"Great… Great Offering, it's about the Pope and the Young Master!" The kneeling Soul Sage, too terrified to look up, stammered, "Something's happened to them!"
"What happened?" Qian Daoliu's brows furrowed, but he kept his composure, his voice steady.
"Reporting to the Great Offering, the Pope… he's gravely injured, and the Young Master is missing!" The man's words unleashed a storm in the Hall of Offerings.
Qian Daoliu's eyes sharpened, locking onto the man. "What did you say?" His voice was heavy with menace.
"T-The Pope… he's dead, and the Young Master has vanished!" The Soul Sage's body trembled, his voice faltering.
Boom! A terrifying, uncontrollable aura erupted from Qian Daoliu, rippling outward like shockwaves. Though the man was a Soul Sage, under the crushing pressure of a level-99 Limit Douluo, he struggled to breathe, as if a mountain weighed upon him. Even Golden Crocodile Douluo and Azure Luan Douluo felt the impact.
"How could this happen? How did the Pope and Xue'er suddenly end up in trouble?" Golden Crocodile, resisting Qian Daoliu's overwhelming aura, demanded answers from the man.
The Soul Sage, pinned by the immense pressure, couldn't move or speak. Golden Crocodile turned to Qian Daoliu. "Great Offering, please retract your aura."
Qian Daoliu reined in his pressure, his gaze piercing the man. "Speak! What happened to Xunji and Xue'er? Who's responsible?"
Qian Xunji, a level-95 assault-type Titled Douluo and Pope of the Martial Soul Hall, was nearly untouchable on the continent, save for Tang Chen or Sword Douluo Chen Xin. Even they wouldn't dare strike him unless provoked, as attacking him meant war with the Martial Soul Hall.
"Reporting to the Great Offering," the man began, seizing the chance to explain. "The Pope was gravely injured while hunting a 100,000-year transformed soul beast—the Blue Silver Empress. Unbeknownst to us, she was the wife of Tang Hao, one of the Haotian Twin Stars. To protect her, Tang Hao turned against the Martial Soul Hall and clashed with the Pope. Tang Hao, barely at level-90, was no match, so the Blue Silver Empress sacrificed herself, granting him a 100,000-year soul ring. His power surged, and in a rage, he struck a blow that severely injured the Pope, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, and several Soul Sages and Soul Douluo."
Qian Daoliu was stunned. He knew of Tang Hao, Tang Chen's grandson, one of the Haotian Twin Stars alongside his brother Tang Xiao. The youngest Titled Douluo in history, his talent was unmatched. Yet, his wife was a 100,000-year soul beast? Worse, this prodigy had crippled Qian Daoliu's son for her sake.
The real question burned: how could a newly minted Titled Douluo like Tang Hao, even with a 100,000-year soul ring, single-handedly devastate three level-95 Titled Douluo? The Six-Winged Angel and Haotian Hammer martial souls were evenly matched. Qian Xunji had two other Titled Douluo and a dozen Soul Sages and Soul Douluo—how could Tang Hao overpower them?
"That's impossible!" Golden Crocodile interjected. "Tang Hao just reached Titled Douluo. How could he cripple three level-95 Titled Douluo with one strike? Is this a joke?"
Azure Luan Douluo and the others echoed his skepticism. A 100,000-year soul ring was formidable, but Golden Crocodile had one too. For assault-type Titled Douluo with comparable martial souls, the gap wasn't that vast. One hammer crushing three level-95 Titled Douluo was absurd.
"It's no joke—it's true!" the Soul Sage insisted. "Tang Hao, with his ordinary Titled Douluo cultivation, struck a blow that crippled the Pope, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, and a host of Soul Sages and Soul Douluo. I was there and witnessed it. That hammer's destructive power was cataclysmic, as if the sky would split and the earth would crumble into ruin."
The memory of Tang Hao's strike haunted the man. He'd survived only because he was an agility-type soul master positioned far enough away. Otherwise, he'd have perished like the others.
Though unclear how Tang Hao achieved it, Golden Crocodile didn't press further. Instead, he turned to Qian Renxue's disappearance. "You said you were there during the attack on Tang Hao. How do you know the Young Master is missing?"
The Soul Sage explained, "On the way back to Martial Soul City with the Pope, I encountered the Young Master's guard captain. They looked panicked, their faces pale, and she wasn't with them. I asked, and they revealed her plan to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire by supporting Prince Xue Qinghe, aiming to make him Crown Prince, then replace him. She intended to build her own power base, gradually supplant Emperor Xue Ye, and eventually ascend as Empress to annex the Heaven Dou Empire into the Martial Soul Hall without bloodshed. But during her mission to approach Xue Qinghe and establish her identity, a small mishap occurred, and she vanished."
Details were scarce, as the man knew little. "The guard captain is waiting outside, awaiting your judgment, Great Offering," he added.
Qian Daoliu summoned them immediately. From their accounts, he learned the full plan and, crucially, that Qian Renxue vanished in the Star Dou Forest. "Great Offering," the guard captain explained, "we encountered the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. To distract it and give the Young Master time to escape, we scattered. But when we emerged from the forest, she was gone!"