The Storm Was Coming

As for you saying he was cheating?

Laughable.

Across the Myriad Realms, which powerhouse had ever reached the peak through their own hard work? No matter how hard you worked, there was always someone who worked harder. No matter how talented you were, there was always someone more talented. No matter how fiercely you pushed yourself, there was always someone who pushed even harder...

If one truly wanted to become strong, then one should not be thinking about things like hard work, talent, or competition... Those things were not important, and were not even necessary.

To reach the peak, one had to rely on cheating. Only by learning how to cheat could one catch up to, or even surpass, those who had started cultivating earlier than you, those with better talent than you, and those stronger than you.

Wu Tong did not deny that he was cheating. On the contrary, he was even somewhat proud of it.

Just as Wu Tong was expounding on the perfectly reasonable nature of cheating.

Spirit City.

Papal Hall.

"What? You're saying that pillar of light last night was caused by Dugu Bo?"

Bibi Dong wore the magnificent, dignified robes of the pope, holding a scepter in her hand as she sat upon the papal throne.

Her beautiful face was filled with shock as she looked down from the throne at Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, who stood respectfully in the center of the hall.

Last night, after Dugu Bo returned to Heaven Dou City, he had gone straight to Dugu Xin's cemetery and used the Resurrection Coin to revive Dugu Xin.

But what he had not expected was that when the Resurrection Coin was used, a pillar of light had suddenly appeared. It was like a divine pillar connecting heaven and earth, shining in the pitch-black night, so dazzling and eye-catching.

Almost every Faction across the entire continent had noticed that pillar of light. Apart from a scant few people who could roughly judge its location based on the direction in which it had appeared, the rest merely marveled at its grandeur and magnificence.

As Dugu Bo's old rival, both enemy and friend, Chrysanthemum Douluo naturally knew the location of the Dugu Family very well. So the instant the pillar of light appeared, he had guessed that Dugu Bo was behind it.

Thus, the next day in the Papal Hall, Chrysanthemum Douluo directly told Bibi Dong his guess.

Bibi Dong was also extremely shocked by Chrysanthemum Douluo's guess. As a Titled Douluo not under Spirit Hall's control, and one known across the continent as Poison Douluo for his deadly large-scale attacks, Dugu Bo had naturally been recorded in Spirit Hall's files as a key target of Observation.

But both Bibi Dong and everyone else knew very well that Dugu Bo absolutely could not have created a pillar of light that connected heaven and earth.

Not to mention Dugu Bo's strength—even a Limit Douluo like Qian Daoliu would be incapable of creating such a pillar of light.

A pillar of light visible across the entire continent. A miracle... a god, then?

Listening to Chrysanthemum Douluo's conjecture and thinking of one possibility, Bibi Dong's expression shifted darkly.

"Yue Guan, take Guimei with you and pay Dugu Bo a visit. You must find out the truth behind that pillar of light."

"As you command, Your Holiness the Pope. However... my relationship with that old poison freak isn't very good. Once we meet, we might end up fighting." Hearing Bibi Dong's order, Chrysanthemum Douluo spoke with some difficulty.

"Then have Guimei handle the negotiations. Do your best to pry the truth from Dugu Bo's mouth." Bibi Dong was rather helpless about this as well, but since she understood the grudges between the two of them, she did not force the matter too much.

"Yes."

A moment later, a streak of Golden Light and a streak of black light shot out from the Papal Hall, flying toward Heaven Dou City.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Fengzhi, news just came in. The location where last night's pillar of light appeared is connected to that old poison freak." An emaciated old man sat on the sofa, speaking to the middle-aged man seated in the main seat.

The old man was withered in figure, but his skeleton was astonishingly large. His clothes were held up entirely by his frame, his muscles and skin shriveled, and his eye sockets sunken. If one saw him at night, he would look exactly like a giant skeleton. A few sparse strands of white hair lay across his scalp, making him as ugly as one could possibly be.

He was precisely one of the two great pillars of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Bone Douluo Gu Rong.

