Gathering his thoughts, An Yi began to carefully examine the changes in his body.
Come to think of it, the changes in his two Martial Souls were rather interesting.
Even before their evolution, his Sun Martial Soul and Moon Martial Soul had possessed special abilities.
The Sun Martial Soul could absorb the sun's energy during the day, replenishing his Soul Power while slowly restoring his physical strength.
The Moon Martial Soul could absorb moonlight at night, not only storing energy but also restoring his mental strength.
After discovering this, An Yi had begun cultivating his Sun Martial Soul during the day and his Moon Martial Soul at night.
The sun and moon took turns, day and night without rest.
Other people had only twenty-four hours in a day, and so did he, but he could use the energy of the sun and moon to keep his cultivation efficiency consistently high.
On top of that, ten years of tempering himself in the Sea God's Light had improved both his Soul Power and his physical condition.
Ultimately, he had broken through to Soul Saint at the age of seventeen.
Such cultivation speed was astonishing even across the whole of Douluo Continent.
Now that his two Martial Souls had completed their evolution, things had changed even further.
The Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon and the Great Yin Heaven-Devouring Dragon no longer merely absorbed the energy of the sun and moon passively. They could actively devour it.
As for exactly how far they could go, he would need to explore further.
One thing, however, was quite clear.
His Soul Power Level had fallen.
Half a month had passed since his Martial Souls completed their evolution, and his Soul Power had dropped from level seventy-three to level seventy-one.
A full two levels.
An Yi couldn't help wearing a strange expression.
What was going on? Wasn't Martial Soul Evolution supposed to be a good thing?
Why did it come with a loss of levels?
Was the difference in quality between his Martial Souls before and after their evolution so great that his original Soul Power couldn't fully adapt to the new ones?
Or had something happened during the evolution that he couldn't understand yet?
An Yi tried circulating his Soul Power.
The next moment, two utterly different powers surged within him at the same time.
One was searing and tyrannical, bearing a destructive presence, as though it could burn everything in the world to ashes.
The other was cold and profound, carrying an indescribable spatial fluctuation.
The two powers intertwined without clashing. Instead, under his control, they worked together to form a more stable cycle.
Although his Soul Power Level had fallen, his strength had risen rather than declined.
His Sun Martial Soul had mainly relied on intense heat to burn enemies to death, but the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon now possessed an additional power of destruction.
The two seemed similar, but in truth they were entirely different things.
The change in the Great Yin Heaven-Devouring Dragon was even more pronounced. His Moon Martial Soul had been able to control only a very limited amount of spatial power, and most of the time he could use it only as a support ability.
But now?
He even had a feeling that, as long as he wished, he could tear open the space before him!
Of course, just how powerful this ability was remained to be tested.
But there was no doubt that, after his Martial Souls completed their evolution, his strength had risen by more than one tier.
"Still, my Soul Power Level isn't going to keep dropping, is it?"
It had fallen from level seventy-three to level seventy-one. If it dropped any further, wouldn't he end up back at Soul Emperor?
When that happened, other people would gain levels through cultivation, while he lost them.
What kind of situation was that?
"Forget it. I'll watch it for a while first."
An Yi shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.
As long as his strength continued to improve, a temporary drop in level wasn't unacceptable.
At worst, he could wait until he figured out the cause and then find a way to solve it.
He had plenty of time, anyway.
Meanwhile.
The Worship Hall, at the summit of Pope Mountain.
The grand hall was brightly lit.
Qian Daoliu sat cross-legged in the center of the hall, his eyes shut, a faint golden light circulating around him.
"Father."
Qian Xunji, standing nearby, couldn't help speaking up.
"I still don't understand why you would find a mere Soul Saint to be Xue'er's teacher."
"We have so many Titled Douluo in Spirit Hall. Aren't they enough?"
"If Xue'er needs a teacher, any worshipper or elder would do. Surely none of them would be worse than a Soul Saint, whether in strength or experience?"
Qian Daoliu opened his eyes and glanced at him. "He's only eighteen."
Qian Xunji froze. "Eighteen?"
"You mean An Yi is only eighteen this year?"
Qian Daoliu nodded.
Qian Xunji's expression turned somewhat incredulous.
"An eighteen-year-old Soul Saint?"
"Father, are you serious?"
It wasn't as though he had never seen a genius. Bibi Dong was Spirit Hall's greatest genius in a thousand years, yet even she had not reached the Soul Saint realm at eighteen.
Qian Daoliu said calmly, "What, do you think I can't even tell that much?"
