The steam in the bathroom had yet to disperse when Qian Renxue changed into a clean pale-gold long skirt. With water droplets still dripping from her hair, she hurried toward Qian Daoliu's quiet room.
"Grandfather!"
She pushed open the door and entered. Her voice carried the clarity born of body tempering, along with a hint of urgency. Her eyes shone like stars as she quickly said, "The Whale Rubber... it's real! I've never felt my Soul Power flow so smoothly before. My bones are tougher, and my Blood and Qi surge like rivers and seas! Lu Jing didn't lie to us!"
Qian Daoliu stood by the window with his hands behind his back, the lingering glow of the setting sun casting a layer of dark gold over his hair.
He slowly turned around, his golden eyes reflecting his granddaughter's flushed cheeks. He nodded calmly. "I saw it. The Life Essence circulating around you cannot escape my eyes."
He paused, his calm voice carrying a penetrating insight that seemed to see through all things. "Though this child's origins remain a mystery, he did not speak falsely this time. Since he has granted you such an opportunity, you should repay his goodwill and treat him well."
Qian Renxue nodded in agreement, only to hear her grandfather suddenly shift the subject, his tone carrying unprecedented gravity. "Xue'er, there is one more matter. If this old man's eyes have not failed him..."
His gaze seemed to pass through the walls and fall in Lu Jing's direction. He said softly, "The World-Destroying Black Lotus he possesses may possess a rank above our clan's Six-Winged Angel."
"What?!"
Qian Renxue's exquisite face instantly filled with incredulous shock. Her voice rose sharply as she cried, "How is that possible?! The Six-Winged Angel was formed from the Angel God bloodline, sacred and supreme! He is merely a mortal—how could his martial soul possibly..."
"That is precisely what is difficult to understand."
Qian Daoliu frowned slightly, recalling the profound darkness of Lu Jing's martial soul, as though it could bring an end to all things. "That darkness is utterly refined and pure, carrying the chaotic Destruction Origin of the world's beginning. Not even the Angel God's light—perhaps not even if I exerted my full strength—could completely disperse the lotus phantom's origin power."
Qian Renxue pressed her red lips tightly together. Shock and doubt intertwined in her beautiful eyes, while the pride in her bones instinctively rejected this judgment that overturned everything she knew. "I don't believe it! How could a Divine Inheritance be weaker than a Nameless Lotus?"
Qian Daoliu looked at her stubborn expression and helplessly shook his head. "Words are pale. Facts are proof."
A sharp glint flashed through his eyes as he made a decision. "Before you depart to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire, I will arrange a martial soul spar between you and Lu Jing. Stop at the first touch. Do you dare experience it for yourself?"
The unyielding light in Qian Renxue's eyes flared. She immediately replied, "Why wouldn't I dare? I must see how his Black Lotus can surpass the Angel God's radiance!"
At the same time, inside Lu Jing's room.
"Phew..." Lu Jing had just finished speaking with Wang Dong'er and closed the room door. Before his fatigue had faded, a familiar, frantic voice exploded in his mind:
"Damn it! Little Jing! Are you all right? I finally recovered! What godforsaken corner have we been exiled to? These creepy palace buildings... something is wrong with the scent of this Soul Power field!"
The enormous phantom of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's spiritual body churned in his sea of consciousness. Its ice blue compound eyes spun wildly, filled with the confusion and agitation of someone who had just awakened from the Whale Rubber's impact.
"This is Spirit Hall."
Hearing Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's question, Lu Jing did not hide it and answered plainly.
"Spirit Hall? Why does that name sound so familiar? It feels like I've heard it somewhere before."
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, it seemed to realize something and cried out, "Wait... Spirit Hall? Little Jing, this is fucked up! Didn't Tang San wipe Spirit Hall into ashes with the Two Great Empires ten thousand years ago? Even its ashes should have gone cold by now! Why is there still a lively one here?!"
