Is This Still Douluo Continent?

Qian Xunji wasn't buying her act. He grabbed a black cloak, bundled her up in it, hauled her straight out of the secret chamber, and shoved her into a discreet carriage that had been waiting for them.

The whole ride, Bibi Dong was completely dazed.

Moving?

Where to? Wasn't this the secret chamber in Pope Hall?

According to the script, weren't they supposed to be acting out a "deep bond between master and disciple" right about now? What on earth was this white-haired old bastard up to?

Could he not hold himself back anymore?

She was only six! Six years old!

Qian Xunji might have been a beast, but he wasn't that kind of beast... Probably... right?

It wasn't until the carriage stopped at the rear gate of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's estate, and Qian Xunji dragged Bibi Dong out and she saw Ning Zhen and Ning Fengzhi waiting at the entrance, that her Rakshasa God heart of steel, forged in the blood-soaked battle at Jialing Pass, finally crashed completely.

The old Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? Why was he here in the middle of the night?

"His Holiness the Pope, you've finally arrived."

Ning Zhen rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining as he stared at Bibi Dong, bundled in the cloak with only her head poking out. He looked at her as if she were a mountain of gold.

Ning Fengzhi also looked her over curiously... She really was pretty.

"I brought her. Where's the money?"

Qian Xunji didn't waste his breath. He simply held out his hand.

Ning Zhen promptly handed over the Purple Gold Storage Ring.

Qian Xunji swept it with his Spiritual Power. Once he'd confirmed everything was in order, he happily shoved Bibi Dong into Ning Zhen's arms.

"Pleasure doing business with you. This girl belongs to you now." Qian Xunji dusted off his hands, as if he'd just gotten rid of a huge burden of trash.

Bibi Dong stood there, stunned. She looked at the beaming Qian Xunji, then at Ning Zhen, who was guarding her with feverish zeal, and her mind went completely blank.

What was going on?

Had she been sold???

The dignified Pope of Spirit Hall had found a peerless genius with Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls, yet instead of keeping her and raising her himself, he'd turned around and sold her to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?

What kind of timeline was this? Was this still Douluo Continent?

Qian Xunji, had a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast kicked your brain in?

"Little girl, don't be afraid. From now on, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is your home!"

Seeing Bibi Dong's vacant stare, Ning Zhen assumed she was scared witless and quickly put on a kindly face to reassure her.

Bibi Dong was screaming inside:

Who the hell wants to go to your lousy tower sect?

I want to stay in Spirit Hall. I want revenge!

If I have to go somewhere, it should be the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan! I need to find Xiao Gang!

You sold me to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—how am I supposed to carry out my revenge now?!

But no one cared about the "protests" of a six-year-old girl.

Qian Xunji put away the ring and looked deeply at Bibi Dong. His eyes held a mocking, teasing amusement, as if he could see through everything.

"Sect Master Ning, it's best not to delay. For the child's safety, I suggest you leave the city right now and return to Seven Treasure City overnight. Spirit Hall's knights will escort you out of our territory," Qian Xunji advised "kindly."

"His Holiness is absolutely right. Uncle Yuan, hitch up the carriage at once! We're leaving now!" Ning Zhen was a ruthless sort himself. He knew the old saying: a man's wealth was his own ruin.

Now that he had the girl, he didn't dare stay in Spirit City a moment longer.

That night, a line of luxurious, unmarked carriages raced out of Spirit City under cover of darkness, escorted in secret by Spirit Hall's Hall Guard Knights, heading straight for the Heaven Dou Empire.

Inside the carriage, Ning Fengzhi excitedly studied the little girl who would change the sect's fortunes one day, while Bibi Dong curled up in a corner, digging her fingers into the wooden wall so hard her nails nearly drew blood.

Her worldview had collapsed.

The script had changed. Everything had changed.

At the top of the tallest tower in Spirit City, Qian Xunji tossed the Purple Gold Storage Ring in his hand as he watched the convoy disappear into the distance. The smile at the corner of his mouth was deeper than the night itself.

"Go on. Go wild as much as you like.

"Don't disappoint me, my dear disciple... my... good student."

Pope Hall, the luxurious private chambers on the top floor.

Qian Xunji sprawled without a trace of dignity across a velvet bed large enough to fit more than a dozen people.

He casually tossed the Purple Gold Storage Ring he'd extorted from Ning Zhen in the air. The grin on his face was harder to suppress than an AK.

Not only had he perfectly dumped Bibi Dong, the little time bomb who could blow up at any moment, he'd also scored all those resources for free—and planted a strange seed of both suspicion and cooperation between the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Just as he was figuring out how to spend his windfall, that long-missed, delightful mechanical voice finally sounded in his mind, right on cue.

[Host has completed the subversion mission—Repeating the Same Mistakes?]

[Calculating mission rewards...]

[The host not only successfully rejected the original storyline of taking Bibi Dong as a disciple, but also "sold" her to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for an astronomical price, successfully diverting the fates of several forces, including the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.]

[Mission completion rating: Perfect (200% over completion!)]

Qian Xunji raised an eyebrow and sat up.

"Oh? Over completion? Looks like even you think this capitalist maneuver of mine was slick, System."

[Ding! Distributing basic rewards: one Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant and one random-part External Soul Bone from a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.]

With a faint ripple in space, a warm, ink-dark jade pendant engraved with ancient, mysterious patterns silently appeared in Qian Xunji's palm.

The moment his fingers touched the pendant, an intensely cool sensation coursed through his entire body. He casually hung it around his neck, wearing it close to his skin.

In an instant, the extreme darkness and aura of judgment within him, belonging to the Twelve-Winged Original Sin Fallen Angel, were as if someone had pressed an absolute mute button. They instantly withdrew into the deepest part of his soul.

Not a trace escaped. Even if a Peerless Douluo like Qian Daoliu scanned him with Spiritual Power at close range, all he could detect was an utterly "ordinary" Titled Douluo of rank ninety-three. He couldn't even discern the specific attributes of Qian Xunji's Martial Soul.

"Good stuff. A genuine artifact for keeping a low profile."

[Ding! Drawing a random Hundred-Thousand-Year External Soul Bone for the host...]

[Draw successful. Congratulations, host! You have obtained: Hundred-Thousand-Year External Soul Bone Sin Thorn Crown]

"Vmm—"

The instant the system notification ended, Qian Xunji felt nothing unusual in his limbs or torso. Instead, the empty space half a cun above his head suddenly rippled violently.

Then, a thorn crown formed from condensed dark-gold energy appeared without a sound. Its surface was covered in sharp, backward-pointing spikes and intricate divine patterns, and it hovered steadily just above his head of pale hair!

The crown didn't touch his body. It simply floated there in silence,

like a crown bestowed by a god, radiating a pressure that made the soul tremble.

It perfectly avoided the body's traditional six Spirit Bone positions, existing independently of the flesh while resonating absolutely with Qian Xunji's soul and Soul Power.