An Lan returned to Spirit Hall and found Qian Renxue deeply unhappy, sulking alone in the garden.
After asking around, he found out why she was angry.
While the two of them had been out traveling and having fun, Bibi Dong had taken in a disciple with Innate Level Nine Spirit Power and a Spirit Fox Martial Soul, then publicly announced it to all of Spirit Hall. Qian Renxue had gone to observe in secret and discovered that Bibi Dong seemed to treat that girl like a daughter—a side of her Qian Renxue had never seen.
She was furious, and deeply hurt.
Yet since Qian Daoliu had not spoken of the matter, An Lan was not in a position to meddle.
Meddling was tantamount to courting death.
He could only find a way to distract her.
"I found something incredible on this trip. Do you want to know what it is?"
"No."
"Uh..."
His eyes shifted, and An Lan spoke again.
"Then how about we go beat that girl—Hu Liena—up?"
At their age, that was the quickest and simplest way to vent.
"Let's go!"
Originally, Qian Renxue should have already been undercover by now, waiting for an opportunity to replace Xue Qinghe. By the time she learned that Hu Liena had become Bibi Dong's disciple, she might have already spent quite some time in hiding. After being tempered by all the filth of the royal family and nobility, she would have gone ever deeper down the path of obsession. By then, she would probably no longer care about Hu Liena's existence—the sort of person who could even abandon Chrysanthemum Ghost, two longtime workhorses, just to win Tang San over.
But now, she was only a young girl whose emotions still showed plainly on her face, still carrying a trace of innocence. Or rather, a little loli?
Thus, Hu Liena, still immersed in joy, was inexplicably beaten up. Every blow landed on her face, and her cute little head, full of collagen, became a pig's head. Yet despite her young age, she had grown up in Spirit Hall alongside her brother after losing her parents, and she had long understood the ways of the world. Realizing that she merely looked awful and had suffered no real injuries, she did not make a fuss.
She only had Xie Yue help her request leave, quietly nursed herself back to health, and reappeared afterward.
When Bibi Dong learned of the incident, her reaction was mild. She did not care about Qian Renxue's feelings, nor did she care how Qian Renxue reacted. She had accepted Hu Liena as a disciple merely because the girl appealed to her eye. Only after taking her in did she feel that perhaps the child was worth cultivating.
She could be used to win over the younger generation, to serve as Spirit Hall's model for its younger generation.
The old men of the Worship Hall would not easily put Qian Renxue in the spotlight.
Setting Qian Renxue aside, there was someone even more suitable than Hu Liena to become the benchmark of Spirit Hall's younger generation: her dear "junior brother."
But she had never expected the mighty Clear Sky Sect to be so "weak."
"What is his cultivation now?"
Thinking of An Lan, Bibi Dong felt displeased. She did not know what his cultivation was at the moment. After inheriting the position of Pope and gradually taking power, she had investigated him and found records stating that An Lan's Innate Soul Power had been Level Two. She felt that was a lie—a lie full of holes.
Although An Lan himself claimed that he had Innate Level Two Spirit Power, she did not believe it at all.
Could someone with two such powerful Martial Souls really have only Innate Level Two Spirit Power?
She wanted to get rid of An Lan, yet could find neither a suitable reason nor an opportunity.
A wicked glint flashed through her eyes.
"No matter how talented he is, he cannot surpass that bastard. I do not even regard that bastard highly. So what if he has Twin Martial Souls like mine? Sooner or later, he will fall into the abyss along with Spirit Hall."
After beating Hu Liena up, Qian Renxue had indeed vented quite a bit.
Then she declared domineeringly,
"Since she dislikes me so much, I don't have to like her either!"
"From now on, I, Qian Renxue, have no mother. I only have Grandpa!"
An Lan added another comment.
"What about me?"
"You?" She turned around, swept back her long hair, and declared loudly, "This young lady won't forget her lackey!"
"Lackey? It seems Miss Qian Renxue has forgotten her place. Perfect—the conditions for this month still haven't been decided, have they? Come on, want to try?"
