Could I really be a Calabash Brother?

Demon Subduing Douluo, don't swing that staff! It's me~

I've come to pledge allegiance ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅!

Gui Mei's heart was filled with grief and indignation. Why did he have to run into a killing fiend like Demon Subduing Douluo?

The seven Offerings weren't free all the time. They also needed to cultivate in seclusion, hoping to advance further along the path of a Soul Master.

The only guarantee was that at least one Offering would always be on "standby" to deal with urgent emergencies.

Whether it was the peerless Great Enshrined, the highly respected Second Worship, the thoughtful Third Offering, the aloof Fourth Offering, the childlike Fifth Offering, or the calm and composed Sixth Offering...

At least those men would hear him out before deciding what to do with him.

Only the Seventh Offering before him, Demon Subduing Douluo, was not merely unruly but an out-and-out violence maniac. Whenever he saw someone or something he disliked, he would jab twice with his staff first, whether there were any dates on the tree or not. And his Martial Soul's attributes countered Gui Mei's to an extreme degree.

You shameless hundred-year-old geezer, without a shred of martial honor! Deceiving and ambushing a young man in his several dozen years-doesn't your conscience hurt?!

Demon Subduing Douluo: Hilarious. Don't have one. Take it up with the Heavenly Awakening Sacred Golden Dragon in my Coiling Dragon Staff!

"Wait, Senior!"

Seeing that Ghost Douluo really did seem about to take a vicious beating, Lu Chen spoke up in time.

There was no helping it. The man had just braved enormous expenditure and risk to bring him into the Worship Hall. Granted, they were both getting what they wanted, but he couldn't simply leave him to die under these circumstances, could he?

Not pinning any hope on the august Seventh Offering of Spirit Hall listening to a child, Lu Chen activated his Martial Soul outright.

A dragon's roar rang out, an Azure Dragon's spectral form coiled around him, and the Spirit-Suppressing Spear appeared in his hand. Dragon Soul and the Spirit Suppression Domain were released simultaneously, and two purple Soul Rings soared into the air.

A pair of noble, ancient azure-gold wings unfurled, and the five elemental types of Soul Power-metal, wood, water, fire, and earth-spread around him, carrying domineering lightning.

Before this Seventh Offering of Spirit Hall, who stood at the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent's Soul Master World, Lu Chen displayed his outrageously overpowered talent without restraint.

"Oh?"

Demon Subduing Douluo finally stopped, the unruliness on his face replaced by a trace of astonishment.

He had seen Twin Martial Souls, but twin domains were truly a first. That Divine Slaughter's Domain Bibi Dong had acquired later in life didn't count!

And this feeling...

Divine Attribute, suppressive power, powerful multi-attribute Soul Power, a tool Martial Soul with tremendous offensive power, and...

A dragon!

Such powerful Dragon Might!

The instant he saw the Azure Dragon's spectral form, the heavenly awakening sacred golden dragon soul became utterly quiet. Not only did its usually indomitable, blazing fighting spirit die out, but it even faintly conveyed a sense of submission.

This was simply unimaginable!

Demon Subduing Douluo looked at the young monster before him, overpowered in the same way he was. The joy of finding such an excellent seedling made anticipation well up in him.

Ah~

I really hope he reaches Titled Douluo soon, so he can fight me to his heart's content!

One glance was all Demon Subduing Douluo needed to be certain: even on talent alone, provided this child didn't die along the way, he would at least reach the same realm as him in the future.

"Seventh Brother, what's all this commotion?"

A mature, steady voice rang out, and five figures emerged from their respective cultivation chambers.

Upon seeing Ghost Douluo sprawled limply on the floor, seemingly already "dead" for some time, the imposing, powerfully built middle-aged man in golden armor at the front of the five turned toward Demon Subduing Douluo and asked:

"Did you injure him?"

What did I do for you to say I injured him? I haven't even had time to make a move!

He felt a little disgruntled, but even someone as unruly as Demon Subduing Douluo didn't dare throw his weight around in front of this middle-aged man.

Spirit Hall's Second Worship, Golden Crocodile Douluo, was technically a generation senior to Demon Subduing Douluo. But the seven Offerings of Spirit Hall never bothered with that among themselves and addressed one another as brothers.

Demon Subduing Douluo braced himself and protested, "Second Brother, this has nothing to do with me. He already looked like a dead dog when he barged in."

"Then who is this young man?"

