Heaven Dou Empire capital, Heaven Dou City.
It had already been some time since the Xue Beng rebellion incident.
As the capital and symbol of the Heaven Dou Empire, the city had long since been fully repaired.
The entire city showed no traces of any powerful soul masters having fought there. Pedestrians came and went in an endless stream, with a bustling scene of horses and carriages flowing like water.
At the central square.
A hundred-meter-tall statue of a six-winged angel stood tall. Under the sunlight, it gave off an incredibly lifelike appearance.
The carving of the six-winged angel was completely modeled after Qian Renxue's appearance.
She held the hilt of the Angel Holy Sword in both hands, the sword planted straight into the ground with more than half of its blade exposed. Paired with the angel wings on her body, it exuded a holy and serene aura, giving people a profound sense of awe and solemnity.
"Qian Renxue is collecting faith ah!" Below the six-winged angel sculpture, Ning Rongrong looked up at the towering golden statue, her voice carrying a trace of emotion.
In the original story, whether because of Bibi Dong's influence or because the Angel Clan simply didn't care about things like faith,
They occupied the most advantageous position on the entire continent, hailed as the holy land of soul masters, yet they didn't even collect faith. Did they not want to become gods?
Qian Daoliu had met Bo Saixi before—it was impossible for him not to know about some of the experiences involved in the Sea God becoming a god, such as collecting faith. Even if it wasn't useful, in the original plot, they had never done anything like this.
"Forget it, the past is like smoke…"
Uh, the world's development path is completely different now—where's the smoke to speak of?
Ning Rongrong left the noisy crowd and walked unhurriedly toward the imperial palace.
Her every step wasn't fast, yet it was like a passing shadow. Even in the crowded throng of people, nothing slowed her pace in the slightest.
It didn't take long before Ning Rongrong arrived at the palace gates. This wasn't her first time here.
"Here, this is the token. Just say I'm looking for your majesty." Ning Rongrong handed the token to the two guards standing at the gate.
"This is…" The guards saw that Ning Rongrong had an extraordinary bearing and exceptional temperament. Every gesture she made radiated an air of nobility. The last person with a similar aura had been Tang Yuehua from Yuexuan.
But the token handed to them—they truly had no idea where it came from!
"Sorry! I grabbed the wrong thing."
Ning Rongrong slapped her own forehead. Since she was in Heaven Dou City, she had subconsciously treated the two as Spirit Hall guards and handed over the token Qian Renxue had given her back then. No wonder they didn't recognize it!
"I am Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. This can't be faked, right!" As she spoke, Ning Rongrong reached out to take the token back. Then, in her other palm, misty aura emerged as the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda gently rotated.
"Nine… nine soul rings, Ti-Title Douluo!"
The two guards' eyes widened, their bodies trembling slightly.
Ning Rongrong's martial soul rings had an extremely unique golden color. Though they didn't know the reason, anyone who had seen the world knew what nine soul rings meant!
"Your Excellency, we-we…"
"Forget it, I'll go find Qian Renxue myself!"
As she floated past the gate and entered the palace, Ning Rongrong left behind a light remark.
It took a long while before the two guards watching the palace gate came back to their senses.
"Ning Rongrong… isn't she…"
"Yeah, the daughter of the State Preceptor. So young and already a Title Douluo."
The two guards realized it belatedly but still didn't go inside to report.
Not long ago, news had come from the former palace that the new emperor, Qian Renxue, had taken Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School as her master, inheriting the legacy of the former Great Heaven Dou Emperor Xue Qinghe by becoming his disciple.
It was hardly possible that the daughter of Ning Fengzhi had come to assassinate the Spirit Hall's saintess, Qian Renxue, right?
Her martial soul was the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda—anyone serving as palace guards would recognize it.
On the other side, after being "stupid-cry" embarrassed by her own actions,
Ning Rongrong didn't linger along the way and went straight into the palace hall.
"What exactly are those Star Luo Empire guys up to?"
Qian Renxue's gilded long hair draped over her shoulders. She sat cross-legged, occasionally flipping through the memorials on the table in front of her. To her left and right stood Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.
"Hasn't Qian Renxue's strength skyrocketed a bit too fast?" A trace of surprise appeared on Ning Rongrong's face.
