High in the sky, the sea of clouds churned like raging waves.
Azure Luan became a streak of azure light that tore through the sky, carrying Lu Xuan swiftly toward Spirit City.
The violent winds were silently dispersed by an indestructible azure Soul Power barrier as soon as they came within three feet of them.
"Aaaah!!!"
Although he felt no wind resistance, Lu Xuan still squeezed his eyes shut and clung desperately to Azure Luan's sleeves, screaming like a pig being slaughtered.
Ever since Azure Luan had hauled him into the sky, his feet had never touched the ground.
In his previous life, he had never ridden a drop tower or a roller coaster.
Because he was afraid of heights!
"Enough! We're just flying. What's all the fuss about?"
Azure Luan looked down at Lu Xuan, who clung to him like an octopus. A trace of helplessness crossed his stern face, and he could not help complaining.
Pale-faced, Lu Xuan weakly protested through his wildly pounding heartbeat, "Could it be that different children like different things?"
Azure Luan glanced at Lu Xuan and said flatly, "Then bear with it. I'm very fast!"
Lu Xuan: "???!!!"
Why did that sound so wrong???
After traveling through the clouds for who knew how long, just as Lu Xuan felt his stomach was about to turn inside out, the weightless sensation finally disappeared.
It was afternoon, the blazing sun hung high, and Azure Luan had already landed steadily with him.
Lu Xuan opened his eyes on shaky legs. The next second, he froze in place as though struck by lightning.
Directly before him stood a magnificent building beyond description.
It was an enormous palace that radiated a pale golden, sacred glow, its towering dome reaching into the clouds.
Intricate, ancient Divine Runes were carved into its massive white jade pillars.
Sunlight poured down, making the entire palace seem to burn with golden divine fire.
It exuded a majesty that made one instinctively want to prostrate oneself in worship.
Such a magnificent structure was a hundred times more awe-inspiring than any world-class building he had seen online in his previous life.
Seeing Lu Xuan's stunned expression, a flicker of pride crossed Azure Luan's eyes, and his lips could not help curving upward. "Well? Impressive, isn't it? This is our Spirit Hall's Worship Hall."
"And I am Spirit Hall's Third Offering. The one who wanted to see you and ordered me to bring you back is our eldest brother, Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined."
Azure Luan took the lead, stepping onto the white jade stairs and heading toward the palace above, whose doors had long since opened. He looked back and cautioned Lu Xuan:
"Follow me. Mind your words when you meet the Great Enshrined!"
Lu Xuan took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in his heart, and hurried after him.
The moment he entered the doors, an enormous statue of the Six-Winged Angel, dozens of meters tall, greeted his eyes.
Holding a Holy Sword, the statue stood like a forest of stone steles, gazing majestically down upon the world.
Beneath that sacred radiance, a figure dressed in plain gray robes knelt quietly on a prayer mat, praying with his back to them.
And a figure dressed in plain gray robes knelt before the statue in prayer.
"Eldest Brother, I've brought him back!" Azure Luan stopped and bowed slightly, his voice filled with heartfelt reverence.
The Gray-Clothed Man had already stopped praying. He slowly rose and turned around.
He first gave Azure Luan a slight nod, then rested his golden eyes calmly on Lu Xuan.
So this was Qian Daoliu?
Lu Xuan met that gaze, and his heart gave a sudden leap.
He had originally imagined that this legendary Peerless Douluo would radiate overwhelming dominance.
Yet at first glance, Qian Daoliu gave him only two impressions: cultured elegance and quiet serenity.
He seemed like an ordinary person without any Soul Power, his entire being suffused with the peace of returning to one's simplest, truest nature, making him utterly unfathomable.
But in Lu Xuan's impression, Qian Daoliu was a bundle of contradictions-indecisive, and even somewhat obsessively bound to agreements.
A solemn, gentle voice, seemingly carrying some sacred decree, rang out from Qian Daoliu's lips. "Child, summon your Martial Souls and let me see!"
There seemed to be an irresistible persuasiveness in that voice, leaving Lu Xuan unable to muster even a trace of resistance.
Lu Xuan did as Qian Daoliu said, summoning his Martial Souls and spreading his hands.
From his right palm, the dark red Asura God Sword burst through the air, its terrifying aura of slaughter and judgment instantly raging through the hall.
In his left palm, the emerald Life Scepter radiated a lustrous green light.
These two auras actually formed a strange yet perfect balance.
Such terrifying talent was even twice as great as Qian Renxue's.
A ripple finally passed through Qian Daoliu's eyes, which had been as still as an ancient well.
He stared fixedly at the Asura God Sword in Lu Xuan's right hand, his brow creasing slightly as he murmured:
"Why does the aura of this Sword Martial Soul give me the illusion that I've stepped into Slaughter City again?"
As Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined and a former pope, he had naturally visited that paradise for Evil Soul Masters.
Spirit Hall and Slaughter City had always maintained a secret understanding.
Spirit Hall exiled the Evil Soul Masters it captured there, while Slaughter City used them to sustain its internal bloodshed cycle.
After his brief shock, Qian Daoliu's gaze grew intensely fervent as he looked at Lu Xuan.
