Golden Clouds Obscure the Heavens, What Exactly is the Fifth Betrothal Gift

Seven days later.

Martial Soul City had completely recovered from the chaos of that night.

The rubble in the plaza had been cleared away, the shattered stone pillars replaced with new ones, and even the bloodstains on the steps before the Pope Palace had been scrubbed three times over, leaving not a single trace behind.

Street vendors were hawking their wares once more, and the teahouses had resumed normal business.

The clanging of hammers from the blacksmith shops rang out from dawn until dusk.

The topic of "Tang San's Night Raid" had cooled down significantly.

It wasn't that people had stopped talking about it, but rather that they were tired of it; the juice had long since been sucked dry.

A new topic had taken its place.

Four days ago, the fourth stage of the Record of Celestial Master Betrothal Gifts descended.

This time, there was no backdrop of flashing blades or shadows of swords.

The golden light landed at the entrance of the training chamber in the backyard of the Pope Palace, drifting quietly into the hands of Hu Liena.

Star River Map.

It was an ancient scroll; when unfurled, the galaxy flowed within it, the trajectories of the twenty-eight mansions and the Big Dipper clearly discernible.

The radiance of the celestial bodies spilled out from the painting, illuminating half of the backyard.

The Sanskrit chant rang out only once—

"Fourth stage of the Record of Celestial Master Betrothal Gifts—Star River Map! Channel the power of the stars to infuse the body, strengthen the essence of the Martial Soul, and assist in bloodline evolution!"

The citizens of Martial Soul City had already learned the drill.

When the golden light shone, those who should kneel knelt, and those who should watch gathered around.

A storyteller in the south of the city was already compiling the Record of Celestial Master Betrothal Gifts, planning to release a complete collection once eighteen stages had been reached.

Four items now.

Primordial Spirit Bead, Fate-Suppressing Cauldron, Severing Thought Sword, and Star River Map.

The combined effect of these four supreme treasures was terrifying to an unreasonable degree.

In the training chamber at the back of the Pope Palace.

Hu Liena sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion.

The Star River Map hovered three feet above her head, the scroll unfurling on its own. The radiance of the twenty-eight mansions fell upon her, shrouding her entire being in a layer of silvery starlight.

The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron stood to her right, its three legs anchored into the ground. The Image of Mountains and Rivers on the cauldron's belly flowed slowly, and the heavy power of fate overflowed from its mouth, pouring into her meridians.

The Severing Thought Sword had transformed into a silver Sword Mark on her wrist, its Daoist essence seeping into her spirit, shielding her from all distracting thoughts.

The power of the Primordial Spirit Bead had long since merged into the depths of her bloodline.

The ancient bloodline of the Green Hill Heavenly Fox intertwined with the pure spiritual energy of the Nine-Heart Begonia, constructing a cultivation circuit within her body that far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Five snow-white fox tails fanned out behind her, their tips shimmering with silver light.

The fifth tail had only condensed three days ago—going from four tails to five took others decades or even centuries. She had done it in three days.

Soul power surged through her meridians at an unnaturally rapid speed.

Level eighty-seven.

She was only two levels away from the peak of the Soul Douluo realm.

Ye Lingling stood at the entrance of the training chamber, holding a bowl of ginseng soup.

She peeked inside, caught sight of the starlight swirling around Hu Liena, and quietly set the bowl down beside the threshold before tiptoeing away.

Do not disturb; she had upheld this principle at Taixu Temple for five years, and she understood it better than anyone.

The next day, early morning.

Hu Liena was jolted from her cultivation by an unusual restlessness.

It was not a disturbance from the outside world—it was the fox mark between her brows.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Seal suddenly turned scorching hot, its pulsing frequency reaching a frantic peak. A burning sensation spread from the center of her brows, racing across her forehead and temples, all the way to the roots of her ears.

It was all too familiar.

Every time before the betrothal gifts descended, the fox mark would react this way. The previous four times, it had never failed.

Hu Liena snapped her eyes open.

She shoved the door of the training chamber wide open. The cold morning wind rushed in, carrying a spiritual aura so thick it could not be dissolved. It was more than ten times denser than usual.

She looked up.

The sky had changed.

On the eastern horizon, golden auspicious clouds surged from beneath the horizon, one mass after another, layer upon layer, moving at an absurd speed.

It was not the clouds drifting—they were being forcibly pushed from a great distance by some kind of power.

In an instant, the sky over the entire Martial Soul City was blanketed in gold.

Deep within the roiling auspicious clouds, phantom silhouettes flickered past.

Cranes, deer, tortoises, dragons—the outlines of auspicious beasts appeared and vanished within the clouds. With every sweep, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth grew a fraction more intense.

The commoners of Martial Soul City rushed out of their homes, craning their necks to look at the sky.

