Each Harboring Their Own Schemes (3k)

Qian Gu Die Ting immediately grasped the situation. "Then the entire Federation will compete for Xiao Xue. Shrek, the Tang Sect, the War God Hall—they'll all make insane offers. By then, Le Jing Chen's only advantage will be his status as a relative."

"So Le Jing Chen will have to raise his offer. That way, Le Qian Xue can gain even more benefits and may even bribe us." Qian Gu Huang Yu smilingly picked up the thread.

Qian Gu Die Ting said, "Then we'll hold another apprenticeship ceremony and let the entire Federation know that this genius soul master whose Divine Bloodline has returned to her ancestors is the disciple of the Tower Master of Spirit Transmission Tower. We'll establish that identity first. That way, we'll be invincible."

Although Twenty Thousand Years Ago had passed, soul masters on the Douluo Continent still followed the customs of Tang San's era: a person could only have one teacher in their lifetime.

With that identity, Qian Gu Die Ting could be said to possess an innate advantage. A teacher for a day was like a father for life, and since Qian Ren Xue's parents were both dead, Qian Gu Die Ting, her teacher, would be the person closest to her.

Though it was somewhat immoral, Qian Gu Die Ting still wanted to say that Qian Ren Xue's parents had died at just the right time!

Of course, Qian Gu Die Ting had accepted Qian Gu Huang Yu's plan because Qian Ren Xue and Qian Gu Huang Yu had already formed a deep revolutionary friendship.

After all, one of life's three strongest bonds was studying together. Qian Gu Huang Yu and Qian Ren Xue had been captured by Di Tian together, which, in a sense, meant they had spent time behind bars together. Their bond had been strengthened twice over.

It was precisely because Qian Gu Huang Yu guaranteed Qian Ren Xue's stance that Qian Gu Die Ting was willing to carry out this plan that seemed like sending a sheep into a tiger's den.

Qian Gu Huang Yu said, "As long as we ensure Le Qian Xue's loyalty, she can even serve as our inside agent within other factions. No matter which faction she joins in the future, she'll definitely become one of its higher-ups."

Qian Gu Die Ting smiled and nodded. As a Limit Douluo, he knew very well just how irresistible Divine Bloodline was to people like them.

"Don't worry. What belongs to you definitely won't be given to anyone else." Qian Gu Die Ting was old and shrewd. How could he fail to hear that Qian Gu Huang Yu's final remark was reminding him not to favor one over the other?

"Then thank you in advance, Father." Qian Gu Huang Yu said respectfully.

Looking at his sweetly smiling daughter, Qian Gu Die Ting could not help sighing inwardly. A clever child can help devise and carry out plans, but I can't just laugh it off and move on.

There's no need to rush the matter of grooming an heir. Although Xiao Yu is more talented, she is still a girl!

After combing through the history books, Qian Gu Die Ting sorrowfully discovered that nearly every famous female powerhouse in history seemed possessed by love-addled brains, as though they had been cursed.

As the saying went, a married daughter was like spilled water. Given the Douluo Continent's excellent matchmaking system, Qian Gu Die Ting also feared that after Qian Gu Huang Yu took control of Spirit Pagoda in the future, if she fell in love and let her emotions overwhelm her, she might treat the entire Spirit Pagoda as part of her dowry.

The reason Qian Gu Huang Yu wanted to reveal Qian Ren Xue's existence to the other factions, aside from the reasons she had given Qian Gu Die Ting, was to keep Qian Ren Xue by her side.

After seeing Gu Yuena use a Command Spell once, there should theoretically be two more chances to make Xue'er fight at full strength. If she's too far away, merely summoning her would consume a Command Spell. The price would be too great.

In Qian Gu Huang Yu's calculations, whether Qian Ren Xue remained in Spirit Pagoda or went to the Angel Family, it would be impossible to satisfy both Qian Gu Die Ting and Le Jing Chen. Therefore, Qian Ren Xue needed to stay somewhere both sides could easily accept.

—Shrek Academy.

After all, according to the original story, Yue Zhengyu, the young master of the Angel Family, was studying at Shrek Academy. Gu Yue, as the disciple of Spirit Pagoda's Deputy Tower Master Leng Yao Zhu, was also studying at Shrek Academy.

The facts proved that neither the Angel Family nor Spirit Pagoda truly minded sending their talented younger generation to study at Shrek.

