First Arrival in Heaven Dou! Xue Qinghe Probes, Di Yao Senses an Angel Presence!

Heaven Dou City was enormous.

It was even more prosperous than Spirit City.

The streets were broad, with carriages and horses flowing endlessly.

Noble carriages were adorned with gold and jade, while chamber of commerce banners filled the street corners.

Restaurants, auction houses, apothecaries, Soul Fighting Arenas—everywhere carried the scent of Gold Soul Coins in motion.

Hu Liena lifted the carriage curtain and took a look.

"No wonder you insisted on coming."

"This place is definitely fat."

Di Yao sat inside the carriage, his gaze sweeping over the shops along the street.

"Not fat."

"Chaotic."

Hu Liena lowered the curtain.

"What's the difference?"

Di Yao said, "Fat can only be robbed."

"Chaos can be carved up."

Hu Liena's mouth twitched.

"Can't you talk without making it sound like you're dismembering a corpse?"

Di Yao said, "Resources need to be broken apart before you can examine them."

Heaven Dou City appeared prosperous on the surface.

But Di Yao saw things clearly.

The resources here were not held in one person's hands.

The nobles took a bite.

The sects took a bite.

The chambers of commerce took a bite.

The Black Market took another bite.

In the end, everything was laundered and flowed into auction houses and the upper circles.

A place like this was not suited for brute force.

It was suited for finding cracks.

And the Crown Prince's Mansion was the largest crack of all.

The convoy entered the city quietly.

There was no grand fanfare.

Nor did they publicly reveal Di Yao's status as the Pope's direct disciple of Spirit Hall.

Following Bibi Dong's arrangements, Di Yao entered through the side gate of the Crown Prince's Mansion.

Xue Qinghe received him in person.

He appeared gentle and refined.

His clothes were not extravagant, yet everything about him was appropriate.

He wore a smile that put others at ease.

He did not seem like a lofty crown prince.

He seemed more like a friend willing to listen.

"Di Yao."

Xue Qinghe smiled.

"I have long heard of your name."

Di Yao looked at him.

"Your Highness is too courteous."

Hu Liena stood behind Di Yao, and her eyes shifted slightly.

Di Yao was actually being polite?

That did not sound like him.

Xue Qinghe noticed it as well.

His smile remained unchanged.

"I heard you handled the investigation in Fasnuo beautifully."

"The Black Market line was uprooted, and Tang San and Yu Xiaogang were wanted."

"Even Tang Hao showed himself."

Di Yao said, "I merely followed the trail and happened to find it."

Xue Qinghe smiled. "To happen upon the Clear Sky Douluo is no simple matter."

Di Yao did not respond to that.

He merely raised his eyes to look at Xue Qinghe.

Just as Xue Qinghe had approached him, the Demon Emperor Di Jun within Di Yao stirred slightly.

It was faint.

But it had indeed moved.

That was not the aura of a Beast Spirit.

Nor was it the bloodline of a soul beast.

It was a kind of light.

Extremely faint.

Extremely pure.

And extremely high-ranking.

Angel.

A flicker of Dark Gold Firelight flashed through Di Yao's eyes, too subtle to notice.

The Sun Authority of Demon Emperor Di Jun and the Angel Spirit were both high-ranking powers of light.

But their essence was entirely different.

Angels represented sacred judgment.

The Demon Emperor represented all beasts bowing their heads and all living things facing the rising sun.

This aura on Xue Qinghe was hidden deeply.

So deeply that even an ordinary Title Douluo might not be able to see through it easily.

But Di Yao's spirit was too special.

As high-ranking auras that both symbolized the sun, they would inevitably react when close to one another.

Xue Qinghe was watching Di Yao as well.

His expression remained warm.

Yet his heart sank slightly.

In that instant, he had felt as though something had shone upon his disguise.

It was not powerful.

But it was extremely perceptive.

This child was indeed dangerous.

Xue Qinghe invited Di Yao to sit.

"At such a young age, you've already begun dealing with Heaven Dou affairs."

"Don't you think it's too early?"

Di Yao said, "It isn't."

"The strong cannot grow up only on training grounds."

"Resources lie in account books."

"Enemies lie within power."

Xue Qinghe's gaze shifted slightly.

Those words did not sound like something a child would say.

Nor did they sound like the words of a simple genius.

