Chapter 107: Elemental City, Shui Clan
After spending two days at the Clear Sky Sect, Qian Xunji and his party, along with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and Clear Sky Sect's affiliated forces, all departed one after another.
Qian Xunji took a group of Spirit Hall soul masters and headed leisurely by carriage toward Elemental City. He did not bring his family, not even Qian Renchuan.
Qian Renchuan actually really wanted to meet his future fiancée. Deep down, he was a 29-year-old man who had been single all his life, obsessed only with hidden weapons, completely clueless about women's anatomy.
But Qian Xunji refused. With Qian Renchuan's love-brained tendencies—bordering on lolicon—if he met his fiancée now, he'd probably find every excuse to sneak off to Elemental City.
And what was the Shui Clan? One of the four major elemental family backers of the Heaven Dou Empire's Elemental Academies, and the true power behind Tianshui Academy.
Tianshui Academy's admission rules? No non-water-attribute soul masters, no men, no one who's not beautiful.
Beauty, female soul masters, water attributes—all of which naturally enhanced skin quality. These girls easily married into powerful families or became concubines of talented soul masters. Each generation of graduates gave the Shui Clan vast hidden networks of influence.
With such vision, how could the Shui Clan be easy to deal with?
In his current state—emotionally naïve, love-struck, feudal-minded—Qian Renchuan would be eaten alive if he went there now.
That's why, five days after Qian Renxue defeated Yu Xiaotian, Qian Xunji chose to first let her publicly crush the Clear Sky Sect before heading to the Shui Clan to propose the engagement. He wanted to pressure the Shui Clan with the news—Spirit Hall's current generation was strong, and the next would be even stronger.
Elemental City, Shui Clan.
The current clan head, Shui Qianrou, sat in a chair wearing a dark green gown, her water-blue hair cascading behind her. She had a graceful, mature beauty.
A deep worry furrowed her brow. Six days ago, after Qian Renxue defeated Yu Xiaotian, Qian Xunji had sent letters—one to the Clear Sky Sect, the other to the Shui Clan—regarding the engagement. The bride-to-be? Shui Bing'er, the heir to the Shui Clan's Ice Phoenix martial soul.
Upon reading the letter, Shui Qianrou's first instinct was to reject it. It was absurd—marrying a fire/light-attribute Six-Winged Angel to an ice-attribute Ice Phoenix? That would only ruin the child's potential.
If anyone should pair with the Angel bloodline, it should be someone like Huo Wu from the Fire Clan, not Shui Bing'er.
Clearly, Spirit Hall was trying to use the engagement as an excuse to swallow the Shui Clan and take over Tianshui Academy. How else would they know Shui Bing'er's martial soul had awakened so quickly?
Not every clan wants to be subordinate, no matter how powerful the suitor.
The Shui Clan stood alongside the Wind and Fire Clans as the three great families of Elemental City. Each had a Title Douluo-level powerhouse, making them first-rate on the continent.
Compared to the Wind and Fire Clans, the Shui Clan was more low-key—but that was only because they were waiting for the right moment to rise.
Tianshui Academy had decades of history. Every graduate who married into nobility strengthened the clan's web of influence. All that remained was the strength to back it up.
Though Shui Bing'er hadn't inherited the Ice Phoenix perfectly and had some flaws, her innate soul power was still level 9. She had the potential to become a Title Douluo.
If she broke through, combined with the Shui Clan's political capital, they could dominate Elemental City—perhaps even challenge the Upper Three Sects.
Shui Qianrou may have seemed reserved, but her ambition rivaled Ning Fengzhi's. She had even borne children with a married man just to pass on the Ice Phoenix lineage.
That's why Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er, though half-sisters, were raised as siblings.
But with Qian Daoliu still alive, and Qian Xunji having slaughtered the current Clear Sky Douluo, news of which had spread, and with Qian Renxue crushing four Soul Saints—including one with the Clear Sky Hammer—rumors had rocked the soul master world.
If Qian Renxue was that terrifyingly talented, could Qian Renchuan be any weaker?
Spirit Hall was simply too powerful. No matter how unwilling Shui Qianrou was, for her clan's survival, she had to comply.
Just then, a servant rushed in. "Clan Head, Spirit Hall's delegation has arrived."
So fast…
"Who came?"
"Platinum Bishop Salas… and His Holiness, the Pope."
The moment she heard Qian Xunji's name, Shui Qianrou had no choice but to personally greet them.
At the hall entrance, she saw a group in Spirit Hall robes, led by a youthful, handsome man in his mid-twenties with golden hair—Qian Xunji.
She recognized him instantly. She'd attended the re-election summit of the Seven Great Sects in disguise to observe him from afar.
"Shui Qianrou of the Shui Clan greets Your Holiness."
Qian Xunji nodded. "No need for formalities."
"Please, this way."
After instructing Salas and the others to stay put, Qian Xunji entered the Shui Clan hall. Shui Qianrou served him tea.
"Clan Head Shui, you know why I'm here."
"It is indeed an honor that your esteemed Hall has chosen my daughter. But, Your Holiness, I must ask…"
"Ask."
"Your martial soul—the Six-Winged Angel—is the continent's strongest light-attribute power. My family's legacy martial soul—the Ice Phoenix—is of the ice element. While children usually inherit the stronger parent's martial soul, wouldn't a light-attributed fetus suffer in an icy womb? Wouldn't that degrade the bloodline?"
Her concern was valid. Like the Dai Clan's White Tiger lineage, which had been diluted over generations due to pairings with dark-attributed Hell Civet women, even though the fusion technique remained, the quality of the martial soul declined.
This degradation could lead to soul masters like Wu Siduo, who inherited both bloodlines but possessed neither at peak potential.
Qian Xunji knew all this.
"Of course I understand. I've already made preparations. Let your daughter come out."
He didn't explain his full plan—like sending Qian Renchuan to Slaughter City for 'refinement'—but he had come with sincerity to ease her doubts and prevent any disruptions to his long-term goals.
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