"Isn't that just nonsense? Fengzhi received the news much earlier than you did. Did he need you to repeat it?" Before the middle-aged man could speak, the old man sitting opposite Bone Douluo opened his mouth and mocked him.

The only one who could snap at Bone Douluo like this was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's other pillar, Sword Douluo Chen Xin.

"Coward, what kind of crap are you spouting? I'm talking to Fengzhi. Who asked you to butt in?" Gu Rong did not indulge Chen Xin either, immediately firing back.

Looking at the two bickering friends before him, who were ready to fight at the slightest disagreement, the middle-aged man in the main seat—Ning Fengzhi, as they called him—finally spoke to mediate. "Uncle Sword, Uncle Bone, please calm down. My sect's main hall can't withstand the shockwaves if the two of you start fighting."

Hearing Ning Fengzhi's words, Chen Xin and Gu Rong stopped clashing. They looked at each other, snorted, then turned their heads away at once, no longer looking at the other's hateful face.

Looking at the sect pillars acting like two children, Ning Fengzhi also shook his head helplessly.

He then gazed in the direction of Heaven Dou City, his eyes filled with deep meaning as he said, "Poison Douluo? It's impossible that Dugu Bo caused that pillar of light. He doesn't have that level of strength. But it is definitely related to Dugu Bo.

Uncle Sword, accompany me to Heaven Dou City in a while. We'll pay that Poison Douluo a visit."

Half an hour later, a streak of sword light shot out from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's main hall, flying toward Dugu Bo's location.

Tian Dou Imperial Family.

Xue Ye looked at the secret letter that had been presented to him, his expression unreadable. He spoke to a eunuch waiting at his side. "Go. Have the crown prince come see me at once."

The eunuch accepted the order and withdrew.

Before long, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe arrived before Xue Ye.

"This son greets Father Emperor. May I ask why Father Emperor has summoned this son here?" Xue Qinghe looked at the sickly old man before him, first bowing, then asking.

"Qinghe, do you know about the pillar of light from last night?" Looking at Xue Qinghe, with whom he could not be more satisfied, Xue Ye asked with a smile.

"Reporting to Father Emperor, this son naturally knows of it. Moreover, when I rose this morning, nearly the whole city was discussing last night's events. I simply do not know which esteemed Titled Douluo could have created such a miracle." Facing Xue Ye's question, Xue Qinghe answered neither servilely nor arrogantly.

"I just received news that last night's pillar of light is connected to Dugu Bo."

"Senior Poison Douluo?" Xue Qinghe seemed surprised by the name Xue Ye had spoken.

"From what this son understands, although Senior Poison Douluo is a powerful Titled Douluo, he does not seem capable of creating a pillar of light visible to the entire continent." Xue Qinghe tactfully expressed his view.

"That's right. Dugu Bo certainly can't do it. But since the pillar of light is connected to Dugu Bo, then he must know something."

"Qinghe, make preparations. Represent the imperial family and pay Dugu Bo a visit. If possible, it would be best if you could coax the matter of the pillar of light out of him."

Xue Ye neither confirmed nor denied Xue Qinghe's conjecture, but he still instructed Xue Qinghe to go pay a visit.

"Yes. Then this son shall take his leave." Xue Qinghe did not refuse. He was also curious about last night's events, and so accepted Xue Ye's arrangement.

After Xue Qinghe withdrew from the room, Xue Ye sat up and looked out the window.

The originally calm sky was gradually being covered by a layer of dark clouds, filled with an oppressive atmosphere.

Through that oppressive weather, Xue Ye seemed to see, beneath the calm surface of the lake, surging undercurrents flowing restlessly one after another, as if they were about to stir up towering waves.

He sighed. "The storm is coming, and the wind already fills the tower."

Dear foster fathers, I know you've read a lot of books and have very high standards, so you might not like my book very much. There's nothing I can do about that, because I've only just started learning, and this is my first book. There may be some flaws, but I still ask all you foster fathers to go easy on the flaming and leave me a way to live.

I'm begging you.