Qian Renxue locked herself inside her room.
Leaning against the cold door, she slid slowly down until she sank onto the chilly floor.
She drew her knees up, wrapped her arms tightly around them, and curled into a ball like a wounded little beast.
Tears fell silently,
one drop, then another, gathering into a little puddle on the floor.
"Why? Why did you have to treat me like this? Was I really never meant to exist in this world?"
She bit her lip, the taste of blood spreading between her lips and teeth.
Not long after she was born, her father left.
And when her mother, Bibi Dong, looked at her,
it wasn't like she was looking at her daughter.
It was more like she was looking at an enemy. It was her grandfather who had taken her away from that cold world and raised her with his own hands.
But as her cultivation disappeared,
Qian Daoliu's gaze began to change, too.
At first, he had been frantic and furious, ready to scour the entire continent for an antidote for her.
But later,
his warmth had slowly faded, turning little by little into the indifference she dreaded most.
She didn't dare think too deeply about it. Instead, she blamed it all on her own weakness.
She was still hoping.
Hoping that one day, she would be able to cultivate Soul Power again.
And that her grandfather—the one who used to carry her on his shoulders, his eyes full of affection—would come back!
After all...
He had been the one who stayed by her through her darkest days.
Her dearest, most respected grandfather!
But the words spoken inside the Worship Hall had shattered the last of her defenses.
She... didn't even want to live anymore!
Just then,
a deep, resonant voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
"Sigh! As the heir to the Angel God, how can you let a little storm like this knock you down?"
Qian Renxue stiffened, her pupils contracting sharply.
The vigilance honed by years of lying low in the Heaven Dou Imperial Family instinctively overpowered her grief.
"Who are you? What are you? Why have you infiltrated Spirit Hall?"
She rose to her feet, her gaze sweeping every corner of the room like an eagle's.
But the room was empty. Even the curtains hadn't stirred.
"Relax. I mean you no harm."
"As for me... I'm nothing but a wisp of a remnant soul. I happened to enter your sea of consciousness."
Ling Xiao spoke languidly, his voice tinged with nostalgia.
After transmigrating to Dou Qi Continent, he had run into the wandering Zi Yan. The two of them had joined forces and risen swiftly.
But Heaven had given him the chance to transmigrate without giving him a protagonist's template.
His rise had drawn the attention of the ancient clans!
Hun Tiandi, that shameless old bastard, had gone straight for the kill. Ling Xiao had barely broken through to Dou Sheng when Hun Tiandi slapped him down.
If Ling Xiao hadn't reacted quickly,
and blown himself up to escape without hesitation, he would probably have been suppressed beneath the Soul Hall, never to see the light of day again.
He had thought it was all over. But when he opened his eyes, he found he had transmigrated once more.
And this time, he had ended up inside Qian Renxue!
"Sea of consciousness... remnant soul?"
Qian Renxue was sharp enough to put the pieces together in an instant.
"So you're saying you're the one who made my Soul Power disappear?!"
Her voice trembled as she fought to suppress her fury. The Soul Tool she'd been holding to send a message creaked in her grip, cracks spreading across its surface.
Her accusation was met with silence from within her mind.
And to Qian Renxue, that silence was as good as an admission.
"Heh... hehehe... Five years. Five whole years!"
She tilted her head back, tears rolling down her cheeks in fat drops. Her voice ripped its way out from the depths of her throat.
"Do you know what I've been through these five years?!"
"Every time I opened my eyes, I faced the schemes and plots of the court! Every time I closed them, I saw the disappointed faces of my grandfather and everyone in Spirit Hall!"
"I couldn't sleep night after night. I didn't dare sleep!"
"I was afraid that if I fell asleep, my Soul Power would mysteriously vanish again!"
"I cultivated with everything I had, desperate to prove I wasn't useless!"
"But no matter how hard I trained, no matter how much I struggled, my Soul Power was like sand in an hourglass!"
"Every bit I painstakingly cultivated would vanish in the blink of an eye, leaving not a trace!"
Qian Renxue screamed like a madwoman,
even exposing her undercover role in the Heaven Dou Empire in her fury, though she seemed not to notice.
"And now you're telling me that all of this was because of you!"
"You made me lose the last of my family's affection!"
"You turned me into a complete good-for-nothing!"
At that moment, Qian Renxue bore none of the grace or nobility of Spirit Hall's young master.
She was like a wild beast gone mad.
Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair disheveled, tears and sweat clinging to her cheeks,
and beneath the madness lay a heartbreak so raw it took your breath away.
"Cough, cough... This was just an accident!"
"I didn't do it on purpose."
Ling Xiao gave a soft cough. Knowing he was in the wrong, his voice carried a hint of guilt and sympathy.
"An accident? Heh."
Qian Renxue ground her teeth, clutching at her hair as if she meant to drag the person in her mind out and tear him limb from limb.
"You think you can cover all this up with two words—'an accident'?"
Ling Xiao fell silent for a moment.
On Dou Qi Continent, he might have had a notorious reputation, but he still had his limits.
He never laid a hand on the old, the weak, women, or children. He'd only ever robbed the rich to help the poor.
Now he'd reduced a once-brilliant prodigy to this state. His conscience truly troubled him.
Besides... he'd have to count on her to help him restore his body and cultivation later!
"This really was my fault. I'll make it up to you!"
"Make it up to me?"
Qian Renxue was still seething, her chest rising and falling violently. She wanted to argue.
Five years. Five whole years, falling from heaven into hell. How could he make that up to her?
How?
But then she realized something else.
This man had made her Soul Power disappear, and neither her grandfather nor all of Spirit Hall had been able to discover the reason. That kind of power...
Perhaps only the one who tied the knot could untie it.
"How will you make it up to me?"
She forced down her anger, but her voice was as cold as a wind blowing from the Far North!
"I can see you still have some talent, little girl. And after all these years of hardship, your character has grown stronger, too."
"Today, I'll make an exception and deign to take you as my personal disciple!"
Hearing the other party speak as if she'd just won the greatest prize in the world,
Qian Renxue's chest, which had only just settled, began heaving violently again.
She'd thought he would restore her cultivation or give her some powerful secret treasure.
She hadn't expected him to try to take her as his disciple.
After all, he was the one who had caused her five years of unbearable suffering!
And he still had the nerve to take her as his disciple?
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Qian Renxue said through gritted teeth,
"And not only is it impossible, I'm going to tell my grandfather about you and have him tear you limb from limb to soothe my rage!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
The little girl sure was stubborn.
Ling Xiao's voice remained leisurely, entirely unbothered.
"Are you sure your grandfather will believe you, instead of thinking you're just making excuses to avoid handing over the Angel God Suit?"
"And are you sure your grandfather can even handle me?"
[Little Shui Shui: Read my books, or date me?] [Little Shui Shui: You'd better think carefully before you answer, or don't blame me...] [Grabbed her in one go!!] [—Refined her in an instant!!]
Before you continue