Revealing his Martial Soul strengthened by the Immortal Herb, An Lan stood in high spirits. Qian Renxue froze, sensing the scorching aura rushing toward her, faintly carrying a trace of the Power of Light. It felt as though she were facing an Angel Martial Soul without the form of an Angel.
"No... what is going on with you?"
The Older Generation's Thoughts Were Usually Difficult for Young People to Understand
Without saying a word, An Lan provoked her.
He raised a hand and crooked his finger.
Come at me.
Even before evolving, An Lan had been able to wear Qian Renxue down until she had no strength left by relying on Soul Power recovery far beyond that of Soul Masters at the same level. Now that they were both at three rings, Qian Renxue had even less of an advantage. She could only fight at all because the Angel Martial Soul's innate resistance to negative effects allowed her to resist An Lan's Martial Soul's burning ability and its new stunning ability. Otherwise, she might not even have lasted a few exchanges.
This spar with Qian Renxue also served as a thorough test of the evolved Golden Feather Luan Bird's abilities.
Aside from its original Sun Attribute and Flame Attribute, it had gained a trace of the Power of Light. However, he did not know whether this was a natural change after the Cock's Comb Phoenix Sunflower purified his Martial Soul, or an effect produced by using Five-Person Fusion together with the other four.
The result of Five-Person Fusion seemed to be something completely different from the Martial Soul Fusion Skill understood by the Soul Master world.
Although the Light Attribute was very weak compared to the other two and occupied only a tiny portion, it could not be ignored. That tiny bit seemed to have brought about an epic-level enhancement instead.
His Purification Resistance against the Angel Martial Soul had greatly increased. It was not complete immunity, but it reduced the effect by around sixty to seventy percent. Furthermore, the boost to his Spirit Skills' effects was quite considerable.
There was little change to their fundamental forms, but their actual effects had become noticeably stronger.
The First Spirit Skill, Energy Gathering Ring, had improved energy conversion efficiency, while his control over converted energy had also increased greatly. Simply put, when he controlled energy to condense into a physical form, it became sturdier and clearer. The original boost had roughly doubled from its previous level; now, it increased flame intensity and his own speed by forty percent.
The Second Spirit Skill, Sunflame Wings, had its attack power and damage reduction increased to around thirty-five percent.
The Third Spirit Skill, Flame Storm, had gained a forced judgment process for its stun effect. As long as a target within its range had lower spiritual power than An Lan, they would be forcibly stunned for three seconds.
After learning An Lan's current Soul Power Level, Qian Renxue grew even more jealous.
"What did you do while you were out? How did your Soul Power Level suddenly catch up with mine?"
At this point, Qian Renxue was only around Level Thirty-Eight. That was the result of not cultivating seriously. Had she been more diligent, she should have already added her Fourth Spirit Ring.
"I'll tell you when the time is right. For now, we should discuss the new condition you owe me!"
"Say it!"
Though she had lost, she refused to lose in spirit. Qian Renxue's tone did not weaken in the slightest, as though she were the victor.
"This young lady isn't afraid at all!"
"Oh? So bold. Then..."
An Lan came up with a good idea.
"Until our next spar, you are not allowed to call yourself 'this young lady.' You have to refer to yourself as 'I' in a cutesy way."
Simply put, he was making Qian Renxue act coquettish.
"You..."
"Hm?"
"I... understand."
Qian Renxue ground out each word through clenched teeth.
"Good. Keep it up."
Deeply struck by this blow, she decided to cultivate properly. She went into "seclusion," intending to speak to An Lan as little as possible before next month. Just imagining herself constantly speaking in that cutesy manner gave Qian Renxue goosebumps all over.
After she went off to cultivate, An Lan thought for a moment and went to find Qian Daoliu.
He traveled without obstruction, no one stopping him, and smoothly entered the Angel Temple.
"Greetings, Great Enshriner."
Qian Daoliu seemed to always hold the same posture and speak the same words. With his back to An Lan, he uttered two flat words.
"What is it?"
"Although I do not know the reason behind Little Xue's relationship with Senior Sister, is it really appropriate for you to keep hiding it from her? The longer this goes on, the deeper Little Xue's knot in her heart will become. The later she finds out, the greater the impact it may have on her."
