished into a clock hand as long as a palm.
Everyone froze at the sight.
A hand?
A clock hand?
They had seen people awaken clocks, but never clock hands.
Wasn't that a little too absurd?
Someone below the platform immediately failed to hold their tongue.
"A hand? His Martial Soul is... a clock hand?"
"How do you fight with that thing? Do you set the time for your opponent before a fight? Tell them their time's up?"
"I could do that myself. If I took apart the alarm clock at home, could I use a piece as my Martial Soul too?"
A ripple of quiet laughter rose around them.
Seeing this Martial Soul, Raine and Miles were amused as well.
"And here I thought it would be some peerless Martial Soul. Turns out it's just a clock part. Shi Meng, will you have to check the time before every fight?"
"A clock-hand Martial Soul is unheard of. Something must have gone wrong with the awakening-all spectacle, no substance."
"Your Holiness, I'm afraid a Martial Soul like this hardly belongs in distinguished company."
Yet on the raised platform, Bibi Dong did not so much as glance at Miles and his son.
Her gaze rested solely on the clock hand in Shi Meng's palm. Far from disappointment, her eyes held an expression no one else could understand.
Up on the platform, the chrysanthemum fell straight out of Chrysanthemum Douluo's hand.
"Your Holiness... this Martial Soul..."
Bibi Dong gave a slight nod.
"Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking... he's back."
Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo exchanged a glance, both shaken to their cores.
They had never imagined that Time Douluo, who had once single-handedly fought twenty-two Titled Douluos from Spirit Hall and even wounded Qian Daoliu, would now reappear in the world as a six-year-old child.
But from the look of him, he seemed not to remember any of those past events.
Inside Spirit Hall's Worship Hall.
Qian Daoliu and several enshrined elders opened their eyes, all looking toward Spirit Hall's plaza.
"Elder Brother, this aura..." Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression changed, and he hurriedly turned to Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu's expression changed as well.
"Yes, he's back..."
"Then what should we do?!"
"Exactly! We offended Bibi Dong so badly back then. Has he come back to settle accounts with us?"
Many of the elders recalled the terror of that day, when Time Douluo had held them completely at his mercy.
What they did not know was that, although Shi Meng was still absurdly overpowered after his "rebirth," all he wanted now was to live off a woman.
Qian Daoliu waved a hand.
"Stay calm. For over a decade, we haven't touched so much as an autumn hair of Bibi Dong's. He probably won't do anything to us again."
"We simply don't know what he intends by returning this time..."
A flicker of doubt crossed Qian Daoliu's eyes.
Light Feather Douluo stepped forward.
"Great Enshrined, why not let me sound him out?"
Qian Daoliu glanced at him and pondered for a moment before nodding.
"Very well. Be careful."
Back at Spirit Hall's plaza.
Shi Meng paid little heed to the voices around him. Looking at the clock hand in his own hand, he was somewhat surprised too.
Not the Herrscher of Temporal Sequence's weapon, the Key of Ascension, but that Hour and Minute Hand of hers instead?
Well, damn. Seriously, damn.
System, are you sure you didn't ship the wrong item?
The tip of the clock hand turned silently in Shi Meng's grasp.
With every turn, the air around it underwent an exceedingly subtle distortion.
In the Spirit Hall Academy stands, Xie Yue felt an overwhelming pressure!
He felt his own Martial Soul bowing in submission to Shi Meng's!
What kind of Martial Soul was this?!
It was not just him. Many wielders of tool-type Martial Souls present, from ordinary Soul Masters to powerful Titled Douluos, felt a pressure that reached deep into their souls.
It was as though their Martial Souls were kneeling before Shi Meng's and declaring themselves his subjects!
"What exactly is this Martial Soul? Why is mine submitting to him?"
"Blue flames? A clock hand? Does Spirit Hall have any record of a Martial Soul like this?"
"No. I've never even heard of it."
"A disciple taken in by Her Holiness really is extraordinary."
Mortals, this is a Herrscher!
Before me, your Martial Souls are like the new wave (can't say it) meeting an ancient god (you know what I mean). Of course they'd kneel.
What? You think I'm exaggerating?
Not at all, not at all. Before Authority, all beings are equal.
As though someone had dumped a basin of cold water over him, Miles's smile instantly froze on his face.
Raine froze too, his mouth hanging wide enough to fit an egg.
Some people below the platform could no longer hold back their laughter.
Oh? Weren't you quite the talkers just now?
Go on. We're all listening.
Fortunately, Miles quickly recovered.
He stepped forward, walked up, and smacked the officiant on the head.
"What the hell are you standing around for? Hurry up and test his Soul Power!"
The pain snapped the officiant out of his daze. He hurriedly picked up the crystal ball and held it out to Shi Meng.
"S-Soul Power test. Please place your hand on the crystal ball..."
Shi Meng nodded and placed his small hand on it.
But two seconds passed, and the crystal ball showed no reaction whatsoever.
The smile returned to Miles's face.
No reaction meant no Soul Power, didn't it?
Miles burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! I thought it was some formidable Martial Soul. But this is all it amounts to?"
"Exactly! After all that fuss, he doesn't have a single scrap of Soul Power. Just a silver-looking spearhead made of pewter. How embarrassing!"
Raine was delighted as well.
I thought he was a king, but he turned out to be bronze.
Now no one would compete with him for the position of Spirit Hall's Holy Son.
The advantage is mine!
At this sight, many spectators looked disappointed, though quite a few were deeply puzzled.
They had clearly felt an overwhelming pressure emanating from Shi Meng's Martial Soul just moments ago, so why had the Soul Power crystal failed to react?
Yet just as Miles and Raine felt victory was firmly in their grasp and prepared to approach Bibi Dong to receive their appointment, the Soul Power crystal beneath Shi Meng's hand shattered with a crack!
Before you continue