Qian Fan sat cross-legged on the gilded floor tiles of the Worship Hall, the spiritual energy around him churning violently like boiling magma.
Veins bulged along his neck. Beads of sweat rolled down his sharply defined jaw, and his drenched clothes clung to his back, outlining the boy's taut muscles.
His hands formed intricate seals before his chest. His fingertips blanched from exertion, and his knuckles gave faint cracks.
The surrounding air shrieked as a visible torrent of spiritual energy formed an enormous black vortex. Tiny spatial fissures even twisted into existence at its center.
This domineering power shattered the floor with a crash. Spiderweb cracks spread outward from beneath him, and even the Soul Guidance Lamps embedded in the walls shook violently, casting flickering light and shadows.
"Break!" Qian Fan's eyes snapped open, a piercing golden gleam flashing within them.
With a deafening roar, the shackles within his meridians seemed to shatter beneath a heavy hammer, and the dormant vortex in his dantian erupted.
At that moment, he felt like a trapped beast bursting out of its cage. Vast power surged endlessly through his meridians, and every cell in his body danced with joy.
Qian Fan slowly rose, his bones crackling sharply.
He casually threw a punch, and the air let out a piercing boom. In the path of the gust from his fist, a nearby bronze candlestick exploded, its fragments gouging deep pits into the walls.
Feeling the surging power within him, he curled his lips into a confident smile. "Level 70 physical strength really is terrifying. Those Soul Emperors are nothing but ants before me."
Yet a trace of melancholy soon replaced his joy. He looked up at the vaulted ceiling, where an inlaid star chart symbolizing the Angel God's divine authority gleamed coldly in the candlelight.
Gazing into empty space, Qian Fan murmured, "Unfortunately, I'm still far from the half-step Golden Immortal realm I reached in my previous life. But that's all right. One step at a time. I'll return to the summit eventually."
Memories of ten thousand years of slaughter in the Ten Thousand Monster Domain flooded back. Those mountains of corpses and seas of blood overlapped with the Douluo Continent before him, making his gaze deepen further.
Qian Daoliu approached slowly, his golden robe trailing a splendid blur across the floor.
This level 99 Peerless Douluo still walked steadily, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes could not conceal the marks of time. His aged face was filled with gratification, and affection shone in his clouded eyes. He reached out a calloused hand and gently patted Qian Fan's shoulder. "Xiao Fan, you did it. I've waited far too long for this day."
Looking at the imposing old man before him, Qian Fan suddenly noticed a few more white strands at his temples.
In his previous life, he had fought alone in the Ten Thousand Monster Domain for ten thousand years, never knowing such warmth. This unexpected care tightened his throat and made his eyes sting. "Thank you, Grandpa," he said sincerely. Then his expression dimmed. "If only Xiao Xue were here too."
Qian Daoliu's body abruptly stiffened, veins bulging on the hand gripping his cane. At the mention of Qian Renxue, the eyes of this Peerless Douluo who stood at the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent instantly dimmed like an extinguished candle.
He slowly turned away, his aged body trembling slightly as a stifled sob escaped his throat. Qian Fan noticed him secretly wiping tears from the corners of his eyes, the wrinkled back of his hand glistening faintly in the moonlight. At that moment, he suddenly realized that this awe-inspiring Great Enshrined was merely an ordinary old man who missed his granddaughter.
To distract the old man, Qian Fan quickly said, "Grandpa, I should go obtain a Soul Ring."
Qian Daoliu took a deep breath. After steadying his emotions, he retrieved a softly glowing sphere from his Storage Ring. Mysterious runes flowed across the surface of this God-Given Soul Ring, each pattern seemingly containing the laws of heaven and earth. A light touch sent a faint electric current spreading along his fingertips.
"Xiao Fan, this is a God-Given Soul Ring, a precious treasure I obtained during the Angel God's Eighth Trial," Qian Daoliu said solemnly, a slight tremor in his aged voice. "It can generate the Soul Ring best suited to your constitution."
