Qian Renxue's Farewell

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Ye Qifeng had not seen Hu Liena, that little fox, for two months, and he was starting to miss her.

During this time, Hu Liena had been busy cultivating and had not returned.

On the other hand, Qian Renxue came to see Ye Qifeng almost every day.

He had no idea what she was after.

In any case, Ye Qifeng was utterly confused and could not make heads or tails of it.

As they met more often, the two gradually became familiar with each other.

Once they had grown familiar, Qian Renxue's domineering nature began to show itself without restraint.

Relying on the fact that she was older, she constantly tried to suppress Ye Qifeng, this little brat, saying that he had to be her younger brother and call her Sister.

Yet she did not know that inside Ye Qifeng's small body was an adult soul. There was no way he would agree to that.

When she pressed him too hard, Ye Qifeng began to fight back and simply called her Xiao Xue'er.

It made her bristle on the spot.

Left with no other choice, Qian Renxue began using both threats and inducements, pulling out every trick she had, yet she still failed to make Ye Qifeng submit.

For a time, she felt rather frustrated.

But how could she possibly give up just like that?

Born competitive, she could never admit defeat.

Anything she wanted, she had to obtain.

She had set her sights on this younger brother.

Qian Renxue had a particular habit: she especially loved kneading Ye Qifeng's soft, fair cheeks. In that regard, she was exactly like Bibi Dong. Bibi Dong had also loved pinching his chubby face back then.

Ye Qifeng was helpless. Was it his fault for being so cute?

During this time, Qian Renxue had become much happier while spending time with Ye Qifeng, cheerful and smiling every day.

Previously, she had spent most of her time in the Worship Hall. Her range of activity was limited to the mountain where the Worship Hall stood, and she had gone out only a handful of times. She had no friends, and the person she saw most was only her grandfather, Qian Daoliu.

Ye Qifeng was the only person besides her grandfather with whom she could truly talk.

Qian Renxue found being with Ye Qifeng especially interesting. In particular, sparring with him verbally brought her endless enjoyment.

He was clearly only four years old, yet he always spoke like a little old man.

Sometimes, she even suspected that the little brat before her was some ancient Monster in disguise.

She really wanted to pry open his head and see how it was built inside.

Once, Qian Renxue noticed that Ye Qifeng often spent entire days lying on a rock, reading books on Martial Soul theory.

On a whim, she challenged him to see who had mastered more Martial Soul theory, intending to make Ye Qifeng submit and call her Sister.

In the end, she lost, and there had been no suspense whatsoever.

For some reason, Ye Qifeng knew far more about Martial Soul theory than she did, despite her being the Young Master of Spirit Hall.

Qian Renxue had lost, but she refused to accept it.

Because Ye Qifeng had once told her something: throughout all of Spirit Hall, that woman was likely the person with the strongest knowledge of Martial Soul theory.

That made her even more unwilling to accept it. What right did that woman have to know more than she did?

She had to surpass that woman.

But first, she had to surpass the little brat before her.

Having lost to Ye Qifeng, Qian Renxue found it hard to save face.

If she could not even compare to a four-year-old child, how could she speak of defeating that woman?

In the future, she still intended to seize Spirit Hall back from that woman with her own hands and let her taste the bitter pain of defeat.

Thus, Qian Renxue began reading alongside Ye Qifeng, studying even more Martial Soul knowledge.

Today.

As usual, Ye Qifeng arrived at the quiet, shaded rock beside Blue Lake.

He looked at Qian Renxue sitting nearby, pondering something in his mind.

Judging by the time, Bibi Dong would probably soon send Qian Renxue away from Spirit City to impersonate the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire and carry out the Nation-Stealing Plan.

Seeing how worried and distracted she had looked two days ago,

it was probably almost certain.

"Xiao Feng, I'm leaving."

At that moment, Qian Renxue looked toward Blue Lake in the distance and spoke softly. Her tone was somewhat low, and there was reluctance in her eyes, though it soon returned to resolve.

