Gazing Upon Heaven from Hell

Ning Rongrong returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The palace was as magnificent as ever. Pavilions and towers basked in the warm sunlight, every glazed tile reflecting a light she knew so well.

Her father, Ning Fengzhi, stood not far away, wearing the gentlest smile she remembered.

"Rongrong, you're back."

His voice crossed the courtyard, so soft it could melt all the ice in the world.

Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone stood to either side like two immovable mountains, guarding her father from behind. Their gazes held the indulgent affection she had grown accustomed to since childhood.

Ning Rongrong's nose stung, and all the exhaustion and grievances from her wandering days burst through the dam in that instant.

She ran over and threw herself into that warm embrace.

"Dad! I missed you so much!"

She buried her face deeply in her father's robes, greedily breathing in that familiar, reassuring scent.

Home was still the best.

This was her harbor, her kingdom.

Here, no one would force her to do anything.

And no one would dare yell at her.

She was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's one and only little princess, cherished in the palm of its hand.

However.

Just as she sank into that warmth.

The sky went dark.

It was not the gradual transition from sunset to moonrise, but an absolute darkness that swallowed the light in an instant.

A bone-piercing chill swept in from all directions.

Countless black shadows tore through the heavens and fell from the sky.

Their uniform robes bore the emblem she feared most: Spirit Hall. Their icy killing intent gathered into clouds, crushing the breath from her lungs.

At their head was a masked woman.

She floated in midair. Though she was not particularly tall, the shadow she cast covered the entire sect.

When she spoke, there was not a trace of emotion in her voice. Every word carried the chill of the deepest netherworld.

"Ning Fengzhi, hand over the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

"Or die."

There was no negotiation, no room for compromise.

The battle ignited in an instant.

"Defend the sect!"

Ning Fengzhi's roar shattered the silence.

Grandpa Sword shot into the sky, his entire body transforming into a sword that pierced heaven and earth. Seven Kill Sword Intent swept across the battlefield, and wherever its sword light reached, even the sky was sliced apart.

Grandpa Bone's roar shook the mountains and rivers as the enormous true form of the Bone Dragon appeared. Within its dragon cry lay a protection that would endure until death.

But there were too many enemies.

Above the sky, ring after ring of soul rings lit up, their radiance too dazzling to look at.

One Titled Douluo after another appeared on the horizon like fiends crawling out of hell.

That bewitching Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.

That ghostly, insubstantial figure.

Chrysanthemum Douluo.

Ghost Douluo.

And more—many more beings whose names she did not know, yet who radiated the same suffocating terror.

The disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect wailed and fell. The magnificent palaces burned and collapsed.

"Rongrong! Hurry! Support us!"

Her father's anxious cry pulled her from the bone-deep cold.

Ning Rongrong jolted awake as if from a dream and raised her trembling hand.

Her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda emerged amid firelight and blood.

"Seven Treasures Manifest!"

"First: Strength!"

"Second: Speed!"

Two rays of light, like candles flickering in the wind, swayed as they flew toward Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone.

Too weak.

Her strength was laughably insignificant on a battlefield capable of destroying heaven and earth.

Her support was not even a drop in the ocean in a battle between Titled Douluo.

She saw it.

She saw with her own eyes Grandpa Sword's indestructible Seven Kill Sword shatter inch by inch beneath the siege of several Titled Douluo.

She heard it.

She heard with her own ears the overloaded crack of Grandpa Bone's seemingly unbreakable Bone Dragon true form.

She saw her father—the man who had always stood as straight as a pine—have his chest pierced through in an instant while blocking a black beam aimed at her.

That bloody hole was pitch-black, swallowing all light.

"No!!!"

Ning Rongrong let out the most despairing scream of her life.

She watched helplessly as the home she had been so proud of turned into a living hell.

She watched helplessly as the people closest and dearest to her fell one after another into pools of blood.

And she could do nothing.

She could only watch.

Because she was too weak.

Her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda was too weak!

Why?

Why did it have to be the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda? Why did it have only seven levels?

Why could she not possess the supreme Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda like in the legends?

If...

If she had the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.

If her support could be just a little stronger.

Would Grandpa Sword's sword not have broken? Would Grandpa Bone's dragon bones not have shattered?

Would Dad... not have died?

"I want the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda!"

"I want to become stronger!!"

Dai Mubai stood in the arena of the Star Luo Imperial Palace.

The cold stone floor had been soaked in the blood of countless losers.

