I Traveled to Douluo and Split into Five People

Hearing it made everyone's skin crawl. Qian Renxue grabbed An Lan by the throat.

"Enough, enough!"

She turned and flung herself onto his back. An Lan carried Qian Renxue toward the carriage. This carriage had been meticulously prepared by the branch hall, so there was no need for a tent at all.

At midnight, An Lan entered the space.

Yet he did not see Zhou Xuefeng and could not help finding it strange.

"Could that guy have failed to sense my location?"

"What the hell is going on?"

He left a message at Zhou Xuefeng's spot and exited the space.

Zhou Xuefeng saw An Lan's message at noon on the third day. He had once again trained Zhu Zhuyun until she was completely exhausted. Although she only had one Spirit Ring now, becoming stronger had to start from childhood.

He had not begun cleansing Zhu Zhuyu's meridians with Soul Power either. The wilderness was not a stable environment. For something requiring complete concentration, even the slightest disturbance could cause all previous efforts to go to waste. Besides, people willing to "cooperate" with the experiment were not always available.

"So it was them."

Seeing the message, Zhou Xuefeng learned who had instantly destroyed the straw man without giving it any chance to resist. But he soon grew doubtful. At the time, the two sides had been only a little over a thousand meters apart. Two mighty level ninety-six Super Douluo... could their "aura" really be that weak?

They could not sense each other from just over a thousand meters away?

"Maybe they deliberately kept their movements quiet."

Besides asking questions, An Lan had also left behind their route. Zhou Xuefeng silently memorized it. With Qian Jun and Jiang Mo accompanying them, it was best if the two did not meet.

"Looks like I'll have to take a detour."

Going forward would lead him into the Mozak Duchy, one of the Heaven Dou Empire's affiliated duchies. If their routes remained unchanged, the two sides would meet in a city at the border between the duchy and the two kingdoms.

Since he had to take the long way around, Zhou Xuefeng eased up on Zhu Zhuyun's training and let her rest for several days. In a daze, Zhu Zhuyun actually felt somewhat flattered.

However, rather than meeting An Lan, he ran into Tang Yin.

A few days later.

Without noticing, they had detoured into Fasino Province. As they entered the city, the two sensed each other and turned back to glance through the crowd.

Their eyes met.

Tang Yin: "You little bastard! And you called yourself a Sigma Male! What are those three in the carriage?!"

Zhou Xuefeng: "I'm an Alpha Man now."

After exchanging glances, the two headed in opposite directions. They said nothing, made no contact, and pretended not to know each other.

At the gathering in the space, everyone happened to be present. Tang Yin said nothing, merely stared coldly at Zhou Xuefeng with a sinister smile. When the other three could not help asking what had happened, Tang Yin slammed the table and rose to his feet.

"This thick-browed, big-eyed bastard has betrayed the organization!"

When the three learned that Zhou Xuefeng had taken away the Zhu Family's Three Sisters, they all wore different expressions. Tian Rui's reaction was the strongest.

"You, you, you! You... you... you... We agreed that Sigmas would last forever, and everyone was welcome on Back Mountain. How could you bring someone down the mountain halfway through!"

"Fuck?!" Zhou Xuefeng looked horrified. "When the fuck did I ever say something like that?"

After the joke, they returned to normal.

Ning Yulin found it strange.

"Why did you take the three of them away? Without the Hell White Tiger, the Hell Spirit Cat alone has rather average potential."

"Nothing much. I just didn't want to waste them."

The four were left speechless. Very good, very powerful, very honest, and an extremely convincing explanation.

An Lan tapped the table and asked Ning Yulin about the matter he had left in his message a few days ago, asking how the investigation had gone.

Sunset Forest, and the origin of the name Sunset.

After becoming Qian Xunji's disciple, he had gained sufficient status to enter the upper library of Spirit Hall's millennium-old archives. Yet the contents there were vast as the sea, and there was not much material concerning Sunset Forest. There were only records of some Spirit Beast species rumored to have gone extinct. As for the name Sunset, he had found only one vague account in Mainland Anecdotes.

The ancient people witnessed the sun fall from the sky, hence the name, Sunset Forest.

Chapter 61: Sunset

He had no idea from what era that account came.

He had left a message asking Ning Yulin to gather information from other sources. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had occupied Seven Treasure City for many years and might possess materials different from Spirit Hall's.

"I found some ancient text in a rotten book that was nearly crumbling to dust. After translating it, the general meaning was..."

"Ancient people observed the heavens. One day, they suddenly saw the blazing sun fall from the horizon. Cries sounded from within it, plunging heaven and earth into grief. It fell into the land, and the universe lost its color. Birds and beasts lay prostrate upon the ground... Afterward, dense forests and towering trees rose from the earth, called the Sunset Realm."

