Midsummer, year 2574 of the Douluo Calendar.
Meng Zhongqi, the fifteenth patriarch of the Meng Family, successfully advanced to Titled Douluo and reported it to Spirit Hall.
Within Spirit City, the sacred ground of Spirit Hall!
Banners snapped and colorful flags fluttered throughout Spirit City. People hung lanterns and decorations everywhere, and flowers lined both sides of the roads.
Under Golden Crocodile Douluo's arrangements, Meng Zhongqi's coronation ceremony was organized with exceptional grandeur.
For this occasion, Spirit Hall had specially invited the two great empires, the Seven Great Sects, the various secluded families, and the heads of several advanced academies.
Spirit Hall intended to invite these powerhouses into Spirit City to attend Meng Zhongqi's coronation ceremony.
Spirit Hall had a long history, and its original purpose had been to maintain humanity's stability and defend against Soul Beast uprisings.
Ten thousand years ago, to gather the faith of the Soul Beast Clan, Beast God Di Tian had gone so far as to wage war against humanity, fighting over living space.
Countless lives were lost on both sides in that war!
During that war, a prodigy emerged among humanity. Possessing the Angel Martial Soul, she stood out from the rest of humankind.
This powerful human Soul Master led humanity in tenacious resistance, suppressed the Soul Beast uprising, and personally established Spirit Hall.
Afterward, her outstanding military achievements earned her election as Spirit Hall's first Hall Master. She successfully broke through her shackles and ascended to godhood at level one hundred.
This human prodigy was the founding ancestor of the Qian Family's lineage, as well as the First-Level God whom the Qian Family worshipped for generations-the Angel God!
In gratitude for the Angel God's supreme grace, the Qian Family's lineage became the symbol of Spirit Hall, gradually evolving into the present-day papacy.
Spirit Hall existed to lead humanity's powerhouses in confronting Soul Beasts and to uphold the continent's peace and stability.
After ten thousand years of tradition, whenever a human Soul Master became a Titled Douluo, they would come to Spirit Hall to receive the Pope's coronation.
Spirit City, Douluo Hall!
"Heaven above, earth below, I, Qian Daoliu, a descendant of later generations, respectfully address humanity's ancestors!"
"Today, the human powerhouse Meng Zhongqi has broken through level 90 in Soul Power, successfully hunted down his ninth Soul Ring, and advanced to Titled Douluo!"
"His title shall be: Ice Toad Douluo!"
"Honored guests attending this ceremony, please congratulate Ice Toad Douluo!"
Dressed in magnificent ceremonial attire, Qian Daoliu arrived before Douluo Hall. Only after delivering a congratulatory address did he introduce the true central figure of the day.
As soon as Qian Daoliu finished speaking, Meng Zhongqi appeared before Douluo Hall in an ice-blue ceremonial robe, calmly receiving the deity's blessing and his investiture.
Meng Zhongqi approached from the center of the vast plaza, mounted the stairs, and advanced step by step toward Douluo Hall.
With every step he took, a Soul Ring bloomed beneath his feet, and terrifying waves of Soul Power rapidly spread outward from beneath him.
Two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red!
Nine Soul Rings appeared unmistakably beneath Meng Zhongqi's feet, layered from the inside out, their colors arranged in striking order!
When the final blood-red Soul Ring appeared, none of the guests in the viewing stands could remain seated. They all cried out in astonishment.
"That's..."
"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
The guests looked toward the center of the plaza. At that moment, Meng Zhongqi became the true center of attention, setting off a tremendous earthquake.
"Ice Toad Douluo, Soul Power Level: ninety-three!"
"From this day forth, in my capacity as Pope alone, I hereby appoint Ice Toad Douluo as Spirit Hall's fifth titled elder!"
At that moment, Qian Daoliu's voice rang out again.
"We greet the Fifth Elder!"
As Qian Daoliu finished speaking, several more people appeared in the sky. They were Spirit Hall's titled elders.
"What an impressive turnout!"
"Golden Crocodile Douluo, Azure Luan Douluo, Mighty Lion Douluo, Light Feather Douluo-all these Titled Douluos have come."
In the viewing stands, Tang Chen narrowed his eyes, a flash of fighting spirit suddenly passing through them. He had not expected all these men to be present.
"Hiss, one Limit Douluo, three Super Douluos above level ninety-five, plus two ordinary Titled Douluos."
"Hiss, six titled powerhouses in total!"
"Is this the foundation Spirit Hall has accumulated over nearly ten thousand years?"
At this sight, all the guests present were stunned. Spirit Hall's foundation far exceeded their imaginations.