"Grandpa looks forward to the day you become a deity." Qian Fan nodded slightly, sat cross-legged, and slowly released his Soul Power. The instant it touched the God-Given Soul Ring, the entire space shook violently. A blood-red pillar of light shot skyward, piercing straight through the clouds.
"This is... a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!" Qian Daoliu cried out, striking his cane heavily against the floor with a dull thud.
The instant the blood-red Soul Ring merged into his body, Qian Fan's six-winged fallen angel martial soul began to mutate wildly. Savage blood-red markings appeared on its once-dark-purple wings, each one breathing eerie light in and out.
Seven Soul Rings slowly rose. Two striking blood-red rings shone especially brightly, their oppressive might making the air throughout the Worship Hall thick as glue.
Just then, a system notification exploded in Qian Fan's mind.
When he saw the attributes of the Super Divine Artifact [Fate's Name-Destroying Blade], his pupils contracted sharply, and his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
This was a treasure that could block fatal damage! Qian Fan forcibly suppressed his wild delight, clenching both fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms.
But the unstoppable upward curl of his lips had already betrayed his emotions. Even his earlobes reddened with excitement.
Qian Daoliu keenly sensed something amiss. With a flash of golden light, he instantly appeared before Qian Fan. The moment he probed Qian Fan's sea of consciousness, a majestic phantom burst out of the boy's body.
At the instant the phantom emerged from Qian Fan's sea of consciousness.
Dark clouds instantly blanketed the sky, thunder exploded, and the entire Worship Hall shook violently. Glazed roof tiles tumbled down in droves.
The phantom was black from head to toe, with the power of lightning wrapped around his dark form.
A terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the Worship Hall. It forced the level 99 Titled Douluo Qian Daoliu to bend at the waist and summon his six-winged angel, struggling desperately to support his own body.
Thunder cracked, and the phantom spoke.
"Hahaha! Boy, it's been fourteen years!" Zeus's phantom laughed wildly, his voice making everyone's eardrums ache.
He wore a robe of lightning, and every strand of his hair pulsed with destructive power. "The moment I descend will be the hour of your death!"
Qian Daoliu's expression changed drastically. His six-winged angel martial soul instantly unfurled behind him, and golden Soul Power surged out like a tide. But the lightning imbued with destructive power came too fast. Qian Fan was struck in an instant and hurled backward like a kite with its string cut, leaving a long bloody trail across the floor.
The last thing Qian Fan saw before losing consciousness was Qian Daoliu's anxious face.
The level 99 Peerless Douluo's eyes were now bloodshot. He swung his scepter frantically, golden light colliding fiercely with purple lightning in the void.
The scene shifted.
At that moment in the Divine Realm, the Five Great God Kings stared in terror at the cracked Divine Realm Core, as the aura of chaos continually spilled from the fissure;
In the Seven Star Domain, the mysterious domain lord gazed into the void as the jade token in his hand glowed with a strange light. A flicker of understanding crossed his eyes. "It's time..." He slowly stepped through a gate of space and time, his figure disappearing into the light. A storm that would sweep across the Douluo Continent was quietly brewing.
Holding the unconscious Qian Fan, Qian Daoliu felt the lightning power rampaging through the boy's body, and his heart twisted as though under a knife.
He gazed at the phantom gradually dispersing in the sky and murmured, "What kind of martial soul could possibly alarm the Divine Realm... Xiao Fan, Grandpa will keep you safe, no matter what."
His voice was firm, but his slightly trembling hands betrayed his unease. The boy in his arms was as pale as paper, blood continually seeping from the corner of his mouth, yet his tightly furrowed brows revealed an unyielding will.
Outside the Worship Hall, dark clouds still shrouded the sky, and purple lightning occasionally tore through the darkness. Spirit City blazed with lights in the distance, yet no one knew that a shocking upheaval capable of changing the Douluo Continent's fate had already quietly occurred. And this was only the beginning.
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