A Dimensional Strike from Shrouding the Heavens! A Supreme Immortal Herb, Gifted to Bibi Dong!

Qian Renxue looked at the character "Xue," and her pretty face flushed faintly.

This guy—who said he could call her that so familiarly?

So disrespectful.

She continued reading.

The letter only briefly mentioned how things had been going, let her know he was safe, and reminded her to be careful in the Heaven Dou Empire and not to push herself too hard.

Though they were all just ordinary words, Qian Renxue felt warm inside.

In this cold foreign land, full of schemes, this little bit of care from "home" was enough to make her let down all her guard.

But when she reached the final line of the letter,

Qian Renxue froze.

There were two lines of poetry. They seemed unlike the style of Douluo Continent, yet carried a bone-deep tenderness:

"On the exquisite dice, red beans are set; do you know how longing sinks into the bone?"

Boom!

Qian Renxue felt a rush of heat shoot straight to her head. Her fair cheeks turned crimson in an instant, like ripe apples.

The hand holding the letter trembled slightly.

"This... this jerk!"

"What kind of nonsense is he writing?!"

"What do you mean, longing sinks into the bone... Who... who's longing for him?!"

Qian Renxue bit her red lip, her eyes glimmering with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, yet hiding a sweetness even she hadn't noticed.

Where had this guy learned such mortifying lines?

He'd clearly picked up bad habits!

Qian Renxue rolled over on the bed and buried her head in the covers. After a while, she couldn't help poking her head out again, picking up the letter and reading those two lines over and over.

In the end, she couldn't stop a lovely smile from lifting the corners of her mouth.

"Hmph. Since you're so good with words, I'll let your offense slide this time."

She carefully folded the letter and tucked it away in the most secret corner of her Soul Tool.

Moonlight flowed like water outside the window.

Qian Renxue gazed at the full moon, all the weariness vanishing from her eyes.

"Lin Qiu, just you wait."

"Once I've completed my plan and seized the Heaven Dou Empire, let's see how I deal with you when I get back."

Though Qian Renxue said that, her hands betrayed her feelings.

She took an object from her Soul Tool: a radiant feather about the length of her palm, shimmering with seven-colored light.

The moment she took it out, the entire room seemed to bask in the warmth of spring.

How could Qian Renxue fail to recognize it?

The sacred aura flowing across the feather was even purer than the Angel Soul Power within her.

Just holding it in her hand, she felt the bottleneck in her Soul Power, long unmoved, begin to loosen.

Her meridians felt wonderfully clear, and all the fatigue she'd accumulated from days of handling state affairs disappeared in an instant.

"How could this possibly be something you picked up by the roadside?"

Qian Renxue gripped the Seven-Colored Feather. It was plainly the true feather of some top-tier Soul Beast, perhaps even a legendary divine beast.

A treasure like this would have Titled Douluos fighting tooth and nail over it if it appeared in public, yet he'd given it to her so casually.

"Idiot."

Qian Renxue murmured the insult, but the corners of her mouth kept rising.

The feather could help her cultivate, but it also meant that, a thousand miles away, he was always thinking of her.

She slowly closed her eyes, unable to keep the image of that young man from surfacing in her mind.

When they parted all those years ago, he'd still been just a boy. Several years had passed, and he'd made such a huge stir. He must have grown quite a bit taller by now—and perhaps become even more handsome?

"Those two lines..."

Qian Renxue felt her cheeks growing warm again. She pressed the feather to her chest, feeling its gentle power. In the cool night, she found herself filled with an anticipation she'd never known before.

She looked forward to seeing that figure in white break through the snow and wind, appearing at the entrance to the Crown Prince Mansion.

Several days later, in Spirit City.

In a quiet garden behind the Pope Palace.

This was the Pope's forbidden grounds. No one was allowed to enter without permission—not even the offerings of the Elder Hall—except for Lin Qiu.

Lin Qiu sat cross-legged on a blue stone, golden light flickering around him. As his breath flowed in and out, the surrounding flowers and grasses swayed with it.

Bibi Dong sat by a stone table nearby. Though she held a scroll of official documents, her gaze never left Lin Qiu, full of affection and pride.

Ever since Lin Qiu had fused with the Supreme Bone and undergone Martial Soul Evolution,

she had put off all unnecessary duties and set aside half a day every day to personally accompany him as he cultivated, afraid his foundation might be unstable and something might go wrong.

A moment later, Lin Qiu slowly completed his cultivation and exhaled a breath of stale air. It shot out like an arrow, digging a deep hole in the ground several meters away.

"Qiu'er, how do you feel?" Bibi Dong set down the documents and asked gently.

Lin Qiu got to his feet and brushed the dust from his clothes. He walked over to Bibi Dong and naturally poured her a cup of tea.

"I've been stabilizing my realm these past few days, and I've completely adapted to my new power. I should thank you for guarding me all this time, Mother."

Bibi Dong took the teacup and gave him a reproachful look.

"Why are you being so formal with your mother?"

Lin Qiu smiled but didn't reply. Instead, he flipped his hand, and a pitch-black jade box appeared in his palm, radiating a faint, chilling aura.

The moment the box appeared, the warm garden plunged into an icy cold. The delicate flowers around them withered slightly under the chill.

Bibi Dong's expression changed, and she nearly lost her grip on the teacup.

"What is this? Such astonishingly cold Yin energy!"

As the possessor of Twin Martial Souls, both of which were Spider Emperors, she wielded two Martial Souls that were inherently Yin and evil. Yet as soon as she faced the jade box,

the Martial Souls within her began to stir uncontrollably. It was a yearning from deep within her soul—almost a... hunger.

Lin Qiu pushed the jade box toward Bibi Dong.

"Your son found this by chance in a forbidden area during that trial.

I noticed that it was rich in Yin energy, yet contained an incredibly pure soul force. I thought it might be of great benefit to your cultivation, Mother."

Lin Qiu spoke without changing expression, making it all up on the spot.

In truth, it was the Extreme Yin Soul Flower he'd received from the system for checking in two days ago.

According to the system, it was simply an ordinary medicinal treasure from the Shrouding Heavens World, one that grew in places of extreme Yin. It wasn't considered particularly rare and was, at most, used by low-level cultivators to temper their bodies.

But on Douluo Continent, this thing's grade was enough to leave the so-called "Immortal Herbs" in the dust.

With trembling hands, Bibi Dong slowly opened the jade box.

Buzz!

A streak of dark light shot into the sky.

Inside lay a flower as black as ink, shaped like a ghostly face.

Countless wailing souls seemed to writhe across its petals, yet a sacred power forcibly suppressed them, transforming them into the purest Soul Power.

After breathing in just a little of its drifting fragrance, Bibi Dong felt the bottleneck that had troubled her for years in the Rakshasa God Trial begin to loosen.

"This..."

Bibi Dong jerked her head up, her beautiful eyes wide as she looked at Lin Qiu.

"Qiu'er, this is far too precious! It must be even rarer than the legendary Immortal Herbs. You should keep it for yourself..."