Chapter 86: Return to Spirit City
Qian Xunji never expected that the trash, Yu Xiaogang, who had somehow infatuated his disciple Bibi Dong, would spend so many years mooching off the Supreme Pontiff Palace's library, only to produce such a piece of utter garbage.
He sat in his opulent office, the scent of expensive incense hanging heavy in the air. On his gilded desk lay the report, "The Top Ten Core Competencies of Spirits."
Not only was the knowledge within cobbled together from existing, basic texts, but there were also many superfluous, idiotic elements. It read less like a scholarly breakthrough and more like the ramblings of a failed academic.
Originally, he had thought of using this trash to research a book suitable for low-level Spirit Masters of the Spirit Hall to cultivate. It would have been a useful propaganda tool. But it seemed he had grossly overestimated that useless person.
"Your Holiness," a personal guard Douluo, standing to Qian Xunji's left, said with a fawning smile. He held a thick stack of letters. "These are the petitions submitted by various branch halls in recent months, all denouncing Yu Xiaogang's 'theories'."
"It seems that useless person will finally be exposed in front of Her Royal Highness the Holy Maiden this time. His ramblings are becoming a laughingstock and are confusing the young Spirit Masters."
This guard had played no small part in instigating this, carefully ensuring Yu Xiaogang's "work" was distributed to the most critical branch halls.
"Hmm. You did very well." Qian Xunji was also very pleased. A cold, satisfied smile touched his lips. He despised Yu Xiaogang, not just for his incompetence, but for the way Bibi Dong's eyes still held a faint, lingering softness for him.
"Your Holiness, Yu Xiaogang is, after all, a person of our Spirit Hall now, technically speaking. When that trash returns from Sea God Island, should we... punish him? To eliminate future troubles?" Another personal guard Douluo suggested, making a subtle slicing motion with his hand.
"For me to kill him is no different from stepping on an ant." Qian Xunji waved a dismissive hand, his gaze distant. "He still has some use for now. A living failure is a better lesson than a dead martyr."
"Moreover, I have a better idea."
Qian Xunji leaned back in his throne-like chair. "Go call Elder Gui Mei and Elder Yue Guan. Coincidentally, the Sect Competition is coming next month. I plan to send them to invite the Upper Three Sects to participate."
He tapped the stack of petitions. "Let them take these letters to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to exert pressure. This time, I want to make the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan lose all face. I want their Clan Master to see, in public, what a disgrace his son is."
"Yes, Your Holiness!" Hearing this, the two personal guard Douluo exchanged glances and both revealed sinister smiles. Using the clan's own trash to humiliate them was a masterstroke.
The Sect Competition was, on the surface, an event to balance the Spirit Master's world of the Douluo Continent.
This was a rule established between the Spirit Hall and the various Spirit Master forces on the Douluo Continent since the inception of the Spirit Hall.
It was held every 30 years.
As the host, Spirit Hall would "impartially" judge the seven strongest Sects in the world and bestow upon them the titles of Upper Three Sects and Lower Four Sects.
The previous Sect Competition was when Tang Chen, with his ultimate skill, Ring Explosion, and his unstoppable Limit Douluo strength, led the Clear Sky Sect to win the title of "World's Number One Sect." This victory secured the Clear Sky Hammer's position as the 'World's Number One Tool Spirit'.
However, since Tang Chen's mysterious disappearance, the Clear Sky Sect had somewhat declined. Even with the emergence of the renowned Haotian Twin Stars, looking at the entire Sect, there was still only the current Sect Master, a Level 95 Titled Douluo.
It was far from as glorious as during Tang Chen's era.
The other Sects also granted the title of Upper Three Sects were the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, because it had not yet recruited Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo at that time, had no Titled Douluo within the Sect and ranked third.
Although the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan contended for second place, the previous Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, in order to compete for the "World's Number One Beast Spirit" title and the ranking among the Upper Three Sects, suffered severe injuries after that battle and passed away within a few years.
The Lower Four Sects suffered even more. To compete with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School for the last remaining spot among the Upper Three Sects, their former Sect Masters were almost all severely weakened, passing away even earlier than Yu Yuanzhen's father, the previous Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
In contrast, the Spirit Hall, as the host, remained aloof and did not participate in the competition, reaping the benefits and watching its rivals bleed.
To some extent, the Sect Competition was both an honor and a method to elect a force that could supposedly balance the Spirit Hall's power.
It could also be said to be a subtle, but brilliant, means for Spirit Hall to weaken the major top-tier Spirit Master Sects, forcing them to wound each other in the name of pride.
And for this session, Qian Xunji, as the Supreme Pontiff, besides holding the Sect Competition, also intended to use this grand event to issue three "pope decrees" to the strongest Sects, in order to confirm his dominant position in the Spirit Master's world.
To put it bluntly, he wanted to be like those ambitious individuals in the martial arts novels from Qin Xuan's previous life on Blue Star, becoming the so-called martial arts alliance leader, commanding all heroes.
However, it was hard to say whether people would pay him any mind after receiving the pope decree at that time.
Spirit City.
