"It's not as if I haven't died before," Xuan Ming said.
When his domain first unfolded inside his body, he had felt that helplessness and suffocation he had once experienced, infinitely close to death.
Only, the first time, it had been fear. Now, there was only anger.
He didn't want to die!
Chapter 45: Restraint
"Hmm?"
Just as Qian Daoliu was about to learn more, a vicious presence appeared outside the Worship Hall, utterly out of place in this Angel Temple!
"Great Enshrined, I caused this trouble. Let me resolve it," Golden Crocodile Douluo said.
Qian Daoliu shook his head. "I'll go."
Ever since Bibi Dong had returned from Slaughter City, a vicious, sinister power had appeared within her, but he hadn't paid it any mind at the time.
Over the past few years, however, that presence had grown increasingly intense.
It wasn't the power of a Martial Soul, nor was it human power. It was another divine power, seemingly the natural opposite of his Angel Divine Power!
"Wait here." Qian Daoliu glanced at Xuan Ming and walked out of the Worship Hall with Golden Crocodile.
Xuan Ming stopped courting death, too, and obediently sat where he was.
Outside the Worship Hall.
Bibi Dong stood nearly a hundred meters from the gates, not taking another half step closer.
The gates slowly opened, and Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo walked out.
"I thought the Great Enshrined intended to pretend he hadn't seen anything, just like before," Bibi Dong said sarcastically.
Qian Daoliu narrowed his eyes. "This is the Worship Hall, not your Pope's Hall. Don't overstep."
"How would I dare overstep with the Great Enshrined?" Bibi Dong said.
"But I'd like to ask whether Elder Golden Crocodile went to Spirit Hall Academy to attack a nine-year-old child and forcibly abduct a six-year-old on the Great Enshrined's orders?"
"And if I said yes?" Qian Daoliu said.
"Then naturally, I wouldn't dare say anything more," Bibi Dong said.
"It's just that Spirit Hall Academy has so many people and prying eyes. The Great Enshrined should do fewer things unbecoming of his age, lest he damage his own dignity."
"You!" Golden Crocodile Douluo's face fell.
"Golden Crocodile did indeed act improperly in this matter. I'll arrange some compensation for that child," Qian Daoliu said.
"No need. He's only a child. How would he dare trouble the Great Enshrined?" Bibi Dong said.
"Since you don't dare trouble him, stop loitering here and go back to your Pope's Hall," Golden Crocodile Douluo said.
"Elder Golden Crocodile is in such a hurry to drive me away. Could you be doing something that can't bear the light of day?" Bibi Dong asked.
"Such as... threatening and bribing a six-year-old child?"
"Surely not? You're both highly respected seniors of the Soul Master World. Surely you couldn't do something so base?"
"You!" Golden Crocodile Douluo's gaze sharpened, and his Level 98 pressure poured out.
Bibi Dong planted the Pope's Scepter in her hand against the ground, blocking Golden Crocodile's pressure. "What's wrong, Elder Golden Crocodile? Could I have hit the mark?"
"Golden Crocodile." Qian Daoliu spoke mildly, stopping Golden Crocodile Douluo from taking further action.
"Bibi Dong, speak plainly if you have something to say. There's no need for all these open and veiled taunts."
"The means we used to bring him here were indeed dishonorable, but you're no better."
She had sent Yue Guan to Heaven Dou City to abduct him, even snatching him away right before Xue Qinghe's eyes. If they really wanted to argue the point, what they had done was much the same.
"Give him back to me," Bibi Dong said.
"Impossible," Golden Crocodile Douluo said.
"I already told you before. That boy doesn't belong to you."
"Does the Great Enshrined feel the same way?" Bibi Dong looked at Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu paused. "This child belongs to Xiao Xue."
"So the Great Enshrined is determined to have him die?" Bibi Dong said.
Golden Crocodile Douluo narrowed his eyes. "Are you thinking of fighting us?"
"How would I dare oppose the Great Enshrined? It's just that, given that boy's condition, I'm afraid he doesn't have many years left," Bibi Dong said.
"Didn't the Great Enshrined notice?"
Qian Daoliu frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Why doesn't the Great Enshrined take a look himself first?" Bibi Dong said.
"Perhaps I'm just raising a false alarm?"
"..."
The Worship Hall's gates opened again. Qian Daoliu walked straight up to Xuan Ming, gripped his shoulder, and began examining him carefully.
His body was indeed somewhat strange, and the mutation was rather extreme, but how could his life be in danger...
"Hmm?" Qian Daoliu's gaze shifted slightly.
"How could this happen?"
His awakening had clearly been completed, yet his two Martial Souls were still devouring each other!
"..."
Time ticked by as Qian Daoliu carefully examined the condition of the two Martial Souls, his expression gradually darkening.
Normally, Twin Martial Souls could exist stably once the awakening process was completed.
But this boy's two Martial Souls had a strange adhesion between them, and that adhesion had been forcibly broken through, causing the two Martial Souls to begin devouring each other again.
