Qian Renxue Exposed

The Imperial Study of the Heaven Dou Empire's palace.

Candlelight flickered, casting shifting shadows across Emperor Xue Ye's face, which appeared increasingly aged due to long-term poisoning.

He sat behind the dragon desk, clutching a cup of ginseng tea, yet his gaze was fixed upon the golden canopy still suspended in the sky, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

A'Ke... his A'Ke was actually an eighty-ninth-level Spirit Douluo.

He had already sent men to summon Xue Ke, wanting to ask this daughter of his exactly what she had experienced over these past years.

Footsteps echoed.

Emperor Xue Ye looked up and saw that petite figure walking slowly into the study.

"This daughter greets Imperial Father." Xue Ke bowed gracefully, her voice as gentle as ever.

"Quickly, rise, rise!"

Emperor Xue Ye hurriedly stood up, personally helping his daughter to her feet and pulling her to sit beside him, his old eyes filled with relief and pride.

"A'Ke, oh A'Ke, you have kept such a bitter secret from your father! An eighty-ninth-level Spirit Douluo, you... what would you have your father say!"

Xue Ke smiled slightly, but that smile lacked its usual innocence.

"Imperial Father, this daughter has an extremely important matter that I must tell you."

Emperor Xue Ye froze. Looking at his daughter's solemn expression, a sense of foreboding rose within him.

"What is it?"

Xue Ke took a deep breath and spoke, enunciating every word:

"Imperial Father, the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe by your side... is a fake."

"What?"

Emperor Xue Ye stood up abruptly, his complexion changing drastically.

Xue Ke continued, "The real Crown Prince brother is long dead. The Crown Prince who has accompanied you for over ten years is Qian Renxue, the daughter of the former Spirit Hall Pope, Qian Xunji, in disguise. Her Angelic Spirit Bone possesses top-tier camouflage abilities. For years, she has been stealing the secrets of our Heaven Dou Empire, paving the way for Spirit Hall's ambitions."

Emperor Xue Ye's complexion turned deathly pale at a visible rate. His body swayed, and he had to grip the dragon desk to keep from collapsing.

"It is not just that," Xue Ke's voice trembled slightly. "The two Imperial brothers... the second and third brothers, their deaths were not accidents. It was Spirit Hall that struck in the shadows! They wanted to eliminate your heirs to clear the path for Qian Renxue's future ascension!"

"Even... even your declining health in recent years is due to chronic poison administered by Spirit Hall."

"Pfft!"

Emperor Xue Ye suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the dragon desk before him.

He seemed to age ten years in an instant; his once relatively upright frame was now hunched like a candle flickering in the wind.

"Qinghe... Xi'er... Hong'er..." He murmured the names of his three sons, tears streaming down his face. "My sons... my sons..."

Xue Ke hurriedly stepped forward to support him, her own eyes welling up with tears.

Then, Xue Ke fed Emperor Xue Ye the antidote pill bestowed upon her by Brother Cao.

A moment later, Emperor Xue Ye finally caught his breath, and from those once-cloudy old eyes, an unprecedented hatred and fury erupted!

"Spirit Hall... Bibi Dong... Good! Very good!"

He suddenly looked up and roared hoarsely:

"Someone! Summon Prince Xue Xing!"

"Boom!"

The gates of the Crown Prince's residence were smashed open, and Prince Xue Xing led a large contingent of imperial guards charging into the estate!

But the residence was already empty; they had arrived too late.

"Ah! Spirit Hall! You have gone too far!!!"

Prince Xue Xing roared in fury.

"Pursue! Give chase!"

Spirit Hall, Pope's Palace.

Qian Renxue stood in the center of the great hall, her body wreathed in a faint golden light.

Opposite her, Bibi Dong sat upon the throne, her purple-black eyes watching her calmly, revealing neither joy nor anger.

This was the first time in many years that mother and daughter had faced each other alone like this.

Silence spread between them.

In the end, it was Qian Renxue who spoke first: "The plan failed. That old emperor already knows the truth."

Bibi Dong nodded faintly: "As expected. Since that Xue Ke made the list and cultivated that Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique, she was bound to know everything sooner or later."

At the mention of the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique, both their gazes flickered slightly.

Another silence followed.

A moment later, Bibi Dong suddenly spoke: "Xue'er, have you ever cultivated... the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique?"

Qian Renxue's pupils constricted slightly.

Of course she had practiced!

How many nights had she spent in that mysterious dreamscape, cultivating with a man who possessed the grace of a fallen immortal, breaking through bottlenecks step by step to reach her current realm? That man... that man who claimed his surname was Cao...

She steadied herself and said calmly, "No, why would Mother suddenly ask about this?"

Bibi Dong did not answer immediately, instead closing her eyes as a faint purple-black halo emerged around her body.

"Nothing, I just feel that Brother Cao is not a decent man, provoking so many young and beautiful women."

Xue'er possessed a city-toppling beauty, and she did not want her daughter to follow in her own footsteps.

That was right, she was doing this for her daughter's own good; it was enough for her to bear the burdens alone!

She looked at Qian Renxue, and a trace of guilt actually surfaced in those eyes that were usually cold and ruthless.

"Does Mother know this Brother Cao?"

"No, how... could I possibly know him."

Lanba Academy.

The crowd gathered on the training grounds had no heart for cultivation.

Everyone's gaze was fixed firmly on the golden canopy in the sky.

Flender crossed his arms over his chest, his shoe-shaped face filled with complexity.

Standing behind him were Yu Xiaogang, Liu Erlong, and the Shrek Seven Devils, among others.

"Level eighty-nine... level eighty-nine again..." Flender muttered to himself, his voice full of bitterness. "How many is this now? Doudou, Zhu Zhuyun, Meng Yiran, Xue Ke... all of them are level eighty-nine Spirit Douluos! And they are all young women!"

He looked down at himself; he had cultivated for decades only to reach the Spirit Saint level.

Yet these people, at such a young age, were already level eighty-nine, only a step away from becoming Titled Douluos.

What made it even harder for him to accept was that these geniuses had been completely unknown before this!

"Are young people today all this terrifying?" Flender sighed up at the sky, feeling as though the past few decades of his life had been in vain.

Yu Xiaogang, however, was in a different state.

He slumped onto a stone bench nearby, his already pale face now ashen.

His lips trembled slightly as he muttered something, though it was impossible to hear clearly.

"It's over... it's all over..."

He raised his head to look at the glittering names on the canopy, his eyes filled with despair.

This was the opportunity he had waited decades for!

The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament was about to be held, and he had thought that with Tang San, a disciple with twin spirits, he would surely be able to shine brilliantly in the competition.

He wanted to prove to the entire continent that his theories, his Ten Core Competencies of Spirits, were not just empty talk!

But now?

Twin spirits? A genius?

In front of those level eighty-nine Spirit Douluos, Tang San, a mere level thirty-something Spirit Elder, didn't even qualify as a joke!

He counted on his fingers: one, two, three, four, five.

His prized disciple was a full five major realms behind them!

Yu Xiaogang closed his eyes, and two lines of murky tears slid down his cheeks.

At this moment, he felt that his entire life had become a joke.

"In this lifetime... I'm afraid I'll never be able to prove myself..."