Qian Renxue Triggers a Brand New Chain Bond Quest!

Qian Daoliu strode down from the high platform, the brilliant golden Holy Judgment Token turning into a streak of light before vanishing into his sleeve.

On the left side of the platform, the Second Worship, Golden Crocodile Douluo, had a face as dark as iron. He whipped his sleeves back with a violent flick, letting out a heavy, icy snort.

"Let's go!"

The six Great Worships turned in unison, their figures transforming into several streaks of light that tore through the deathly silence hanging over the plaza as they departed in a fit of rage.

The Sacrificial Ceremony, a life-and-death struggle originally intended to purge the inner court, ended in a hasty, bizarre, and suffocating silence.

Thousands of Cardinals and Judgment Knights felt as if they had been granted a reprieve, quickly forming ranks and dispersing.

Not a single person dared to make a sound.

Yet, if one paid the slightest bit of attention, they could see countless pairs of eyes flickering with madness.

Everyone's gaze met and collided in the air, hidden yet intense.

Those eyes were etched with the shocking scene from the red carpet just moments ago—the unattainable Young Mistress, holding the hand of a gray-clad servant in a death grip; and the high-and-mighty Pope, crushing the armrest of her white jade throne.

Pope Palace, bedchamber.

The light was extremely dim.

The heavy velvet curtains were drawn tight, not allowing a single ray of sunlight to penetrate.

Bibi Dong sat bolt upright in the shadows before the vanity, her face as calm as water.

She had not yet shed her purple-black papal robes, which exuded a deathly chill that kept others at a distance.

Outside the palace doors.

Angela knelt on one knee, her forehead pressed firmly against the cold floor tiles. She looked as if she had been fished out of water, her voice trembling with uncontrollable fear.

"Re... reporting to Your Holiness." Angela swallowed a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva. "After the ceremony, the entire city was placed under martial law. But... throughout Martial Soul Hall, everyone is secretly whispering about the Young Mistress and the Holy Son."

"Continue." Bibi Dong's voice lacked any fluctuation, yet it caused the temperature outside the door to plummet to freezing.

Angela's body shook even more violently, but she steeled herself to repeat the rumors circulating outside: "Many Cardinals are privately speculating that the reason the Young Mistress was willing to step down from the high platform today, even at the cost of opposing the Worship Hall, to... interlock fingers with the Holy Son, is because the Young Mistress has... fallen in love at first sight with the Holy Son."

"Love at first sight."

These four words, like a cold, sharp blade tempered in deadly poison, stabbed precisely and brutally into Bibi Dong's heart with a sickening thud.

"Bang!"

Bibi Dong waved her sleeve violently, and a surge of wild soul power shot out.

The heavy doors of the bedchamber slammed shut in front of Angela, kicking up a cloud of dust and cutting off the rest of her report.

The interior of the palace fell into absolute silence.

Bibi Dong stared fixedly ahead. The ancient bronze mirror on the vanity, polished to a high sheen, reflected her slightly distorted face.

Deep within her soul, the Rakshasa Death Qi she had been forcibly suppressing the entire way could no longer be contained, triggered by those four words: "love at first sight."

Wisps of purple-black malevolent energy seeped through her pores, emitting a teeth-grinding, corrosive hiss into the air.

"Crack, crack..."

The surface of the bronze mirror, agitated by the Rakshasa Death Qi, instantly bloomed with fine, spiderweb-like cracks.

Bibi Dong's hands lunged forward, digging into the edge of the vanity.

The force was so great that she gouged ten deep finger holes into the hard agarwood. Sharp wood splinters pierced under her nails without resistance, and blood began to seep out, yet she remained completely oblivious.

In her mind, the scene from the plaza replayed uncontrollably, over and over again.

Qian Renxue's cold, arrogant face, her figure striding toward Su Chen, the way she forcibly pried open his stiff fingers, and then, the interlacing of their hands—fingers locked tight.

It was forceful, even domineering.

Bibi Dong's teeth ground together with a "creak."

She knew that daughter of hers, who flowed with the filthy blood of the angels, all too well. Qian Renxue's innate arrogance and disdain for everything were even greater than Qian Daoliu's.

Let that little slut touch a servant with no soul power and covered in dust?

If it were just an act? To help her "mother," with whom she had always been at odds, out of a tight spot?

Impossible. Qian Renxue would only be eager to watch her fall from the throne and be torn to pieces by the Worship Hall.

Following this cold, ruthless logic to its conclusion.

Bibi Dong's breathing became heavy, her chest heaving violently.

Her memory instantly jumped back to last night.

The late-night Library Pavilion, the pale moonlight.

Qian Renxue stood behind Su Chen, holding a wooden comb, her face wearing that nauseating, unprecedented look of intoxication and peace.

A maddening thought took root in Bibi Dong's mind, growing like wild weeds.

It wasn't an act.

That slut really had developed some kind of unspeakable possessiveness toward Su Chen!

Two extreme, feminine instincts of possessiveness clashed within the dim bedchamber, tearing at each other deep within her chest in a frenzied struggle.

An unprecedented bitterness and a violent, murderous urge surged simultaneously into the throat of Bibi Dong.

Forty years.

She had lived in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, surrounded by schemes, betrayal, and power.

