Thinking of that beautiful future, Xue Hen's mood grew brighter and brighter. He walked over to the mirror and looked at the other face reflected in it.
Short black hair, handsome features, and a teardrop mole at the corner of his right eye.
This was exactly what Yuan Qi looked like on the Sky Screen.
"In Douluo I, after becoming a god, Qian Renxue could only draw on part of the Sun's power to oppose Tang San's Vast Sea Power. The book clearly stated that the Sun's power should reign supreme over the sea, but the Angel God ultimately wasn't the Sun God. So, if there really were a Sun God, surely he'd have no problem drawing on all of the Sun's power, right?" Xue Hen raised his right hand. A dazzling golden light bloomed in his palm, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he thought to himself.
"Rumble!" He swept his hand out, sending the golden light streaking through the window like a bolt of lightning. It struck a tree about two hundred meters from the inn. In an instant, the tree—which would have taken three adults to wrap their arms around—was blasted into splinters, and sparks scattered across the ground.
The sudden explosion frightened many people nearby.
One or two sharp-eyed Soul Masters noticed the direction from which the attack had struck the tree. They stared up at the inn's second floor, brows furrowed. After thinking it over, they all shook their heads and did nothing.
First, meddling in other people's business was a bad habit.
Second, with power and speed like that... the person who'd launched the attack likely had Soul Power above level seventy. They were no match.
Xue Hen ended his fusion with the character "Yuan Qi" and returned to his original appearance. He walked to the window and looked at the sparks and splinters scattered outside, nodding faintly.
It wasn't even a Soul Skill. He'd merely urged his Soul Power to bring out his Martial Soul's natural attribute, and a casual strike had already shown such power. The destructive force of this Sun Martial Soul was truly astonishing!
Come to think of it, a Sun Martial Soul had also appeared in the Douluo II novel. It belonged to Xu Tianzhen, princess of the Sun Moon Empire. Back then, the Soul Master World had praised the Sun Martial Soul highly, calling it a top-grade fire-type Martial Soul with the Ultimate Fire attribute, but in her hands, it hadn't seemed all that powerful.
"There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless people. That saying... seems to make some sense when applied to Soul Masters who have top-tier Martial Souls but only average strength." Xue Hen stroked his chin, muttering to himself.
After watching for a while longer, he waited until the tree's remains had all burned away and the flames had vanished, then turned and left the guest room.
The moment he stepped through the doorway, he took a silver mask from his storage pendant and put it on. Then he went downstairs to the inn's ground floor.
"Checking out." Xue Hen handed his room plaque to the innkeeper at the counter.
The innkeeper took the plaque, looked up the lodging register, calculated the length of his stay, and settled the bill.
After leaving the inn, Xue Hen stood on the dirt road outside the city and clearly felt several gazes fall upon him.
He paid them no mind. After checking his direction, he headed toward Heaven Dou City.
Half a day later, without making any special effort to hurry, he arrived at Heaven Dou City's gates at a leisurely pace. He looked up at the ancient plaque above them, then entered the city along with the other passersby.
At the same time, elsewhere, Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin had finally rushed back from the Balak Kingdom to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect at full speed.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was under lockdown, and Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin's return allowed everyone to breathe a deep sigh of relief.
"Uncle Bone, how are you?"
"Old Bone, are you all right?"
Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin hurried to Gu Rong's room, their faces full of concern.
"Cough, cough~" Gu Rong sat up in bed and coughed several times. After catching his breath, he leaned against the headboard and looked at the two men who had finally returned. "I'm fine. I'm not dead yet."
"Uncle Bone, what are you saying? Anyone in this world can die, but you and Uncle Jian absolutely cannot!" Ning Fengzhi said to Gu Rong with a stern expression.
"Heh, I was only joking." Gu Rong managed a strained smile.
"Old Bone, was that Xue Hen really that strong? You couldn't withstand his attack even with twelve Soul Emperors who'd activated their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagodas amplifying you?" Chen Xin could tell that although his old friend's injuries weren't light, they weren't life-threatening. He only needed some time to recover. Relieved, Chen Xin frowned and asked him.
Although the Sky Screen had previously shown Xue Hen instantly killing the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Life Giant Whale, Gu Rong was the Number One Defense Douluo, and he'd also had twelve Soul Emperors with Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Souls amplifying him. In theory, he shouldn't have been so easily defeated.
Even Qian Daoliu would have needed a dozen or so moves, wouldn't he?
Sword Douluo had only learned a few things from his father, and knew little more than that. That was what he thought.
"Alas! He was strong—far too strong. He was nothing like any enemy I'd faced before. We didn't actually fight to the death, but I could feel that in a real life-or-death battle, killing me wouldn't be much harder for him than killing that Life Giant Whale. Even the amplification of twelve Seven Treasure Elders wouldn't have helped." Gu Rong shook his head with a sigh.
Hearing this, Chen Xin's expression grew grave. "In that case, even with you, Fengzhi, and me back, the three of us might still have little chance of defeating him."
Ning Fengzhi's expression was the most solemn. Frowning deeply, he suddenly said, "Abandon Ning Pianpian."
"What?" Gu Rong and Chen Xin both froze and turned to look at him. They'd been discussing how to deal with Xue Hen and fend off a possible second attack. Why was he suddenly saying this?
"Before, I wanted to keep trying, after all, that child Xue Tian carries the blood of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and is genuinely cherished by Kundera. If he could become the heir—or even the king—of the Balak Kingdom, it would greatly benefit our sect. And because of what happened on the Sky Screen, everyone knows that Ning Pianpian is a disciple of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and that she has a grudge against Xue Hen. If we did nothing, people wouldn't just laugh at us; even our sect's people would lose heart! But..."
Ning Fengzhi closed his eyes, looking drained. After a moment of silence, he opened them again, his gaze growing sharper. "Reality is too cruel. Xue Hen is far too strong. And when Uncle Jian and I went to the Balak Kingdom, we found that Qinghe had gone there too. Xue Ye must have ordered him to recruit Xue Hen. Xue Ye won't agree to name Xue Tian heir as he did on the Sky Screen, and Kundera won't dare do it either. Ning Pianpian and her child... are no longer of any value to the sect."
"But if we simply hand over the mother and child, what about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's dignity?" Gu Rong asked, agitated.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was the second-largest sect in the world. Although the few of them couldn't defeat Xue Hen, the sect's overall strength was absolutely not something a single Super Douluo could shake. If they surrendered just like that, how could they ever hold their heads up and call themselves the second-largest sect on the continent?
Besides, the other disciples in the sect might have their own thoughts about it.
"We simply don't hand them over openly. Uncle Bone's actions have already shown that our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't fear Xue Hen, and the disciples know that even when threatened by a powerful enemy, we'll do everything we can to protect our own. Next, we only have to hand the mother and child over in secret. No one will be able to laugh at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for even a moment!"
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