Chapter 20

"Do you understand now why I hit you?"

Qiangu Dongfeng set down his teacup. "If you had truly laid a hand on that child today, the fury of the Blood God Legion would have burned the Spirit Pagoda to the ground by tomorrow. Do you think we could withstand the retaliation of nine Blood Gods?"

Qiangu Zhangting opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"More importantly—" Qiangu Dongfeng stood up and walked over to him, "for that child to be personally escorted by the Blood God Legion, his identity is anything but simple. Leng Yaozhu received him personally, even going so far as to fall out with us for his sake... the waters here run very deep."

"Zhangting, you are the future hope of the Qiangu family. There are some things you must learn to endure. That child... do not provoke him for now."

"Are we just going to let it go?!" Qiangu Zhangting gritted his teeth. "I was beaten on my own turf, and I have to swallow my pride?!"

"It is not letting it go." Qiangu Dongfeng's eyes were profound. "It is waiting. Waiting to see the child's true background clearly, waiting to figure out the Blood God Legion's objective. Before that—"

He stared into Qiangu Zhangting's eyes, enunciating each word: "If you see him, give him a wide berth. That is an order."

Qiangu Zhangting's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists.

Give him a wide berth?

In the Spirit Pagoda, he had to yield to an outsider?

A humiliating disgrace!

But under his grandfather's gaze, he finally lowered his head and squeezed a single word through his teeth.

"...Yes."

Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in satisfaction and turned toward the inner room. "Go and rest. Use an ice pack for the injury on your face."

After the door closed, Qiangu Zhangting slowly raised his head.

In his eyes, there was no obedience, only a malice suppressed to the extreme.

Give him a wide berth?

How could that be possible.

This is not over!!

The night grew deeper.

Luo Yang sat cross-legged, his soul power circulating throughout his body.

Because of the Plane Blessing, his cultivation speed was astonishingly fast; his soul power surged into his meridians like a river flowing into the sea, with almost no bottlenecks or stagnation.

At this rate, reaching the Limit Douluo realm before the age of twenty was not a pipe dream.

This is what a real cheat code feels like...

Luo Yang opened his eyes, feeling the surging power within him, and sighed softly.

In his past life, reading novels, he always felt that the leveling speeds of Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin were too exaggerated.

Now that he was experiencing it himself, he realized—with a "Son of the World" buff, cultivation was truly as simple as breathing.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

"Luo Yang, are you asleep?"

Without waiting for a response, the door was pushed open.

Leng Yaozhu walked in, wearing a silk nightgown.

Her wine-red hair draped over her shoulders, and the neckline of the robe was cut just right, revealing delicate collarbones and a glimpse of snowy skin. The robe was very thin, faintly outlining her graceful curves under the lamplight.

Luo Yang: "...?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't be used to sleeping alone on your first night," Leng Yaozhu said, walking naturally to the bedside and sitting down. "Auntie Leng is here to keep you company."

No, why would I not be used to sleeping alone?

Luo Yang was full of question marks.

And with the way you're dressed... who is keeping whom company, exactly?

"Auntie Leng, I'm fine on my own." He tried hard to make his voice sound normal.

"Really?" Leng Yaozhu tilted her head, her crimson eyes appearing exceptionally alluring in the light.

"Really." Luo Yang nodded heavily.

"Alright then." Leng Yaozhu stood up and walked to the door.

Luo Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he heard her say:

"Then I'll come back tomorrow night."

The door closed.

Luo Yang: "..."

He sat there for a few seconds, then suddenly raised a hand to rub his temples.

He really felt like he had awakened a Succubus Martial Soul...

He shook his head, steadying his mind as his thoughts stirred.

"Come out."

In the shadows of the room's corner, the space rippled.

A graceful purple figure slowly emerged.

Bibi Dong.

She was breathtakingly beautiful.

Her violet hair cascaded like a waterfall, her eyes shone like stars, and a violet dress accentuated skin as fair as snow.

