Seeing that Qianxunji was going to give Qin Xuan the soul bone, the Falling Devil Douluo was overjoyed. He stepped forward and laughed:
"Haha, Your Holiness, let me thank you on behalf of Xuan'er. Xuan'er, quickly thank your brother." He patted Qin Xuan's shoulder.
Let's put aside Qian Daoliu for now.
Although the other six great priests were arrogant and conceited, they were undoubtedly loyal and courageous, cherishing their old friendships. They had received favors from either Qian Daoliu or the Qian family in their youth, and as a result, they remained steadfastly loyal to him and the angel lineage, dedicating their lives to the Spirit Hall.
They were so loyal that, in the original novel, they were willing to sacrifice themselves to buy time for Qian Renxue's retreat.
Before this, Qin Xuan might not have felt any particular gratitude toward Jiang Long. Their master-disciple relationship had been established through Qian Daoliu's arrangement, with no deep affection between them. But now things were different.
Thanks to Qin Xuan's "Crossing All Directions," the two had successfully performed a martial soul fusion technique. This allowed Jiang Long to touch the bottleneck of the ninety-seventh level, something he might have never reached otherwise.
For someone like Jiang Long, this was akin to being reborn. He now owed Qin Xuan a great favor.
"Thank you, brother."
Qin Xuan didn't know what the Falling Devil Douluo was thinking, but with a simple thank you, he was able to obtain from Qian Xunji the Wisdom Skull, which Tang San won in the original Soul Master Competition—an item that had a 60,000-year history. It was a massive gain; only a fool wouldn't be grateful.
Not to mention that the Falling Devil Douluo had also provided him with more than 70,000 emotional points. Where could one find such a generous big brother?
It wasn't long before Qian Xunji ordered the Wisdom Skull, which condensed spiritual power, to be fetched from the treasury of the Pope's Palace. Then, he inquired about the fluctuations in soul power.
Qian Daoliu, believing that since the two had become sworn brothers, Qian Xunji wouldn't harm Qin Xuan, truthfully answered the query. However, the Falling Devil Douluo stepped forward and claimed that he had reached the bottleneck of level ninety-seven and would likely break through within five years. He even gave Qian Daoliu a "clever" wink, as if to say, "Look, brother, I've done a good job of keeping your secret."
This made Qian Daoliu both laugh and cry. But rather than getting angry, he was relieved and happy that his silly seventh brother now had hope for further progress.
Although Qianxunji was a little confused, he didn't press further. There was no reason for the Falling Devil Douluo to lie about such a thing. Besides, with his father Qian Daoliu around, he didn't have to worry about being deceived.
Meanwhile, the other five priests had strange expressions on their faces. Golden Crocodile, Azure Luan, and Lion were indifferent; even if Jiang Long broke through, they would still retain their positions as second, third, and fourth.
Guangling and Qianjun, however, were not so at ease—especially Guangling.
Although he was the fifth priest, his soul power was the same as Jiang Junand Jiang Long's, both at level ninety-six. He had simply broken through a little earlier. Before this, people considered him the one with the greatest potential to break through to level ninety-seven after the third and fourth priests. But now, his progress seemed a long way off.
No matter where you are, the strong are respected.
If Jiang Long broke through, he would likely become the sixth priest, and Guangling would have to call him brother. It wasn't that Guangling cared about his title as the fifth priest, but the gap in strength was difficult to accept. Imagine a naive little brother who used to call you "fifth brother" suddenly asking you to call him "brother"—who could accept that?
Qianjun, on the other hand, was slightly better off. Although his younger brother was about to surpass him, he was more happy than troubled. He was pleased with Jiang Long's potential breakthrough, and more importantly, he had found a way to break through himself.
Since his brother had found an opportunity through fusion with the Changming Sword Martial Spirit, why couldn't he do the same with his Panlong Stick? If he also broke through, he could still be the older brother.
After exchanging greetings with the Pope, Qian Xunji offered his congratulations and quickly departed.
Once again, the Elder Hall returned to the silence it had before Qin Xuan's arrival.
Only two people remained—Glowing Feather Douluo and Jiang Jun—both staring at Qin Xuan as if he were a rare treasure.
Qin Xuan felt his scalp tingle under their gazes. "Uh… Glowing Feather Douluo , Master Jiang, is there something you need?"
He was eager to return and refine the soul bones and immortal herbs.
"Calling me a worshiper is too formal," said Guang Ling, who appeared like a half-grown child. He walked over and threw his arm around Qin Xuan's shoulders. "Call me brother."
Standing together, they truly looked like brothers—Qin Xuan as the elder and Guang Ling as the younger.
"Get lost, Guangling," Jiang Jun interrupted. "Xuan'er doesn't have a martial soul fusion skill like yours, so why are you hanging around here? If you've got free time, you'd be better off cultivating. Otherwise, when Jiang Long and I break through to level ninety-seven, you'll end up as the seventh priest."
Without waiting for Qin Xuan's reply, the normally calm Jiang Junstepped forward, pushed Guangling aside, and pulled Qin Xuan closer. "Come, good disciple, let's discuss martial soul fusion techniques in my room."
"Damn it, Qianjun, that's low," Guang Ling pouted, flinging his sleeves in frustration. He spread his icy wings and flew back to his room like an upset child.
Qin Xuan felt goosebumps rise all over his body. "Master, I think we should hold off on that discussion. After my last battle with Senior Yue Guan, my soul power is nearly depleted."
With that, Qin Xuan fell deep into thought.
Recalling the scene where he summoned a red fire dragon using the "Crossing All Directions" skill, he speculated that the martial spirits of Qianjun, Jiang Long, and others originated from the same source but differed due to their focus on different directions of cultivation.
Since the Heng Guan Ba Fang technique could grant Panlong Stick's spirit to the demon-slaying technique, it could complete the martial soul fusion skill.
Could the Hundred Steps Flying Sword work similarly?
"It's okay," Jiang Jun said. "Master will help you recover." Without waiting for Qin Xuan's agreement, he pulled him into his room to continue the discussion. (P.S.: Don't misunderstand—it was purely a discussion about martial soul fusion techniques.)
The result was predictable: though the fire dragon summoned by Hengguan Bafang was an improvement over previous martial soul fusions, it still fell short.
Qin Xuan knew better than to reveal all his strength recklessly before gaining absolute power. He still had cards left to play.
His performance today had already been impressive enough. Claiming that "Crossing All Directions" was created by chance could barely fool people. But if the Hundred Steps Flying Sword were to be exposed too, it would be hard to explain.
At the very least, he needed to escape from the City of Slaughter first.