In the viewing stands, Tang Chen, the Clear Sky Sect's sect master, was also a level ninety-nine Limit Douluo, fully capable of matching Qian Daoliu.
The two great empires' consecrators, along with Chen Jianjun and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's former clan leader, amounted to only four Titled Douluos.
Apart from them, the sect masters of the Lower Four Sects and the heads of the various secluded families were all merely low-level Soul Douluos.
Spirit Hall's deep foundation exceeded everyone's expectations!
"We can't beat them. We really can't beat them!"
After weighing things in their hearts, the visiting guests discovered an enormous disparity between their strength and their opponent's. In the end, they could only lower their banners and silence their drums.
Spirit Hall alone crushed all enemies who came against it from across the world!
This display of muscle achieved the effect of subduing the enemy without a battle, and its results were remarkably pronounced.
News of Meng Zhongqi joining Spirit Hall soon spread throughout the Douluo Continent, and the Meng Family was brought into the public eye as well.
"Heaven Dou Royal City's five great secluded families!"
"Truly, families forged of iron, dynasties flowing like water!"
"The Meng Family has a thousand years of heritage and an exceptionally long history. Its Martial Soul inheritance has remained orderly, and Titled Douluo powerhouses have appeared among its ancestors."
"No wonder Meng Zhongqi possesses a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
As Meng Zhongqi broke through to Titled Douluo, the Meng Family also became widely praised and soon entered the sights of the highest circles.
"What!"
"The Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad actually has an innate defect?"
"The Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad Martial Soul is extremely unusual. Although its destructive power is exceptionally terrifying, this type of Martial Soul shortens a Soul Master's lifespan."
"Hiss, in that case, even though Meng Zhongqi has broken through to Titled Douluo, he doesn't have much longer to live!"
"Pass down the order. We absolutely must not provoke this man from now on!"
At some unknown point, a rumor swiftly spread throughout the Douluo Continent, its words actually revealing a great secret of the Meng Family.
A Great Emperor in his twilight years, his lifespan nearly exhausted, had burst onto the scene bearing an extreme-path imperial weapon. For a time, the Douluo Continent was gripped by anxiety.
Once this rumor emerged, it quickly spread throughout the Douluo Continent. Almost every major sect learned of the news.
The threat posed by Meng Zhongqi abruptly rose another notch!
Even the Upper Three Sects and the two great empires did not want to provoke this living King of Hell. Would that not be asking for trouble?
As the saying went, the fierce feared the reckless, and the reckless feared those who cared nothing for their lives. Push someone too far, and at worst, they could simply self-detonate!
The image of a peerless ruthless man was instantly established.
"Before injuring others, it injures oneself!"
"To think the Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad Martial Soul was actually so overbearing!"
Upon hearing this rumor, the level ninety-four Light Feather Douluo froze briefly before speaking with a smile.
"No wonder the Fifth Elder personally requested extended leave from the Pope after joining Spirit Hall, saying he needed to return home to recuperate."
"So there was actually such a secret behind it!"
As the man in charge of the Elder Hall, Golden Crocodile Douluo knew more than others. At that moment, he also revealed what he knew from the side.
"In that case!"
"This matter should be very close to the truth!"
"Poor Fifth Elder. He only just broke through to Titled Douluo, yet he's encountered such a turn of events. Alas, fortune toys with people!"
Inside Spirit Hall, several elders sighed with emotion.
How much sincerity there was in those sentiments, however, was hard to say. Meng Zhongqi joining Spirit Hall had been a smokescreen to begin with.
The innate defect of the Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad Martial Soul was also information the Meng Family had deliberately released. Its purpose was to lull Spirit Hall into complacency, a plan that killed two birds with one stone!
First, it could make Spirit Hall lower its guard. It also indirectly conveyed their stance: the Meng Family did not intend to vie for power and undermine the Qian Family's rule.
Second, the Meng Family was also leveraging this momentum to announce to the continent's powers: sects and families like yours had better never push a member of the Meng Family too far.
When that happened, a twilight Great Emperor would personally arrive bearing an extreme-path imperial weapon and unleash a move that sent you to share heaven and earth's lifespan!
Once I was dead, what did I care if floods swallowed the world!
This was Meng Zhongqi's terrifying deterrent power. In other words, he was a walking nuclear bomb!
And one with an explosive temper, ready to blow at the slightest spark!
As long as Meng Zhongqi remained alive, this sharp blade would hang over the heads of the major powers. Who, then, would dare break ground over the head of Tai Sui?