"It's happening again?!"

"The fifth one! Celestial Master has sent another betrothal gift!"

"Quick! Hurry to the Pope Palace to grab a spot! Last time I was late and couldn't even squeeze into a corner!"

The streets descended into chaos.

The crowds surged toward the Pope Palace.

On the plaza before the Pope Palace, Bibi Dong already stood at the highest point of the steps.

Nine soul rings rotated slowly.

Her dark purple imperial robes shimmered with a cold light under the reflection of the golden auspicious clouds.

She tilted her head, staring at the roiling golden clouds in the sky for five breaths.

Hu Liena ran over from the backyard, her footsteps hurried, five fox tails whipping up a flurry of white behind her.

She reached Bibi Dong's side and stopped, catching her breath.

Bibi Dong did not turn her head.

"The fifth betrothal gift... it is finally arriving."

The words were not heavy, yet every syllable was packed with immense weight.

Hu Liena stood beside her. Her heart hammered uncontrollably, slamming against her chest cavity with every beat, making her ears buzz.

The fifth layer.

The previous four had pushed her from a level 69 Soul Saint to a level 87 Soul Douluo, and her Martial Soul had evolved from a Demon Fox to a five-tailed Green Hill Heavenly Fox.

What would the fifth layer be?

She dared not imagine it, yet she could not help but wonder.

That man she had never met—every betrothal gift was precise to the point of cruelty, each one arriving exactly at the node where she needed it most.

What would it be this time?

Fox ears pricked up from her hair.

The tips were flushed pink—not from shyness, but because her heart was beating so fast that blood was rushing upward.

Ye Lingling ran out from the side hall and stood beside Hu Liena, her hands unconsciously twisting together.

"Celestial Master..."

Hu Liena tilted her head to look at her.

Ye Lingling pressed her lips together, leaving the sentence unfinished.

But her entire being radiated excitement. She looked forward to the things Celestial Master sent more than anyone else.

Ten thousand miles away.

Sea God Island.

The stone doors of the ninth trial of the Sea God Hall were tightly shut, with golden light seeping out through the cracks in thin wisps.

On the corridor outside the stone doors, Yu Xiaogang leaned against a pillar, dozing off.

Having guarded this spot for seven consecutive days, he was surviving on catnaps.

He was jolted awake by a sudden sense of oppression.

There was something in the sky.

The sky above Sea God Island was cloudless for ten thousand miles, yet the concentration of spiritual energy was climbing sharply—not the spiritual energy of the island, but a fluctuation transmitted from a great distance away.

The stone doors gave a "click."

A gap appeared.

Tang San's hand reached out from the crack, his fingers gripping the edge of the door.

The golden scales of his Sea God Divine Armor were covered in fine cracks, and his fingertips were stained with blood.

He squeezed sideways out of the stone doors, his entire body trembling from the waist down—the ninth trial had been forcibly interrupted halfway through.

The price was two more cracks in his divine soul.

But he could not care about that now.

Because the source of that fluctuation was in the direction of the mainland, in the direction of Martial Soul City.

Tang San's molars ground together with a clacking sound.

"It's happening again..."

The three words were squeezed from his throat, hoarse and distorted.

His fist curled to its limit, nails digging into his flesh, blood dripping from between his fingers to splatter against the stone steps.

"Just how many treasures does that Celestial Master have?"

Further away.

God Realm. Asura God Hall.

A nine-story blood-red Asura Treasure Pagoda hovered in the center of the void, the slaughter patterns on its body flowing slowly.

The Asura God sat upright on the throne atop the pagoda.

His gaze pierced through the plane barrier, landing on the churning golden auspicious clouds above the Douluo Continent.

After a long while.

He let out a cold snort.

"They are merely mortal trinkets."

The Asura Blade lay across his knees, the blood-red patterns on its blade flickering once.

"No matter how many there are, they cannot save her life."

The words were spoken so faintly that even the divine official standing by his side did not hear them clearly.

But the killing intent on the Asura Blade suddenly intensified by three parts—piercing through the plane and leaving an invisible crack in the high sky of the Douluo Continent.

Martial Soul City.

The golden auspicious clouds grew thicker and thicker.

The light between heaven and earth was changing—not becoming brighter, but warmer.

A warmth that seeped out from the marrow of one's bones, dispelling all gloom.

The square was packed with a dense crowd, yet there was not a hint of noise.

Everyone looked up, holding their breath.

Then, that grand Sanskrit chant, spanning endless time and space, resounded between heaven and earth for the fifth time.

Hu Liena's five fingers curled involuntarily, her fingertips pressing against the Sword Mark on the inside of her wrist.

The icy touch made her heart skip another beat.

Deep within the auspicious clouds.

Golden light exploded.