Qian Xunji opened his mouth. "That's not what I meant..."
"Even if his talent is astonishing, he's still only a Soul Saint right now. Father, aren't you placing too much importance on him?"
Qian Daoliu looked at his son and suddenly smiled.
"If he fought you, do you think you could beat him?"
Qian Xunji raised an eyebrow. "Father, are you overestimating him, or underestimating me?"
Qian Daoliu shook his head. "I know exactly what you're capable of, and I've personally tested his strength."
The defiance on Qian Xunji's face gradually faded.
"What was the result?"
"You really wouldn't be able to take him down."
Qian Xunji: "..."
A dignified Titled Douluo, unable to take down a Soul Saint?
"Father, you aren't joking, are you?"
Qian Daoliu ignored his doubts and continued, "His Martial Soul is no weaker than our Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul."
Qian Xunji's pupils contracted sharply. "No weaker than the Six-Winged Angel?"
The Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul was a top-tier Martial Soul passed down through the Qian Family of Spirit Hall, and the foundation of their standing in the Soul Master World.
As an inheritor of the Six-Winged Angel, Qian Xunji naturally knew what this Martial Soul meant.
Yet now his father was saying that another Martial Soul existed in this world that was no weaker than the Six-Winged Angel?
How was that possible?!
But before he could speak, Qian Daoliu added another sentence.
"It can even counter our Six-Winged Angel."
Qian Xunji was completely stunned. "Counter the Six-Winged Angel? Father, are you serious?"
"How could such a Martial Soul exist in this world?"
Qian Daoliu gave him a calm glance. "Do you think I'd joke about something like this?"
Qian Xunji was immediately at a loss for words.
Qian Daoliu continued, "I personally tested his abilities that night."
"The Six-Winged Angel's sacred energy has almost no suppressive effect on his Martial Soul. Instead, he can devour it in return."
"You should understand what that means."
Qian Xunji's expression gradually grew grave.
Qian Daoliu raised a hand, and golden light flashed briefly at his fingertip.
"Aside from Tang Chen back then, few people have been able to break through my Angel Domain head-on."
"But that night, An Yi tore through my Angel Domain."
Qian Xunji jerked his head up. "What?!"
"He tore through your Angel Domain?"
That was Qian Daoliu's Angel Domain!
How could a Soul Saint possibly shake the domain of a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo?
Qian Daoliu shook his head. "I hadn't activated my Martial Soul Avatar or used my full strength at the time, but even so, it wasn't something a Soul Saint should have been able to break."
"Yet he did it."
"His Martial Soul commands an extremely unusual power of space."
"Since he could tear through my Angel Domain, that means it's entirely possible for him to use his spatial ability to leave the battlefield."
"If he was determined to escape, even I might not be able to stop him."
Qian Xunji fell silent.
A Soul Saint who could escape from a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo?
If anyone else had said it, he would have taken it for a joke.
But the person saying it was Qian Daoliu.
Moreover, he had reached that conclusion after personally testing An Yi's strength, leaving Qian Xunji no choice but to believe him.
Qian Daoliu continued, "And he's still young."
"Being a Soul Saint at eighteen already demonstrates his talent. If he breaks through to Titled Douluo one day, or even reaches the same realm as me, how strong do you think he'll be?"
Qian Xunji did not answer.
Once a young Soul Master like that, with top-tier Martial Souls, special abilities, and an astonishingly fast cultivation speed, grew up, he would be capable of affecting the balance of the entire Soul Master World.
Especially...
Qian Daoliu looked out of the hall.
"Xue'er needs a teacher like him."
Qian Xunji frowned. "But what can he teach Xue'er?"
"Our Qian Family has its own inheritance for cultivating the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. Compared with An Yi, a Titled Douluo is clearly more qualified to guide Xue'er."
"As for combat experience, he's only eighteen. Could he possibly have more than those elders who have fought in countless battles?"
Qian Daoliu did not refute him. He slowly rose to his feet.
"What he teaches her isn't really important."
"What matters is keeping him in Spirit Hall."
"Give him sufficient status and standing, and in the future, he'll become Xue'er's greatest support."
Qian Xunji's brows knitted tightly.
He understood what his father meant. A genius like An Yi must not be allowed to leave so easily.
But the question was, how could they keep someone like him firmly within Spirit Hall?
Merely trying to recruit him probably wouldn't be enough.
Making him Qian Renxue's teacher, on the other hand, would give him a suitable position and allow the two sides to forge a deeper connection.