A Difference in Treatment

Heaven Dou City, Eastern Palace.

Qian Renxue, still disguised as "Xue Qinghe," froze.

She truly froze.

She couldn't help placing a hand over her chest.

She felt a profound sense of kinship.

When she had first watched her on the heavenly screen,

She had only thought how formidable she was, ascending to godhood in a mere five hundred years.

When she saw her imprisoned by the people of the Akademiya, she had felt only anger and sympathy.

Yet she had not understood the meaning of the song.

But as she watched Nahida hiding in a corner of the bathroom,

She had become a person in the song herself.

How could she not remember?

When she was born, she had possessed the Angel Martial Soul and level twenty Innate Soul Power.

Everyone told her,

"Your father is His Holiness the Pope, Qian Xunji, and your grandfather, Qian Daoliu,

"Is the strongest person on the Douluo Continent. You should become a powerhouse like your grandfather."

And so,

She had worked hard.

She had worked hard to cultivate her Angel Martial Soul and her Soul Power.

Yet the harder she worked, the more lost she became.

Her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, was simply too dazzling. She found that no matter how hard she chased him, she could never catch up.

Whenever it was late at night,

She would crouch on her bed, her little arms wrapped around her knees,

And bury her head in them,

Questioning her life.

Was she really worthy of inheriting the Angel Martial Soul? Was she really worthy of being Qian Daoliu's granddaughter?

She had truly worked so hard. Why did Grandpa never praise her, only saying, "Xiao Xue, you are a peerless genius the Qian Family sees only once in ten thousand years. You should surpass Grandpa"?

Why did the people of Spirit Hall all think she hadn't done well enough, often saying, "Is this really the Great Enshrined's granddaughter? How could she be like this?"

Why was she so tired? She cultivated her Soul Power, arriving at the academy first and leaving last every day.

At first, she hadn't understood the meaning of the song. When she listened again, she had become a person in it.

Qian Renxue couldn't help sighing inwardly.

She wasn't the only one who felt lost. Even the God of Wisdom had once felt lost.

Shrek Academy.

Yu Xiaogang, who had been writing furiously, recording every frame of her appearance, couldn't help freezing at the sight.

The pen in his hand fell onto the table.

His pupils abruptly widened.

Memories of his childhood began flashing through his mind.

Back then, though he was the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch, the Martial Soul he had awakened was Luo Sanpao.

Everyone had been saying, "How could Yu Yuanzhen, the man at the helm of the foremost of the continent's Upper Three Sects, have such a good-for-nothing son?"

After leaving the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, he had sought to prove himself worthy of being called Yu Yuanzhen's son.

He had traveled far and wide, proposing his famous theory of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls on the Douluo Continent.

Together with Flender and Liu Erlong, he had formed the Golden Iron Triangle, and they had constantly roamed the Douluo Continent.

But everyone would say, "The son of the mighty Thunder Douluo, Yu Yuanzhen, amounts to this? This? This?"

At first, he hadn't understood the meaning of the song. When he listened again, he had become a person in it.

Even someone as powerful as the God of Wisdom had once been lost, just like him. She too had someone she could never catch up to, no matter how hard she tried.

Seeing this, most of the Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent couldn't help falling into recollection.

How many people had been told by their parents from birth to work hard at cultivating Soul Power, become powerful Soul Masters, and learn from so-and-so?

"Damn, even someone as powerful as her has times when she feels lost."

"That reminds me, back at Spirit Hall Academy, there was that person in first place. No matter how hard I tried, I could catch up to them, and I was always second."

"..."

(I once read books in the library of the Sanctuary of Surasthana, year after year.)

(I had long grown accustomed to everyone who saw me calling me Lesser Lord Kusanali.)

(I had long grown accustomed to everyone treating me with reverence.)

(Until one person pushed open that door and asked me, "Nahida, would you like to go outside and have a look?")

(Their name was Traveler.)

As the heavenly screen continued its revelations, one breathtaking scene after another appeared before everyone's eyes.

Many people began to ponder.

Who was this so-called "Traveler"?

Qian Daoliu stared intently at the scenes.

He couldn't help falling into thought.

Had he been too strict

With his granddaughter, Qian Renxue?

In the past, he had thought it was enough to make strict demands of Qian Renxue, give her the best cultivation resources, and provide her with a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse as a protector.

After watching Nahida's memories,

He finally realized

That perhaps it wasn't enough.

The scenes on the heavenly screen continued.

(He told me that if I wanted to, I could go outside for a walk.)

(He took it upon himself to open the door for me.)

(I agreed to his request and followed him out of the Sanctuary of Surasthana.)

(Though it was only our first meeting, he called me Nahida, not Lesser Lord Kusanali. His tone treated me as an equal, rather than with reverence.)

(Though it was only my first time going out to have fun, he took me to see fireworks, eat barbecue, and run freely through the jungle, instead of making me study with the people of the Akademiya.)

(Only then did I understand that I could be Nahida, not Lord Kusanali. I didn't have to become anybody.)

Seeing this, Qian Renxue couldn't hold herself together.

A fire called envy quietly crept out from the depths of her heart.

She, too, wanted a Traveler to come before her, just as one had come to Nahida.

To tell her,

"You don't have to be Qian Daoliu's granddaughter. You can just be Qian Renxue."

Someone who could take her to eat barbecue, run freely through the mud, and play hide-and-seek together.

But there had never been such a person in her life.

She had had no mother since childhood, and her father had somehow died too.

Damn it.

What happened to relating to each other?

How come, in the blink of an eye, you found salvation?

There was no justice in the heavens.

Yu Xiaogang broke down too.

Damn it.

Why?

Why did Nahida get to have perfect salvation?

He had once had salvation too, twice, but both times it had fallen apart halfway.

The first time, he had met Bibi Dong, only for that bastard Qian Xunji to...

The second time, he had met Liu Erlong. They were about to get married when, damn it, someone told him that he and Liu Erlong were cousins.

Damn the heavens.

Why?

Meanwhile, Qian Daoliu

Was thinking.

Should he give Xiao Xue some time off?

Should he share a meal with Xiao Xue, like an ordinary grandfather and granddaughter?

Instead of eating across a super, super long table laden with countless delicacies from land and sea.

The scene on the heavenly screen abruptly changed.

(The overview of Lesser Lord Kusanali Nahida is complete.)

(Next, the overview of Nahida's iconic moments will begin.)

(With Nahida taking the lead, she joined forces with the Ruler of Life, Raiden Ei, and Xilonen. Under her leadership, they transformed Teyvat's cultivation system.)

(Mortals, too, can become gods.)

The moment this scene appeared,

The Douluo Continent fell silent, utterly silent.

Then, like a drop of water falling into a pot of hot oil, it erupted in an instant.