The Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at Qian Renxue, who was bowing deeply, with heartache.
In his memory, Qian Renxue had always possessed a noble and confident expression, never bowing down no matter the difficulties.
But now, Qian Renxue had clearly experienced a harsh lesson from reality.
However, it was understandable; after her godhood shattered, Qian Renxue couldn't even maintain her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, and it was highly likely she would even regress.
To survive in a continent filled with malice towards the Spirit Hall, she had to smooth out her rough edges and learn to hide her true emotions.
After the heartache came relief; at least Qian Renxue had survived to the end, outliving him.
If he had the chance to meet Qian Daoliu, he would have something to say.
Huo Yuhao used his mental power to conjure a copy of the "Chronicles of the Spirit Hall" and handed it to Qian Renxue. In the Underworld, spirits bound by the rules of the Underworld could contact matter.
Qian Renxue carefully accepted the book. When she was alive, the Spirit Hall had already been demonized, even being blamed for the destruction of the Slaughter Capital, much like the Douluo Sun Xiaochuan.
Both empires claimed the Spirit Hall orchestrated the disaster, bringing ruin to the continent.
She desperately wanted to see if future generations had corrected these events; this was perhaps one of her few remaining obsessions.
Only after losing the Spirit Hall and the protectors who once guarded her did she realize how important some things truly were to her.
Witnessing the Angel lineage scatter and be hunted down by fallen soul masters, witnessing countless people cruelly having their souls extracted and bones ripped from them, she understood what angels truly meant to the continent.
Tragically, she had sworn an oath with Tang San never to use angelic power willingly, never to leave a small branch of the Spirit Hall.
She was powerless to change any of this.
The Golden Crocodile Douluo was wrong; he smoothed her rough edges, teaching her not the continent's malice, but regret—regret for all the decisions she had made.
Qian Renxue opened the book, staring at Xia Cang's powerful handwriting.
The phrase "destruction from top to bottom" felt like countless steel needles piercing her eyes.
It was such a fair and accurate assessment; the author, Anaxagoras, was actually implying that the Spirit Hall's higher-ups were a bunch of idiots who had squandered a promising situation.
She had found the only way the Spirit Hall could lose; if the entire process had been flawed even slightly, the Spirit Hall wouldn't have lost, or at least not so badly.
Huo Yuhao and the others watched as Qian Renxue's fingers turned slightly white as she gripped the book.
Golden Crocodile Douluo was momentarily speechless.
It wasn't just Qian Renxue; their Hall of Worship also bore responsibility.
The Hall of Worship and the Elders were at odds, even turning a blind eye. If they had contributed more in the early stages, the situation would have been much better later.
Wasn't that phrase, "destruction from top to bottom," also an insult to them?
Huo Yuhao materialized a handkerchief with his spiritual power and handed it to Qian Renxue, saying,
"It's no use regretting it now."
"It's like a student finishing an exam, seeing their ranking isn't ideal, and then imagining what their ranking would be if they hadn't made any mistakes—it's ridiculous."
"The destruction of the Spirit Hall wasn't as simple as you think.
In a sense, from the very beginning, it was a game of gods."
"The Sea God, the Asura God, the Rakshasa God… too many to count."
"Of course, the main reason is your own stupidity.
That's the mainstream view on the continent, and I won't hide it, because I think so too."
"Wipe your tears. You were once the God of Angels, don't embarrass your angelic lineage."
Qian Renxue hesitated for a moment, then took the handkerchief from Huo Yuhao, gently wiped her face, and said,
"Thank you."
"You've been talking to me so much, there must be something you want to ask me, right?"
"Please just say it. I'll do my best to help you, as payment for the book you gave me."
Seeing that Qian Renxue didn't beat around the bush, Huo Yuhao also got straight to the point:
"That's good."
"Just as you thought, I do need your help with something."
"Do you remember what I told Golden Crocodile Douluo about the current situation on the continent?"
Qian Renxue nodded and repeated,
"The Sea God Tang San sent the Sea God Clan to invade the land for the sake of the continent's faith."
Huo Yuhao shrugged and said,
"That's it."
"As the former Angel God, you should know what the mainstream faith on the continent used to be, right?"
Qian Renxue certainly knew, and said earnestly,
"It was us angels."
Huo Yuhao pointed to her chest and said,
"That's right, angelic faith."
"I once conducted a large-scale investigation into the composition of faith on the continent."
"I have to say, perhaps because of the rampant evil soul masters, coupled with the emergence of the magic network,"
"angelic faith still remains in the continent's faith."
"The number is not large, but it does exist."
"The Sea God family now occupies the Douling Empire, uh, the Douling Empire is a split from the former Tiandou Empire."
"After occupying the Douling Empire, they built a large number of Sea God statues, forcibly absorbing the continent's faith.
These statues were tampered with, and their faith purification ability has basically disappeared.
In other words, some of the faith that Tang San is currently absorbing on the continent belongs to the angels."
As for who tampered with the statues, the Sea God family is also known as the Amon family, and a considerable portion of the faith that the Sea God can currently receive is provided by the Amons.
Even on the sea, the ocean faith that sea soul masters and sea soul beasts give to Tang San has been secretly modified by the Amons.
After all, Amon was best at finding "errors," using them to alter logic, making ocean faith impure, polluting the Sea God's position, reducing its discernment, and allowing more angelic faith to enter.
Qian Renxue pondered for a moment, then her golden eyes widened.
She realized what Huo Yuhao was trying to do.
She took a small step back, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Angelic faith…"
"Using someone else's position, you want to use them to your advantage!"
"No, you want to use the Sea God's position as fuel to reignite the angelic throne, returning it to the divine realm!"
The Golden Crocodile Douluo beside Qian Renxue's pupils constricted.
He hadn't understood at first, but now he did.
He hadn't expected this black-haired youth to have such ambition!
Huo Yuhao didn't hide his purpose. This kind of scheme wasn't even considered ambition; he was just going with the flow.
Tang San wanted terrestrial faith? Then give it to him. As much as he wanted, there was plenty of magic nets.
"That's right, that's the goal, but this plan is missing a crucial element."
"I'm missing a will."
"A will that can mobilize the angelic faith. Without that will, the angelic faith can't usurp the throne."
Huo Yuhao's dark eyes were fixed on the blonde woman before him, his meaning clear.
Qian Renxue understood who that will referred to.
With the angelic godhood shattered, she, as the former Angel God, was the only one capable of mobilizing the angelic faith.
She was the missing will Huo Yuhao spoke of.
"It's me…"
Huo Yuhao opened his arms, a confident smile on his face, and said,
"Yes."
"I want your will to be revived within Tang San's body, like a python swallowing a dragon, using the Sea God as a foundation to reignite the True Fire of the Sun."
"And you, my friend, are the most crucial link in this plan."
"A book as payment is rather meager. I promise to give you a chance, a chance to change the fate of the Spirit Hall, even if it's just the Spirit Hall in another world."
Huo Yuhao extended his hand to Qian Renxue, awaiting her response.
(End of Chapter)
Read 15+ chapters ahead at Patreon
patreon.com/TaroYamato
patreon.com/TaroYamato