The meeting was over.
At least officially.
The five children had already left the main hall of the Worship Hall, Mu Qinghe had returned to his medical duties, and several attendants had carried away copies of the records under Qian Daoliu’s direct orders.
However, none of the seven Worships rose from their seats.
The door closed.
Silence returned.
This time, without the children present.
Jiangmo was the first to break it.
“Well.”
No one answered.
He waited a few seconds.
“Am I the only one who’s going to say it?”
Qianjun looked at him.
“Probably.”
“Your grandson is insane.”
Qianjun remained expressionless.
“We already knew that.”
“No.
Before, I thought he was only a little insane.
Now he has documents.”
Golden Crocodile let out a laugh.
Blue Luan continued reviewing one of the copies Luoyue had prepared.
Qian Daoliu remained silent.
Jiangmo leaned one arm against his seat.
“Six hundred years for a first ring.
Five children.
No permanent damage.
And now he wants to figure out how to make the second one a thousand years.”
Qianjun corrected him.
“He asked whether it was possible.”
“I know that child.
When he writes ‘possible?’, it means ‘I’m going to find out.'”
This time, Qianjun did not contradict him.
Because it was true.
Qian Daoliu picked up Longyu’s record.
He had already read it during the presentation.
Now he reviewed it again.
He did not pay much attention to the ages.
That was probably what would attract the attention of an ordinary Soul Master.
A first Soul Ring close to six hundred years old.
Another possibly exceeding six hundred.
Impressive results.
But Qian Daoliu had lived far too long to be impressed by numbers alone.
Something else interested him more.
Longyu had recorded his own mistakes.
He had not hidden them.
He had described the danger to his right arm.
He had documented the inflammation afterward.
He had included Mu Qinghe’s objections.
He had clearly written that five cases did not prove his theory.
Qian Daoliu placed the document on the table.
“What do you think?”
Golden Crocodile answered first.
“That it works.”
Blue Luan looked up.
“That is precisely what we just told the child he cannot conclude.”
Golden Crocodile frowned.
“All five obtained good rings.”
“That proves the five selections were good.”
“Exactly.”
“Not that a universal method exists yet.”
Golden Crocodile looked at the Third Worship.
“You spend too much time with your granddaughter.”
“And you spend too much time with yours.”
“My granddaughter can hit you.”
Blue Luan stared at him.
“She is six.”
“Give her time.”
Jiangmo nodded with complete seriousness.
“I agree.”
Qianjun closed his eyes.
“Can we have a normal conversation for five minutes?”
“No,” Jiangmo and Golden Crocodile answered almost simultaneously.
Qianjun decided that asking had been a mistake.
Another Worship picked up one of the documents.
“The part I consider most important isn’t the ages.”
Qian Daoliu turned his gaze toward him.
“Continue.”
“The selection.”
He flipped through several pages.
“The boy did not choose five Soul Beasts simply because they were powerful.”
Blue Luan nodded.
That interested him.
The Worship continued.
“For each of them, he established a developmental direction before searching for the ring.”
He picked up Jin Yue’s record.
“Strength.
Defense.
Endurance.
Bloodline.”
Then Luoyue’s.
“Flight.
Speed.
Wind.
Maneuverability.”
Lingyu’s.
“Healing.
Vitality.
Purification.
Support.”
Renxue’s.
“Light.
Sacred Fire.
Purification.
Attack.”
Finally, Longyu’s.
“And in his own case, power, draconic bloodline, breaking, and Destruction.”
He set the documents down.
“That is different.”
Qianjun spoke.
“Not completely.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Experienced Soul Masters have always considered compatibility.”
Blue Luan nodded.
“Of course.”
“No one with common sense would recommend an ice-type Soul Beast to a purely fire-type Martial Soul simply because it possessed a powerful ability.”
“Except some idiots,” Jiangmo said.
Qianjun ignored him.
“What is different is that Longyu is trying to project the selection several rings into the future.”
Qian Daoliu finally spoke.
“Exactly.”
The hall fell silent.
“He is not only asking what Soul Skill he needs now,” Qian Daoliu continued.
“He is asking what he wants his Martial Soul to become after nine rings.”
Golden Crocodile looked at Jin Yue’s record.
Some of the humor disappeared from his expression.
“Golden Crocodile King.”
Blue Luan heard him.
“What?”
Golden Crocodile pointed toward the page.
“That’s what he’s trying to do with Jin Yue.”