Nodding, Golden Crocodile Douluo turned his gaze toward Lu Chen. His eyes, as well as those of the other Offerings, softened considerably.

For one thing, Lu Chen's character design truly was pleasing to the eye, and old people were always more tolerant of children.

For another, they had all recognized Lu Chen's please-enter-text-level talent.

Heaven knew how deeply Lu Chen's rich Divine Attribute Soul Power had shocked them just now. They had thought their eldest brother, Qian Daoliu, was fighting someone inside the hall, which was why they had hurried out of seclusion.

Demon Subduing Douluo spread his hands. "No idea. Gui Mei brought him. Why don't we ask the child ourselves?"

"No idea?!"

Golden Crocodile Douluo's already rugged, stern face darkened, becoming even more imposing, and his tone turned distinctly unfriendly. "You were about to attack Gui Mei without even asking?"

Demon Subduing Douluo fell silent.

As the saying went, if it was unknown whether someone was alive or dead, they were dead; saying nothing was the same as admitting it!

Having applied his formula and reached a conclusion, Golden Crocodile Douluo glared fiercely at him. In the end, however, he spared him some dignity in front of outsiders and said nothing too harsh.

He sent out a gentle stream of Soul Power, helping Gui Mei barely steady his breathing, which had become somewhat unsteady from excessive Soul Power consumption.

Golden Crocodile Douluo, who likewise disliked Gui Mei, then paid him no further attention. Instead, he turned and approached Lu Chen, speaking with a smile:

"Little one, what's your name, and how old are you?"

"Why did Gui Mei bring you here?"

"What's your relationship with Bibi Dong? Can you tell Grandpa?"

Lu Chen: (≖◡≖)

Finally took the bait~

"Grandpa."

Lu Chen hardly needed to act. After all, even counting his previous life, the age gap between them was still over a hundred years.

Calling him Grandpa came incredibly smoothly; he was simply playing himself. He captured with perfect precision the demeanor of a precocious boy facing an accomplished senior, clearly frightened and conflicted yet still trying to appear calm.

But is my situation really normal?

The benefactors other transmigrators meet are either gorgeous older women or little-girl masters, or they get a domineering auntie falling in love with them. Why do I get an endless stream of grandpas?

Could I really be a Calabash Brother o_O?

"My name is Lu Chen. I'm Archbishop Lu's grandson."

"You're that boy Lu Tian's grandson?"

Demon Subduing Douluo came closer, looking at Lu Chen with a somewhat peculiar gaze.

Though the Offerings rarely ventured out, they had long since heard of Lu Tian.

Mainly because his experiences were rather too legendary.

From an Eagle-Type Martial Soul Soul Saint whose ceiling was firmly capped at rank 79, to a True Dragon Martial Soul Titled Douluo on the verge of breaking through rank 90.

Martial Soul Evolution, crossing an entire major realm, and an increase of nearly ten ranks in Soul Power-Lu Tian had accomplished it all in just six years!

For some ordinary Soul Douluos, six years might not even be enough to advance a single rank.

Even in the discerning eyes of the Great Enshrined, Qian Daoliu, he was the one with the greatest chance of becoming the Eighth Offering.

As far as they knew, Lu Tian and his elder brother Lu Yun had indeed adopted an orphan, and that orphan had indeed been named Lu Chen. Counting the years, he ought to be six now.

They simply hadn't expected the Lu Brothers' luck to be so heaven-defying. Even an orphan casually picked up by the roadside turned out to be...

Hmm (⊙o⊙)?!

The six Offerings first looked at Lu Chen, then at Gui Mei, who had already stood up but whose breathing was still somewhat unsteady.

"We're gradually beginning to understand everything."

It all connected. Everything connected now.

Aside from that top-secret matter concerning Qian Xunji, which Qian Daoliu guarded fiercely, they knew all about Bibi Dong's sordid affairs from her younger years.

From their perspective, if Bibi Dong learned the secret behind the Martial Soul Evolution of the Lu grandfather and grandson, Lu Chen would be in for a world of suffering~

Lu Chen-no, Xiao Chen-had come looking for a powerful backer to shelter him from disaster.

Unfortunately, this bond of master and disciple probably wouldn't fall to any of the six of them.

After all...

"Xiao Chen, may I call you that?"

A gentle chuckle sounded as a handsome young man with long golden hair draped over his shoulders and dressed in blue-and-gold robes emerged from behind the Angel God Statue and approached them.

The Great Enshrined, Qian Daoliu!