At those words.
Demon Bear Douluo frowned, glanced at the surrounding Temple Knights, and said gravely, "Come on, let's talk somewhere else. This isn't the place."
"So secretive. Looks like you two reaped quite a harvest on this trip."
Snake Lance Douluo swept his gaze over Ghost Leopard and Demon Bear. "Then let's go to the Temple Knight Headquarters and take a look at these treasures of yours."
With that, he took the lead.
Meanwhile, at the Worship Hall.
Outside the entrance to Qian Jun Douluo's private cultivation grounds, Demon Subduing Douluo paced back and forth.
"I've been here so long. Why hasn't my brother come out to see me? This is killing me. If we leave it too late, won't that Little Shop sell out of its mysterious jars?"
As he muttered, he kept looking up at the tightly closed doors.
After parting ways with Snake Lance Douluo and the others, he had rushed here to find Qian Jun Douluo.
But who would have thought Qian Jun Douluo was in seclusion?
Creak.
Just then, the tightly shut doors swung open with a teeth-grating creak.
"Brother, you've finally finished cultivating!"
Demon Subduing Douluo gazed in delight at the man emerging from the cultivation grounds.
Whenever Demon Subduing Douluo looked at him, he felt as though he were looking into a mirror.
And this man.
Was none other than Demon Subduing Douluo's elder brother, Qian Jun Douluo, one of Spirit Hall's Seven Consecrated.
"Have you broken through to level 97?" he asked gravely.
At that, Demon Subduing Douluo looked a little awkward. "No..."
"Hmph. If you haven't broken through, why aren't you cultivating properly in your own grounds? What are you doing running over here?"
Qian Jun Douluo snorted irritably.
People said twins had opposite personalities.
And that was indeed the case.
He preferred stillness to activity, while Jiang Mo preferred activity to stillness. If he hadn't constantly pushed Demon Subduing Douluo to cultivate, his brother would probably still have been an elder of Spirit Hall.
"Brother, I hit a bottleneck in my cultivation, so I thought I'd go out and look for inspiration."
Before Qian Jun Douluo, Demon Subduing Douluo was as restrained as a child several decades old.
None of the solemn composure he had shown before Demon Bear Douluo and the others remained.
"Did you find any, then?" Qian Jun Douluo asked.
"I didn't find any inspiration, but I happened to hear something that might be our chance to break through to level 97."
As Demon Subduing Douluo spoke, eagerness shone in his eyes.
He knew Qian Jun Douluo was obsessed with breaking through to level 97.
Because once they reached that realm, the two of them together would rival a level 98 Titled Douluo.
That was level 98!
It could be called the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent.
Unless Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined or Sea God Island's Great Enshrined stepped forward, who in the world could stand against them?
And their standing would rise like a boat on a swelling tide. Within the Worship Hall, whom would they need to heed besides the Great Enshrined and the Pope?
That would be true glory.
It wasn't just Qian Jun Douluo who wanted it. He, Demon Subduing Douluo, wanted it too.
To stand at the pinnacle of Soul Masters, at the very summit of power-what bliss would that be?
Wasn't that what people chased all their lives?
Yet.
Their ideals were full and lush, but reality was cruel.
With their aptitude, level 97 remained a distant prospect.
"Really?"
"Tell me, quick! How can we break through?"
Sure enough, after hearing Demon Subduing Douluo's words, Qian Jun Douluo grew excited and seized his brother's shoulders with both hands.
"A mysterious Jar Shop has appeared in Spirit City. Its jars contain treasures that can increase your strength. That's the opportunity for a breakthrough I was talking about."
Demon Subduing Douluo explained as simply as he could.
"A Jar Shop..."
After hearing that, Qian Jun Douluo calmed down.
Rather than showing any joy, he frowned.
He said gravely, "Jiang Mo, you're narrowing your own path. You should know that after level 95, cultivating Soul Power can no longer bring us a breakthrough. Why else do you think Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo have been stuck at level 95 for so many years?
"At our realm, no external force on the Douluo Continent can help us anymore. Only by grasping the true essence of our Martial Souls and comprehending the ultimate principles of heaven and earth can we break through."
"Brother, I understand all of that."
"Good. Stop cultivating for the next few days and relax for a while."
After a moment of silence, Demon Subduing Douluo asked again, "Brother, I have another question. If our Martial Souls grew thirty percent stronger, could we break through to level 97?"
"Do you know what it would mean for our Martial Souls to grow thirty percent stronger?"
"If that really happened, our Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Souls would break free of the shackles of advanced Martial Souls and join the ranks of top-tier Martial Souls. The ceiling of our aptitude would rise dramatically, too. Comprehending the mysteries of level 97 would pose no difficulty whatsoever."
Qian Jun Douluo's voice was utterly certain.
But...
Was that possible?
He had lived for decades and had never heard of anyone's Martial Soul evolving and growing stronger.
Not even Spirit Hall's records contained anything of the sort.
Seeing the yearning in Qian Jun Douluo's eyes, Demon Subduing Douluo said slowly, "Brother, the jars sold at that Little Shop can do exactly that."
"What?"
Qian Jun Douluo froze at his words, then shook his head. "No, that's impossible."
"Brother, I'm really not lying to you. Honestly, I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."
"Right, you know Snake Lance Douluo, don't you?"
What the ears heard could be false; what the eyes saw was real. Demon Subduing Douluo intended to have Qian Jun Douluo witness it for himself.
"Snake Lance Douluo? Of course I know him. That man is an outright disgrace to the Elder Hall. He may have the strength of a Titled Douluo, but in my opinion, he isn't even as strong as the Clear Sky Sect's top Soul Douluos."
Qian Jun Douluo's tone was full of disdain when he mentioned Snake Lance Douluo.
"Brother, that's all in the past. Snake Lance Douluo has risen now. His strength is increasing rapidly, and it won't be long before he reaches level 93. But even at level 92, he beat the level 93 Ghost Leopard Douluo into submission. Even that battle maniac Demon Bear Douluo didn't dare challenge his edge..."
"That shouldn't be possible!"
"It may be hard to understand, but it's the truth. And Snake Lance Douluo achieved all this because the quality of his Martial Soul improved by at least thirty percent."
"Thirty percent!"
Qian Jun Douluo's pupils suddenly widened.
He understood why his younger brother had asked that question earlier.
"Facts speak louder than words. Brother, if you still don't believe me, come with me. That fellow She Long is on duty at the Temple Knight Headquarters today. One look will tell you whether it's true."
Then, without giving him a chance to argue, Demon Subduing Douluo grabbed Qian Jun Douluo and pulled him away.
The distance between the Worship Hall and the Temple Knight Headquarters was considerable for others, but it was nothing to a Titled Douluo.
Before long.
Demon Subduing Douluo had brought Qian Jun Douluo to the entrance of the Temple Knight Headquarters' main hall.
Inside the hall.
Snake Lance Douluo, Ghost Leopard Douluo, and Demon Bear Douluo were all present.
But what they were doing left the brothers, Qian Jun and Jiang Mo, stunned.
Snake Lance Douluo was repeatedly stroking the pink wooden stick in Demon Bear Douluo's hands.
His face was filled with infatuation.
Demon Bear Douluo, meanwhile, wore a look of enjoyment.
Beside them, Ghost Leopard Douluo watched with envy...