Qianjun nodded.
“Eventually.”
“Her Martial Soul awakened as a Golden Crocodile.”
“Yes.”
Golden Crocodile fell silent.
He knew better than anyone how much difference a variation in bloodline could make.
If Longyu truly managed to deliberately stimulate an evolution…
That would be far more important than a six-hundred-year first ring.
Much more.
But it was also exactly the kind of idea that could become dangerous if believed too quickly.
“I want to participate,” he said.
Blue Luan raised an eyebrow.
“You already are.”
“More.”
“That worries me.”
“It doesn’t worry me.”
“That is precisely why it worries me.”
Qian Daoliu allowed them to argue.
That, too, was part of the Worship Hall.
From the outside, the seven of them were almost legendary figures.
The greatest pillars of Spirit Hall.
Titled Douluo whose appearance could alter the outcome of a battle.
For ordinary members of Spirit Hall, meeting even one of them was extraordinary.
Seeing all seven together was practically impossible.
But within these walls…
they were still people.
Proud.
Stubborn.
Possessing decades of experience.
And very different opinions.
That was precisely what Qian Daoliu needed.
“Third Worship.”
Blue Luan stopped arguing with Golden Crocodile.
“Yes?”
“What do you think of Luoyue’s records?”
The old man’s expression changed immediately.
He looked at the notebook in front of him.
“They’re good.”
Jiangmo smiled.
“That sounded painful.”
Blue Luan ignored him.
“Too good for a six-year-old.”
Qianjun asked,
“Did Longyu make them?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
But the current organization is hers.”
He flipped through several pages.
“Habitat.
Behavior.
Diet.
Physical characteristics.
Age-estimation methods.
Observed abilities.
The distinction between direct information and secondary records.”
He paused.
“And she has begun marking which information she considers reliable and which still requires confirmation.”
Qian Daoliu nodded.
“Was that done before?”
Blue Luan remained silent for a few seconds.
“Not like this.”
That admission carried weight.
Blue Luan had spent more than a century traveling, hunting, and observing Soul Beasts.
“We have information,” he continued.
“A great deal of it.
Spirit Hall probably possesses more Soul Beast records than any other organization on the continent.”
“Then what is the problem?” Golden Crocodile asked.
Blue Luan lifted one of the pages.
“That it is scattered.”
No one answered.
“Regional archives.
Hunting reports.
Personal records.
Libraries from different halls.
The experiences of elders who never wrote anything down.
Incomplete copies.
Different names for the same species.”
Jiangmo pointed at him.
“You have three rooms filled with papers that no one understands.”
Blue Luan frowned.
“I understand them.”
“That does not improve your argument.”
Golden Crocodile began laughing.
Blue Luan ignored them both.
“Luoyue asked me something during the expedition.”
Qian Daoliu waited.
“She asked me how many things I know that I have never written down.”
The humor slowly disappeared.
“I couldn’t answer her.”
Blue Luan looked at his own notebook.
“If I die tomorrow, part of that knowledge disappears with me.”
Silence.
Qian Daoliu immediately understood the importance.
It was not a problem exclusive to Blue Luan.
The seven of them had each lived for more than a century.
Each possessed decades of experience.
Battles.
Cultivation.
Soul Beasts.
Regions.
Techniques.
Mistakes.
People.
How much of it existed only in their memories?
“Start organizing it,” Qian Daoliu ordered.
Blue Luan looked up.
“All of it?”
“Everything you consider useful.”
Jiangmo smiled.
“Good luck.”
Blue Luan looked at him.
“You too.”
Jiangmo’s smile vanished.
“What?”
Qian Daoliu understood immediately.
“Correct.
All of you will do it.”
Now Jiangmo fell silent.
Golden Crocodile stopped laughing.
Qianjun looked away.
“Relevant experiences,” Qian Daoliu continued.
“Techniques.
Soul Beasts.
Training methods.
Unusual absorptions.
Mistakes.
Anything that may be useful to future generations.”
Jiangmo looked genuinely horrified.
“Do we have to write it ourselves?”
“You can dictate it.”
“That’s better.”
“To someone who will later force you to review it.”
“That’s worse again.”
Qianjun smiled.
For once, the problem was not his.
“What about the medical records?” one of the Worships asked.
Qian Daoliu replied,
“Mu Qinghe will review what is available with Lingyu.”
Golden Crocodile raised an eyebrow.