Although Qian Gu Huang Yu had reservations about Shrek Academy's teaching ability, Shrek Academy did gather the Federation's greatest number of geniuses and soul-master scions. It was still quite a good place to make connections.

Of course, Qian Gu Huang Yu had no plans to go herself. Aside from not wanting to live under someone else's roof and cater to their moods, Shrek simply could not provide her with the best education.

The two Limit Douluos at Shrek Academy, Heavenly Favor Douluo Beddon and Light-Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, had nothing whatsoever to do with her Ghidorah. It would be far better to have Bei Gong Li teach her directly.

And even if she went, Heavenly Favor Douluo and the others might not necessarily teach Qian Gu Huang Yu. After all, if she had not yet understood Shrek's glory, how could she count as one of their own?

The next day.

After listening to Qian Gu Huang Yu's suggestion, Qian Gu Die Ting immediately made a high-profile announcement that Spirit Pagoda had discovered a genius Six-winged Angel soul master whose Divine Bloodline had returned to her ancestors. He had accepted her as his disciple and invited all major factions to attend Qian Ren Xue's apprenticeship ceremony.

Under normal circumstances, neither the Tower Master of Spirit Transmission Tower nor the Master of the Sea God Pavilion would make such a grand spectacle out of accepting a disciple. But Qian Gu Die Ting clearly had another motive.

Incidentally, Qian Gu Die Ting worried that the master-disciple relationship alone would not be enough to bind Qian Ren Xue to his chariot, so he had Qian Ren Xue and Qian Gu Huang Yu become sworn sisters.

However, considering that Qian Ren Xue had likely lived longer across her two lives than Qian Gu Huang Yu had across hers, Qian Gu Huang Yu wanted Qian Ren Xue to be the elder sister.

How could Qian Ren Xue possibly acknowledge her own "master," and a God King at that, as her little sister? She adamantly refused.

In the end, the two addressed each other according to their own preferences, becoming conjugate sisters.

Qian Gu Die Ting remained calm and composed, but the others could no longer sit still.

The news Qian Gu Die Ting announced was like a bomb that detonated throughout the entire soul master world.

Shrek, Sea God Pavilion.

Heavenly Favor Douluo Beddon sat in the seat of honor with a deeply troubled expression. He had only fought Ha Luosa a few days ago, and before his injuries had even healed, he now had to endure Spirit Pagoda's mental assault.

Before Shrek could even respond, Qian Gu Die Ting had now grandly announced that he had taken a child whose Divine Bloodline had returned to her ancestors as his final disciple. These incidents happening one after another had dealt a severe blow to Shrek Academy's reputation.

Because this concerned becoming a god, all the elders of the Sea God Pavilion had gathered within the Sea God Pavilion.

With the God Realm nowhere to be found today, any opportunity that might lead to godhood would shake all top-tier powerhouses.

The deeper one's cultivation, the longer one's lifespan. The longer one's lifespan, the more one feared death. Faced with the temptation of ascending to godhood and living forever, even Shrek Academy, which had always prided itself on neutrality, was beginning to lose some of that neutrality.

"Elder Bei, we must bring that child to Shrek. Only we, the continent's number one academy, can develop her abilities to the fullest. This is for her own good!" one elder of the Sea God Pavilion declared.

"Yes. Although that child inherited the bloodline of the sinner Qian Ren Xue, Shrek has always been known for fairness. We will give her an opportunity to prove herself," another elder added.

"Old Bei, why don't we go directly to Qian Gu Die Ting and demand the girl? We haven't even settled the matter of him slandering us yet!" Long Yeyue slammed her hand on the table and said forcefully.

Long Yeyue was Beddon's nominal wife and the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion. With her taking the lead, the arguing throughout the Sea God Pavilion became even more intense.

"What kind of trash is Spirit Pagoda? When have they ever known how to teach students?"

"No one understands teaching better than us!"

"Cough." Seeing the discussion become increasingly absurd, Beddon coughed heavily, silencing everyone. "Public opinion is against us right now, and our opponent is Spirit Pagoda. They are powerful, so we cannot simply seize her by force."

Long Yeyue immediately refuted him, "Spirit Pagoda only has three Limit Douluos now, and only Bei Gong Li is a quasigod. Together with the Tang Sect, we have four Limit Douluos and two quasigods. Are we supposed to be afraid of them?"