Across from him stood his elder brother, Dai Weisi.

Dai Weisi was taller and sturdier than him. In those evil eyes, there was no brotherly affection—only the aggression and greed of a wolf eyeing its prey.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black.

Five soul rings circled his body. The aura of a Soul King pressed down on Dai Mubai's spine like a mountain.

A Soul King!

He was already a Soul King!

And Dai Mubai was still only a Soul Elder.

"Little brother, you disappoint me."

Dai Weisi shook his head as though inspecting a flawed object.

"You should not have run away."

"And you should not have come back."

"Now, you have no chance left."

As he spoke, his gaze passed over Dai Mubai and fell on the edge of the arena.

There, Zhu Zhuqing was pinned to the ground by two royal guards.

There was no fear on her face, no pleading—nothing at all.

She simply looked at him quietly.

That gaze was like a knife, precisely piercing Dai Mubai's heart before viciously twisting inside it.

"Dai Mubai, begin."

From atop the platform, the emperor's majestic voice descended without a trace of warmth.

"Let me see whether you are qualified to live."

The battle began.

No.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

Dai Mubai gave it everything he had.

His White Tiger Body Protection Barrier was like paper before Dai Weisi's White Tiger Annihilation Kill, collapsing with a single strike.

His White Tiger Blazing Light Wave appeared pale and powerless before the other's vastly greater Soul Power.

He was knocked to the ground.

Again.

And again.

He could feel the crisp cracks of his bones breaking.

He could feel the agonizing pain of his internal organs rupturing.

He watched Dai Weisi walk toward him step by step, looking down from above.

Those evil eyes were filled with pity.

"It's over, little brother."

Then Dai Mubai watched Dai Weisi raise his hand and point toward Zhu Zhuqing.

A single icy word left his mouth.

"Do it."

Thud.

A faint sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

A cold longsword pierced Zhu Zhuqing's heart.

Dai Mubai froze.

Time seemed to stop at that moment.

He watched helplessly as Zhu Zhuqing's body crumpled softly to the ground.

Her eyes were still fixed on him.

There was no hatred in that gaze, no resentment.

Only relief.

"No!!!!!"

A beastly roar exploded from the depths of Dai Mubai's throat.

He regretted it.

He hated himself.

He should not have run away. He should not have sunk into a life of comfort.

If he had worked just a little harder.

If he had been just a little stronger.

Could he have protected her? Could he have given her even a sliver of hope, instead of forcing her to seek release through death?

Zhu Zhuqing ran through a dark forest.

Behind her was her elder sister, Zhu Zhuyun.

Like an elegant yet cruel hunter, Zhu Zhuyun was in no hurry, always maintaining a fixed distance from her.

"Little sister, stop running."

Zhu Zhuyun's voice was light and gentle, yet it clung to her like gangrene in the bone, everywhere at once.

"You cannot escape."

"This is our destiny."

Zhu Zhuqing ignored her.

She desperately pushed her Soul Power to the limit, raising her speed to its utmost as her body became a blurred black shadow among the trees.

But it was useless.

A massive black claw shadow appeared as if from nowhere and descended from the sky.

She was slammed viciously into the ground, every bone in her body groaning in pain.

"Nether Hundred Claws."

Zhu Zhuyun walked up to her and looked down at her, a trace of regret in her eyes.

"Your speed is too slow."

"Your claws aren't sharp enough."

"You're too weak."

She raised her foot and stepped on Zhu Zhuqing's back, crushing her last struggle.

"In your next life, don't be born into the Zhu Clan."

Sharp claws sliced through the air.

The chill of death completely engulfed Zhu Zhuqing.

She died.

Then she came back to life.

It was still this dark forest.

She was still being hunted by Zhu Zhuyun.

Once.

Twice.

Ten times.

A hundred times.

She experienced death over and over again. Each time, she was powerless to resist; each time, she was filled with despair.

The pain gradually numbed her.

Fear, too, was gradually worn away.

She was about to give up.

Just then.

A cool, detached voice suddenly rang out in her mind.

"You live only for yourself."

Lin Xi's voice.

That's right.

I live for myself!

I am no one's appendage!

And I am certainly not a slave to this damned fate!

Zhu Zhuqing braced herself against the ground and slowly clawed her way out of the dirt.

Fire ignited in her eyes once more.

That fire burned away her numbness and burned away her fear.

All that remained was the most primal, most frenzied desire to fight.

"I will tear this fate apart!"