Choice

"Jiang He, I came uninvited. I hope I haven't disturbed you?"

Hearing Ning Fengzhi's words, Jiang He clasped his hands and smiled. "Sect Master Ning, you're too polite. We've long since become acquainted, so how could this be called a disturbance?"

At this moment, Xue Qinghe also rose and gave Ning Fengzhi a slight bow. "Teacher."

"Qinghe is here as well."

Ning Fengzhi acknowledged Xue Qinghe before looking at Jiang He. His fingers brushed over his Soul Tool as he took out an invitation and handed it over. "Seven days from now, the Sect will be holding a coming-of-age ceremony for my fifth child within the sect. I would like to invite you to attend. I wonder if you'll be free?"

His fifth child? That might not work.

Jiang He grumbled inwardly, then accepted the invitation with a smile. "Sect Master Ning has personally come to invite me. If this junior were to refuse, it would seem rather tactless."

Seeing Jiang He accept the invitation, the smile on Ning Fengzhi's face deepened.

Xue Qinghe's gaze, on the other hand, sharpened.

The excuse Jiang He had just given her was that he had not been invited, and it would not be proper to go uninvited.

But anyone with eyes could tell it was merely an excuse.

Yet now, Jiang He had accepted the invitation Ning Fengzhi handed him... It seemed Jiang He felt closer to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

With her current status as the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, she apparently had little competitive edge against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Very well. Then I'll see you in seven days. I won't disturb you any longer."

"Farewell, Sect Master Ning."

"Farewell, Teacher."

Amid Jiang He and Xue Qinghe's farewells, Ning Fengzhi slowly departed.

After he left, Jiang He looked at Xue Qinghe and raised the invitation in his hand. "Looks like I have no choice but to go."

Xue Qinghe smiled faintly. "It's clear that Teacher thinks highly of you. He even delivered the invitation to you himself."

Jiang He merely smiled at the implication in her words. "Your Highness overpraises me. Perhaps he was simply showing respect for my teacher. As my teacher's disciple, I represent him whenever I go out. Sect Master Ning may not admire me, but rather respect my teacher."

Xue Qinghe did not press the matter further. Instead, she said, "In that case, I'll head back first."

"Take care, Your Highness."

After Xue Qinghe left, Jiang He shut the courtyard gate and looked at the invitation in his hand.

When he opened it, there was only one person named on it: Jiang He.

He believed Ning Fengzhi would not fail to invite Dugu Bo, who was also near Heaven Dou City.

Yet this invitation, sent to him as Dugu Bo's disciple, bore only his own name. That could only mean one thing.

Just as Xue Qinghe had said, they attached great importance to Jiang He. His invitation had been issued separately rather than bundled together with Dugu Bo's.

Meanwhile, after leaving Jiang He's small courtyard, Xue Qinghe headed straight back to the palace.

Jiang He had chosen to refuse her and accept Ning Fengzhi's invitation.

Not only was she not angry, a faint smile appeared in her eyes.

Because this meant Spirit Hall had an opportunity instead.

She had long since reported Jiang He's specific circumstances back to Spirit Hall.

Spirit Hall placed great importance on Jiang He, which was why Yue Guan had proactively brought up Jiang He's situation to Dugu Bo.

Just as Yue Guan had told Dugu Bo, everyone could see Jiang He's future. He would certainly need to absorb a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Dugu Bo truly could not settle that matter, so he would inevitably need to seek help from others.

For now, it seemed Dugu Bo and Jiang He had chosen the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for the sake of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring in their future.

Other than that reason, Xue Qinghe truly could not think of why they would choose the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect over the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.

Aside from possessing Title Douluo, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was more competitive than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in every respect.

In terms of wealth, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was absolutely among the very best. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was said to be rich enough to rival a nation, but the Heaven Dou Empire itself was a nation! One of the continent's two greatest empires, at that!

In terms of power, Heaven Dou controlled half the continent's territory. Although it lacked high-level Soul Masters, it had never lacked low- and mid-level Soul Masters, and it also had its own army. How could an auxiliary Soul Master sect like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect compare to the Heaven Dou Empire?

In terms of options, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family alone had dozens of princesses and noble daughters. So long as Jiang He spoke, any one of them could be his choice. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, however, had only one core female member, Ning Rongrong. And from their interactions over the past year, Jiang He did not seem to like that girl with her spoiled young lady temperament.

If either Dugu Bo or Jiang He had any ambition, they would choose the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, a faction without a Title Douluo.

Because having no Title Douluo meant that if they wanted to do anything, they would face extremely little resistance.

Yet they still chose the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, because their goal was the top-tier fighting strength of a Title Douluo.

Only that was the help Jiang He needed most.

If Xue Qinghe were merely the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, she would be deeply troubled right now. The Heaven Dou Imperial Family truly had no way to solve this problem. If it could, she would not have taken Ning Fengzhi as her teacher and drawn the two Title Douluo behind him into her camp.

But she was not. Beneath this outer shell was Qian Renxue, Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden.

When it came to top-tier fighting strength and the number of Title Douluo, no one could compare to Spirit Hall!

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring was an extremely difficult problem for other factions, but not for Spirit Hall.

Among the elders in the Worship Hall alone, aside from her grandfather Qian Daoliu, there was another elder who had obtained a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

She believed that as long as she continued extending olive branches to Jiang He, then when the day came for her identity to be revealed, she could recruit him under Spirit Hall's name. He would have absolutely no reason to refuse!

At that thought, the smile in Xue Qinghe's eyes deepened.

In that case, she only needed to have Elder Yue Guan continue planting this idea in Dugu Bo's mind, making Spirit Hall one of his options. It would be far more convenient for her to act in the future!

Unlike Xue Qinghe's confidence, Ning Fengzhi was staring at Chen Xin in shock elsewhere.

"Uncle Sword, what did you say? That Jiang He is already a Soul Elder?"

Chen Xin nodded with a solemn expression.

"That's right. Just now, when my spiritual power swept over his residence, the fluctuation of Soul Power around him flashed past. He had already entered the Soul Elder realm. It seems Dugu Bo, that Old Poison, entered the city earlier to take him hunting for his third Soul Ring."

After Chen Xin confirmed it, the shock in Ning Fengzhi's eyes had yet to fade. "I never expected that in just a single year, he would rise ten levels and enter the Soul Elder realm. At this rate, he may reach the Title Douluo realm before turning twenty!"

However, Chen Xin shook his head. "Fengzhi, it isn't that simple. Leaving aside how difficult it is to become a Title Douluo, those ten levels he gained this year contain a great deal of padding.

He possesses twenty levels of Innate Soul Power. His cultivation speed should be faster than even mine and Old Bone's, but it should not be this absurd.

The greater reason should be his two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

At the Soul Grandmaster realm, two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings must have increased his Soul Power by at least six levels.

So his actual cultivation speed is four levels per year. It is only because his Martial Soul is powerful enough to let him absorb Soul Rings with sufficiently high lifespans that his Soul Power Level appears to be rising so quickly.

If nothing unexpected happens, his Soul Power should currently be at level thirty-three. It should take more than two years for him to enter the Soul Ancestor realm."

Only after hearing Chen Xin's explanation did Ning Fengzhi feel somewhat better.

After all, ten levels in a single year was simply too outrageous. He had never even heard of Evil Soul Masters advancing that quickly!