Lu Jing rubbed his brow, the corner of his mouth lifting into a curve that showed he had expected this. He replied in his mind, "Exactly what it sounds like. We passed through the Space-Time Turbulence and fell into the Douluo Continent of ten thousand years ago. Right now, we're in Spirit Hall's Worship Hall."
"...???"
The clamor in his sea of consciousness abruptly fell silent. A moment later, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice shot up, shrill as a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "What the hell?! Time—travel?! Ten thousand years ago?! Little Jing, are you sure the Whale Rubber didn't fry your brain?! How is that even possible?! No matter how outrageous a spatial turbulence is, it can't be outrageous enough to split the entire timeline apart, can it?! I've lived for a million years and never seen anything like this!"
Its ice blue spiritual body shook wildly, clearly thrown into logical chaos by this utterly absurd development.
Lu Jing could not be bothered to explain further. He merely said, "That is the truth. Stop howling and save your strength. Since we're here, we might as well settle in. Recovering comes first."
Ignoring Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's endless muttering and chatter as it attempted to "prove the time paradox," he walked directly to the bed and lay down.
The fatigue in his body mingled with the settled sensation after the Whale Rubber tempered him, and he soon sank into deep sleep.
The next morning.
Knock, knock, knock.
A steady knock on the door woke Lu Jing.
He opened the room door to find Qian Renxue standing in the morning light, dressed in a golden long skirt. Her bright smile carried a sharp, eager edge.
"Awake?"
Without waiting for an answer, she reached out and grabbed Lu Jing's wrist. Her strength allowed no refusal as she said, "Come with me. There's something I need you to cooperate with."
Her tone was casual and relaxed, yet it could not conceal the restrained desire for a challenge deep in her eyes.
Lu Jing let her pull him along and asked, "What is it, Sister Xue'er?"
"Just a small matter."
Qian Renxue's steps were light, her golden hair lifting slightly in the breeze. Without turning back, she said, "Grandfather ordered it. It will be quick. We just want to figure something out."
She did not elaborate, instead pulling Lu Jing briskly toward an open Martial Arts Arena behind the Worship Hall.
The grounds were vast, with the floor paved in sturdy obsidian. Qian Daoliu, dressed in a gray robe, stood quietly at the edge of the arena, his robe utterly unmoving in the morning breeze.
Seeing the two arrive, he gave a slight nod.
"Grandfather." Qian Renxue released Lu Jing's hand and came to a stop.
"Great Enshrined." Lu Jing bowed.
Qian Daoliu's calm gaze swept over them both. His voice was low and steady. "There is no need to be nervous. This is merely to let Xue'er verify a conjecture—a friendly spar of pure martial soul origin power. Stop at the first touch. With this old man here, neither of you will be hurt." His final sentence was both a promise and the rule he had set.
Lu Jing turned his gaze toward Qian Renxue. Her beautiful purple eyes were fixed on him, blazing with fierce competitiveness and an almost obsessive desire to prove the truth.
He understood her pride and knew even more clearly that, under these circumstances, only letting her experience it personally could dispel her intense doubts.
He nodded, clean and decisive. "All right."
The moment the words fell, Lu Jing's gaze abruptly stilled! The air above his head silently warped, and a phantom lotus, black from stem to petals like it had been carved from jade, instantly emerged—the World-Destroying Black Lotus had appeared!
Its lotus pedestal was as deep as a dark abyss, while its petals flowed with the Will of Destruction that could end all things. A profound purple Soul Ring slowly pulsed beneath his feet.
"A Thousand-Year Soul Ring? How is that possible?!"
Qian Renxue's pupils contracted slightly. Provoked by that pure aura of darkness and destruction, her prideful instincts were completely awakened!
With a clear cry, blazing sacred golden light shot into the sky!
Three pairs of enormous pure-white wings burst open behind her, every feather flowing with Divine Radiance like liquid sunlight!
A scorching, radiant aura swept through the arena, attempting to drive away the darkness. Two yellow and one purple Soul Rings rose beneath her feet, fully displaying the might of a Soul Elder.
The clash of light and darkness was silent, yet terrifying!
Before you continue