Xue Qinghe's Scheme, 790,000-Year Spirit Beast

She lowered her head, wiping the corners of her eyes 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 a little choked, yet it carried an irrepressible joy.

Xue Qinghe reached out and gently stroked her head, his slender fingers weaving through her white hair with a tenderness akin to petting a kitten.

Xue Ke closed her eyes, feeling the warmth from above her head.

She felt she was the happiest person in the world.

With her imperial brother's praise, everything was worth it.

Xue Qinghe's hand continued to stroke her hair, his gentleness undiminished, but his gaze gradually deepened.

"Little sister."

"Mm?" Xue Ke opened her eyes.

Xue Qinghe lowered his head, looking at her with sincere eyes full of concern.

"Next month, Imperial Brother will introduce you to some outstanding young men, let you make many, many friends. What do you think?"

His tone was steady and gentle, like a brother truly caring for his sister.

Xue Ke froze for a moment, then her eyes widened, full of surprise.

"Really?"

"When has Imperial Brother ever lied to you?"

Xue Qinghe reached out and gently flicked her nose.

"They are all young and promising talents, you will definitely like them."

Xue Ke's face instantly flushed red.

She didn't know what to say, only feeling a warmth in her heart, like a surge of heat flowing through her chest.

Imperial Brother was the person who treated her best in the world.

She opened her arms and hugged her imperial brother's arm tightly, pressing her face against his arm, like a small animal attached to its owner.

"Imperial Brother, you are so good to Ke'er."

Her voice was muffled, coming from her nose, thick with a nasal tone.

"Silly girl, you are this King's sister. If this King isn't good to you, who will be?"

Xue Qinghe gently patted the back of her hand, his gaze sweeping over her head to the square of sky outside the hall, segmented by the palace walls.

A fleeting, imperceptible dark glint flashed in his eyes.

As the night deepened, Xue Qinghe finally rose to take his leave.

Xue Ke reluctantly escorted him to the hall entrance, only turning back after the moon-white figure disappeared at the end of the palace path.

A smile still lingered on her lips, her fingers trembling slightly.

Next month, Imperial Brother would introduce her to new friends.

She needed to prepare her most beautiful clothes, practice her most beautiful music, so as not to embarrass Imperial Brother.

Thinking this, Xue Ke, holding her music score, sat down again before the music stand.

Her fingers ached.

But she still pressed down.

Late into the night, the princess's mansion was still lit.

And at this moment, on the palace path.

Xue Qinghe walked with his hands behind his back, his moon-white brocade robe fluttering slightly in the night wind.

He walked out of the princess's mansion, out of the garden enclosed by walls, and the expression on his face finally relaxed.

The gentle, doting gaze he had shown his sister earlier was like a mask peeled off his face, vanishing completely.

In its place was a deep, calm calculation.

The corners of his lips curved upwards, forming a smile of unfathomable depth.

Suddenly, a dark shadow emerged silently from the corner of the wall.

It was an old man clad in black robes, gaunt as a skeleton, leaning on a staff that was entirely green and shaped like a snake spear.

He seemed to have merged with the night, his breathing inaudible.

Snake Lance Elder.

A Dou Emperor level expert, one of the true hidden powers of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.

Xue Qinghe didn't even stop walking, nor did he glance at him.

As if the appearance of this figure was the most ordinary thing in the world to him.

His voice was very light, as light as a sigh in the night wind.

"My foolish little sister."

"To be able to help this King realize the only shred of value she possesses as a Heaven Dou princess..."

He took a step forward, the moonlight illuminating his face.

A smile so faint it was nearly imperceptible hung upon his delicate features, yet his eyes were as cold as a pool of stagnant ice.

"It is her honor."

Having said this, Xue Qinghe strode away, vanishing into the deep darkness of the palace corridor.

Snake Lance Elder remained silent, his figure merging once more into the shadows of the corner, as if he had never appeared at all.

The night wind swept through the corridor, swirling a few fallen leaves.

The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace remained brilliantly lit.

Yet in the corners where this light could not reach, some things were bone-chillingly cold.

Dragon God Temple, deep within the sect's territory, inside a tightly sealed stone chamber.

Yu Xiaolong sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his soul power churning violently like boiling water.

He had just obtained his fourth soul ring.

Assault-type, wind-attribute.

Derived from the Hurricane Black Hand.

Soul ring age: 790,000 years.

Across the entire Douluo Continent, this number was enough to drive any Titled Douluo to madness.

A 790,000-year-old soul beast was an existence that belonged only to legends, and to absorb it into one's body as a soul ring was an unheard-of feat.

Excessively powerful.

So powerful that even Yu Xiaolong himself could feel that terrifying force threatening to burst his meridians.

He dared not be negligent.

Seclusion.

Three days had passed in the blink of an eye.

Outside the stone chamber, in the courtyard of the Dragon God Temple.

Shui Bing'er sat cross-legged beneath an ancient tree, surrounded by a faint, ice-blue soul power.

She wore an ice-blue long dress embroidered with pale silver flowing water patterns, a white silk ribbon tied at her waist, accentuating her slender, graceful figure.

Her ice-blue hair cascaded to her waist, shimmering with a crystalline luster under the sunlight, like a waterfall frozen in a mountain stream.

Her features were exquisite yet gentle, her brows and eyes carrying a natural tenderness, her skin as fair as jade, possessing the delicate glow unique to an eighteen-year-old girl.

The neckline of her dress was modest, yet it perfectly outlined the full curves of her chest.

Below her waist, the skirt draped over her long legs, faintly revealing the firm and elegant lines of her thighs.

She sat there upright, her temperament ethereal, like a fairy who had stepped out of the ice and snow.

Shui Bing'er's soul power circulated slowly within her, cycle after cycle, steady and composed.

Suddenly.

She opened her eyes.

Those ice-blue pupils constricted sharply.

A massive aura was surging forth with a roar from the nearby stone chamber!

The aura was so vast, like a thunderclap exploding on flat ground, that it caused the very air in the courtyard to tremble. Leaves from the ancient tree rustled down, landing on Shui Bing'er's shoulders and skirt.

She didn't even have time to brush off the leaves before she stood up.

Shui Bing'er turned around, her gaze locked firmly onto the tightly sealed stone chamber.

The source of that aura was precisely where her teacher was in seclusion.

"Teacher..."

She murmured, her heart beating uncontrollably fast.

This fluctuation of power far exceeded the level of a Soul Emperor; it was even more surging than that of a Soul Saint!

Could it be that Teacher has had another breakthrough?