“A six-year-old?”
“A six-year-old who detected changes in Renxue’s circulation during absorption before several adults present mentioned them.”
Golden Crocodile had no answer.
“She will not lead the research,” Qian Daoliu continued.
“She will learn.”
That distinction mattered.
Qian Daoliu had no intention of turning five children into authorities simply because they were talented.
Talent required training.
Experience.
Discipline.
Time.
Longyu had ideas.
That did not automatically make him capable of implementing them.
Luoyue could observe Soul Beasts.
That did not mean she knew everything about them.
Lingyu had an affinity for medicine.
She was still a child who had barely begun.
Jin Yue would train until she collapsed unconscious if no one stopped her.
And Renxue…
Qian Daoliu remained silent for a few seconds.
Renxue had a different problem.
“Grand Worship,” Qianjun said, “are you really taking Renxue to the administrative division tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
Jiangmo looked amused.
“She’s going to hate it.”
“Probably.”
“Then why?”
Qian Daoliu looked at him.
“Because one day she will need to understand more than cultivation.”
The hall became more serious.
Everyone knew who Qian Renxue was.
Not simply a prodigy.
Not simply the possessor of the Six-Winged Seraph.
She was Qian Daoliu’s granddaughter.
The daughter of Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong.
A direct descendant of the angelic lineage.
Her future had always been important.
Qian Daoliu continued.
“She can memorize history books.
She can learn etiquette.
She can study politics.”
He paused.
“But that will not teach her how an organization actually functions.”
Golden Crocodile understood.
“Budgets.”
“Yes.”
“Personnel.”
“Yes.”
Blue Luan added,
“Conflicts between regional halls.”
“That too.”
Qianjun spoke.
“Resource allocation.”
Qian Daoliu nodded.
“And decisions where no option is perfect.”
Jiangmo looked thoughtful.
“That sounds worse than hunting Soul Beasts.”
“Sometimes it is.”
Qian Daoliu observed the five records once again.
Longyu had found a direction.
Perhaps too early.
Lingyu was beginning to find hers.
Luoyue as well.
Jin Yue would probably discover that she could turn her obsession with becoming stronger into something more systematic.
Renxue needed a similar opportunity.
He did not want the five of them simply following Longyu.
That would be a waste.
Longyu could become the center that connected many ideas.
But if the others merely repeated what he said, the group would never reach its true potential.
Qian Daoliu had seen too many powerful people surround themselves with followers incapable of contradicting them.
That created weakness.
Not strength.
“There is another rule,” he said.
The other Worships looked at him.
“Do not do the work for them.”
Golden Crocodile frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Guide them.
Correct mistakes.
Prevent them from getting themselves killed.”
Jiangmo raised a hand.
“It is.”
Qianjun let out a small laugh.
Qian Daoliu continued.
“But do not give them every answer.”
He looked toward Blue Luan.
“If Luoyue wants to organize your records, let her discover why your system is bad.”
Blue Luan looked offended.
“My system isn’t bad.”
Jiangmo opened his mouth.
“No.”
Blue Luan pointed at him.
“Not one word.”
Qian Daoliu continued as though nothing had happened.
“If Jin Yue wants to discover what training methods work best, let her measure the results.”
Golden Crocodile nodded.
“I can do that.”
“No.
She will.”
The Second Worship frowned.
“Then what do I do?”
“Stop her from deciding that five hundred extra squats count as a scientific variable.”
Golden Crocodile thought about it.
“That does sound like her.”
“Exactly.”
Qian Daoliu looked at Qianjun.
“And Longyu…”
Qianjun waited.
“Let him be wrong.”
The Sixth Worship’s expression became slightly more serious.
“As long as it isn’t dangerous.”
“Naturally.”
Qian Daoliu looked at the Ruinclaw Dragon Lizard record.
“But if every time he proposes something, we immediately give him the correct answer, he will never learn to distinguish a good hypothesis from a fortunate coincidence.”
Qianjun understood.
He did not like it entirely.
Longyu was his grandson.
The idea of watching him fail was not pleasant.
But precisely because he was his grandfather…
he had to understand.
“Agreed.”
Jiangmo smiled.
“I can help him fail.”
“You don’t need to make an effort,” Qianjun replied.
Golden Crocodile laughed again.
While the seven Worships discussed their future, the five children were doing something far less significant.
Looking for food.
“I’m hungry,” Jin Yue declared.
