A near-fanatical light flashed in Qian Daoliu's eyes. "You are a descendant of the Angel God, with the purest divine blood flowing through your veins. He is the Sea God Inheritor, destined to ascend to godhood. Both of you are chosen by the gods! What kind of being would your children become if you joined together? They would possess an unprecedented divine bloodline, inheriting both the Angel's and the sea's divine powers! Their talents and future would be limitless! This is not only for Spirit Hall, but also for the continuation and exaltation of the Angel Clan's bloodline!"
"Fourth, when it comes to Spirit Hall's grand ambition of unifying the continent, an alliance by marriage with Sea God Island is the choice with the lowest cost and the greatest gain. Sea God Island has Bo Saixi, a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo, as well as the Seven Sacred Pillars' guardians—eight Titled Douluo in all! If that force could be ours, who on the continent could stand in our way? Tiandou, the Star Luo Empire, and even the Upper Three Sects would all be powerless before the combined might of two divine-level forces! This would spare us countless sacrifices and let us achieve unification all the sooner!"
Qian Daoliu laid out four points in one breath, each one ringing with conviction and brimming with temptation and persuasive power.
He watched his granddaughter's expression shift again and again, and knew he had managed to sway her somewhat.
At last, he sighed and adopted the faintly aggrieved tone of an elder, bringing out his fifth point—the most heart-wrenching one of all:
"Fifth, and most important of all... Xiao Xue, you know you're already twenty-one."
Qian Renxue: "...?"
"Ordinary women your age are already wives, and some are even mothers."
Qian Daoliu spoke earnestly, with a trace of worry in his voice. "You spend your days in hiding, scheming, and cultivating, while the most important matter of your life has kept getting put off. Your grandfather is getting old. I only hope that in my lifetime, I can see you find a good home and see the Qian Family flourish and carry on its bloodline. If you keep putting it off like this, then when I... when I go below, how will I face the ancestors of the Qian Family?"
As he spoke, Qian Daoliu even raised a hand and dabbed at the nonexistent tears in the corner of his eye with his sleeve.
Qian Renxue: "..."
Looking at her grandfather, usually so stern and imposing, almost like a deity, now putting on the pitiful act of a lonely old man longing for a granddaughter-in-law, she felt her resistance, anger, and hurt give way in an instant to an overwhelming sense of absurdity and deep helplessness.
She parted her lips, only to find her throat seemed clogged by something. Not a word would come out.
Each of her grandfather's reasons was like a heavy boulder weighing on her heart.
From interests to the future, then to family affection... he had all but blocked every path she might take to argue against him.
Was she really supposed to accept this absurd marriage alliance, with a nine-year age gap?
Qian Renxue gazed at the enormous Angel Statue beneath the dome of the Worship Hall. Her violet eyes were filled with confusion and inner turmoil, along with a trace of curiosity about that mysterious Sea God Inheritor—something she herself hadn't even noticed.
The Worship Hall was silent, with only her slightly hurried breathing echoing softly through the vast chamber.
The gentle light spilling from the Angel God Statue made her exquisite profile seem a little hazy.
After a long while, she finally let out a soft, drawn-out sigh, as though breathing out all the conflict and helplessness in her chest.
She raised her violet eyes to Qian Daoliu. The shock and resistance she had first shown were gone, replaced by deep exhaustion and a faint, barely perceptible trace of compromise.
"Grandfather..."
Her voice was a little hoarse as she spoke softly. "Even if you and Sea God Island both agree to this marriage, what about the Sea God Inheritor himself, that boy named Li Qing? Is he willing to... marry a stranger nine years older than him? Perhaps you don't care about the age difference, but for the two of us involved, it isn't something we can simply ignore. He's only twelve years old. What he thinks matters too."
Qian Daoliu saw the pride and reserve of a young woman in his granddaughter's eyes, along with her instinctive resistance to having her fate decided for her. He felt both comforted and helpless.
His tone softened as he explained, "You needn't worry too much about that. Since Bo Saixi has already agreed, given her status and character, she will surely handle things properly. She'll guide that child and help him understand the significance of this marriage. Besides..."
He paused, his tone carrying a note of certainty. "It has been a long time since the Sea God agreed to the marriage alliance six years ago. If the boy were strongly opposed, or if Bo Saixi couldn't persuade him, given Sea God Island's way of doing things, they would surely have sent word long ago to decline. Since we haven't heard a thing to this day, it means this hasn't caused any irreconcilable conflict within Sea God Island—or at least, not with that boy. Perhaps he himself doesn't object."
At that, Qian Renxue's brows remained tightly furrowed.
It wasn't that she doubted Bo Saixi's abilities or her grandfather's judgment. It was just that entrusting her lifelong happiness to the speculation that a boy she had never met might not object made her feel deeply uneasy and powerless.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Qian Renxue was the Saintess of Spirit Hall and its most legitimate heir.
With the Angel Bloodline and the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, she stood alone on the entire Douluo Continent when it came to background and talent.
At this thought, she fell silent once more.
A moment later, her slender fingers unconsciously tightened around her sleeve. In the end, she shook her head resolutely and looked straight at Qian Daoliu, her gaze regaining its usual cool sharpness and the decisiveness befitting Spirit Hall's Saintess. "Grandfather, I understand your good intentions, and I know the enormous benefits an alliance by marriage could bring. But my marriage is ultimately my own affair. I hope... at the very least, I can have some say in this matter. I don't want to be sent off so casually, like a bargaining chip or a gift."
Her voice was quiet, yet every word was clear and carried an undeniable strength. "As for cooperating with Sea God Island, I believe we can do it another way. For example, we could establish a defensive alliance, pledge not to invade each other, share intelligence, and even stand together in certain major matters. We can achieve all that through negotiations. There's no need to bind ourselves together through marriage—the closest, yet also least controllable, kind of arrangement. I believe that with enough shared interests, our cooperation can be just as solid."
Qian Daoliu looked at his granddaughter's stubborn gaze, feeling even more helpless.
He knew that although Qian Renxue seemed cool and aloof, she was deeply proud and independent. When it came to major decisions about her own fate, she had a mind of her own that was beyond ordinary.
Forcing her would only backfire.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten him to agree to let her take part in that so-called Nation-Stealing Plan in the first place.
Before you continue