Chapter 39

At the sewer exit, the old man poked his head out, looked left and right, and finding no one there, finally let out a sigh of relief and waved for Chen Qi to come out.

"Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover. Kid, you actually have such ability; you cleared the path in one go."

Chen Qi waved his hand dismissively. He would have needed quite some effort to get out otherwise, but thanks to the path the old man had cleared in advance, he had escaped with only a slight exertion.

He scanned his surroundings and locked onto a tower not far away; that should be where the interrogation room was located.

"System, tell me, Qian Renxue's Soul Power is sealed, so why haven't I disappeared?"

"Ding. The Host is both a Martial Soul and not a Martial Soul. Unless Qian Renxue dies, you will not be affected in any way."

The system's explanation left Chen Qi feeling puzzled. What did it mean by "both and not"? It was truly a headache.

BOOM!

A loud noise suddenly erupted from the tower. Scorching flames, like a fire dragon devouring the heavens, surged into the sky.

Chen Qi's heart tightened at the sight. He had just been told he would only be in trouble if Qian Renxue died, and now there was an explosion and a fire. Was Xue Ye trying to kill her to silence her?

"Ding. Detected a change in Qian Renxue's favorability. Current favorability: 800/1000."

Wait!

What on earth had happened? How had Qian Renxue's favorability suddenly skyrocketed from over six hundred to eight hundred?

Chen Qi looked toward the fire, not daring to hesitate. He spread ten large wings from his back and charged toward the blaze.

Outside the imperial palace, Pufferfish Douluo, Snake Lance Douluo, and the others, who had run into Dugu Bo, were whipping their horses to charge toward the palace.

"Old Poison, is what you said true? Was the Young Master really invited to the palace by Xue Ye?"

Dugu Bo nodded, frowning as he replied.

"The Master instructed Sword Douluo to pass this message to me; there can be no mistake."

Upon hearing this, Pufferfish Douluo became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, wishing he could reach the palace immediately.

"Damn Xue Ye! If the Young Master suffers even the slightest harm, the Heaven Dou Empire and Martial Soul Hall will surely be destroyed!"

BOOM!

An explosion echoed from afar. The three of them stopped in mid-air, their pupils contracting violently. Snake Lance Douluo and Pufferfish Douluo roared with bloodshot eyes.

"Xue Ye! You are as good as dead!"

Ten minutes earlier, in the interrogation room, Qian Renxue's mind had gone blank upon hearing Xue Ye say that Chen Qi was dead.

Memories flooded her heart like a tide. Huge veins bulged on her forehead, and her upper and lower teeth pressed together with the force of a hydraulic press.

"Xue Ye! You animal! I am going to kill you!"

Xue Ye shook his sleeves and sat across from Qian Renxue, saying, "Stop your futile struggle. Hand over the method you know for enhancing Martial Souls, and I will let you die quickly."

Watching Xue Ye shamelessly threaten Qian Renxue to hand over the method for increasing Martial Soul age, she realized he was no longer fit to be called human.

"Fine, I'll tell you. Bring me a hundred pounds of gunpowder, and I will teach you slowly."

Xue Ye was somewhat confused. What did increasing Martial Soul age have to do with gunpowder? However, he followed instructions and ordered his subordinates to bring a hundred pounds of gunpowder.

Qian Renxue looked at the several crates of gunpowder with an expressionless face. She had not expected Xue Ye to actually comply and bring the gunpowder up.

"Qian Xue, the items are here. Tell me the method quickly."

Qian Renxue looked at Xue Ye and smiled helplessly. A tyrant was nothing more than this. She would let him be buried in a sea of fire!

Qian Renxue looked at the oil lamp beside her, made a firm decision, and slammed into it, chair and all.

"Chen Qi, see you in the next life."

The flame landed on the gunpowder, instantly triggering a violent explosion. The fire surged dozens of meters high, turning all living things into ash.

Xue Ye was blown out by the shockwave. Seeing his magnificent clothes and handsome face reduced to this state, he was so angry he wanted to drag Qian Renxue out of the fire and torture her to death.

"What a stubborn wretch! She would rather perish together than tell me the method!"

Xue Ye had thought he could use this technology to conquer the world, but now both the person and the technology were gone. His grand ambitions!

"Xue Ye, prepare to die!"

In the air, ten massive angel wings flapped toward him. Seeing him, Chen Qi immediately released all the Soul Power contained within his body.

Countless angel feathers of immense power shot out like bullets.

Seeing this, Xue Ye hurriedly raised his hands to block. The attacks landed on his body, and the pain made him cry out.

"Impossible! Didn't you drink my wine as well? Why is your Soul Power still intact?"

"Because you are an idiot for thinking I wouldn't notice you had drugged it."

Seeing Chen Qi speak to him this way, Xue Ye was enraged and immediately wanted to teach him a lesson.

"First Soul Skill: Poison Wind."

A gust of wind mixed with Jade Phosphorous Serpent venom blew over. Xue Ye did not react in time; he inhaled the poisonous gas, his face instantly turning deathly pale as he spat out a mouthful of black blood and collapsed to his knees.

"Master, are you alright?"

Dugu Bo arrived just in time to defeat Xue Ye in a single blow, and Chen Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His reinforcements had arrived.

Xue Ye lifted his head in a sorry state, the aura of three Title Douluo pressing down on him until he couldn't catch his breath. He quickly realized that Qian Xue's identity was far from simple.

He looked toward the sea of fire, his expression freezing. It was over; everything was over. Qian Renxue was dead, and his Heaven Dou Empire was doomed as well.

"Snap!"

A piece of burning wood fell away, and two figures slowly emerged. Chen Qi focused his gaze and saw that it was none other than Qian Renxue and her grandfather, Qian Daoliu.

The moment he saw Qian Daoliu, Xue Ye immediately understood everything. The surname Qian, the golden hair—Qian Xue was Qian Daoliu's granddaughter!

How could he have been foolish enough to threaten such an existence?

"Xue Ye, you kidnapped Xue'er; do you no longer wish to live?"

Qian Daoliu said, enunciating every word.

Xue Ye was so terrified by that aura that his entire body went limp; he didn't even dare to look at Qian Daoliu's figure.

"Gr-Grand Elder, this is all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

Snap!

Qian Daoliu covered dozens of meters in a single step and ripped Xue Ye's head off.

"A misunderstanding doesn't stop me from killing you."

Chen Qi suddenly felt his connection with Qian Renxue reappear, and the next second, he appeared by her side.

Seeing Chen Qi unharmed, Qian Renxue's eyes immediately reddened, and she threw her arms around him.

"Chen Qi, don't ever leave me again, okay?"

After this incident, Qian Renxue had become completely unable to live without Chen Qi; her reverse scale would not allow anyone to touch him.

Looking at the aggrieved Qian Renxue, Chen Qi was stunned. He hadn't expected that he held such weight in her eyes.

"Then will you still act recklessly in the future?"

"I won't act recklessly anymore. From now on, I'll listen to everything you say, as long as you don't leave."

Hearing the anxious and fearful tone in Qian Renxue's voice, Chen Qi understood that she had truly learned her lesson.

"Fine, I promise you."

Pufferfish Douluo and Snake Lance Douluo lowered their heads, appearing before Qian Daoliu like children about to be scolded by their teacher.

"We are sorry, Grand Elder, we failed to protect the Young Mistress."

Qian Daoliu looked at the two of them helplessly and shook his head.

"We will discuss this later; there are other matters to handle now."

Chen Qi looked at Qian Daoliu, his eyes cold as he spoke.

"Wipe out the entire Heaven Dou royal family."