In his personal opinion, it would be better to lay everything out now. By the time she underwent her divine trials later, she would already be mentally prepared.
"I have my own considerations in this matter."
Could this old man be planning to wait until Qian Renxue came of age before getting rid of Bibi Dong?
Then discover that he might be unable to do anything to Bibi Dong, since she had already obtained a Divine Position Inheritance?
Old Qian's thoughts were somewhat difficult to understand. Yet An Lan's position and current identity made it inappropriate for him to say more. If Qian Renxue were raised along the path of an emotionless, detached true god, that would feel strange as well.
If she truly became like that, would Qian Renxue still be Qian Renxue?
Looking at it from another angle, if that really worked, then after inheriting the divine position, Qian Renxue should be able to bring the Angel God to new heights, shouldn't she?
"Then this junior shall take his leave."
There were also some minor matters. An Lan intended to cultivate a few people and have someone research Spirit Forging and the Mysterious Water Pill. But there was no need to explain every detail to Qian Daoliu. With Qian Renxue around, An Lan was publicly still the former Pope's disciple and the current Pope's junior brother, so his authority was quite high.
However, after thinking it over, he decided it would be better to focus on breaking through Level Forty as soon as possible. If he began cultivating his own faction now, Bibi Dong could easily strangle it at the source. After all, she held the position of Pope, and the Worship Hall would not interfere in certain minor matters.
Tian Rui returned to Blazing Fire Academy without drawing attention, still disguised as he usually was. Through the state of the five-person fusion, he had gained a faint insight into the Magnetic Field Rotation he had longed for, so he intended to find a secluded place to quietly study it.
But two little followers stuck themselves to him.
Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu, the brother and sister, greatly "admired" Tian Rui. Within Blazing Fire Academy, whether among those his age or Soul Masters of the same level, Tian Rui was leagues beyond everyone else.
Such strength deeply attracted the other students. In truth, there were more than just these two followers, but the siblings had better talent. Coupled with the original-story filter, Tian Rui was more "friendly" toward them.
Huo Wushuang was extremely attentive. "Brother Rui, you aren't much older than us. How exactly do you cultivate?"
Huo Wu lifted her head, curious and admiring.
"How do I cultivate? Doesn't it just take having hands?"
The two fell silent.
After sending the siblings away, Tian Rui hid in his room and began studying Magnetic Field Rotation.
"My Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon has now mastered the ability of Self-Generation of Electricity."
"Perhaps the Possession State can accelerate the body's activity and the interaction between cells, amplify Electrical Signals, and release them as enhanced electric current."
Current Drive.jpg.
It felt somewhat like the Lightning Release technique in Shadow Fire that activated cells, but upon closer thought, it was different.
He began experimenting.
First, he sensed the activity of the cells within his body and tried to actively control the Electrical Signals.
Sensing cellular activity was quite easy, but the bioelectrical signals between those activities were difficult to control. Yet Tian Rui immediately came up with another idea.
He used conductive materials to set up a simple coil around his body, released a faint current with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and simultaneously underwent Dragon Transformation.
Through the influence of the magnetic field, Tian Rui found a way to control Bioelectricity.
"Haha! I did it!"
"Magnetic Field Rotation 990,000 Horsepower!"
"I truly possess world-shaking wisdom! Hahaha..."
The moment he relaxed, that faint feeling instantly vanished again. Tian Rui hurriedly calmed himself and started over, repeatedly familiarizing himself with and mastering it.
Arrangements
After a long journey, Tang Yin arrived in Gengxin City and registered as a blacksmith. While cultivating, he also improved his forging skills. He had seen Zhou Xuefeng's message regarding the Spirit Power Crystal Ball.
He tried adding crystal materials into his forging, but the effects were not obvious. This substance did not blend well with other metal materials. However, he discovered that Spirit Power Crystal Powder could be used to purify certain metals, extracting some impurities during the forging process and making it easier to reach Thousand Refinements.
It also had slight special reactions with several kinds of metal.
But after staying in Gengxin City for two months, his Soul Power had broken through to Level Thirty-Nine, yet he still had not managed to advance from Thousand Refinements to Spirit Forging.
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