Su Chen was the only person in those forty years who had seen her at her most wretched and pathetic, yet still looked upon her with nothing but gratitude.

He was the only man willing to end his own life upon the high platform just to ensure her safety.

He was the only one who had drunk that bowl of swill she had brewed—which was no different from slop—as if it were a peerless delicacy, finishing every last drop.

He had been the single beam of light she had managed to grasp within her withered soul.

Now, Qiandao Liu wanted to destroy that light.

And Qian Renxue wanted to snatch that light away!

Bibi Dong stood up abruptly, the mahogany stool beneath her shattering into powder on the spot.

She raised her right hand and swept it violently across the vanity.

"Clatter!"

Amidst a piercing, brittle sound, expensive powder boxes, white jade porcelain bottles, and amber jewelry were swept to the floor, smashing into pieces.

Bibi Dong stood amidst the wreckage.

Her purple-black hair stirred without wind. Her chest heaved violently, and those phoenix eyes, usually cold and peerless, began to fill with bloodshot veins that looked terrifying to the extreme.

At the same time.

In the northeast corner of Martial Soul City, at the Library Pavilion.

The early autumn night breeze blew in through the unrepaired holes in the wall, carrying a hint of chill.

Su Chen leaned back in his exclusive bamboo chair, looking perfectly at ease.

He raised his left hand slightly, lowering his gaze to examine the back of his hand by the dim light of an oil lamp.

Several clear red marks were etched onto his otherwise pale skin.

They were the result of Qian Renxue's excessive force earlier that day in the square, born from her extreme tension and humiliation.

"She's got quite a grip." A relaxed smile curled the corners of Su Chen's mouth.

Deep within his Sea of Divine Consciousness, the system interface of the Eye of Omniscience erupted with a dazzling stream of golden data.

The cold, mechanical voice sounded like celestial music as it boomed.

[Ding! Detected that Binder 002, Qian Renxue, has successfully completed the 'Social Death Bond' mission!]

[Mission settlement in progress...]

In the center of the screen, the mission results for Qian Renxue popped up clearly.

[Mission Rating: Perfect.]

[Reward Issued: Qian Renxue gains +10% purity to her Angel Martial Soul.]

Through the god-like perspective of the Eye of Omniscience, Su Chen's vision instantly spanned half the inner city.

He clearly captured the scene deep within the secret chamber of the Young Master Palace.

A brief but shockingly pure golden light of a Six-Winged Angel erupted like a physical force, shooting straight into the clouds.

It was the manifestation of a bloodline breaking through its shackles.

Even though the light was fleeting, the sacred pressure still drew suppressed gasps of astonishment from the direction of the distant Worship Hall.

Immediately following.

The Eye of Omniscience panel shook violently, and the settlement data for Su Chen's side crashed down like a tsunami.

[Ding! Host has triggered a hundredfold critical return!]

[Obtained God-level consumable: Angel Feather × 10!]

[Obtained: Massive infusion of spiritual power essence!]

"Boom!"

The moment the system prompt ended, Su Chen let out a muffled groan.

A sharp pain, as if his skull were being split open, radiated from the center of his brow. But this tearing sensation lasted only half a second before instantly transforming into a state of ultimate clarity, as if he were looking down upon the ages.

His spiritual power underwent a qualitative change on the spot.

The detection radar of the Eye of Omniscience, which had previously only covered the edge of the inner city, now expanded like an infinitely extending, invisible net, covering the entirety of Martial Soul City without a single blind spot.

Every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every tile.

Even the whispered conversation between two knights patrolling with spears at the corner of the outer city wall fell into his ears with perfect clarity.

"Did you hear? The way the Young Master stood up to the Worship Hall in the square today, she was going head-to-head with them."

"Nonsense! For the sake of the Holy Son, the Young Mistress even dared to defy the Great Worship. With the Pope and the Young Mistress acting as two massive mountains pressing down from above, this Holy Son's status is absolutely as solid as a copper wall and an iron bastion. We must be sure to give him a wide berth whenever we see him in the future."

Su Chen listened quietly to the public opinion of the entire city, which had now completely leaned in his favor.

That death trap Qian Daoliu had painstakingly set had been forcibly transformed by him into an excellent cornerstone for consolidating his "Way of Survival." With the Pope and the Young Mistress joining forces to vouch for him, no one in Martial Soul City would ever dare to investigate him again.

Su Chen leaned back against his chair and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air mixed with a faint, golden glimmer.

Just as he was preparing to close his eyes and properly acclimate to this surging, super-god-level spiritual power.

Inside his Sea of Divine Consciousness, on the right side of the Eye of Omniscience screen, the golden panel representing Qian Renxue suddenly began to flicker frantically without any warning.

"Hmm?"

Su Chen raised an eyebrow and tapped the panel.

The system's cold notification tone rang out once again:

[Ding! Detected that Binder 002, Qian Renxue, has triggered a brand-new chain bond mission!]

[Mission Requirements:...]

Su Chen's gaze swept rapidly over the mission content, and then, his eyes locked firmly onto the very bottom of the panel.

There, the mission's coordinate location was enlarged by the system in scarlet font, pulsing and flickering incessantly, exuding a sense of malicious mischief that feared no chaos.

It clearly read...

[Mission Location: Outside the rear window of the Pope Palace bedchamber.]