"Child, are you willing to become my disciple?" Qian Daoliu's voice echoed through the hall, carrying unparalleled confidence.
"I am Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined. No one in Spirit Hall holds a position above mine. As long as you agree, I can mobilize every resource to nurture you!"
"And I myself am a Level 99 Peerless Douluo, possessing the God-level Martial Soul, the Six-Winged Angel. As it happens, the sword is also what I excel at most!"
Just as Lu Xuan was about to agree, a cold, haughty female voice carrying a hint of anger suddenly came from outside the hall, forcibly cutting Qian Daoliu off.
"Qian Daoliu, have you forgotten that Spirit Hall still has me, its pope?"
Click, click, click...
The crisp sound of high heels striking the floor echoed through the empty hall, every step seeming to land on the very tips of people's hearts.
At the entrance, a woman wearing the Nine-Curved Purple Gold Crown and holding a scepter walked slowly toward them.
She wore a luxurious purple-and-gold gown, her beauty exquisite and her splendor unrivaled.
Her features carried the majesty of one who ruled the world, while within her mature, noble, married-woman allure lurked a trace of chilling madness and coldness.
Azure Luan's eyes turned cold. In an instant, he stepped across her path, blocking Bibi Dong with his tall frame as he demanded sharply, "Bibi Dong, why have you come to our Worship Hall instead of staying in your Papal Palace?"
"Azure Luan, stand down," Qian Daoliu said mildly, stopping him. "We all belong to Spirit Hall. There's no need to draw such distant lines between us."
Bibi Dong cast Azure Luan a cold glance, then fixed her burning gaze on Lu Xuan, her tone allowing no argument:
"I'm taking this child back to the Papal Palace. I also possess Twin Martial Souls. Across the entire continent, no one understands better than I do how to teach a genius with Twin Martial Souls!"
Bibi Dong had been in the Papal Palace when she suddenly sensed Azure Luan carrying a child directly into the Worship Hall.
This immediately aroused her suspicions.
She did not believe that old thing Qian Daoliu had failed to notice the extraordinary phenomenon that day.
So what had he intended by sending out the Third Offering, Azure Luan?
The answer was obvious.
Qian Daoliu had already sent someone out early to bring back that child with twin God-level Martial Souls.
Bibi Dong immediately refused to stand for it. She could not let the Qian Family's faction gain another Soul Master with the potential to become a god. This posed a fatal threat to her future revenge plan to destroy the Angel Clan!
Faced with Bibi Dong's forceful attempt to snatch the child away, Qian Daoliu showed no anger whatsoever.
His calm was frightening. He merely said mildly, "Since we both value this child's talent, let us ask him whom he wishes to choose!"
As his words fell, both powerhouses turned their gazes toward Lu Xuan, who was only six years old.
Bibi Dong bent down slightly, trying to make her voice sound gentler, though she made no effort to hide the ambition in her eyes:
"I am Spirit Hall's pope, and I possess Twin Martial Souls. I understand the cultivation challenges you will face better than anyone."
"As long as you take me as your master, Spirit Hall's resources will naturally be provided to you first!"
Lu Xuan: ...
Who exactly should he choose?
Lu Xuan was already frantically weighing things up.
Perhaps Qian Daoliu did not care whom he chose, but Bibi Dong hated the Qian Family to her very bones.
If he chose to join Qian Daoliu's faction, that meant he might be regarded as a thorn in the side by that madwoman Bibi Dong.
As for Qian Daoliu, he controlled the vast majority of Spirit Hall's resources. Even Bibi Dong needed his approval to obtain some of them.
In the original story, Hu Liena had been Bibi Dong's personal disciple and Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden.
Was there even any need to discuss her Soul Bones? It was unclear whether she even had a full set.
There was only one Soul Bone she had explicitly absorbed.
The advantages and disadvantages were obvious. Bibi Dong had only just succeeded to her position. She had neither power nor influence, and few resources.
Her only advantage was her understanding of Twin Martial Souls.
But he understood Twin Martial Souls too!
Wasn't the choice obvious? He should still cling to that old geezer Qian Daoliu's thigh!
Perhaps Qian Daoliu could even conjure up information on a few Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts for him.
Having made up his mind, Lu Xuan took a deep breath and turned to Bibi Dong, his eyes clear yet resolute. "I'm sorry, Your Holiness!"
Then, without hesitation, he turned to face Qian Daoliu and bent both knees, preparing to pay his respects. His clear voice echoed through the hall. "Greetings, Master!"
However, before his knees could touch the ground, a pair of large hands supported him and lifted him up.
A heartfelt smile finally bloomed on Qian Daoliu's face as he gently chided, "You child, who taught you that? There's no need to kneel when taking a master!"
"Hmph!"
Seeing that the wood had already been made into a boat, Bibi Dong's exquisite face instantly frosted over.
She stared hard at Lu Xuan, as though trying to carve this unappreciative little brat into her mind.
Then, with a dissatisfied snort, she abruptly turned and swept away with a flick of her sleeves.
Watching Bibi Dong's retreating figure as she left in anger, Azure Luan let out a long breath. He then turned toward Qian Daoliu, cupped his fists, and laughed with heartfelt delight. "Congratulations, Eldest Brother, on gaining an unparalleled disciple!"
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