A Wedding?!

"You were raised by my own hands."

"In this world, you're the only person I trust."

Bibi Dong's gaze grew utterly focused.

"Marry her."

"From now on, the vast foundation of Spirit Hall—and its entire future—will all be yours."

Feeling the gentle touch on his cheek, Gu Qing furrowed his brows slightly.

He didn't really mind either way.

"I suppose I could."

Gu Qing rubbed his chin, a hint of rational hesitation in his voice.

"But with Qian Renxue's haughty temperament, she might not be willing to marry me."

The moment he mentioned Qian Renxue's name,

the softness vanished from Bibi Dong's face.

In its place was a bone-chilling coldness.

"She has no choice."

Bibi Dong's tone was utterly resolute.

"I've already announced it to the world."

"The wedding will take place here in Spirit Hall one month from now."

"You don't need to worry about a thing."

Bibi Dong pressed firmly on Gu Qing's shoulder, delivering her final word.

"Spend this time getting yourself into shape and be good. All you need to do is prepare to be the groom."

Looking at Bibi Dong's utterly uncompromising resolve,

Gu Qing knew the matter was already settled.

"All right."

"I'll do as you say, Aunt Dong."

Gu Qing agreed without hesitation.

In truth, deep down, he had already rapidly calculated the matter to the last detail.

Douluo Continent was, after all, a world where strength reigned supreme.

In this place of the law of the jungle, no background could compare to having a hard enough fist of your own.

What's more, Qian Renxue carried the legacy of the Angel God Position!

That was a bona fide divine position.

If he could win her over, it would be of immeasurable help to his long-term plans.

No matter how he looked at it, taking Qian Renxue as his wife was no loss.

A moment later,

Gu Qing saw Bibi Dong all the way out of the valley.

As that noble purple silhouette gradually disappeared into the thick fog, a trace of amusement crept into Gu Qing's eyes.

He knew a little about Qian Renxue's unbending stubbornness.

That girl was definitely no puppet whose strings could be pulled at will.

If things continued as they were, there was an eighty percent chance Qian Renxue would make a scene on the wedding day—maybe even turn the whole wedding upside down.

Rather than wait until then and be forced to react, becoming a laughingstock,

he was better off taking the initiative.

Before the wedding, he had to tame that haughty little swan until she was thoroughly docile!

As it happened, now that he had emerged from seclusion, his Soul Power had reached the Level 90 bottleneck.

He urgently needed to go out and obtain his ninth Soul Ring.

And Qian Renxue should currently be in the Heaven Dou Empire, carrying out the Nation-Stealing Plan.

"I might as well make a trip to Heaven Dou while I'm at it."

Gu Qing made up his mind, then turned and went back to the wooden cabin to pack his things.

Heaven Dou Empire, Crown Prince's East Palace.

The light in the luxurious secret chamber was somewhat dim.

Qian Renxue had shed her disguise as Xue Qinghe and returned to her original, stunning female appearance.

At that moment, she was like a caged beast, pacing back and forth across the spacious room.

Her mind was a tangled mess.

Her thoughts were filled with the cold scenes that had unfolded inside the Pope Palace.

As she paced, her ornate skirt swayed gently.

A pair of long, shapely legs appeared and disappeared beneath the hem, each step landing heavily.

Her striking, voluptuous figure rose and fell with her turbulent emotions.

How was she supposed to call off the engagement?

Qian Renxue bit down hard on her alluring red lips, her mind racing.

Her mother's attitude had been far too resolute.

She'd even used a tactic as irreversible as announcing it to the world. There was no chance she'd change her mind.

Getting Bibi Dong to take back her decree was a pipe dream.

Since she couldn't deal with the source of the problem, she could only look for a breakthrough through the other person involved.

The only solution was to get that man named Gu Qing to step forward and call off the engagement himself!

As long as the groom publicly changed his mind and refused to marry her, the marriage would naturally be void.

But whenever she thought of what she knew about Gu Qing, Qian Renxue felt a wave of pent-up frustration.

All these years, she had dispatched countless elite spies, both openly and covertly.

She had stopped at nothing to uncover the true story behind this adopted son.

Yet the other party seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.

Aside from knowing the man bore the title of Martial Soul Hall Holy Son and had been kept by Bibi Dong in a secluded retreat in the rear mountains for years,

everything else was shrouded in mist.

His precise strength? Unknown.

His Soul Ring Configuration? Unknown.

In all of Spirit Hall, no one could even clearly describe what he looked like!

Qian Renxue abruptly stopped, her long legs tensing.

She swept the precious tea set from the table.

The sharp crash of shattering porcelain echoed gratingly through the secret chamber.

She clenched her fists, her sharp nails nearly piercing her palms.

"A useless man who lives off his mother and knows only how to hide behind a woman and enjoy the good life!"

Qian Renxue's beautiful eyes brimmed with scorn and utter humiliation.

A hothouse flower who had never experienced the slightest hardship or bloodshed actually dared to lay claim to her?

"And he thinks he can marry me?"

Qian Renxue sneered, her flawless face set in haughty, unyielding resolve.

"Gu Qing, don't even think about it!"

"You think I, Qian Renxue, will obediently wait on you? In your dreams!"

A few days later,

Gu Qing quietly left Spirit Hall's secluded retreat, cut off from the outside world.

Without alerting a single guard, he set out directly for the Heaven Dou Empire.

Along the wide, smooth highway,

a carriage that looked extremely modest on the outside, yet was lavishly appointed within, rolled steadily along.

Gu Qing lounged against the soft velvet cushions.

He held a glass of crimson fruit wine, looking utterly at ease.

Mountains and rivers raced past the carriage window.

Just then, the crisp mechanical voice rang on schedule inside his mind.

[ Ding! ]

[ Daily sign-in successful! ]

[ Congratulations, host. You have obtained a new skill: Life Domain! ]

At the words, Gu Qing's fingers tightened slightly around the stem of his wineglass.

A feverish gleam burst from the depths of his eyes.

A Domain-type skill!

Across the entire Douluo Continent, these were exceedingly rare treasures, enough to drive people mad with desire.

A vast amount of information about how the skill worked quickly merged into the depths of his memory.

Life Domain: Once activated, it forms an absolute space filled with the most potent life force.

Within the area covered by this domain,

every ten seconds, the host automatically triggers a terrifying restorative effect.

It forcibly restores one percent of his Soul Power!

After learning how the mechanism worked, Gu Qing couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.

One percent restored every ten seconds.

That meant that as long as the domain wasn't forcibly broken, his staying power in battle would reach an utterly absurd level.

This was practically the ultimate skill for a long, grinding battle of attrition.

The rewards from the Sign-in System had indeed never disappointed him.