At this point, Long Yeyue had not yet advanced to quasigod as she did in the original timeline. The two quasigods she referred to were Beddon and the Tang Sect's current sect master.

Beddon looked at the hot-tempered Long Yeyue and could not help feeling a headache coming on, but he still explained, "But don't forget that before Bei Gong Li married Qian Gu Shi Long, she was the commander of the Blood God Legion. She also liked supporting the younger generation. Many of today's mid- and high-ranking officers received her favors, and she is now one of the Federation's three generals. If war breaks out, we won't merely be fighting Qian Gu Die Ting—we'll be offending almost the entire military!"

As the front line against the Abyss, the Blood God Legion was extremely dangerous, but it was also the easiest place to earn merits in this peaceful era. Therefore, many promising young people went to the Blood God Legion for training and to build their credentials.

And Bei Gong Li, who had once been the Blood God Legion's commander, controlled those people's promotions and assignments. It could be said that everyone who went to train in the Blood God Legion had, to some extent, received her favor.

"Besides, I have always felt that Qian Gu Shi Long did not die so easily. With his strength, how could he possibly have been so easily killed by the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult?" Finally, Beddon voiced a chilling speculation.

If a quasigod of one generation had faked his death, then he could be anywhere on the continent, waiting in the shadows to bare his fangs.

"Then what should we do?" Long Yeyue sighed. Her question also echoed the thoughts of the many elders.

The possibility of becoming a god was right before them. They could not simply let it go, could they?

Beddon made the final decision. "Send her an invitation to enroll in Shrek Academy's inner court. As long as she is willing to come, she may meditate beneath the Golden Ancient Tree every day."

The elders' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this. Why should an outsider be allowed to cultivate directly beneath the Golden Ancient Tree?

But due to Beddon's authority, none of the elders ultimately spoke up.

Southern Legion, Holy Angel Family residence.

Eight people sat in the magnificent meeting room. Though their number was small, judging from their auras, every one of them was a powerhouse at the Super Douluo level.

This was the foundation of the Holy Angel Family. Eight Super Douluos—this was the confidence that allowed them to command the Southern Legion.

At that moment, a white-haired old man pushed open the door and entered. He wore a pristine white military uniform, and three dazzling general's stars shone upon his shoulders. A Federation general!

The moment they saw the old man arrive, the people present immediately rose and performed a complex, ancient salute toward him. "Family Head."

The old man silently nodded. His blue eyes gleamed with shrewdness as he took the seat of honor.

"I believe you all understand why I summoned you here today. The Divine Ancestor's bloodline has descended into this world. We must bring her back to the family."

As he spoke those final words, a fervent glint flashed through Le Jing Chen's eyes. Twenty Thousand Years Ago, the Holy Angel Family had been a subordinate family of the Six-winged Angel Family. After Spirit Hall was destroyed, the Angel Clan's glory faded away. Now that someone who had inherited their ancestor's bloodline had appeared, how could he not be excited?

Beyond that was the opportunity to become a god. Even among Limit Douluos, Le Jing Chen was considered relatively old. He desperately hoped to take another step forward.

After all, who wanted to die?

I made some Secondary Setting adjustments to the Federation military ranks. In the original work, the Federation had only two generals, but they never appeared and did not even have a role in the final Abyss war, so one could only infer that they were not particularly strong. Meanwhile, Chen Xin Jie, Yu Guan Zhi, and Shen Xing's grandfather were known as the Federation's three highest-ranking generals. But in a fantasy world, it was nearly impossible for a superior officer to be weaker than a subordinate.

Therefore, I made Secondary Setting adjustments to the Federation's military ranks, changing the number of generals to three. They were quasigods with five general's stars: Bei Gong Li, who had once commanded the Blood God Legion; the Hall Master of the War God Hall, who would appear shortly; and the third, who would not appear anytime soon and would not be discussed for now.

Among the Federation's eight major legions, the commanders of large legions were generals with three general's stars, such as the Southern Legion and Sea God Legion. Smaller legions, such as the Northern Legion stationed at the extreme north, had commanders ranging from major general to lieutenant general. There were also special cases, such as Blood One of the Blood God Battalion, who was likewise a general. In other words, military rank was bound to cultivation to a certain extent.

I wonder whether everyone can accept this. If you cannot, I'll revise it again.

(End of Chapter)