This kind of story... it was obviously an opportunity prepared specifically for the five of us.

But Ning Yulin immediately poured cold water on their excitement. According to Ning Fengzhi's appraisal, that ancient book was more than five thousand years old.

"Maybe ancient people here witnessed the scene when the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings fell and recorded it as a story. Isn't that just the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"

"What a buzzkill. Can't you let us be happy for a few minutes first?"

With an unhappy expression, Tian Rui slapped the table. He casually brought up his current plans.

"I plan to enroll in the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in a few days..."

He had long understood the admission requirements. In recent years, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had not produced any talent worth mentioning. The third prince, Xue Canghai, barely counted as one. Even if other noble families had outstanding descendants, they could not be used entirely by the imperial family. If the imperial family invested heavily in cultivating them, it would instead further weaken imperial authority.

The Royal Academy had long since relaxed its admission requirements. Those recommended by nobles could enroll, and commoners could also enroll after passing an examination. But after the latter enrolled, they either caught the eye of knowledgeable, ambitious noble children and were reported to their families for early recruitment, or, after witnessing the extravagance and debauchery of the noble children, became fawning and attached themselves to them.

The occasional ones with steady judgment, practical ideas, and diligent cultivation were ostracized for being out of place. The Three Education Committee Members were usually "high above," and simply could not see this kind of "campus bullying."

Of course, if someone was a peerless genius who shocked the world, they definitely did not fall into that category.

Unfortunately, Tian Rui was exactly that kind of person. After the New Year, he was only ten years old. A ten-year-old genius with two Spirit Rings would absolutely be treasured and cultivated. It was just that his origins would be difficult to explain.

"If it's hard to explain, then don't explain it. What family would send this level of seed candidate out as an undercover agent? Aside from Spirit Hall."

Tang Yin spread his hands, wearing the air of someone who cared for no one, and gave his opinion. Zhou Xuefeng, however, asked a different question.

"You aren't going to Blazing Fire Academy?"

"Oh, right! If I go to Blazing Fire Academy... what about the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud?"

Tian Rui was somewhat tempted, but he absolutely could not give up the Heart of the Sea God.

"What even is that thing? The Heaven Dou Imperial Family's national treasure. Think back—under what circumstances did Tang San obtain it? He saved Xue Ye's life and held up a collapsing building. Now that Qian Renxue isn't undercover, it would be hard to get that thing just by joining the imperial family, right? Wouldn't it be faster to simply steal it?"

Tian Rui's face twisted. He clenched his fist, wanting to vent, but could not. He said resentfully,

"Then what was the point of us rambling on for so many chapters before? Wouldn't this make us look like idiots?"

"Fine, we're idiots." Zhou Xuefeng leaned back. "In a place where even cutting off supply routes can make people think you're a genius, idiots are already considered pretty smart!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Ning Yulin said unhappily. "A little self-deprecation is enough."

They absolutely could not really become idiots.

Otherwise, they would be defeated by other idiots with richer experience.

While the four chatted nonsense, An Lan pondered beside them. He felt that Bibi Dong would most likely still carry out both the Heaven Dou Usurpation Plan and the later Spirit Hunting Operation. Moreover, she would probably deliberately expose herself in an extremely crude manner, leaving behind many traces of Spirit Hall so that Spirit Hall would be attacked from all sides.

If we let her mess around, will the five of us set things right when the time comes?

It did not feel like it would go smoothly.

Tang Yin seemed to belatedly realize something and looked strangely at Tian Rui.

"Why are you going to Blazing Fire Academy? Huo Wu?"

Tian Rui spoke seriously.

"To study."

Tang Yin replied with an expression that said, Yeah right, as if I believe that.

"Everyone, calm down. I will secure the Immortal Herbs as soon as possible. For now, focus on cultivation. Raising our levels is the most important thing. Once we can bear Ten Thousand Year Spirit Rings, that'll be when we take off."

The idle chatter ended, and everyone went their separate ways. Before leaving, An Lan asked Zhou Xuefeng about his progress using paper to practice Soul Power control.

Zhou: No. It's too difficult. I can't do it. Starting directly with paper makes it too hard.

An: Even your Blue Silver Grass's gentle Soul Power can't do it. Does that mean this method won't work?

Zhou: Maybe it isn't that it won't work, but that you and I have gone down the wrong path. Different types of Soul Power should require different training methods. The Golden Feather Luan Bird's Soul Power is high-temperature, burning, explosive... perhaps you can try holding an object and forging it with fire. Also, isn't your First Spirit Skill already able to condense some relatively crude tools? Why not try condensing other objects?