Renxue looked at her.
“You ate two hours ago.”
“That was before the meeting.”
“Do meetings make you hungry?”
“Everything makes me hungry.”
Longyu walked ahead of them.
Lingyu was beside him.
Luoyue continued writing.
Renxue looked toward her.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop writing.”
“I can do both.”
Jin Yue moved closer to Longyu.
“What are we eating?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because you’re in front.”
Longyu stopped.
Jin Yue nearly collided with him.
“That is probably the worst reason I’ve heard today.”
“Then you decide.”
Longyu thought about it.
“I want to go home.”
Renxue looked at him.
“Now?”
“My mother still hasn’t properly seen my ring.”
Lingyu smiled.
Longyu had been away for days.
He had returned, undergone a medical examination, and then gone directly into a formal meeting.
Lanyue probably already knew he was fine.
But hearing it in a report was not the same as seeing him.
“Then let’s go,” Lingyu said.
Longyu blinked.
“All of us?”
Jin Yue had already decided.
“If your mother is cooking, yes.”
“That wasn’t an invitation.”
“It is now.”
Renxue smiled.
“I agree.”
Luoyue finally closed her notebook.
“So do I.”
Longyu looked at the four of them.
He sighed.
“Fine.”
Jin Yue raised a fist victoriously.
“Food!”
Longyu started walking again.
“I didn’t promise food.”
“Your mother isn’t going to let us arrive and then give us nothing.”
Longyu could not argue.
Because Jin Yue was right.
In another section of the Worship Hall, Qian Daoliu finished assigning responsibilities.
Blue Luan would begin reviewing his records.
Golden Crocodile would supervise Jin Yue’s physical development and cooperate with future testing.
Qianjun and Jiangmo would continue teaching Longyu the Coiling Dragon Staff and its techniques.
The other Worships would contribute records related to their own areas of expertise when necessary.
Mu Qinghe would have medical authority to stop any experiment he considered unsafe.
And Qian Daoliu would personally handle Renxue.
For now.
It was not a perfect system.
It was not even a true project yet.
Just several extraordinarily powerful elders trying to decide how much they should allow five curious children to do.
But something had changed.
Before their awakening, the five had simply been promising descendants.
Children carrying great expectations on their shoulders.
After awakening, they had become five exceptional talents.
Now…
they were beginning to become something more.
Not because their rings were older.
Not because their Martial Souls were powerful.
But because they were beginning to ask questions that the adults around them could no longer answer with a single sentence.
Qian Daoliu picked up Longyu’s document one last time.
At the bottom was that question:
Can a Soul Master’s individual absorption limit be deliberately shifted?
Golden Crocodile approached.
“Do you think he’ll succeed?”
Qian Daoliu did not answer immediately.
“I don’t know.”
Golden Crocodile raised an eyebrow.
It was not often he heard those words from the Grand Worship.
Qian Daoliu placed the document back on the table.
“And that is precisely why it is worth finding out.”
That night, while the children spoke far too loudly inside the Qiangu family residence and Lanyue tried to understand why five children had suddenly appeared expecting food, seven of the most powerful men in Spirit Hall began a far less exciting task.
Reviewing their own records.
Jiangmo lasted twelve minutes.
Then he put down the brush.
“I hate this.”
Qianjun, sitting across from him, did not even look up.
“Continue.”
“I’ve fought Titled Douluo.”
“Continue.”
“I’ve hunted Soul Beasts tens of thousands of years old.”
“Continue.”
“I’ve survived situations that would kill almost any Soul Master.”
Qianjun finally looked up.
“And apparently writing three pages is your true enemy.”
Jiangmo stared at him.
Then at the paper.
He picked up the brush again.
“When Longyu is older, I’m charging him for this.”
Qianjun smiled.
“Tell him yourself.”
“I will.”
In another room, Blue Luan opened a box he had not touched in more than twenty years.
Inside were maps.
Drawings.
Notes.
Expedition records.
Some so old that he barely remembered writing them.
He pulled out the first one.
A Soul Beast was drawn in the center.
Underneath was a sentence.
Blue bird.
Very fast.
Near a river.
Blue Luan stared at the page.
Then he remembered Luoyue’s words.
Habitat.
Age.
Behavior.
Attributes.
Evidence.
The old man remained silent.
Finally, he muttered,
“Maybe my system is a little bad.”
No one was there to hear him.
Fortunately.