Su Ling frowned, but the medicinal power surging through him was so overwhelming that he had no time to spare for a response.
When Ye Wanqing heard no reply from inside, she kicked the door open.
But when she saw Su Ling cultivating, she didn't dare disturb him. All she could do was watch anxiously from the side.
In the blink of an eye, the night passed. Su Ling finally stopped cultivating, and his cultivation had leaped forward.
His Soul Power had risen straight from level 8 to level 10. He could now go and obtain a Soul Ring.
More importantly, the aptitude of his body had improved. His Meridians had widened considerably, and his affinity for Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth had increased significantly.
Su Ling stretched and opened his eyes, only to find Ye Wanqing and Ye Lingling standing guard in front of him, both with dark circles under their eyes.
The moment Ye Wanqing saw him open his eyes, she pounced forward and grabbed him by the collar. "Are you crazy? The properties of those medicinal herbs all conflict with one another. How could you possibly—"
She suddenly froze halfway through her sentence.
"Y-You broke through?" Ye Wanqing asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Mom... I'm at level 10. I can go get a Soul Ring now. And... you two should get out."
Su Ling unceremoniously pushed them both outside and shut the door.
He reeked from head to toe, covered in expelled impurities and residue from the medicinal herbs. He had to wash up right away.
Outside the door, Ye Wanqing stamped her foot in exasperation. "You ungrateful little brat!"
That was what she said, but she was still quite happy to see that Su Ling's Soul Power had increased.
Still, the thought of her son's sudden change in temperament and his secret purchase of a large quantity of medicinal herbs left her feeling uneasy.
"Lingling, what do you think has gotten into this child lately?"
Ye Wanqing sighed and turned to her niece beside her.
A complicated look flickered in Ye Lingling's eyes. "Auntie, I feel like Little Ling has become a different person."
"Yesterday at the apothecary, he scared Yan'er and Tian Heng so badly that they wet themselves with just a look. According to them, even the killing intent of a Titled Douluo couldn't compare..."
Ye Wanqing's expression changed drastically. She could only force down her unease and manage a strained smile. "Maybe he's been pushing himself too hard with his cultivation lately. Maybe he's under too much pressure... It's... it's absolutely impossible that some old monster has possessed him."
But as she spoke, tears welled in her eyes, and her voice began to tremble.
After all, Su Ling had never really cultivated before. He'd spent all day loafing around.
Now, his cultivation had suddenly surged, and even his personality had changed. It was far too strange.
Besides, no one could accumulate that kind of killing intent without going through countless life-and-death battles.
Douluo Continent, Heaven Dou City, Tianxiang Tower.
Qian Renxue sat alone before the mirror, her fingertips unconsciously tracing her cheek.
The woman in the mirror had a cascade of golden hair, snow-white skin, and exquisite features.
Yet her nearly perfect face was touched by an indescribable loneliness.
Suddenly, a single tear slid silently down her cheek.
She stared blankly at her reflection, dressed in all her finery, and felt a bitter ache rise in her heart.
Tonight, she was supposed to meet him here.
But...
He hadn't come.
The watchmen's drums sounded outside, again and again.
The moon sank toward the west, and the sky had already begun to pale.
Qian Renxue slowly removed the Golden Phoenix Hairpin from her head, letting her long hair fall loose like a waterfall.
She gazed at the woman in the bronze mirror, her makeup immaculate but her eyes hollow, and suddenly felt like a stranger to herself.
"Su Ling..." Qian Renxue murmured his name, her fingers unconsciously tightening around her skirt.
In her Previous Life, he had helped her ascend the throne, only to reveal her true identity at a crucial moment, sending her tumbling from the clouds into the abyss.
Afterward, he became the Heaven Dou Emperor, but stubbornly pursued reform.
He had wanted to secure so-called fairness and equality for the insignificant commoners no one cared about.
In the end, he had been condemned by thousands and abandoned by everyone.
Yet after she became a god, she learned what had happened to him.
Despite her grandfather's objections, she insisted on marrying him, wanting to protect him.
When they met again in the palace, she had thought the young man would be overjoyed. After all, he hadn't married all these years, so surely he'd been waiting for her.
The young man wore a black dragon robe. He was gaunt, and his eyes held an exhaustion and indifference that nothing could dispel.
When he saw her, he merely asked calmly, "Are you here to kill me too?"
Qian Renxue parted her lips, but the countless words caught in her throat—all her love, hate, and tangled feelings.
In the end, she said nothing.
She couldn't bring herself to lower her pride, or swallow her grievances.
"Give the order. The Empress has lost her composure and is unworthy of her position... Effective immediately, she is to be moved to the Cold Palace."
Those were the last words she ever heard from him, cold and utterly devoid of warmth.
In the Cold Palace, she dressed herself up every day and waited longingly for the man who would never come.
She thought that as the Angel God, one of the most powerful beings on the entire continent, how could he truly bear to abandon her?
But all she received was news that he was about to marry Ye Lingling and make her Empress.
In her despair, she angrily killed Ye Lingling.
He came, but said nothing. He simply turned and left.
Yet that retreating figure hurt her more than any words could have.
In the end, Su Ling died, executed in front of Heaven Dou City by Sea God Tang San in the name of justice.
That day, she furiously killed Tang San and all the rebels, but she could never make him look back at her again.
Qian Renxue slowly closed her eyes, letting her tears soak her clothes.
In this life, she had returned to the night before she met the young man. She thought she should put an end to this ill-fated relationship.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, she had dressed herself up and come to Tianxiang Tower all the same.
In her Previous Life, Xue Beng had schemed to make Su Ling take an aphrodisiac, but he had accidentally gone to the wrong room and ended up in hers.
And that very night, her Soul Power had happened to run out, forcing her to return to her female form. The two of them had nearly been intimate.
But the young man had held on to the last of his reason. He had slashed his own arm with a knife, using the pain to stay clearheaded, then staggered out of the room.
Qian Renxue still remembered the hoarse "I'm sorry" he had uttered as he left.
But she still hadn't let him go. Instead, she'd had him beaten badly and thrown into Spirit Hall's Dungeon.
Later, the Su Family's level 97 Super Douluo had come in person.
The old man hadn't said much. He had simply stated the facts: Su Ling had been framed.
She took the opportunity to back down, and Su Ling was taken away.
But in this life, Su Ling hadn't come.
She had already prepared herself to give herself to him.
She had even bathed early and changed into her most beautiful dress.
But the sky had begun to brighten, and that familiar figure still hadn't appeared.
Her posture had shifted from composed and reserved to stiff, before finally becoming utterly lifeless.
"Heh... What was I even hoping for?"
Qian Renxue laughed at herself, then abruptly stood up. Her ornate skirt swept across the table, knocking the carefully prepared food and wine to the floor.
Before you continue