"It seems His Holiness the Pope is very skilled at nurturing disciples."

Di Yao looked at him.

"Teacher gave me a path."

"How I walk it is my business."

Xue Qinghe smiled.

"So you do not merely obey the Pope's orders?"

Hu Liena's gaze turned cold.

There was a hook in that question.

But Di Yao remained calm.

"I obey orders that have value."

"Most of Teacher's orders have value."

Xue Qinghe's smile did not change.

"What if one day, your goals differ from His Holiness the Pope's?"

Hu Liena nearly spoke.

But Di Yao answered first.

"Then I'll see whose path leads higher."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Xue Qinghe looked at Di Yao and confirmed something in his heart.

This was not merely a blade in Bibi Dong's hand.

This child had ambitions of his own.

And he never pretended otherwise.

Xue Qinghe said softly, "You are quite frank."

Di Yao said, "Lies waste time."

Xue Qinghe's smile deepened.

"Then I shall be frank as well."

He took out a list of chambers of commerce and placed it on the table.

"Part of the stolen goods from the Resource Case was laundered through channels of the Heaven Dou Chamber of Commerce."

"But several of those lines cannot be touched directly."

Di Yao glanced at the list.

"They involve nobles?"

"Nobles, sects, and auction houses."

Xue Qinghe paused.

"And the outer channels of the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce."

Hu Liena frowned slightly.

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Xue Qinghe said, "Not its core businesses."

"They are trade routes operating under its name."

"Such peripheral channels are common."

"Nobles like to launder goods under sect names, and sects also arrange certain harmless flows of profit in advance."

Di Yao picked up the list.

"Harmless?"

Xue Qinghe looked at him.

"To the Seven Treasures, perhaps."

Di Yao said, "Not to me."

Xue Qinghe's eyes brightened slightly.

"You intend to move against the Seven Treasures?"

Di Yao said, "I'm moving against the accounts."

"If the accounts are clean, the Seven Treasures will be fine."

"If the accounts are dirty, the Seven Treasures will pay."

Xue Qinghe smiled.

"You aren't afraid of offending Ning Fengzhi?"

Di Yao looked at him.

"Your Highness gave me this list because you wanted to see how I would offend them, didn't you?"

Xue Qinghe's smile stalled.

Hu Liena also looked toward Xue Qinghe.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became subtle.

Xue Qinghe was silent for a moment, then lightly applauded.

"Di Yao, you are even more direct than I imagined."

Di Yao put away the list.

"Being direct is good."

"It saves us from putting on an act for each other."

Deep in Xue Qinghe's eyes, an extremely faint glint of gold flashed.

Those were not Xue Qinghe's eyes.

They were Qian Renxue's eyes.

She had always taken pride in the Angel Inheritance.

Ever since she was young, she had known her bloodline was noble and her mission extraordinary.

But now, a child far younger than her had made her sense another kind of solar imperial authority.

It was not holiness.

It was not judgment.

It was dominance.

All beasts bowed their heads; all living things faced the sun.

For the first time, a fierce desire to win rose within her.

Xue Qinghe smiled. "Then I'll await your result."

Di Yao rose to his feet.

"The result will come quickly."

When he reached the door, he suddenly paused.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Xue Qinghe looked at him.

"Hmm?"

Di Yao said, "The light on you is very special."

Xue Qinghe's gaze tightened imperceptibly.

But Di Yao said nothing more.

He turned and left.

After Hu Liena followed him out, she lowered her voice and asked, "What did you mean just now?"

Di Yao said, "He isn't simple."

Hu Liena frowned.

"Of course the Crown Prince isn't simple."

Di Yao looked toward the depths of the Crown Prince's Mansion.

"Not just the Crown Prince."

Hu Liena's heart jolted.

"What did you see?"

Di Yao did not answer.

He merely lowered his head to look at the merchant guild list in his hand.

Seven Treasure Outskirts.

Heaven Dou Nobles.

Xue Qinghe.

Angel aura.

This Heaven Dou City was more interesting than he had imagined.

Meanwhile, within the Crown Prince's Mansion.

Xue Qinghe sat alone in the hall.

The gentle smile on his face gradually faded.

After a moment, he murmured, "Demon Emperor Di Jun..."

"Bibi Dong really did pick up a monster."