The captain of the guards froze for a moment, then broke into a grin.
"Alright, I'll remember that."
Ji Ye smiled and strode into the hall.
The doors slowly closed behind him.
The captain stood outside, staring at the sealed doors as he scratched his head and muttered to himself, "This kid... why does he feel different from last time?"
He pondered it for a long while without figuring it out, then shook his head and turned to resume his patrol.
Inside the hall, Qian Renxue had already removed her disguise. Her long golden hair draped over her shoulders as her azure eyes watched Ji Ye enter, carrying a hint of complicated emotion.
"Ji Ye—no, I suppose I should call you Your Holiness the Pope now." She paused.
"Why are you here?"
Ji Ye's gaze lingered on Qian Renxue for a moment, and the corner of his lips curved slightly.
"Rank seventy-nine. You've risen more than ten ranks in two years. Looks like that Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid worked well."
Qian Renxue nodded faintly without denying it.
"It helped tremendously. I originally thought it would take another two or three years to reach my current level." She looked at him.
"You didn't come all this way just to see whether I'd been cultivating properly, did you?"
Ji Ye sat down in a nearby chair, his posture casual, as though he had returned to his own home.
"Poison Douluo is already dead." He said it as if it were nothing.
"Now, the strongest person in the entire Heaven Dou Imperial Family is no more than a Soul Douluo. You've been undercover here for so many years—it's time to close the net."
Qian Renxue's lashes trembled slightly. She did not answer at once, waiting for him to finish.
"At the Elite Spirit Master