Most lethal of all was her aura; she possessed both the majesty of a Pope and the deadly allure of a woman. These two traits blended perfectly within her, creating a suffocating charm.

"I saw everything that happened today." Bibi Dong walked to the window, turning her back to Luo Yang. "Do you need me to help you... wipe out that Qiangu Family?"

To be honest, Luo Yang was tempted.

In the original work, the crimes committed by the Qiangu Family were too numerous to list: colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, conducting experiments on living people, and inciting beast tides for profit...

Calling them a cancer would be an understatement.

Destroying them would be a service to the people.

But in the end, he shook his head.

"Why?" Bibi Dong turned, raising an eyebrow. "Do you doubt my strength?"

"No." Luo Yang said, "Your identity cannot be exposed right now. Staying in the shadows is more useful than stepping into the light."

Bibi Dong was his greatest trump card.

A former deity, even with only a remnant soul, could exert power far beyond imagination. This card had to be played at the most critical moment.

More importantly—he didn't want to disrupt the plot too early.

Since transmigrating, he had been able to plan every step because of his foresight regarding the "original work."

Once the butterfly effect spiraled out of control and the plot veered off course, his advantage would vanish completely.

"Keep the Qiangu Family for now," Luo Yang said. "They are still useful."

Bibi Dong gave him a deep look and did not insist further.

"However, there is something I need you to do." Luo Yang walked to the desk and spread out a map of the Douluo Continent. "Find two people—no, two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

"Who?"

"Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python." Luo Yang's finger traced across the map. "That is... Daming and Erming."

Bibi Dong's pupils contracted sharply.

"Those two beasts... are still alive?!" For the first time, her voice carried a clear emotional fluctuation; it was a bone-deep hatred.

"Alive, and living quite well." Luo Yang said calmly. "After Tang San became a god, he brought them to the God Realm. However, they weren't accustomed to life there and returned to the Douluo Continent, where they have been living in seclusion ever since."

Bibi Dong clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms.

She hated everything related to Tang San.

Especially those two beasts—if not for them back then, she might not have ended up on that path...

"Capturing them is a secondary objective." Luo Yang continued. "The most important thing is the 'small plane' they created."

"A small plane?"

"A space independent of the main world." Luo Yang explained. "It was originally a sanctuary they used to house endangered soul beasts, which later developed into the Ten Thousand Beast Platform. That place... is very useful."

In the original work, the Ten Thousand Beast Platform expanded by absorbing Abyss energy, eventually restoring the scale of the Star Dou Forest and becoming the final pure land for soul beasts.

But Luo Yang didn't intend to use it to raise soul beasts.

He had a much grander plan.

"How do I find them?" Bibi Dong asked.

In her current state, dealing with two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast wasn't difficult. The problem was that those two had been hiding for ten thousand years; who knew which corner of the world they were tucked away in?

"Simple." Luo Yang smiled.

Forcing Daming and Erming to show themselves was actually quite easy.

Both of them had once used the aliases "Niu Tian" and "Titan" to serve as sect masters of the Clear Sky Sect. Although they were in seclusion now, they would never sit idly by if the Clear Sky Sect were in trouble.

"Go to the Clear Sky Sect," Luo Yang said. "Cause a stir. It doesn't have to be huge, just enough to make them feel threatened. Once they appear—"

He looked at Bibi Dong: "Capture them and bring them back."

The corners of Bibi Dong's mouth slowly curled upward.

Cold, cruel, and carrying the hatred suppressed for ten thousand years.

"Fine." She said. "I have waited for this day... for too long."

With a flash of purple light, her figure vanished from the room.

Luo Yang walked to the window, gazing at the brilliant night view outside.

The lights of Shrek City stretched all the way to the horizon.

The shadow of the Spirit Pagoda cast itself across the streets like a crouching behemoth.

He reached out, and the phantom image of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff spirit emerged from his palm. The little fellow nuzzled his finger, letting out a satisfied purr.

"It begins," Luo Yang said softly.

The chessboard was already set.

It was time for the pieces to fall.