First Encounter with Qian Renxue

"With the spirit power of a Titled Douluo, I could sense that some of them bore the aura of Spirit Hall. Moreover, that group's Soul Power Levels were far higher than those of the Spirit Hall personnel stationed here."

Hearing the Third Elder say this, Jiang E Li's expression turned solemn, and she summoned the Soul Beast Nan Li.

"Do you recognize anyone?" Were any of them involved in that great battle back then?

"I'm not certain. The leader of this group is very young, no more than twenty at most. The one with the highest Soul Power is a newly advanced Titled Douluo. Her aura feels very familiar to me—I'm afraid this isn't our first encounter."

After a pause, the Third Elder continued, "The leader strikes me as rather strange. Although most of his attendants are from Spirit Hall, he still had that Titled Douluo secretly take him away from the group. Their destination seems to be Nuoding Academy."

Nan Li's gaze darkened. "A tail? That shouldn't be possible."

They had remained extremely vigilant throughout their journey. Most of the places they traveled through were sparsely populated, and they had even passed through the rarely visited Soul Beast Forest Core Area. It was impossible for anyone to have followed them.

The Third Elder frowned tightly, carefully recalling everything they had experienced along the way. Her tone was certain. "It couldn't have been us. He must have another purpose."

Nan Li said decisively, "I'll go back and take a look."

"You... Fine." The Third Elder had initially wanted to say it was too dangerous, but considering that the other side had only one Titled Douluo, whose Soul Power was lower than hers, she relaxed somewhat. If they did not want their identities exposed after being discovered, they should not act rashly.

After taking a few steps, Nan Li suddenly turned back to look at the Third Elder and asked seriously, "What is the leader's approximate cultivation?"

"The leader was disguised, but he appeared to be a man under twenty. His Soul Power cultivation is in the Soul King Realm."

Nan Li nodded, indicating that she understood. "Then let's head back now."

Nan Li did not have the Third Elder take her swiftly to Nuoding Academy. Instead, she disguised herself as a truant student and slipped alone into the back mountain behind Nuoding Academy.

Of course, the Third Elder followed her in secret, prepared to intervene at once if anything went wrong.

Behind Nuoding Academy.

After disguising herself, Qian Renxue—or more precisely, the Heaven Dou Empire Crown Prince, "Xue Qinghe"—was listening to a report from Spirit Hall Elder Spirit Kite Douluo.

"Young Master, Tang San is not in the academy."

"Not here?" Qian Renxue was somewhat puzzled.

She had come to Nuoding Academy in order to try recruiting Tang San.

In her previous life, Tang San had already risen to prominence and was too proud to accept her recruitment. But this life was different. When someone was still young, so long as she offered enough benefits, she did not believe Tang San would remain unmoved.

In her previous life, her divine position had shattered, and her Soul Power Realm had fallen to that of a Soul Douluo. She had been unable to break through to the Titled Douluo realm for the rest of her life. The Spirit Hall Empire had also perished along with the disappearance of the two gods.

By the Angel God's blessing, time had returned to when her Martial Soul first awakened!

In this life, her relationship with her mother had gradually eased. At the age of ten, she had still chosen to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire, all so that she could take Douluo Continent without bloodshed. If she could recruit Tang San in advance now, then perhaps his hatred for Spirit Hall could be resolved. In the future, the continent would still belong to Spirit Hall!

In recent years, she had gone to great lengths to investigate Tang San's whereabouts. In the end, she found him through the registration and record files of Soul Masters in Spirit Hall.

She had finally persuaded Xue Ye to allow her to "observe the lives of the people." To avoid attracting attention, she had deliberately taken a long and winding route to Fasnuo Province. She had already come up empty-handed in Holy Soul Village, so why was he absent again now?

"What happened? Wasn't Tang San supposed to be studying here?"

"After investigation, it is true that Tang San is a student of Nuoding Academy. However, his teacher took him to the Soul Hunting Forest today to obtain a Soul Ring." Spirit Kite Douluo paused, her tone becoming somewhat unnatural. "It's just that there are people in the academy arranged by His Holiness the Pope..."

"Mother?" Why would her mother station people at an inconspicuous Primary Soul Master Academy? Qian Renxue frowned and thought for a while, but could not make sense of it. "What is going on? Explain clearly."

"After questioning them, my subordinates learned that they were sent by His Holiness the Pope to protect a Soul Grandmaster named Yu Xiaogang. This man once stayed in our Spirit Hall for a time and was on good terms with His Holiness the Pope, who was still the Saintess then... ahem. He is now Tang San's teacher."

"Yu. Xiaogang." Qian Renxue narrowed her eyes. Of course she knew Yu Xiaogang. He had been her mother's Old Lover.

Yet based on her investigations over the years, as well as the conversation between her mother and Yu Xiaogang after the great battle in her previous life, she believed that Yu Xiaogang was nothing more than a cowardly, selfish, hypocritical petty man who had stolen Spirit Hall's achievements!

During the years between her Martial Soul awakening and her infiltration into the Heaven Dou Empire, she had often hinted that her mother should see Yu Xiaogang for the sort of man he truly was. She had never expected that her mother still cared about that man to this day.

In her previous life, it was as though she had been cursed—she had actually become entangled in love. Even she found it unbelievable. Now that she had been given another life, she naturally had to put the greater cause first.

In this life, if Tang San so much as hindered the Spirit Hall Empire's future unification of the continent, she would personally kill him!

But her mother... changing her mother's mind would be a long and arduous task.

"Who's there?!" Spirit Kite Douluo shouted sharply. The moment she used Martial Soul Possession, she stepped in front of Qian Renxue.

"W-Wait a moment." A petite figure poked her head out from behind a large tree.

Nan Li wished she could tear every Spirit Hall member she saw to pieces. Acting was better left to Jiang E Li, who came from another world.

"Who are you?" Seeing that the other party was a child, Spirit Kite Douluo relaxed her guard slightly, though she still asked cautiously, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm... I'm a First Year Freshman at Nuoding Academy. I came... came here, I..." The little girl seemed frightened. Tears gradually welled in her eyes, and her voice grew softer.

Still dressed as a man, Qian Renxue stepped out from behind Spirit Kite Douluo and said gently, "Don't be afraid. We aren't bad people."

"Are you teachers from the academy? I-I didn't mean to skip class. The Opening Ceremony was just too boring, and I couldn't sit still, so I ran here. It isn't entirely my fault..." Nan Li tugged at the edge of her clothes with her fingers, looking highly convincing.

"Xue Qinghe" crouched down to meet Nan Li at eye level, easing Nan Li's tension and unease.

"Don't worry, I'm not a teacher at the academy." Xue Qinghe gently held Nan Li's arm. "I came to find someone."

Nan Li looked at the sixteen- or seventeen-year-old man before her. Her mind raced as she recalled the plot of the Original Work. Heaven Dou Empire, Spirit Hall, sixteen or seventeen years old... Qian Renxue!

Nan Li let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Qian Renxue had not yet been born when Spirit Hall fought Sun Island all those years ago. She should not know anything about Sun Island.

She probably was not here for Nan Li. Then who was she looking for? Tang San?

At this point, Qian Renxue should not yet know of Tang San's existence.

Let me ask quietly—anyone there?