It spun once before landing squarely in front of Huo Tian.
"Try it," Yu Yuanzhen said with a grin that didn't reach his eyes.
"The wine inside is brewed from Dragon Fruit Berries. Not something ordinary soul masters get to taste."
Huo Tian's face flushed red—from humiliation and anger.
His fingers twitched, flames threatening to rise, yet he restrained himself. Slowly, deliberately, he placed the flask back on the table without taking a sip.
The atmosphere grew heavier. Yu Yuanzhen didn't seem offended. Instead, his gaze shifted smoothly toward Shui Ning.
"Well now," he said, eyes narrowing with interest, "if I'm not mistaken, you're the principal of Skywater Academy."
His lips curled upward slightly.
"I've long heard that the Ice–Water lineage produces exceptional water-type soul masters. Seeing you today… I am truly enlightened."
Before she could respond, Feng Lao coughed lightly and stepped forward, forcing himself to meet Yu Yuanzhen's gaze.
"Clan Leader Yu Yuanzhen," he said carefully, "we understand your intentions. However, the elemental clans have always wished to remain neutral. Elemental City was founded on balance, not dominance."
Yu Yuanzhen's smile vanished and his expression turned cold, the amusement draining from his eyes like water freezing into ice.
"Neutral?" he repeated softly.
Then he leaned forward.
"You should be grateful," he said slowly, his voice dropping, "that I am still talking."
A terrifying pressure exploded outward.
The air itself seemed to solidify as a vast, oppressive aura descended upon the conference room. Chairs groaned, the table cracked, and several of the younger soul masters were forced to their knees.
Level 97 — Titled Douluo.
This was naked, overwhelming might.
Yu Yuanzhen's eyes gleamed with blue electricity.
"I can make your clans surrender," he continued calmly, "but if I have to force it—"
His lips curled into a cruel smile.
"—it won't be pretty."
Just then—
Dong— Dong—
The bell chimed once more, its sound cutting through the suffocating pressure like a blade.
Yu Yuanzhen frowned, irritation flashing across his face.
"Spirit Hall again?" he muttered.
Then he straightened, his gaze sweeping the room with absolute authority.
"Once Elemental City submits to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, I will personally drive Spirit Hall out of this place."
However not after he said that someone else arrived
"Little Lao, have you still not finished your meeting?"
A slightly hoarse yet energetic voice echoed from the entrance.
"You didn't even come to the Angel Sermon today."
Standing at the gate was an old man dressed in crimson robes, the emblem of Spirit Hall stitched neatly over his chest. His back was straight, his gaze sharp despite the wrinkles carved by time. This was Rolin, the Bishop of the Spirit Hall branch stationed in Elemental City.
Rolin was only a Level 74 Soul Saint, far below the monstrous existence seated at the conference table. Yet none of the clan heads dared to treat him lightly.
For nearly fifty years, Rolin had been the one who awakened martial souls for the children of Elemental City and its surrounding towns. Generations of soul masters owed him their first step on the cultivation path. Even Feng Lao's martial soul awakening had been conducted by this very old man.
Because of this, when Spirit Hall began tightening its grip, power struggles were carefully avoided at the Spirit Hall branch—or more precisely, Rolin, who was regarded as a senior elder by all three elemental clans.
Feng Lao's expression stiffened, irritation flashing through his eyes as he snapped,
"Get out of here, old man! Why are you making trouble now? We're discussing something important!"
Old Bishop Rolin immediately bristled, planting his staff heavily against the ground.
"Who are you calling old?" he shot back. "I can still carry more than four tonnes on my back!"
Whether he was joking or stating a fact, no one could quite tell.
Then his expression shifted into a mischievous grin, his eyes narrowing as he added in a deliberately exaggerated tone,
"…Besides, I received a revelation from the Angel Goddess to come and help you today."
" ... Even if there is some mythical Dragon here I can blow it away....."
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
His laughter echoed through the hall, light and carefree—utterly out of place amid the suffocating pressure.
Yet before anyone could react, another burst of laughter followed.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Yu Yuanzhen moved to stand directly before Old Bishop Rolin.
The laughter on Yu Yuanzhen's face was broad, but his eyes were cold and sharp.
"....Blowing away a Dragon. So this is the Spirit Hall's bishop of Elemental City?" he said, towering over the old man.
The oppressive aura of a Level 97 Titled Douluo surged subtly outward, pressing down like a storm cloud. Several clan heads unconsciously held their breath.
Rolin, however, merely lifted his head and looked Yu Yuanzhen straight in the eye.
Yu Yuanzhen might once have held reverence toward the gods.
However, ever since spending long periods with his grandson Yu Ming, subtle changes had begun to creep into his thinking—changes he himself did not immediately notice.
Yu Ming's voice echoed clearly in his memory.
"If the Angel Goddess is truly Spirit Hall's patron deity, then where are her miracles?"
"If such a god truly existed, Spirit Hall would've conquered the continent long ago."
"Perhaps her existence is nothing more than a carefully crafted hoax."
At the time, Yu Yuanzhen had scolded him harshly. Such words were blasphemous.
Yet… the seed had been planted.
What Yu Yuanzhen did not know was that Yu Ming—armed with knowledge of the original story knew that the true Angel Goddess was already dead.
But ignorance gave Yu Yuanzhen confidence.
His gaze slowly shifted toward Old Bishop Rolin, his spiritual sense sweeping across the old man's body with disdainful clarity.
"Oh really?" Yu Yuanzhen spoke calmly, almost lazily.
"The Angel Goddess sent… this shriveled old man to stop me? "
His lips curved upward in mockery, never knowing in his ignorance that a certain goddess was really gazing here.
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(Author notes: From Death of Qian Xunji, to destruction of Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the events in the Elemental city took place in a single day.)