Hadn't her unreliable old man said before that she was Rank 98?
Now she was Rank 99, and judging from her aura, she was already half-god approaching quasi-god.
Damn it, everyone's so ridiculous these days.
First Tang San, now Qian Renxue.
From the continuous stream of faith power gathering toward her, Qian Renxue was clearly using faith to cultivate.
This was something absolutely impossible in the original story.
Forget Qian Renxue—even Qian Daoliu probably couldn't use it so skillfully.
"Who's there? Come out!"
Qian Renxue closed the memorial in her hand. Her six-winged angel form slowly manifested.
It was somewhat different from the original pure white six-winged angel—this one carried an aura of holiness mixed with chaos.
The original three pairs of wings on the six-winged angel had been dyed pitch-black. The colors of her soul rings were also completely different from before. At the center of the black-and-white winged angel martial soul hovered nine strangely colored soul rings.
Black, black, red, red, red, red, red, red, brilliant gold.
When Qian Renxue released her martial soul, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo also released theirs. Compared to Qian Renxue's terrifying soul ring colors,
The Rank 95 Chrysanthemum-Ghost Douluo duo's soul rings were just the normal configuration: two yellow, two purple, five black.
When normal soul masters mixed into the ranks of abnormal ones, even the normal ones would become abnormal.
"Come out! I know it's you, Ning Rongrong." Qian Renxue suddenly calling out Ning Rongrong's name made the Ning Rongrong who had been sneaking around in another dimension peeping feel momentarily stunned.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
Light applause echoed through the palace hall.
The space not far from Qian Renxue twisted slightly, and a figure revealed itself.
Compared to the bean-sprout-like Ning Rongrong of a few years ago, the current Ning Rongrong had truly blossomed into a graceful young woman—slender and elegant. With her pink long hair and a slightly cool temperament, she was in no way inferior to Qian Renxue, who was hailed as the number one beauty among humans.
Seeing Ning Rongrong appear, the tension on Qian Renxue's face instantly relaxed.
"You were totally bluffing me just now!" Ning Rongrong complained.
Even if she had only leaked a tiny bit of aura and been detected, it shouldn't have been possible to confirm her identity so definitively. Yet Qian Renxue had declared with such certainty that it was Ning Rongrong—other than posturing, what else could it be?
Still, Ning Rongrong hadn't planned to keep hiding and peeping anyway, so she simply came out directly.
Qian Renxue looked at Ning Rongrong for a long moment before speaking: "Compared to a few years ago, you've changed a lot. With an heir like this in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, I'm sure Teacher would be very pleased, right?"
"Pleased or not, I don't know. Anyway, I've already sidelined him." Ning Rongrong spread her hands, answering Qian Renxue's words completely nonchalantly.
"Uh…" Qian Renxue's expression froze instantly.
Could you just say something like that casually? Even if it's true, you shouldn't reveal it to outsiders!
Although… I'm technically Ning Fengzhi's disciple too.
Ning Rongrong, is this really okay?
Seeing Qian Renxue's dumbfounded expression, Ning Rongrong couldn't help but chuckle: "How amusing, Qian Renxue. You're still the same as back then—teasing you every now and then always makes me feel so delighted."
"Get lost!" Several black lines crawled across Qian Renxue's forehead. "I don't think what you just said was a joke at all."
With Ning Rongrong's strength and prestige in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, staging a rebellion probably wouldn't be difficult at all.
By then, even Sword Douluo Chenxin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong would personally drape her in the yellow robe, and Ning Fengzhi would be honored with the title of "Retired Emperor."
"Seriously…" Qian Renxue, having come back to her senses, sighed. "Back when we first met, the one who called me hypocritical—looking at everything that's happened these years, someone's even more hypocritical than me!"
"Ah~"
Ning Rongrong was stunned. A trace of astonishment appeared between her brows.
Good grief, Qian Renxue—you've even learned how to talk back now.
"Well… ah, people change because of how things develop. Just like you, right?" Ning Rongrong lightly brushed over her own topic. "A fallen angel of light and darkness—it actually suits your experiences quite well."
(End of chapter)