Douluo Continent: Twin Souls of the Underworld, Holding the Power of Life and Death

Training ground, west of the Spirit Hall.

When Qian Anci stepped in, twelve figures were already standing and waiting.

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

All twelve people knelt on one knee.

Qian Anci's gaze swept across their faces one by one.

The leader was thin and weak, dressed in a black robe. His face was so gaunt that it looked like only bones remained, but his eyes were deep and unfathomable.

Level 87 Contra, codenamed Crow One, martial soul Dark Crow.

The next eleven people, both men and women, were all between thirty and fifty years old.

"Please rise, everyone."

Qian Anci's voice was calm.

The twelve people stood up, their gazes falling on the six-year-old holy son before them, their expressions varying.

Ya Yi lowered his eyes and remained silent, his expression unreadable.

The people behind them exchanged glances, all seeing surprise and doubt in each other's eyes.

A level 20 innate talent and a second soul ring that lasts for ten thousand years—such talent was unheard of to them.

But in the end, he was just a child.

A child means uncontrollability, means uncertainty, means that these knives, which have spent half their lives killing in the dark, will be held in the hands of a callow youth.

"Did the High Priest give orders for Your Highness's visit?"

When the crow opened its mouth, its voice was dry and hoarse, like the friction of withered branches, with a deliberately suppressed huskiness.

"It's nothing."

Qian Anci stood with his hands behind his back, his plain white robe standing out against the dim hall.

"I just wanted to get to know you all a little."

He paused, a fleeting gray glint in his eyes.

"By the way... I'd like to find a sparring partner."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The twelve men exchanged bewildered glances. Ya Yi frowned slightly. "Your Highness, when you say sparring partners, you mean...?"

"Literal meaning."

Qian Anci loosely clenched his right hand, and the Grim Reaper's Scythe condensed in his palm, with gray-white death energy swirling around like a thin mist.

"I need to hone my combat experience. Your cultivation is profound, making you perfect opponents."

"Nonsense!"

A burly middle-aged man blurted out.

His body was covered in bulging muscles, and his skin was an eerie bluish-gray. He was none other than Ya Liu, the owner of the Ghost Vine Martial Soul, a level 63 Soul Emperor.

"Your Highness is only six years old, merely a two-ring Great Soul Master. How could you possibly contend with us?"

Ya Liu said in a rough voice.

"If Your Highness is harmed, I will be held accountable even with my life!"

The others chimed in.

"Ya Liu is right. Your Highness is of noble birth and should not take unnecessary risks."

"The matter of sparring should wait until Your Highness is a few years older..."

"We are clumsy and clumsy, we really dare not."

Qian Anci listened quietly, and only spoke slowly when the voices of the crowd gradually subsided.

"Are you afraid of hurting me, or afraid of taking responsibility?"

The hall fell silent once more.

Qian Anci's gaze swept over everyone, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, but the smile did not reach his eyes.

What if I said I would bear all the consequences myself?

When Ya Yi raised his eyelids, his deep eyes stared at Qian Anci for a long time without saying a word.

In those dark eyes, he saw neither the innocence nor the bravado that a six-year-old child should possess.

There was only a silent grayness.

It's like... looking at a stagnant pool of water.

"If Your Highness insists on a friendly spar, I have a compromise."

"explain."

"We will not suppress our soul power, but will only use our first soul skill to spar with Your Highness."

Ya Yi spoke slowly, his withered fingers gently tapping the token at his waist.

"This way, His Highness will not be harmed in the slightest, and His Highness will be able to witness a real battle."

He paused, his voice lowering slightly: "Of course, if Your Highness can force out my second soul skill, then Your Highness will win."

Qian Anci glanced at him.

That old fox.

He doesn't suppress his soul power, but only uses his first soul skill.

This both saved face and left room for maneuver.

An ordinary six-year-old child would definitely not be able to withstand one of their moves, but who am I, Qian Anci?

The current Holy Son of the Spirit Hall, and the future Pope of the Spirit Hall! He also possesses twin spirits and has innate spirit power at level 20!

"Can."

Ya turned to the side, his gaze sweeping across the crowd, finally settling on a small, thin figure.

"Ya Jiu, come out here."

The man stepped forward in response.

He was around twenty years old, thin, with an ordinary face, and wore a faded gray robe. He was a level 61 Soul Emperor, with the Martial Soul Shadow Owl.

Among these twelve people, he was the youngest and had the lowest cultivation level.

"Ya Jiu will spar with His Highness."

Ya lowered his eyes and said.

"The rest of you, retreat to the sidelines."

---

In the center of the training field.

A gray-black stone slab paved the ground, which was a hundred feet in diameter. Runes flickered all around, and a semi-transparent barrier separated the inside from the outside.

Qian Anci and Ya Jiu stood facing each other.

The Grim Reaper's Scythe solidified in Qian Anci's palm. As the gray-white death energy circulated, two purple-black soul rings slowly rose from beneath his feet.

Ya Jiu took a deep breath, his soul power surged, and a phantom of a jet-black owl appeared behind him.

He did not release his spirit rings.

"Your Highness, please forgive me."

As soon as Ya Jiu finished speaking, his figure suddenly transformed into a black shadow and disappeared from the spot.

Qian Anci's pupils contracted slightly.

Wow, that was fast.

It's not the speed that's fast, but the speed at which the aura is concealed.

The dark figure blended into the shadows beneath the stone slab, suppressing even the fluctuations of soul power to the extreme.

The Shadow Owl Martial Soul is inherently adept at stealth and assassination, and in the hands of the Soul Emperor Ya Jiu, it has become even more masterful.

On the sidelines, Ya Liu crossed his arms and sneered, "Even I have difficulty catching Ya Jiu's shadow clones. Your Highness is probably..."

Before he could finish speaking...

Qian Anci suddenly moved.

He didn't turn around or tilt his head; he simply stood still, the scythe of death held horizontally in front of him, the gray-white death aura spreading outwards like whiskers.

"Not with your eyes."

Xia Die's voice echoed in my heart, carrying a hint of lazy laughter.

"It is through death that we perceive. All life has its end. And the end is the realm that death is most familiar with."

"Here!"

Qian Anci suddenly turned to the side, and the Grim Reaper's Scythe slashed out diagonally.

"First Soul Skill, Guidance to the Underworld!"

A thin line, grayish-white with a hint of dark red, tore through the void and slashed at a shadowy area three zhang to the side and behind.

laugh!

A figure stumbled out of the shadows in a disheveled state.

Ya Jiu took several steps back and looked down at his left arm.

A thin, long cut was made at the cuff of the gray robe, and a layer of grayish-white frost appeared on the surface of the skin, a trace of deathly energy.

His pupils suddenly contracted.

Just a moment ago, he felt his soul being "hooked" by something.

It was as if Qian Anci hadn't held back; the gray line hadn't severed his cuff, but rather his soul.

"Your Highness has excellent skills."

Ya Jiu's expression turned serious, and he no longer showed the slightest hint of disrespect.

"It was because Ya Jiu underestimated his opponent."

He took a deep breath, and his first spirit ring suddenly lit up.

"First Soul Skill, Shadow Strike!"

In an instant, the shadows in the training field seemed to come alive.

Countless black tentacles emerged from the shadows of the ground, walls, and pillars, surging towards Qian Anci like a tide.

This is not a simple control technique.

Those shadow tentacles contain the special abilities of the Shadow Owl Martial Soul. Once entangled, one's soul power will be continuously eroded and devoured until it is exhausted.

Qian Anci looked at the surging shadow tide from all directions, his eyes flashing with gray light.

"That's more like it."