Return and the Four-Element Theory

Mu Tian'en was somewhat stumped by Grandpa Ma's question.

Besides, he didn't really know what a Sinking Sand Water Turtle was.

When Golden Crocodile Douluo told him to absorb the Soul Ring, he hadn't said what kind of Soul Beast the turtle he had killed was.

Golden Crocodile Douluo, who had finally come to his senses, saw Mu Tian'en's predicament and spoke up to rescue him.

"The Soul Ring came from a Sinking Sand Water Turtle, but his Soul Skill isn't called Unfalling Sandcastle, as you said."

"Back then, that fellow probably inherited the Soul Skill known as Unfalling Sandcastle because his Martial Soul was also a turtle. But the little fellow's Martial Soul isn't a turtle. It's a whale."

In an instant, Ma Chengyuan's pupils contracted.

Only then did a hint of regret appear on his face.

He had anticipated the strength of the Martial Soul, the body, and even the Soul Power.

So how had he failed to consider the possibility of bloodline inheritance among Beast Martial Souls?

Back then, Ma Chengyuan's Preliminary Exploration of Ancient Bloodlines had already set out his research into the transmission of Martial Soul bloodlines. It had even led to the creation of a Soul Ring cultivation sequence for a Titled Douluo.

Yet he had made a mistake in designing a little fellow's Soul Ring and Soul Skill.

Not three elements, but four?

At that moment, Ma Chengyuan suddenly remembered the "Ten Core Theories of Martial Soul Competition" by the jumping clown called Grandmaster, which he had once seen in the Martial Soul Gazette.

"The inheritance and mutation of Martial Souls."

As he murmured those words, Ma Chengyuan felt as though he had gained a glimmer of inspiration unlike anything he had ever known.

Unfortunately, that inspiration vanished in a flash.

He failed to grasp it.

Had it been the Ma Chengyuan of years past, he would probably have frantically recorded every detail and kept trying to reproduce that inspiration.

Now...

If he gained it, he was fortunate; if he lost it, no harm done.

Ma Chengyuan turned his gaze to Mu Tian'en.

The most pressing matter was Mu Tian'en's First Soul Skill.

Looking at Ma Chengyuan's exceedingly solemn face, Golden Crocodile Douluo burst out laughing.

"Don't worry. The little fellow's Soul Skill is considerably stronger than you imagined. It has everything it should, and his attributes are quite compatible with that turtle's."

Golden Crocodile Douluo acknowledged the formidable power of the Soul Skill Mu Tian'en had obtained.

But he stopped Ma Chengyuan from asking about the little fellow's Soul Skill.

A Soul Master's Soul Ring skills were secrets to begin with.

If he hadn't known that Ma Chengyuan was a die-hard loyalist of Spirit Hall, Golden Crocodile Douluo would have struck the moment he confirmed that the man was asking about the effects of Mu Tian'en's Soul Skill.

But now, Golden Crocodile Douluo was prepared to give these two little fellows in their seventies or eighties an order from an old fellow.

A Soul Beast that could produce a semi-domain Soul Skill with relative consistency was far too special.

Their Spirit Hall needed to plant a hand here.

"Bishop Qing Xiunuo..."

Golden Crocodile Douluo coughed a few times.

Only after Qing Xiunuo realized something was amiss, stepped forward, and knelt before him did Golden Crocodile Douluo continue. "When you return to the Vast Sea City Main Hall, issue a gag order to your subordinates."

"Nothing that happened here may be leaked."

"Also, I'll have Jin Huang stay here to suppress the various factions."

"With this little fellow's Soul Skill, you'd better prepare for a promotion, Xiunuo. Some Spirit Hall Soul Masters may be stationed in Vast Sea City soon."

With that, Golden Crocodile Douluo scooped Mu Tian'en up.

Amid Mu Tian'en's cackling laughter, the old man slowly rose into the air using his Soul Power.

After determining the direction of Vast Sea City, he turned into a streak of light and swept across the sky, disappearing from the sight of the two unlucky men, who had barely rested and now had to return to the Vast Sea City Main Hall of Spirit Hall as soon as they had found him.

For a moment...

Ma Chengyuan and Qing Xiunuo looked at each other on the floating ice, which still gave off a faint chill.

A moment later, Ma Chengyuan, having realized something, immediately manifested his Martial Soul Avatar. Using his Martial Soul's ability to float, he flew straight toward Vast Sea City, without even taking the time to pay Qing Xiunuo much attention.

Qing Xiunuo, meanwhile, took the scroll recording how his ancestor had obtained the Soul Skill Unfalling Sandcastle back out of his storage Soul Tool.

He opened it...

He closed it...

After repeating this more than a dozen times, a light of ambition began to rise in the eyes of the old bishop, who had yet to step down.

"Ancestors, bless me..."

"Angel God, bless me!"

After murmuring those words, Qing Xiunuo extended a finger beneath the sea of sand, which had grown somewhat dangerous after Golden Crocodile Douluo's presence vanished.

In only a moment, the hunters that had disappeared appeared on the surface of the sand sea once more.

Unlike Golden Crocodile Douluo, who had no interest in low-level Soul Beasts, Bishop Xiunuo watched those ferocious Soul Beasts emerge with nothing but coldness on his face.

"Some of the Soul Beasts here are a little too dangerous. They need to be separated."

As soon as he finished speaking, a ceaseless torrent of freezing air poured down from Qing Xiunuo's body.

The floating ice expanded.

At the same time, Qing Xiunuo let out a low roar. His Soul Rings lit up, and he leaped into the boundless sea of sand.

"Martial Soul Avatar: Ice Sea Cave Turtle."

The great turtle's roar drowned out countless other sounds.

Only the sounds of ice colliding, shattering, and falling into the water continued without end.

Meanwhile, inside Pope Hall...

After sending his granddaughter off to learn etiquette, Qian Daoliu returned to his study. He raised an eyebrow at the letter on his desk, then at his "daughter-in-law," who had dared enter his study while he was away.

"To what do I owe the visit, Your Holiness? What are your orders?"

Bibi Dong was deeply wary of Qian Daoliu.

But she had already succeeded to the position of Pope. Looking at Qian Daoliu, who had finally dropped his gentle facade, she smiled, the smile at the corner of her mouth steeped in enough malice to poison every living thing around her to death. "What, am I not welcome?"

At this moment, the two highest powers of Spirit Hall had gathered.

Naturally, no outsiders were present.

Nor was there any chance of the two of them being all smiles and harmony.

Qian Daoliu had an inkling that his son's death had not been caused by that Tang Hao, who had only broken through to the Titled Douluo realm by relying on a Soul Beast's sacrifice.

Even if Xunji had been caught off guard for a moment, that man could at most have severely injured him.

After all, it wasn't Tang Chen wielding the Great Sumeru Hammer.

The one who had truly killed his son was very likely the woman his son had longed for, the woman he had wanted so badly that he had been willing to defy the holiness of his own Martial Soul to have her.

Qian Daoliu ignored the provocation in Bibi Dong's words. With his eyes lowered, he showed none of the domineering presence one would expect from the man who had once been invincible in the skies. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see whether you old immortal had finally died..." Bibi Dong pointed at the intelligence report she had personally placed on Qian Daoliu's desk. "And to tell you that Tang Hao seems to have left a trace."