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**
Hearing Qin Su's discouraging words, Qin Yi did not get angry.
He remained composed, offering only a faint smile.
"Father, please do not compare me, Qin Yi, to someone of Yu Xiaogang's caliber. What I intend to do today is something that Yu Xiaogang desires so much he would go mad, yet he could never even conceive of it, let alone achieve it."
"From this day forward, the Qin Clan will take pride in me! And because of me, the Qin Clan shall flourish even more!"
As soon as these words left his mouth, both Qin Qiong and Qin Su felt a jolt in their hearts.
Silence suddenly fell over the hall, and the atmosphere grew increasingly heavy. Qin Qiong was about to say something to ease the tension, but before he could open his mouth, Qin Su's voice rang out from the head of the room.
"Such confidence... such arrogance!"
Qin Su didn't know where this sheer confidence came from.
On a whim, he couldn't resist trying to sense Qin Yi's aura to see exactly what his current cultivation was.
The result, however, caused him to break into a cold sweat.
He couldn't help but stand up from his seat and walk closer, as if being nearer would allow him to sense it more clearly.
"You... why is the aura on your body so strange?"
"Big Brother, what is this feeling?"
Beside them, Qin Qiong looked equally astonished.
When he had met Qin Yi at the gates of the Qin Manor, he had been too excited to pay attention to his cultivation level. Now, seeing his father's shock, he also focused his spiritual senses to probe Qin Yi's cultivation.
Under the spiritual perception of a Soul Saint, he discovered that the aura on Qin Yi was extremely peculiar; he was definitely not like a normal person.
On the Douluo Continent, everyone possesses their own Martial Soul.
Once a Martial Soul is awakened, soul power will inevitably follow, though it varies in intensity. At the very least, there should be a sliver of soul power. Of course, if there is truly only a sliver of innate soul power, such aptitude is far from enough to become a Soul Master.
To become even the lowest Rank 11 Soul Master, one theoretically needs at least Rank 0.5 innate soul power, and even then, it would require a massive investment of time. Furthermore, Martial Souls that awaken with such low innate soul power are usually quite useless.
While such souls can be made stronger by absorbing soul rings, the low innate power limits the cultivation level one can reach. Generally, such people can only ever absorb a single soul ring at most—a drop in the bucket that leaves the Martial Soul weak.
Given such aptitude, pursuing the path of a Soul Master is less efficient than living as an ordinary person; the "cost-performance ratio" is abysmal.
However, even if an ordinary person who had never cultivated since awakening their Martial Soul stood before him, someone with only a sliver of soul power, Qin Qiong should still be able to sense it with his Soul Saint level spiritual power.
Yet, he could not sense a single trace of soul power within Qin Yi. This didn't mean Qin Yi lacked any cultivation aura; on the contrary, the aura he felt from Qin Yi wasn't weak at all—it was comparable to a four-ring Soul Ancestor.
The difference was that Qin Yi's aura felt much sharper and more condensed than that of a Soul Master. This sharpness didn't come from the specific attributes of soul power; rather, it seemed to be a fundamental change in the essence of the energy itself.
In other words, the strange cultivation aura he sensed from Qin Yi came from a special kind of energy that was not soul power.
Qin Yi was not a Soul Master.
Beyond that, he also sensed a similar aura from the three disciples Qin Yi had brought along. Likewise, none of them possessed soul power; their energy was of the same origin as Qin Yi's.
Qin Qiong couldn't help but look at his father, Qin Su.
Perhaps with the strength of a Soul Douluo, the old man could see more.
Qin Su stared solemnly at Qin Yi for a long while before speaking slowly, "I didn't expect that after thirty years away, your return would bring such a massive change."
"You actually did it. With your current cultivation achievements, you have enough to shut the mouths of those old fogies in the clan. They might even come to ask you how someone with only Rank 0.5 innate soul power managed to cultivate to such a state."
"I can feel that the energy in your body is extremely active; if you continue to cultivate, you certainly won't stop at your current level."
"What exactly is it that you want to do? With your pride, you wouldn't return just to make them take back the 'trash' label they gave you."
Qin Su looked at his eldest son with a complicated gaze.
He suddenly felt that the current Qin Yi was somewhat a stranger, vastly different from the youth who was once consumed by indignation and a desperate need to prove himself. Even as his father, he felt he could no longer see through him.
His eyes flickered as a possibility occurred to him. He said in a deep voice, "You said you want to make the Qin Clan proud and flourish because of you... Do you intend to follow the example of the Sword Master, Yun Xi? Do you truly have that much confidence?"
"Hehe."
Qin Yi laughed.
"It seems, Father, you finally believe in me a little. You've stopped comparing me to a piece of trash like Yu Xiaogang. As for the Sword Master Yun Xi, I hold deep respect for her person and her deeds."
"However," his tone shifted as Qin Yi prepared to deliver another shock, "though Yun Xi used her own strength to change the landscape of the Soul Master world and facilitated the prosperity of the Fusion Stream and the status of the Sword Sect's Yun Clan today..."
"What I, Qin Yi, intend to do is not merely to stand on equal footing with her. I intend to surpass my predecessors." As he spoke, Qin Yi raised his hand.
The storage soul ring on his finger glowed slightly as he pulled out a scroll-like object.
"Father, look at what this is."
As Qin Yi unfurled it, Qin Su and Qin Qiong looked over and were instantly startled.
"The Recruitment Scroll!"
"You actually accepted the Recruitment Scroll... You truly have grand ambitions."
Qin Su and Qin Qiong had spent many years in the imperial court holding high positions.
Their soul power cultivation was high, and they were certainly no fools. Connecting all the dots, they began to form a guess regarding Qin Yi's intentions, and they couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
Father and son exchanged a look, both realizing at the same time.
A massive transformation was likely about to hit the Star Luo Empire.
Perhaps in the future, the entire continent would change because of this—a shift so great in scope and scale that it might even exceed the time the Yun Clan established the Sword Sect and announced the Single-Attribute Fusion Stream.
Two days had passed since Qin Yi's return to the Qin Clan. On this day, in a study within a side palace of the Star Luo Imperial Palace, the Star Luo Emperor, Dai Mingzong, stood by the window. He gazed toward the north of Star Luo City, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.
Currently, Star Luo's national strength was rising daily, while Heaven Dou to the north was increasingly decadent. If war broke out, while it might not be a total landslide, victory was well within his grasp.
Even if Heaven Dou had the help of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he had countermeasures.
Unfortunately, Spirit Hall and the various major sects of the Soul Master world did not wish to see Star Luo annex Heaven Dou. Once they intervened, the variables would become too great, and Star Luo might even fall into decline because of it.
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 70 advanced chapter now on Patreon. I will post 5 advanced chapter on Patreon everyday except Sunday