An: Makes sense.

Two months later.

Zhou Xuefeng, An Lan, and Tang Yin arrived in Heaven Dou City one after another. The New Year passed quietly.

January, 2632.

Over the past two years, everyone's cultivation had gone smoothly. With Innate Full Soul Power and the Essence of Qi Method, and with An Lan and Tian Rui additionally possessing an ability similar to an Energy Gathering Ring to assist their cultivation, they successively broke through level thirty. Tang Yin lagged behind them by a little over half a month, but he also reached level thirty. Ning Yulin was a bit slower and was only level twenty-nine. Although he had changed the nature of his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's Spirit Skills, his martial soul's cultivation speed still belonged to the auxiliary system. Without the Essence of Qi Method, he might only be level twenty-six or twenty-seven by now.

The five were "close," but they still did not meet in person and continued communicating only within the space.

The others had nothing much going on. Tang Yin wanted to use the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's influence to send Tang Yuehua back to the current Clear Sky Sect. As for himself, he did not plan to return. The Clear Sky Sect, which had already sealed itself away, had no room for development at all.

It was faster to grow stronger out in the world.

"My engagement banquet with Dugu Yan will be held soon. Come after the banquet is over."

At that time, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would entertain a vast number of guests. There would be too many people, and if someone noticed them, no one could guarantee that everyone would keep silent. There might even be fence-sitters hoping to profit from both sides.

Ning Yulin had originally wanted to persuade Ning Fengzhi to simply hold a small gathering for true friends. But after thinking it over carefully, there was actually no need to hide Dugu Bo's "joining" the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

His joining Seven Treasures seemed to give the sect another Titled Douluo, but the actual threat did not increase by much. After all, he was merely a gatekeeper among Titled Douluo. Other than Spirit Hall, whether Dugu Bo stood alone or joined Seven Treasures, both were already strong enough to other factions. Whether they joined forces made no difference to them.

"Little Highness, should we attend?"

After arriving in Heaven Dou City, Qian Renxue naturally took up residence in the Spirit Sacred Hall. Her identity was confidential, and Salas did not know it, but An Lan's identity was now known throughout Spirit Hall.

The Platinum Archbishop Salas held an invitation from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and came to ask An Lan's opinion. On the surface, An Lan held no real authority beyond being the Former Pope's disciple, but the current Pope was his senior sister, and the Great Enshriner personally stood behind him. He could report directly to the highest authority, making him even more troublesome than those with actual power.

Chapter 62: Engagement

"Now is not the time to tear all pretenses with the major sects. We should still do what is necessary for appearances. However, Bishop, you can attend yourself. Try not to reveal that I am here."

If Qian Daoliu had not required him to leave his location whenever he arrived at a branch hall, he could not be bothered dealing with these branch halls at all.

"This subordinate understands. Also, does Little Highness have any thoughts regarding gifts?"

"Bishop, there is no need to be so restrained. The Platinum Archbishop of either capital's sacred hall is equal in status to the Pope when the Pope is absent. I am merely a junior..."

"You overpraise me, Little Highness. In that case, this old man will not disturb you further. Please make yourself at home."

Having received An Lan's answer, Salas quietly let out a breath of relief. Though he had long heard of An Lan, this was their first meeting. He had thought the young man, successful at such an early age, would be the sort of spoiled little bastard who threw his weight around. He had not expected a mature talent beyond his years—no, a young man with an old soul.

That made sense. If he had been an ordinary brat, how could the Former Pope have accepted him as a disciple?

However, since he had said appearances needed to be handled properly, Salas would have to carefully prepare gifts for Ning Fengzhi and Dugu Bo.

After Salas left, Qian Renxue came around from behind the door.

"That old man is way too cautious. How can someone like that be a Platinum Archbishop?"

"Publicly speaking, the current Pope and Great Enshriner stand behind me. It would be strange if he weren't afraid... Your hair color is fading. Come here, I'll dye it again."

Qian Renxue had yet to absorb the Angel Set Spirit Bone that possessed disguise abilities. To conceal her identity, not long after leaving Spirit Hall, An Lan had dyed her hair black.

More than two hours later, they finished dyeing it again.

"What hairstyle do you want today?"

"Hmm..." Qian Renxue sat before the vanity, looking at An Lan in the mirror. "A heroine!"

"Okay, got it!"

He tied her hair into a neat, spirited high ponytail and adorned it with a hairpin bearing fine silver tassels. She was beautiful and elegant, with a valiant, dashing air.

"Let's go."

Qian Renxue turned, grabbed An Lan's hand, and eagerly rushed outside.

"Let's go take a look at the Spirit Fighting Arena. See if there are any strange martial souls..."