The fact that Twin Martial Souls could awaken meant their quality was nearly equal. Neither could devour the other, allowing them to coexist peacefully.
However, the Tool Martial Soul had grown stronger after having a Soul Ring added to it. The Beast Martial Soul, which had yet to begin cultivating, couldn't contend with it...
"Are you dying?" Xuan Ming asked.
The corner of Qian Daoliu's eye twitched. "You're the one who's dying."
"Then what's with that expression?" Xuan Ming asked.
"You look as miserable as someone about to die."
Qian Daoliu's expression froze. "That mouth of yours... you really are a newborn calf unafraid of tigers."
"Even a cornered rabbit will bite," Xuan Ming said.
"I can't bite you, so I'm just saying a few things. I'm neither spewing filthy language nor cursing eighteen generations of your ancestors. For a dying man, I think I'm being very polite."
"At least I'm far nobler than you human traffickers pretending to be respectable people."
Qian Daoliu frowned. "Don't overstep."
"That made you angry already? Weren't you quite the speaker when you were lecturing that old bastard just now?" Xuan Ming said.
"What, now that it's your turn, you can't keep up the act?"
"You!" Qian Daoliu took a deep breath.
This was the Angel Temple, and this boy was someone Xiao Xue wanted. He would endure it!
"Even with someone who's about to die, you have to put on an act. As expected of the highly respected Great Enshrined, the chief human trafficker," Xuan Ming said.
"Admirable!"
Hum!
Qian Daoliu narrowed his eyes. A terrifying gravitational pressure descended on Xuan Ming's head, knocking him unconscious on the spot.
"Grandpa!" Qian Renxue hurriedly ran out from the shadows.
"Don't worry. He's not dead yet," Qian Daoliu said.
"This is what you called being deeply calculating?"
He looked so quiet, but the moment he opened his mouth, it was as though his tongue had been dipped in poison!
Golden Crocodile had only just taught him a lesson, yet he had turned right around and done it again, going even further!
How did that count as being deeply calculating?
"Grandpa, right after his Martial Soul awakened, a Spirit Hall patrol deacon abducted him and sold him to human traffickers because of his physical mutation. He finally managed to escape, only to encounter Dugu Bo, who was being hunted by Yue Guan and the others. After reaching Heaven Dou City, he was nearly beaten to death as a slave by a prince of Barak. He finally had a couple of peaceful days and hunted down his First Soul Ring, only for Yue Guan to abduct him again in the middle of the night." Qian Renxue's expression was somewhat awkward.
"And from what you were saying just now, it seems Grandpa Golden Crocodile forcibly brought him back from Spirit Hall Academy again."
"From a mere patrol deacon to elders and enshrined, people from Spirit Hall have abducted him over and over..."
"No matter how patient someone is, how could they withstand being put through all that?"
"..."
Qian Daoliu fell silent.
No wonder the boy had been bottling up anger from the very beginning.
Put that way... the boy had indeed shown considerable restraint.
"Xiao Xue, this child's condition is somewhat complicated," Qian Daoliu said.
"You may be disappointed."
Qian Renxue froze. "What's wrong?"
"The damage to his Martial Souls is very troublesome. I have no idea how to resolve it," Qian Daoliu said.
"Damage?" Confusion appeared on Qian Renxue's face.
"Isn't he able to cultivate normally?"
If a Martial Soul was damaged, a low-level Soul Master couldn't cultivate normally. It had to be repaired.
"It only looks normal," Qian Daoliu said.
"There's an adhesion between his two Martial Souls. Something must have gone wrong during his Martial Soul Awakening. If a high-level Soul Master had been present to help clear it with a special guidance ritual, it wouldn't have been much trouble."
"But he seems to have forcibly broken through that adhesion, causing his two Martial Souls to come into conflict again."
"His two Martial Souls aren't completely independent, and they're devouring each other. If this continues, he should be all right if he stops cultivating, and he should be able to live a few more years. But if he keeps cultivating at his current pace and continues adding Soul Rings to his Tool Martial Soul..."
"I don't know how much longer he'll live, either."
He had never encountered such a situation and had no idea what to do.
Martial Souls devouring each other should have finished before Martial Soul Awakening. The weaker Martial Soul would become nourishment for the stronger one, and sometimes this mutual devouring would also trigger a Martial Soul Mutation.
But this child's two Martial Souls were a little too vicious!
Even if they couldn't devour each other, neither could tolerate the other's existence!
Chapter 46: Concession
"How could this happen..."
After hearing Qian Daoliu's explanation, Qian Renxue's expression was somewhat grim.
Forcibly breaking through a blockage had damaged his Martial Souls. Could it have been an accident that occurred when he escaped from those two human traffickers?
"Then... could we cripple one Martial Soul?" Qian Renxue asked.
"Cripple his Tool Martial Soul and help his Beast Martial Soul successfully devour it."
Qian Daoliu shook his head. "No. The adhesion between his two Martial Souls is too tight. By now, they're practically bound to live and die together. Whichever Martial Soul we cripple, it will inevitably cause severe damage to the other."