Zhao Asi in the Purple Fire

The three watched Zhao Xiaoya sort through Zhao Asi's belongings.

For a relatively long time, Zhao Xiaoya behaved quite calmly.

She smoothed Zhao Asi's hair and took his clothes—these looked like the most valuable things on him.

That was right. Zhao Asi showed no trace of any storage tools, nor did he have a single other valuable item. This large black robe might sell for five or six Gold Soul Coins; it was the most valuable thing on him.

Watching Zhao Xiaoya's back, Ning Rongrong recalled Zhao Asi's eyes. They had been gouged out, so she asked, "What happened to your grandfather's eyes?"

"Oh, his eyes. He doesn't have any—or rather, his eyes are artificial ones, the kind that can be removed and reattached. His Martial Soul is special, so he can see even without eyes. Before we came here, I remember he sent his artificial eyes in for repairs."

Zhao Xiaoya answered smoothly, as if that really were what had happened.

Ning Rongrong didn't quite believe her, but she didn't question it.

"All done." Zhao Xiaoya clapped her hands, looking as innocent as a child.

"Hey, there's something I wanted to ask you. Your grandfather—is he really that poor?"

Ning Rongrong couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer. In the end, she asked the question she had wanted answered all along.

How could the host of the Saintess Ritual, a Soul Douluo, have nothing at all?

"Poor? Of course. My family's been poor for three generations." Zhao Xiaoya nodded, but that clearly wasn't what Ning Rongrong had in mind.

"I mean, why doesn't he have anything on him?" Ning Rongrong drew in a breath and slowly let it out.

"Now that you mention it..." Zhao Xiaoya said, belatedly realizing it. She looked surprised. "What do you think he should have had?"

"Um... let me ask you this. Do you know about the Holy Spirit Cult?"

Zhao Xiaoya nodded. "I do. My grandfather was one of them, but I'm not."

"Then why didn't your grandfather have any of the Holy Spirit Cult's pills, scrolls, or anything like that?" Ning Rongrong continued.

But as soon as she said this, Zhao Xiaoya fell silent and looked at Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong seemed to see a hint of accusation in her eyes, along with three parts coldness.

Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong also sensed that something was amiss and became alert.

Earlier, they had been whispering to each other, wondering if the spy had made a move—sacrificing himself to ruin the Saintess Ritual.

But when they heard Ning Rongrong's question, the two of them recalled an unpleasant memory: Ning Rongrong at her most terrifying, going mad all day long, just to find someone who would admit to seeing the scrolls and pills she claimed were there.

In the end, no such person appeared.

Tang Twelve hadn't seen them. She had lied to Rongrong. There was no denying she had done the right thing.

But now, Rongrong was still clinging to the matter.

"Pills and scrolls... I never heard my grandfather mention those."

Ning Rongrong came out of her daze. When she looked at Zhao Xiaoya again, her eyes were utterly bewildered.

Ning Rongrong rubbed her eyes and checked again and again, but she no longer saw anything in Zhao Xiaoya's expression except bewilderment.

Her father and the others spoke with Zhao Xiaoya. It looked as though the Saintess Ritual had ended, and all that remained was to put out the fire—but was it really over?

A great many questions suddenly surfaced in Ning Rongrong's mind.

From the note, to Huo Shengsheng, to the Silver Dragon King's words.

Almost without thinking, Ning Rongrong took the note out of her Space Soul Tool. It still had not a single word on it. But its thickness seemed a little uneven. She had only noticed that after training.

Ning Rongrong held the note up to the purple fire, but she still couldn't make anything out.

So she sighed and put the note away. Then she suddenly realized something was wrong—the question she had thought of back then, only for her survival instinct to interrupt her.

Where was Huo Shengsheng? Why had she appeared at that grilled-fish shop?

Ning Rongrong thought it over, but the Saintess Ritual was the only possibility she could come up with.

She searched all around the space but couldn't find any trace that Huo Shengsheng had ever been there.

Had she gotten it wrong?

She frowned, feeling a little hot.

"Only that fire is giving off heat in here, right?"

As she spoke, Ning Rongrong turned to look—and froze.

Had that purple fire grown a little bigger?

What if the Saintess Ritual was still underway? It seemed no one had ever said that a Saintess candidate had to be on the cross.

Just as Ning Rongrong was about to keep thinking, the conversation stopped too.

Were they done talking?

Ning Rongrong was about to turn around and look, but the purple fire's sudden movement rooted her to the spot in fright.

She turned her head stiffly and saw—someone walking out of the purple fire.

An old man, hunched over and dressed in a black robe.

The old man leaned on a cane, inlaid with a Purple Stone. The Purple Stone absorbed the flames; perhaps it was the reason the old man hadn't been burned to a crisp.

The old man kept walking out of the purple fire. Ning Rongrong saw his face clearly: a face she knew all too well, the face of Zhao Asi lying on the ground. The difference was that this old man still had his eyes.

She turned to look at the corpse. It hadn't disappeared, and the three people beside it were also staring at Zhao Asi in shock.

"Haha, surprised to see me? You people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—and my... granddaughter." His voice was as withered as his body. He didn't give the four of them time to answer before continuing, "What a surprise, granddaughter. You turned out to be a traitor. If Lord Holy God hadn't given me his power, I really would have died. And you're surprised too, aren't you? I used Lord Holy God's power to make a new body long ago. The one on the ground is nothing but a clone. The me standing here now is the complete Zhao Asi. The real me!"

As he spoke, the Purple Stone on his cane blazed with light. Ning Rongrong instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes.

Lord Holy God's power? Right, that scroll.

If this was the real one, then it made perfect sense that he had the scroll and had read it.

"Traitor? Zhao Xiaoya, you...?"

Ning Fengzhi was focused on something else. He looked at Zhao Xiaoya, who looked back at him.

But before Zhao Xiaoya could answer, Zhao Asi was already fighting Gu Rong.

After just one exchange, Gu Rong reached a conclusion:

"This guy's a lot stronger than before. Be careful."

He was speaking to all three of them.

Ning Rongrong nodded, but the next second, Zhao Asi's lips curled up, the stone flashed, and she felt an immense suction force.

Just before she was pulled into the stone, Ning Rongrong heard him say, "I'll kill the young ones first, then the old ones. In this space, you can't do a thing to me."

Although Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong wanted to help, Zhao Asi kept them pinned down, leaving them no chance to break away.

Summoning the Bone Dragon was difficult in this space. When Gu Rong tried, he found he couldn't summon it at all.

"Without the Bone Dragon, I don't think you're a match for me," Zhao Asi said with a smile.