Douluo Continent, Spirit City.
The Worship Hall.
Inside a magnificent, gold-and-jade hall.
"Golden Crocodile, can that child's Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul really grant wishes?"
Looking at Golden Crocodile Douluo, who had come to report to him, Qian Daoliu was filled with astonishment and could not help asking.
"Yes, big brother!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo was tall and powerfully built, clad in golden armor, with muscles knotted all over his body. He scratched his head, a peculiar look in the eyes set in his rugged face, and said,
"Over the past three months, I found three people in succession to each make a wish on the child's Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul."
"Some were Soul Masters, and some were ordinary people."
"There were men and women."
"The first was a male Soul Ancestor at level forty-nine. He had been unable to break through to level fifty for a long time, so he wished on the child's Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul to break through to level fifty as soon as possible..."
"What happened? Did he break through on the spot?"
A flicker of undisguised excitement flashed in Qian Daoliu's eyes, set in the face of a handsome middle-aged man, as he asked.
"Uh..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo hesitated to speak.
"That level forty-nine Soul Ancestor did break through."
"But it happened that night, when his Soul Power went astray during cultivation."
"Though he stumbled into a breakthrough by a freak coincidence, the meridians throughout his body were damaged, and he suffered serious injuries."
"It's been over two months now, and he still hasn't recovered."
The corner of Qian Daoliu's mouth twitched.
For a moment, a hint of unease welled up in his heart.
Why did the way that wish came true feel a little different from what he had imagined?
"What about the second one?"
Qian Daoliu continued to ask.
Golden Crocodile Douluo continued.
"The second person to make a wish was a wealthy merchant who had come to visit Spirit City."
"His child had no aptitude for becoming a Soul Master."
"So he wished on the Wishing Divine Lamp for his child to become a Soul Master."
"And what happened?"
Qian Daoliu frowned slightly and pressed him for an answer.
To make someone with no aptitude for being a Soul Master into one-
Unless they happened to obtain and consume a heavenly treasure that was almost impossible to find in the whole world,
wasn't it practically impossible?
"The result..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo gave a bitter smile, a hint of a sigh in his voice.
"When the wealthy merchant returned, he discovered that his wife had taken their son back to their hometown to visit her father."
"And they hadn't come back for a long time."
"That made him uneasy, so he took some people and returned to his hometown."
"But he found that a group of Evil Soul Masters had taken over his hometown and were conducting experiments in its village. They had slaughtered his wife and parents, who were there, along with all the other villagers who shared his surname."
"Using one of the Evil Soul Masters' Martial Soul abilities, they concentrated the bloodline power of every villager, causing his son's Martial Soul to evolve and making him a Soul Master."
"If I hadn't sent people to keep an eye on the wealthy merchant all along, to see the result of the wish,"
"he probably would have died in the village too."
Qian Daoliu had never expected the wealthy merchant's wish to come true in such a way.
His expression could not help turning somewhat grim.
For a moment, profound awe of fate's inscrutability rose in his heart.
After all, their Spirit Hall had always maintained order in the Soul Master World, striking down lawbreaking Fallen Soul Masters and Evil Soul Masters who killed to cultivate wherever they found them.
Evil Soul Masters had not appeared in organized groups for many years.
Yet unexpectedly, after the wealthy merchant wished for his son to become a Soul Master,
he actually drew in an organized group of Evil Soul Masters, who by a freak coincidence made his son a Soul Master.
The power of fate was simply too inconceivable!
But after hearing two examples in a row, Qian Daoliu had also seen the key point.
He realized that wishes made on the Wishing Divine Lamp,
though they all came true, seemed to require a price.
The harder the wish, the greater the price!
Even so, the wishes did indeed come true one hundred percent of the time!
"What about the third?"
Qian Daoliu took a deep breath and continued in a grave voice.
"The third person to make a wish was a female Soul Master from our Spirit City. Her looks and talent were ordinary, and she was a little plump."
"She wished for a powerful, handsome, gentle, and wealthy male Soul Master to fall deeply in love with her and refuse to marry anyone but her."
Golden Crocodile Douluo spoke with a peculiar look in his eyes.
"As for the result..."
"Not long after she made the wish, a male Soul Master just like that did appear and began courting her."
"In the end, they got together."
"But before long, the male Soul Master borrowed all her savings on the pretext of buying spiritual medicine to break through to the next realm, then ran off with the money. He vanished without another word."
"So... it was a pig-butchering scam!"
Hearing that, Qian Daoliu's mouth twitched again.
He could only feel that the way this wish had come true was far too outrageous!
Even a pig-butchering scam counted.
Though, come to think of it,
only a pig-butchering scammer could have matched that female Soul Master's requirements.
After all, she had wished for him to fall deeply in love, but hadn't specified whether the love had to be real or fake.
As for refusing to marry anyone but her,
a scammer most likely wouldn't marry her either.
So just say whether he would refuse to marry anyone but her, and that was that.
After hearing the three examples,
Qian Daoliu took a deep breath, made a decision, and said to Golden Crocodile Douluo,
"Golden Crocodile, go and bring that child here!"
"Yes!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo cupped his fists and turned to leave.
Before long, he returned with a little boy dressed in white, with a well-proportioned build, fair skin, short black hair, and delicate, adorable features.
"Greetings, Great Enshrined!"
Upon seeing Qian Daoliu,
Xu Nuo greeted him respectfully, feeling somewhat nervous.
After awakening his Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul,
he had learned that he could grant one wish for someone else every month.
Although the process of granting a wish might not be quite perfect, with a tiny billion side effects and costs,
as the owner of the Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul,
no matter what happened, he could retain a portion of both the rewards and the costs of the wish as his fee for granting it.
That had immediately prompted Xu Nuo to report his Wishing Divine Lamp's wish-granting ability.
Perhaps he could gain some benefits for himself that way.
But Xu Nuo really had not expected Qian Daoliu to seek him out to make a wish as well.
If he ended up giving Qian Daoliu a raw deal while using the Wishing Divine Lamp to grant his wish later,
would this Great Enshrined kill him?
Xu Nuo was utterly anxious.
"Child, your name is Xu Nuo, correct?"
"If my assessment is right, your Wishing Divine Lamp Martial Soul is an extremely rare Fate Attribute Martial Soul."
"From now on, I will personally teach you."
Looking at Xu Nuo, who had entered, Qian Daoliu spoke slowly, with a trace of emotion in his voice.
"All right!"
"Child, can you summon your Martial Soul?"
"Today should already be the start of a new month."
"Your Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul should be able to grant another wish, shouldn't it?"
"Yes, yes, Great Enshrined!"
Hearing Qian Daoliu's words, Xu Nuo hurriedly answered.
Then he held out his right hand.
In an instant, amid a burst of dazzling golden light,
a golden divine lamp quietly appeared. It was gold from end to end, as though cast from the metal, covered in exquisite patterns and inlaid with several sapphires.
After summoning the Wishing Divine Lamp,
Xu Nuo handed the Wishing Divine Lamp to Qian Daoliu and said,
"Great Enshrined, you only need to rub the Wishing Divine Lamp three times, and it will release a golden light."
"Then you just need to make your wish in your heart!"
Qian Daoliu took the Wishing Divine Lamp, drew a deep breath, and gently rubbed it three times.
The next moment, the Wishing Divine Lamp burst into dazzling golden light, enveloping Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu closed his eyes and began silently making his wish.