Qian Daoliu

After making arrangements for Yue Guan and Gui Mei, Lin Xiao scurried off to cultivate again.

Only Zhang Lexuan remained, bustling about and handling everything.

She really had been put through the wringer ever since Lin Xiao summoned her.

She had been worked just like a bestselling commodity from the Middle Ages.

The distance from Heaven Dou City to Spirit Hall was enormous. Even with Snake Lance, a Titled Douluo, rushing the letter over at the speed of an urgent military dispatch,

it still took him a full twenty hours to reach the gates of Spirit City.

All one could say was that a level 99 spatial ability was far too useful.

With Lin Xiao in tow, Snow Empress could fly straight from the Far North to the sea in the far south in just a few hours.

More than half his Soul Power had been depleted, and he was utterly exhausted.

When Snake Lance saw the familiar gates, he nearly burst into tears.

At that moment, the guards watching Spirit Hall's gates spotted Snake Lance too.

They were more than familiar with his attire and the token pinned to it.

The guard captain approached him with a broad smile.

"Elder Snake Lance, welcome back to Spirit Hall. How did you end up in such a state? Come have a couple of cups of tea at our guard barracks and take a breather."

The captain's heart tightened. Whatever had left Snake Lance Douluo running himself ragged like this,

if it involved pursuers or some other danger,

wouldn't an ordinary Soul Emperor like him just be serving himself up on a platter?

So he smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries.

But then he reconsidered. Spirit City stood behind him, with Spirit Hall's headquarters right here, and Elder Snake Lance did not seem to be in too much trouble.

The captain glanced behind Snake Lance several times. Once he confirmed there was no major problem, his smile grew even brighter.

Snake Lance shot him a glance but paid him no further mind. After all, gatekeepers like these were mostly versed in worldly dealings, tailoring each dish to whoever sat at the table.

Few of them were truly upright.

After catching his breath, he suddenly unleashed his Soul Power again.

Flying was expressly forbidden in Spirit City.

But Snake Lance was an Elder, and the person he wanted to see held command-block-level authority in Spirit City.

Besides, the item he carried had been requested by that very lord and constituted extremely important intelligence.

Would Bibi Dong really take time out of her day to figure out how to make trouble for him over this?

At most, she would scold him a little. In one ear and out the other.

To hell with it! Why were there so many rules?

And so, under the captain's dumbfounded gaze, he leaped up and flew straight toward the Worship Hall.

A guard lightly elbowed the stunned captain and leaned close.

"Captain, Elder Snake Lance violated Spirit Hall Law, Article 23. He flew inside the city.

"What should we do? Report him to His Holiness the Pope, or arrest him ourselves?"

The captain snapped out of his daze and glanced left, then right.

Seeing that there was no one nearby,

he turned to the guard with a dark expression. "Xiao Li, you're new here. You don't understand. What Elder Snake Lance? All I saw just now was a little sparrow flying into the city."

Disbelief filled the guard's face.

"Elder Snake Lance is a member of Spirit City too. If he broke the law, why can't we arrest him?"

His answer was a slap to the head, followed by the captain's fury.

The new guard could not believe it.

"Captain, what you're doing is unfair to everyone else! You'll regret this!"

"Enough! I'm the captain here!"

Looking at the guard, whose face suggested that the skies over Spirit Hall were about to turn dark,

the captain could only soften his tone.

"I told you, you're new. You don't understand. I've been in this line of work for far too many years.

"I know more of the inside story than any of you.

"They're Elders of Spirit Hall. Elders have privileges. His Holiness the Pope explicitly said so.

"You all know that. The people of Spirit City know it too.

"I'm telling you very clearly right now.

"They can fly! They can fly! They can fly!"

"Second, look at Elder Snake Lance's expression. It's obvious he has something very important to report.

"And wasn't he flying toward Spirit City's headquarters?"

"Finally, laws are meant to restrain most people, but Spirit Hall's Elders and Enshrined aren't among that majority.

"Every one of them is a noble Titled Douluo, someone you and I might never get to meet in our entire lives.

"If you left Spirit City and went somewhere more barbaric, like Star Luo City, or Heaven Dou City, which doesn't even have a single Titled Douluo,

"even if one of them killed you, the reigning emperor would still applaud. Understand?"

The captain shook his head, glanced at the guard who had calmed down, and resumed his patrol as though he knew nothing at all.

Inside Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong was reviewing documents when her expression shifted, and she stepped outside.

She watched a figure flying straight toward the Worship Hall.

Her expression hardened. Naturally, she recognized Snake Lance.

Had that girl really made contact with the Spirit Pagoda before her?

Did she even have some important information to report to her grandfather?

Otherwise, Snake Lance would not have flown directly through Spirit City, much less with such urgency.

Bibi Dong's sixth sense told her that Snake Lance was flying at full speed precisely to avoid her.

The Rakshasa God's power still affected her thoughts, which were soon overtaken by resentment.

"Damn it, damn it! Why must you fight me over everything? If I'd known, I'd have strangled you right at the start!"

She snorted coldly, pondering how to regain some ground.

A figure surfaced in her mind.

It was a man with a crew cut and a full beard.

"Xiaogang, if only you were still here..."

Above the Worship Hall, Guang Ling, the Fifth Enshrined, sat alone on a swing, humming a tune.

He watched Qian Jun and Jiang Mo sparring with their staffs below.

Azure Luan and Golden Crocodile sat on opposite sides of a stone table, with a Chinese chess set between them.

Lion watched from the side with only a hazy understanding, occasionally nodding, then shaking his head with a sigh.

Just as Azure Luan traded a single pawn for one of Golden Crocodile's chariots and one of his horses,

Golden Crocodile looked over Azure Luan's right shoulder and slammed his large hand down, overturning the chessboard.

He slowly rose to his feet.

"Who dares come to the Worship Hall to stir up trouble?"

Azure Luan had been utterly exasperated that his second brother had overturned the board when he had finally secured such a commanding advantage.

But upon hearing that someone was provoking the Worship Hall, his disbelief gave way to action, and he stood as well, staring into the distance.

A dark figure was charging toward them at tremendous speed.

Guang Ling drew his longbow, sending an ice crystal streaking toward the figure.

With a cry of pain, Snake Lance slid to his knees before them.

His mouth full of dirt, he immediately raised his head.

"Snake Lance, why are you here instead of properly protecting that girl Xue'er?"

Lion was the first to question him.

Snake Lance ignored the shoulder Guang Ling had just pierced.

He took a bottle out from inside his robes.

"I need to see the Great Enshrined. This is an urgent message from Young Master Qian Renxue. She repeatedly insisted that I deliver it into the Great Enshrined's hands in person!"

They exchanged glances and nodded.

"Come with us."

After climbing the stairs for a minute or two, they arrived before a large door.

Golden Crocodile pushed it open. Qian Daoliu was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion.

He was deep in meditation.

At their arrival, he slowly opened his eyes.

"What is it?"