Father and Mother

In her previous life, her mother's dying words had revealed the truth: her mother had never cared for her because her teacher—who was also her father—had torn her mother and Yu Xiaogang apart and forced her to give birth to her. From that moment on, her image of her father had begun to crack.

The affair had also become a story Yu Xiaogang loved to tell. After her mother died, he had gleefully embellished it in his autobiography, using what her father had done to her mother to humiliate the defeated. The Angel Clan had been disgraced as a result, condemned to shame for tens of thousands of years.

At first, Qian Renxue had hated her father too. But she had had twenty thousand years to reflect on the past.

Had her mother really done nothing wrong?

Why had her mother fallen in love with Yu Xiaogang? Spirit Hall had made her who she was. No matter what, she should never have loved Yu Xiaogang enough to elope with him. Much of Yu Xiaogang's knowledge, along with Spirit Hall secrets such as the status of its worshipers and the Angel Spirit Bone, had come from her mother. As the Saintess of a powerful faction, she should never have done any of that.

Her mother had not realized that her actions had long since betrayed Spirit Hall. Her father had had good reason to punish her, but he had chosen the wrong way.

The blame could not fall on one side alone.

Even on her deathbed, her mother had not recognized her mistakes. She had believed she should have left Spirit Hall and eloped with Yu Xiaogang. In her eyes, her father had destroyed her life, and Spirit Hall had trapped her.

There were two kinds of truth: the truth of what happened and the truth a person needed. People often twisted the truth in their own minds until it favored them, then came to believe it. That was the truth they needed.

What her mother had told her on her deathbed was the truth she needed. But what had really happened? Given another chance, Qian Renxue would find the source of this feud with her own eyes.

Once, she had been a beggar in a village. Her parents were nowhere to be found, and she had grown up on meals given to her by the villagers.

Then, at six years old, her life had changed. During the annual Spirit Awakening, she awakened a terrifying Spider Martial Soul and possessed Innate Full Soul Power.

When she saw that everyone else had only one Martial Soul mark while she had two, she innocently asked the attendant, "Why do I have another Martial Soul?"

She still remembered how the attendant had frozen, then seized her hand and asked excitedly, "What's your name?"

"My name is Bibi Dong."

"Bibi Dong, will you join Spirit Hall?" The attendant's question was urgent, and his grip on her hands tightened.

Bibi Dong nodded despite the pain.

News of her Spirit Awakening swept through Spirit Hall. It was reported up the ranks until it reached the Pope, who ordered that she be brought to Spirit Hall.

Escorted by Golden Bell Douluo, she arrived at the magnificent Spirit City. There, she saw him.

Tall and handsome, he stood beneath the Angel Sacred Statue in Pope's Palace with his hands behind his back. Then he turned, walked over to Bibi Dong, and crouched before her. Holding out a hand, he said gently, "Will you become my disciple? I'll train you to become the strongest person of this age, perhaps even help you cross the threshold that mortals can scarcely overcome."

"If I become the strongest, will I never have to go hungry again? Can I eat my fill every day?" Bibi Dong asked.

"Heh." He chuckled softly. "Become my disciple, and servants will bring you anything you want to eat."

"All right. I'll be your disciple." Bibi Dong placed her hand in his.

"My name is Qian Xunji. From now on, you are my disciple and Spirit Hall's Saintess, Bibi Dong."

Qian Renxue sat atop the Angel Sacred Image, using her Angel Head Spirit Bone to conceal herself. With her current strength as a level ninety-nine Quasi-God, even the Three Limit Douluo might not have detected her without using divine sense, let alone Qian Xunji, who had only just become a level ninety-one Titled Douluo.

Qian Renxue watched Bibi Dong's first meeting with Qian Xunji in silence. She watched Bibi Dong become his disciple, then watched Qian Xunji lead the little girl by the hand through Spirit Hall, introducing everything around them. The scene was so warm. They almost looked like father and daughter.

Who could have imagined that, a little over a decade later, her father and mother would become bitter enemies? Her father would rape her mother, her mother would kill her father, and even as she lay dying, she would still hate him to the bone.

Could Yu Xiaogang alone have caused so much damage?

Qian Renxue could not make sense of it. As she studied her mother as a child, she spotted a flickering flame in the girl's Sea of Consciousness, like the flame of a lit candle.

This is... Qian Renxue was startled.

As the bearer of an Angel Martial Soul who had Ascended to Godhood, Qian Renxue recognized the flame at once. It was Spirit Fire formed from Angel Spiritual Power. It could interfere with a person's perceptions and trap them in an illusory environment. This was an ability of the Angel Head Spirit Bone.

But... Qian Renxue was full of doubts. Her father's actions disgusted her, yet if he had done this, her mother should have been even less able to escape his control. How had she ended up noticing Yu Xiaogang...

Could this have been the Shura God's doing too?

"You saw it as well," Huo Yuhao's voice came from the God Ring.

"Divine King, why did this happen?" Qian Renxue asked.

"Wouldn't it be better for you to discover the truth and make your own choice than for me to tell you what happened?" Huo Yuhao asked in return.

He continued, "To attain a Divine Throne, whether through understanding the Laws, Godhood Through Faith, or Godhood Through Divine Trials, you must follow the path of its Divine Core and earn an affinity with the throne. The Sea God attained godhood through the ocean's faith. The Shura God began with slaughter, which is why clearing the City of Slaughter and obtaining Divine Slaughter's Domain is the first step of the Shura God Trial. As for how to become an Angel God, you know that better than I do. That's all I can tell you."

"Thank you." Qian Renxue nodded thoughtfully.

"I'll leave Spirit Hall's affairs to you, but I have one objective. First, if Yu Xiaogang comes to Spirit Hall in the future, build him up as the Grandmaster, just as you did in your previous life. And don't kill him. The rest is up to you," Huo Yuhao said.

"Yes. On behalf of Spirit Hall, I promise we'll do as you ask," Qian Renxue said.

In the Divine Realm, at the Eternal Temple.

After ending his conversation with Qian Renxue, Huo Yuhao turned his gaze to the Douluo Continent. Divine power and authority felt wonderful, but he could not yet descend to the Lower Realm as easily as he had in Tang San's era. The Shura God was still watching him, waiting for him to make a mistake so he could join the other Divine Kings in judging him as they had judged the Dragon King.

Huo Yuhao had made preparations, however. Before his ascension, he had left behind a spare body, which the Snow Empress had frozen in the Eternal Forbidden Land of the Far North. He intended to use it when he walked the continent again.