Ao Zhan's Promise and the Conflict with Hu Liena's Group

Three years ago, Ao Zhan's strength had been developing at a rapid pace, and the Seven Great Elders had all kept a close eye on him.

His growth had simply been too fast. He had already defeated several of Spirit Hall's Red Cardinals.

At the time, this matter had caused quite a stir.

By comparison, although Qian Renxue cultivated far faster than others her age, compared to Ao Zhan, she was crawling like a turtle.

Thus, even people as confident in Qian Renxue as the Seven Great Elders had felt somewhat worried.

Qian Renxue could not even see Ao Zhan's back. By the time she could fight Soul Ancestors, Ao Zhan had already been able to defeat Red Cardinals at the Soul Sage level.

The gap was simply too great.

Even if Qian Renxue could become a god in the future, they still lacked confidence.

Thus, the Seven Great Elders worried that Ao Zhan's attitude toward Qian Renxue might change, no matter how impossibly slight that possibility was.

Moreover, these experienced elders could tell that Qian Renxue already regarded Ao Zhan as more important than her own life. If Ao Zhan showed even the slightest hint of interest, Qian Renxue would unhesitatingly pierce through that final veil between them.

After all, children on Douluo Continent matured early and, for certain reasons, regarded love as extremely important. Qian Renxue was especially lovestruck.

But all of that depended on Ao Zhan remaining the same toward Qian Renxue as he had always been!

That was why Qian Daoliu had found time to summon Ao Zhan and Qian Renxue, then asked Ao Zhan, "Xiao Zhan, what do you think of Xue'er?"

Ao Zhan pursed his lips. "Grandpa Qian, what do you mean?"

"What do I mean? With that brain of yours, could you possibly not guess?"

Since Ao Zhan had already demonstrated his intelligence to Qian Daoliu, Qian Daoliu believed that Ao Zhan would certainly understand what he meant.

And Ao Zhan naturally did understand. He looked at Qian Renxue and smiled faintly, then turned to Qian Daoliu with a solemn expression. "I will protect her for the rest of my life! I will never let her suffer even the slightest harm!"

"Even if her talent is inferior to yours?"

"Even if her talent is inferior to mine, I will never abandon her!"

Qian Daoliu smiled after hearing that. He believed Ao Zhan's words came from the heart.

Though he had never believed that Ao Zhan would abandon Qian Renxue, as her grandfather, he still needed to hear him say it aloud.

After all, he himself had once lost to Tang Chen in matters of love. Naturally, he did not want his granddaughter to repeat his mistakes in love.

When Qian Renxue heard those words back then, she had cried her eyes out, and Ao Zhan had spent quite some time comforting her.

Back in the present, Qian Renxue blushed as she recalled those words and buried her head in Ao Zhan's chest. "Of course I remember. I will never forget them for the rest of my life."

"Alright, training is over for today. I'll take you for a walk around the area."

"Okay!"

The two held hands as they headed to Spirit City's commercial district.

As Spirit Hall's headquarters, Spirit City's commercial district was incredibly bustling, filled everywhere with the cries of vendors.

"Candied hawthorns! Delicious candied hawthorns!"

"Fresh flatbread! If it doesn't taste good, you don't pay!"

Ao Zhan took Qian Renxue around to look here and there, occasionally buying her a skewer of candied hawthorns or a small accessory.

Although Qian Renxue already had a mountain of jewelry, every piece far more exquisite than anything these small vendors could sell, she was still delighted because they were gifts from Ao Zhan.

The two also drew plenty of attention.

After all, Ao Zhan was handsome and Qian Renxue was beautiful. Wherever they went, heads turned.

On top of that, they had bought many things along the way without even bargaining, causing the vendors to regard them as gods of wealth.

Therefore, whenever the vendors saw the pair approaching their stalls, they shouted even harder, hoping to draw them in.

Ao Zhan enjoyed this as well. Whenever Qian Renxue's gaze lingered on a trinket for even one second longer, he would take out money and buy it.

He was not short on money now, since Qian Daoliu and the others had given him plenty of spending money.

Besides, although the money appeared to have been spent, shop owners in Spirit City naturally had to pay rent, so it would eventually return to Spirit Hall's hands.

As the two happily wandered the streets, they suddenly heard several familiar voices.

"Nana, this little accessory suits you very well. How about I buy you one?"

"Yan, I don't like these at all. The jewelry Teacher gave me is much prettier than this."

"Yan, Nana already has enough jewelry. You don't need to spend more money."

"Alright."

Upon hearing those voices, Qian Renxue's smiling face immediately darkened.

She naturally recognized who the voices belonged to. Ao Zhan wore a faint, almost imperceptible smile as he looked in the direction the voices had come from with her.

There, two teenage boys and a teenage girl were chatting. The boy with fiery red hair kept his gaze fixed on the girl.

These three were Spirit Hall's Golden Generation from the original story—Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan.

But just how much worth this Golden Generation held before Ao Zhan and Qian Renxue was another matter.

At least in Ao Zhan's eyes, these three were nothing special.

Hu Liena and the others also noticed Ao Zhan and Qian Renxue in the distance.

The moment they saw Ao Zhan, the three looked like mice that had spotted a cat.

"Ao Zhan?!"

"Why are you here?!"

Ao Zhan chuckled. "Spirit City isn't your family's property, so why can't I come here? By the way, have you forgotten what I said last time? When you see me, shouldn't you respectfully greet me?"

By the end, Ao Zhan's expression had become somewhat terrifying, his words carrying a hint of threat.

Cold sweat streamed down Hu Liena and the others' backs. Of course they remembered, because it had been their most painful memory.

The cause of that incident had been Yan, that simp.

At that time, Ao Zhan and Qian Renxue had only recently awakened their Martial Souls. As always, Yan had clung to Hu Liena's side like an unshakable leech.

Hu Liena had grown somewhat annoyed. She had told Yan that she had no interest in him, yet Yan had not restrained himself at all, convinced that as long as he persisted, he could win Hu Liena's heart.

Just then, Ao Zhan happened to pass by.

As someone obsessed with good looks, Hu Liena found Ao Zhan's appearance perfectly suited to her tastes. Furthermore, because of his Azure Dragon Bloodline and Azure Dragon Martial Soul, he radiated a faint vitality that was simply a fatal temptation.

Hu Liena was captivated just like that, while Yan, the simp, saw his goddess become entranced by someone else and was immediately consumed by jealousy.

Especially when Hu Liena stepped forward to greet him, only for Ao Zhan to glance at her indifferently and say, "Move aside."

That completely unleashed Yan's suppressed fury. His goddess had gone up to greet you, yet you treated her so coldly. How outrageous!

The thought process of a simp was just that strange. Ao Zhan ignoring Hu Liena made Yan angry, but if Ao Zhan had actually paid attention to Hu Liena, he would still have been angry.

Naturally, the enraged Yan had rushed over to provoke Ao Zhan. The result was obvious: Ao Zhan knocked him out with a single punch, then scolded Hu Liena before leaving.