Nine Tails Appear on the Forehead, Can You Still Call Off This Marriage?

After a brief, deathly silence.

The entire square in front of the Pope Palace erupted like a pot of boiling water.

"Did I hear that right? Someone is proposing to the Holy Maiden?"

"What Taixu Temple master? An ancient Celestial Master? Some old monster who has lived for hundreds of years?"

"Are you stupid? That aura just now... that was the power of the Heavenly Dao! How many people have you heard of on the entire Douluo Continent who can command the Heavenly Dao?"

"Good heavens, eighteen layers of betrothal gifts! Using heaven and earth as the matchmaker! This spectacle is even more exaggerated than a descent from the God Realm!"

The whispers quickly spread into a cacophony of discussion, rippling from the center of the square to every street and alley in Martial Soul City.

Some were so shocked they couldn't form a complete sentence, others slapped their thighs in excitement, but most simply stared at one another, their faces etched with disbelief.

The deacons of the Martial Soul Hall were in even greater chaos; while trying to maintain order, they couldn't help but steal glances at the purple-gold scroll hovering above the head of the Holy Maiden.

The light was warm and gentle, enveloping Hu Liena, yet it made everyone present feel as though they were witnessing an event destined to be recorded in the annals of the Douluo Continent.

And at the center of it all—

Hu Liena finally snapped back to reality.

No, to be precise, the rush of blood to her head burned her back to her senses from her stupor.

Her ears burned hot, and her cheeks flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye, the color spreading from her neck all the way to her forehead.

But it was not shyness.

It was rage—pure, unadulterated fury.

"Absurd!"

Hu Liena snapped her head up, pointing at the marriage contract radiating purple-gold light above her, her voice so sharp it nearly split the air.

The discussions in the square came to an abrupt halt.

Every gaze in the crowd focused on her.

"What ancient covenant? What Heavenly Dao as matchmaker?"

Hu Liena's chest heaved violently, her teeth grinding together:

"I, Hu Liena, am the Holy Maiden of the Martial Soul Hall! I am the future Empress of the Spirit Hall Empire!"

She enunciated every word, each one striking the ground like a hammer.

"My destiny has always been controlled by no one but myself!"

The square was deathly silent.

Someone in the crowd gasped—was the Holy Maiden actually going to reject such a powerful figure who could command the Heavenly Dao in front of everyone?

"A person I have never met, a person of unknown origin!"

Hu Liena's voice did not retreat in the slightest; instead, it grew louder:

"By what right do you use a marriage contract to seal my entire life?"

Her hands were trembling, not from fear, but because her anger had reached its limit.

From childhood to the present, her life had been a carefully paved path—a disciple of Bibi Dong, the Holy Maiden of the Martial Soul Hall, the future ruler of the empire.

Every step was something she had carved out with her own blood and sweat; every choice was one she had made with her own hands.

And now, someone she had never met, with a marriage contract that fell from the sky, wanted to turn her into someone else's accessory?

In her dreams.

Bibi Dong stood to the side, silent.

Her nails dug deep into her palms, and her Rakshasa Martial Soul trembled frantically within her.

The Daoist rhyme emanating from that marriage contract was eroding her divine power in an extremely insidious way; every strand of purple-gold light that touched her caused the Rakshasa power to instinctively recoil.

This sensation made her shudder.

She was a being on the verge of becoming a god, a woman standing at the very top of the food chain on the Douluo Continent.

Yet, at this moment, facing the lingering Daoist rhyme of this marriage contract, she felt a fear that originated from the depths of her soul.

What level of existence was this person?

"Nana!"

Xie Yue rushed to Hu Liena's side, grabbed her arm, and lowered his voice.

"Don't be impulsive."

His palms were slick with cold sweat; although the pressure from before had dissipated, the fear carved into his soul had not yet fully faded.

It was a biological instinct when facing absolute power—it had nothing to do with courage, and nothing to do with strength.

"The power of this marriage contract is too bizarre,"

Xie Yue's voice was so low that only Hu Liena could hear him:

"Anyone capable of commanding the power of the Heavenly Dao possesses strength that far exceeds our understanding. Don't be hasty, observe the situation first—"

Hu Liena violently shook off his hand.

"Observe?"

She turned to look at her brother, her eyes filled with unwillingness:

"What if I observe him? Just because he is strong, he has the right to force me?"

Xie Yue opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

Because his sister was right.

"My life,"

Hu Liena turned back to face the floating marriage contract:

"Has never been something anyone can manipulate at will."

Before her voice had even faded, she raised her hand.

Soul power gathered in her palm, and her third soul ring suddenly lit up—it was a deep purple halo, the pressure of a ten-thousand-year soul ring released in an instant.

"Fox Fire Prairie Fire!"

Raging purple fox fire erupted from her palm, the temperature so high that the air within several meters visibly distorted.

The flames, carrying all of Hu Liena's anger and unwillingness, swept toward the Purple Gold Marriage Contract hovering above!

The plaza erupted in an instant.

"The Saintess has gone mad! She's going to burn the marriage contract?!"

"That is something condensed from the power of the Heavenly Dao—"

The words were cut short.

The moment the purple fox fire touched the marriage contract, the dormant Celestial Master Dao Pattern on the scroll suddenly flared to life.

One ring, two rings, three rings... countless ancient runes activated simultaneously, a brilliant golden light erupting to swallow all the purple fox fire whole.

Not extinguished.

Consumed.

The fox fire, representing Hu Liena's full-force strike, was absorbed by the Dao Pattern on the marriage contract without a trace, the purple-gold light becoming three times more dazzling than before.

"Ugh—!"

A gentle force surged from the marriage contract, landing lightly upon Hu Liena.

Light, yet irresistible.

Hu Liena was sent flying, her feet carving two deep furrows into the ground as she stumbled back seven or eight steps before steadying herself.

Above her head, the pair of fox ears usually hidden within her hair popped out uncontrollably, drooping powerlessly.

Inside her body, her Demon Fox martial soul sent a wave of intense, stinging pain.

Just then—

A small, glowing figure flew out from the Purple Gold Marriage Contract.

It was a fox, entirely purple-gold in color and only the size of a palm, with nine tails swaying gently behind it.

Its posture was agile and elegant, carrying a nobility and majesty that transcended its species.

The little fox circled Hu Liena once.

Then again.

A third time.

Then, it stopped.

Before Hu Liena could react, the tiny purple-gold figure crashed straight into the center of her forehead.

"Mm!"

A tingling sensation spread from her forehead throughout her entire body; it wasn't painful, but rather carried a hint of intoxicating warmth.

Hu Liena instinctively reached up to touch her forehead, her fingertips brushing against a slightly raised mark.

Xie Yue looked at his sister's forehead, the color draining from his face instantly.

There, a pale purple Nine-Tailed Fox Seal was slowly emerging, flickering with a faint purple-gold light.