"Leaving? Where to?" Ye Qifeng knowingly asked.

"Somewhere very far away, far from Spirit City."

"Have you decided?" Ye Qifeng asked.

Qian Renxue turned to look at Ye Qifeng, inquiry in her phoenix eyes. "You don't seem surprised."

"Yes, I could tell."

Ye Qifeng raised his head to look at Qian Renxue's exquisite face and nodded. "You've been distracted these past two days. Anyone could tell you had something on your mind."

"There's something I have to do." Qian Renxue's azure eyes were filled with determination and defiance, as she thought of proving herself to that woman.

"Did that old man Qian agree too?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, did your grandfather agree?"

"You knew?!" Qian Renxue's eyes suddenly widened.

Ye Qifeng looked at Qian Renxue, frozen on the spot, then smiled and said:

"Actually... I guessed it the first time we met. There aren't many people in Spirit City with the surname Qian; one could count them on one hand. Aside from the one rumored to have died young, I couldn't think of anyone else. Am I right, Miss Qian Renxue, Young Master of Spirit Hall?"

Qian Renxue let out a breath. "Xiao Feng, you really are clever."

Before Ye Qifeng could say anything, she stepped forward, stretched out her slender, snow-white hands, and directly pinched Ye Qifeng's round cheeks, forcefully pulling them into a pancake as she said bluntly:

"Since you knew all along, why didn't you say so? Were you laughing at me? And... call me Sister!"

"Hey, hey, that's not how you play with a cloth bag. You said it yourself. Let go, let go..." Ye Qifeng said indistinctly.

"Hmph!" Qian Renxue lifted her proud little chin, snorted coldly, and released him.

"Wasn't I waiting for you to tell me yourself? If you didn't want to say it, I acted like I didn't know. How could I laugh at you? Right, Xue'er?" Ye Qifeng rubbed his slightly aching cheeks.

After thinking for a moment, Ye Qifeng added:

"If you're doing this to prove yourself, you actually don't have to go. With your talent, as long as you cultivate diligently, you can still prove yourself..."

This time, Qian Renxue did not mind Ye Qifeng calling her Xue'er. Following his words, she said, "No! I have to go."

A few days ago, when that woman had come to her and told her to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire to carry out the Nation-Stealing Plan, she had refused outright without even thinking about it.

But that woman had actually questioned her abilities, believing she was incapable of completing the plan and therefore did not dare accept it.

Whenever she remembered the disappointed expression on that woman's face, Qian Renxue felt exceptionally bothered—and furious.

In a fit of anger, she had accepted the mission to carry out the Nation-Stealing Plan.

She had made up her mind to prove it to that woman.

Qian Renxue's gaze was full of determination.

"Fine." Ye Qifeng looked at Qian Renxue's resolute face. Knowing that she had already made her choice and could not be persuaded otherwise, he did not mention it again.

Instead, he changed the subject and asked, "Xue'er, what is your cultivation level now?"

"Level thirty-eight Soul Elder. Why?" Qian Renxue said.

"Let me see your Spirit Rings," Ye Qifeng said.

There was doubt in Qian Renxue's eyes, but she still displayed her Spirit Rings as requested.

Light suddenly flickered across the area as three brilliant Spirit Rings—two yellow and one purple—appeared in succession beneath Qian Renxue's feet.

They then continuously pulsed up and down around her body.

Qian Renxue raised her chin and displayed her Spirit Rings to Ye Qifeng with a hint of pride.

"Well? Aren't they pretty? They were all carefully selected, standard-age configurations."

Ye Qifeng ignored her smugness.

This was the second time he had personally experienced Spirit Rings. The first had been when he had just arrived on Douluo Continent and witnessed them on Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.

Judging by their colors, Qian Renxue's three Spirit Rings were darker than Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's first three Spirit Rings, indicating that their age and quality were higher.

But...

Their ages were too low!