She lowered her head and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, not wanting her imperial brother to see her cry.
"Imperial brother, as long as you like it."
Her voice was choked with emotion, yet brimming with joy she could barely suppress.
Xue Qinghe reached out and gently stroked her head, his long fingers passing through her white hair. His touch was as tender as if he were petting a kitten.
Xue Ke closed her eyes, feeling the warmth from his hand atop her head.
She felt like the happiest person in the world.
With her imperial brother's praise, everything was worth it.
Xue Qinghe's hand continued to smooth her hair, his touch no less gentle, but his gaze gradually grew distant.
"Little sister."
"Hmm?" Xue Ke opened her eyes.
Xue Qinghe lowered his head and looked at her with heartfelt sincerity, his eyes full of concern.
"Next month, I'll introduce you to some promising young men, so you can make lots and lots of friends. What do you think?"
His voice was calm and gentle, like that of an older brother who truly cared for his sister.
Xue Ke froze for a moment, then her eyes widened with delight.
"Really?"
"When have I ever lied to you?"
Xue Qinghe reached out and gently tapped her nose.
"They're all young men of great promise. I'm sure you'll like them."
Xue Ke's face flushed red.
She didn't know what to say. Her heart just felt warm, as if a current of heat were surging through her chest.
Her imperial brother was the person who treated her best in the world.
She spread her arms and clung tightly to his, pressing her face against his sleeve like a little animal devoted to its master.
"Imperial brother, you're so good to Ke'er."
Her voice was muffled, coming through her nose with a heavy, nasal quality.
"Silly girl, you're my sister. If I don't treat you well, who will?"
Xue Qinghe gently patted the back of her hand, his gaze passing over her head to the patch of sky outside the hall, neatly divided by the palace walls.
A faint glimmer of darkness flashed in his eyes, so subtle it was almost impossible to detect.
Night deepened, and Xue Qinghe finally rose to take his leave.
Xue Ke saw him off reluctantly to the entrance of the hall. Only after his moon-white figure disappeared at the end of the palace passage did she turn back.
A smile still lingered on her lips, and her fingers trembled faintly.
Next month, her imperial brother would introduce her to new friends.
She had to prepare her prettiest clothes and play the most beautiful melodies. She couldn't let her imperial brother lose face.
Thinking this, Xue Ke hugged her sheet music and sat down again at the zither table.
Her fingers hurt.
But she pressed them down anyway.
Night had fallen, yet the lights in the princess's residence still burned.
Meanwhile, on the palace passageway,
Xue Qinghe walked with his hands behind his back, his moon-white brocade robe fluttering gently in the night breeze.
He had left the princess's residence and the garden enclosed by its walls. At last, the expression on his face relaxed.
The tender, indulgent look he had worn when visiting his sister vanished completely, as if someone had peeled away a mask.
In its place was a cool composure, deep with hidden thoughts.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, forming a mysterious smile.
Suddenly, a shadow silently appeared at the corner of a wall.
It was an old man in a black robe, thin as a skeleton. He leaned on a long staff, green from end to end and shaped like a snake lance.
He seemed to blend into the night, so much so that even his breathing could not be heard.
Snake Lance Elder.
A Titled Douluo, and one of the true forces hidden in the shadows of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
Xue Qinghe didn't even slow his pace or glance at him.
The old man's appearance seemed utterly ordinary to him.
His voice was soft, as faint as a sigh in the night breeze.
"My foolish little sister..."
"If she can help this prince realize the only sliver of value she has as a princess of Heaven Dou..."
He took a step forward, and moonlight fell across his face.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile hung on his delicate, fair-skinned face, but his eyes were as cold as a pool of ice.
"It is her honor."
With that, Xue Qinghe strode off and disappeared into the darkness at the end of the palace passage.
Snake Lance Elder said nothing. His figure melted back into the shadow at the corner, as though he had never appeared.
The night breeze swept through the palace passage, stirring up a few fallen leaves.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace remained ablaze with lights.
But in the corners those lights could not reach, some things were chilling to the bone.
Deep in the Dragon God Temple's sect grounds, inside a sealed stone chamber,
Yu Xiaolong sat cross-legged, his eyes tightly shut. Soul Power roiled around him like boiling water.
He had just obtained his fourth Soul Ring.
Power Attack System, wind element.
It came from the Hurricane Black Hand.
Soul Ring age: 790,000 years.
Across the entire Douluo Continent, that number was enough to drive any Titled Douluo mad.
A 790,000-year Soul Beast was the stuff of legend. Turning one into a Soul Ring and absorbing it into one's body was even more unheard of.
It was simply too powerful.
So powerful that even Yu Xiaolong could feel the terrifying force, as if it would burst his meridians.
He didn't dare be careless.
He went into seclusion.
And stayed there for three whole days.
Outside the stone chamber, in the Dragon God Temple's courtyard,
Shui Bing'er sat cross-legged beneath an ancient tree, faint ice-blue Soul Power circling around her.
She wore an ice-blue dress, its hem embroidered with pale silver ripples. A white sash cinched her slender waist, barely more than a handful.
Her ice-blue hair fell to her waist, glistening in the sunlight like a waterfall frozen in a mountain stream.
Her features were exquisite yet gentle, her brows and eyes naturally warm. Her skin was as fair as jade, with the delicate glow unique to an eighteen-year-old girl.
The neckline of her dress was not cut particularly low, yet it outlined the fullness of her chest just right.
Below her waist, the skirt wrapped around her long legs, faintly revealing the elegant, firm lines of her thighs.
She sat upright, her bearing refined and otherworldly, like an immortal who had stepped out of the snow.
Shui Bing'er's Soul Power flowed slowly through her body, circling again and again, steady and composed.
Suddenly,
she opened her eyes.
Her ice-blue pupils contracted sharply.
A tremendous aura burst from the stone chamber not far away!
The aura was so vast that it struck like a sudden thunderclap, making the air throughout the courtyard tremble. Leaves rustled down from the ancient tree, landing on Shui Bing'er's shoulders and skirt.
She didn't even have time to brush them away before she sprang to her feet.
Shui Bing'er turned around and stared fixedly at the sealed stone chamber.
The aura came from the place where her teacher was in seclusion.
"Teacher..."
She murmured the word, her heart racing beyond her control.
This surge of power was far beyond the Soul Emperor level, even more powerful than a Soul Saint's!
Could her teacher have broken through again?
Before you continue