After nearly a month, Qin Xuan's group once again returned to the Elder Palace.
With their status—the Holy Son, a new Titled Douluo, and the fearsome Jingni—naturally, no one would stop them. The guards on the towering walls saw their approach and fell to their knees in awe.
After settling Nong Yu and A Yan in their quarters, Qin Xuan did not linger. He handed the sleepy child to the maid, his expression softening for a brief moment.
"We're back. Go get some rest. We have matters to attend to."
"Yes, Young Master."
Qin Xuan, Jingni, and Ling Yuan then went directly to Qian Daoliu's residence.
"Ling Yuan. Xuan Er. Jingni… your cultivation?"
In the spacious and bright room, which was filled with an ancient, serene power, Qian Daoliu sat cross-legged on a simple mat. He stared blankly at the three, his millennia-old composure completely filled with shock.
He had sensed their approach, but the auras were... different.
Ling Yuan and Qin Xuan were understandable, to a degree. The former's Spirit Power was at Level 93, a full 2 Spirit Power levels higher than when she left. She had clearly consolidated her foundation after her breakthrough.
The latter's Spirit Power was at Level 75, a staggering 5 Spirit Power levels higher than when he left.
Although their improvement was rapid, if they had enough opportunities and obtained a few Spirit Bones, it could still be explained.
But Jingni…
Qian Daoliu's gaze fell on her, and his eyes widened. His own Limit Douluo power wavered. Her aura was a placid, frozen lake, but he could sense the bottomless, terrifying abyss of power beneath it.
Jingni's Spirit Power was terrifying. It had already reached the frightening height of a Level 97 Peak Douluo.
One must know that before leaving, Jingni was only at the Spirit Saint realm.
And her age was only 24. This... this had already broken every record, every legend, every possibility on the Douluo Continent for tens of millions of years. This wasn't human. This was divine.
"High Priest, please allow me to explain slowly." Qin Xuan smiled slightly, activating his deceptive mode. He stepped forward, his expression sincere, and spoke nonsense with a perfectly straight face: "Actually, Jingni does not have just one Spirit, but... Twin Spirits."
As Qin Xuan spoke, Jingni, who had already activated her Phoenix Fire disguise Spirit and disguise spirit ring skills, raised her right hand.
She summoned her 'first Spirit', the Jingni Sword.
Shing!
Nine spirit rings rose, their pressure filling the room.
Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black, black.
Qian Daoliu's eyes locked onto the 9th ring. It was black, but with a faint, pulsing reddish tinge. This indicated that its age exceeded 90,000 years, infinitely close to 100,000. An incredible feat for any Spirit.
The 'first Spirit' was put away, and then she summoned her 'second Spirit'.
A massive, blood-colored salamander phantom, over 10 meters long, materialized behind her, its aura ancient and brutal.
And its spirit rings rose.
Black, black, black, black, black, black...
Then, three more rings appeared, bathing the entire room in a bloody, sacred light.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Qian Daoliu stood up, his ancient composure completely shattered.
"Three... 100,000-year rings," he breathed, his voice trembling.
Qin Xuan continued to speak nonsense with a straight face: "Her first Spirit is the Jingni Sword I told you about. Her second Spirit is the ancient mythical beast, Jingni, recorded in the ancient texts of her homeland."
"After we left Spirit City, we did not immediately go to hunt for spirit rings. Instead, we sent Teacher Jingni's remains back to her hometown for cremation. After the remains were cremated, Jingni inherited a complete set of Spirit Bones from her teacher. From that inheritance, her Spirit Power broke through Level 80."
"That set of Spirit Bones was of extremely high quality. After Jingni hunted her 8th spirit ring and the first ring of her second Spirit, her Spirit Power... had a fated breakthrough. It actually directly broke through Level 90, advancing to Titled Douluo."
"Then," Qin Xuan concluded, "we spent the rest of the time, together, helping Jingni complete all 18 spirit rings on her body."
As he spoke, Qin Xuan concocted the process of hunting the spirit rings he had prepared beforehand, basing the lies on the spirit ring skills Jingni had acquired. He spoke without blushing or a racing heart, making the one-in-a-trillion miracle sound utterly plausible.
He had also long since figured out how to explain the origin of the three 100,000-year spirit rings of the 'second Spirit'.
That was, like Tang San in the original work, simultaneously absorbing three Spirit Beasts of the same type that were over 90,000 years old, causing the spirit rings to mutate and advance to 100,000 years.
"It truly is... Twin Spirits." Seeing Jingni's 'two great Spirits' and their terrifying spirit ring configurations, even with Qian Daoliu's composure, he couldn't help but gasp.
Amidst his shock, his mind raced. This... this was the key! This was the path!
He couldn't help but say excitedly, "Xuan Er! You've researched a method to resolve the backlash of Twin Spirits?!"
He knew about Qin Xuan's research into Spirit Master theory during his period of calming his killing intent and shedding his impurities.
For this, he had even advised him not to put too much energy into theoretical research, lest it hinder his cultivation. He never expected Qin Xuan to give him such a big, world-shattering surprise.
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