Four Years Later

Heaven Dou City Imperial Palace, Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.

Bang... crack!!!

The incomparably sturdy redwood table suddenly split apart and collapsed.

The documents on the table flew everywhere, scattering across the floor.

Qian Renxue's ample chest heaved violently. Her two rows of neat white teeth clenched so tightly they seemed about to shatter, producing a grinding sound.

Rage burned in her golden eyes.

Staring fixedly at Porpoise Douluo before her, Qian Renxue spoke in a cold, frenzied voice, enunciating every word: "Whoever dares lay a hand on Tianyi, I'll skin him alive!"

"Go warn Salas. Tell him to behave himself as a Platinum Bishop and stay away from Tianyi. The moment he shows even the slightest sign of stepping out of line, kill him on the spot!"

Porpoise Douluo said awkwardly, "Miss, Salas is one of the four Platinum Bishops, second only to the Pope and the elders. If we kill him rashly, it will be difficult to explain to the Pope."

Qian Renxue's gaze was icy, her tone even colder and more domineering. "I need to explain myself to her? She should be the one explaining herself to me! Go deliver a message to that woman personally. If she dares touch even a single hair on Tianyi's head, I'll immediately abandon the mission, return to Spirit Hall, and fight her... to the death!!"

Porpoise Douluo abruptly raised his head, his expression changing dramatically. "Miss, y-you're joking, right?!"

Even he failed to notice the trace of trembling in his own voice.

For Lin Tianyi's sake, she was willing to abandon Spirit Hall's grand plan of many years. Porpoise Douluo found it utterly absurd and unreal.

Qian Renxue's icy golden eyes locked onto Porpoise Douluo as her voice rang out, cold as frost. "I would never joke about Tianyi's safety."

Porpoise Douluo shuddered. "Miss..."

Before Porpoise Douluo could finish, Qian Renxue forcefully cut him off. "Go!"

Porpoise Douluo stared at Qian Renxue for three seconds. Once he confirmed that she was not joking, he let out a soft sigh and vanished in an instant from the chaotic room.

In the room, now occupied only by Qian Renxue, a gentle yet resolute voice slowly sounded.

"Tianyi, I won't let anyone hurt you. No one can..."

Bang... crack!!!

In the silent Papal Palace, the sound of a table splitting apart and collapsing suddenly rang out.

A terrifying aura, like the sky itself collapsing, enveloped the entire Papal Palace.

The messenger kneeling at the center of the hall was forced flat against the ground, his body pressed to the floor and unable to move.

Bibi Dong's beautiful, noble face was frosted with coldness. Rage nearly filled her entire chest.

Her furious, teeth-grinding voice echoed through the quiet hall.

"She actually wants to fight her own birth mother to the death over a child she has known for barely two years!"

"Damn it! Damn it!! Damn it!!!"

Bibi Dong roared and shrieked furiously through the hall like an evil ghost from the abyssal hell, utterly devoid of her usual nobility and elegance.

The messenger lying against the cold floor trembled violently, his heart filled with terror.

After a long while, Bibi Dong finally regained a measure of reason.

Her cold, furious voice was squeezed with difficulty through her tightly clenched teeth.

"Go tell Salas to... give up recruiting Lin Tianyi. Don't..."

As she spoke, an aggrieved and helpless expression appeared on her breathtakingly beautiful face.

"Tell him to stop concerning himself with that Lin Tianyi, and not to harm Lin Tianyi either..."

In the end, Bibi Dong did not dare gamble on whether Qian Renxue would truly turn against her over Lin Tianyi and abandon Spirit Hall's grand plan.

A fatal crisis from Bibi Dong was thus silently resolved by Qian Renxue, though Lin Tianyi knew nothing of it.

Qian Renxue did not tell him about it either. She did not want a cloud to darken the heart of the carefree Lin Tianyi.

She only wanted Lin Tianyi to remain happy forever.

Four years later.

At the gates of the Heaven Dou Royal Junior Soul Master Academy, luxurious carriages of every kind were parked everywhere. Nobles dressed in splendid attire waited for their children, who were about to graduate from the junior Soul Master Academy.

Ding ding ding—!!!

The clear, melodious dismissal bell rang out, announcing that six years of life at the junior Soul Master Academy had finally come to an end.

The instant the bell stopped, a young man in black and a young woman in a white dress suddenly appeared out of thin air at the academy gates.

The young man was tall and slender, over 1.8 meters in height. His features were exceptionally handsome, deep-set and sharply defined.

His black eyes shone as brightly as morning stars. Beneath his high nose bridge, his thin lips curved in a charming smile that could drive every young woman mad.

The young woman was tall as well, standing at a full 1.7 meters. Her face was exquisitely beautiful and ethereal, like a peerless maiden who had stepped out of a painting. Every smile and frown was filled with beauty; even the world's finest painter could not capture one ten-thousandth of her loveliness.

She had lustrous black hair cascading over her fragrant back. Her willow-like brows were slender, and beneath her long, curled black lashes were lively deep-violet eyes, bright and clear like exquisite translucent purple gemstones.

Her delicate nose was small and refined, her pink lips tender and alluring, and her fair neck was slender and elegant like a swan's. Lower down, her white dress rose high over a figure that, though she was only twelve, possessed the development of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old—truly gifted by nature.

A purple belt around her waist accentuated her slender little waist, but below that, the outline of her white dress abruptly flared outward, tracing its curves.

A small section of fair, smooth skin was exposed beneath the white dress, and she wore small white shoes.

The young woman's snow-white skin was as smooth as congealed cream and as warm and flawless as fine jade. Under the sunlight, her entire body seemed covered in a soft white radiance, her skin as fair as fresh snow reflecting a brilliance that could make one's heart stop.

The young man and young woman were none other than the now twelve-year-old Lin Tianyi and Lin Xianxian. At this point, they could be considered grown children.

They carried the vitality and youthful energy proper to their age, sunny smiles upon their faces causing the nobles waiting outside to stare in fascination.

The beautiful young woman wrapped her slender arms around the handsome young man's shoulder. Her eyes curved with delight as she followed him out through the academy gates, heading toward the luxurious carriage that had become so familiar to them.

A corner of the luxurious carriage's golden curtain was lifted, revealing a face capable of toppling kingdoms. Twenty-one-year-old Qian Renxue had grown even more breathtakingly beautiful, like a fairy descended from the heavens, beautiful enough to make hearts tremble and minds become entranced.

Even with only half her face revealed, she was enough to make every man's heart race and mouth run dry.

Unfortunately, Qian Renxue had always shown her smile to Lin Tianyi alone.

Within the crowd, Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo watched Lin Tianyi and Lin Xianxian approach, their expressions complicated as they sighed softly. "Such extraordinary young talents, yet it is a pity they have no fate with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

At that moment, a pleasant female voice, one Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo knew all too well, suddenly rang out.

It was accompanied by hurried footsteps, and the voice sounded anxious.

"Lin Tianyi, wait!"