Fleeting Time

Spirit City, Pope's Palace.

Qian Xunji listened to Bibi Dong's report on the operation to eliminate the Evil Soul Master Yu Xiaogang, his expression calm.

After Bibi Dong finished speaking, he suddenly asked, "Dong Er, what do you think of Ling Yi?"

"Master Ling?" Bibi Dong froze at the question, a hint of confusion appearing on her exquisite face.

Nearly 30 Years Old, Bibi Dong was still the Saintess of Spirit Hall, revered and beloved by all. Having never experienced darkness or visited Slaughter City, even though she had pursued Evil Soul Masters for years, she still carried a measure of innocence and purity before her respected teacher, Qian Xunji.

After a brief silence, Bibi Dong said to the lofty Qian Xunji, "Though Master Ling came from humble origins, and his former talent was difficult to describe, he has now attained the strength of a Soul Douluo before reaching forty. His cultivation speed is in no way inferior to Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect, and his research into martial soul theory can be called unmatched in ten thousand years!"

"Furthermore, Master Ling excels at matters of livelihood and economics. He turned a barren little town into one of the foremost great cities on Douluo Continent, rivaling Heaven Dou City and Star Luo City!"

As she said this, an unmistakable gleam shone in Bibi Dong's starry eyes.

Yet Qian Xunji, always imposing and aloof, did not grow angry at Bibi Dong's display.

Suddenly, Qian Xunji asked, "If we invited him to join Spirit Hall, do you think he would agree?"

"Ah?" Bibi Dong raised her delicate hand to cover her lips, looking at Qian Xunji in surprise.

"Mm, no rush."

Qian Xunji first shook his head, then slowly said as he thought, "I intend to select a new site and rebuild Spirit City. Once the new city is complete, you will invite him to attend the ceremony. We can raise the matter then..."

Within the Star Luo Empire, Clear Sky Sect.

"Father, Big Brother, I'm back—"

With a ribbon tied around his head and his short hair fluttering freely, Tang Hao strode into the sect's main hall. He nodded in greeting to his father, Quake Sky Douluo Tang Zhen, seated at the head, and his elder brother, Howl Sky Douluo Tang Xiao, below him.

"Cough, cough—"

Tang Zhen coughed several times before speaking. Only then did he nod to Tang Hao before him and ask, "How did it go? Was Yu Xiaogang successfully executed?"

"Father," Tang Hao replied respectfully, "Yu Xiaogang has already died on a solitary mountain at the outskirts of Lost Trace Grand Canyon."

"Mm." Tang Zhen snorted softly, an unreadable glint flashing through his eyes. "That old brat Yu Yuanzhen is probably having a hard time this time."

After a pause, Tang Zhen continued, "Next, cultivate properly within the sect and strive to reach Level 90 as soon as possible. When the time comes, your elder brother and I will accompany you to Lost Trace Grand Canyon. We will certainly hunt a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast for you!"

"Hao Er." Tang Zhen fixed Tang Hao with a blazing gaze. "Your grandfather named you Hao because he hoped you could inherit his title of Clear Sky Douluo. Do not disappoint your grandfather or me—cough! Cough, cough, cough—!"

Perhaps his emotions had grown too intense as he spoke, but Tang Zhen suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit.

"Father!"

"Father—!"

The brothers Tang Xiao and Tang Hao immediately stepped forward to Tang Zhen's side, watching him anxiously.

"Huff—huff, huff—"

His chest heaving like a bellows, Tang Zhen slowly recovered. He took a jade bottle from the Storage Soul Tool at his waist, poured out two brown pills that emitted a strange fragrance, tossed them into his mouth, and closed his eyes as he swallowed them.

A moment later, Tang Zhen opened his eyes again. The blood-red flush brought on by his violent coughing had faded from his face.

Seeing this, Tang Xiao first sighed in relief, then asked with concern, "Father, should we make another trip to Lingyun City and have Master Ling treat you again?"

"Exactly." Tang Hao chimed in. "The effects of these pills made by the Yang family seem to be getting weaker and weaker. We should go to Lingyun City and find Master Ling..."

"After Master Ling treated you two years ago, he also said that this illness was caused by old internal injuries. Unless he breaks through to become a Titled Douluo and can cure it in one go, he can only treat you at intervals to maintain your condition."

"No rush."

Listening to his two sons' advice, Tang Zhen shook his head. "That lad is good at everything, except his temperament is far too soft!"

"With his control over Lingyun City's special environment, everything is right under his nose."

"But his place is like a sieve—there are all kinds of people there. If I go too often, my condition will likely find its way into the hands of every major power on the continent before long..."

"Unfortunately, only the environment Master Ling created in Lingyun City can provide Father with sufficient therapeutic results." Tang Xiao said helplessly, "Otherwise, how wonderful it would be to bring Master Ling to Clear Sky Sect and have him treat you here..."

"Enough." Tang Zhen waved a hand and said freely, "As long as you two brothers can uphold the name of Clear Sky Sect, and I can give your grandfather an account, whether this injury is treated or not is no great matter..."

Lingyun City stood at the edge of a tributary of the Heaven Spirit Mountain Range.

The small mountain range, a thousand meters high and stretching nearly twenty li, lay between the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, and the Star Dou Great Forest.

In the City Lord Manor's rear courtyard, within a small house formed entirely from countless intertwined Blue Silver Grass stalks.

Gently pushing aside the jade arms, soft hands, fair legs, and delicate feet draped over him, Ling Yi rose from the bed and walked out of the small house in a robe.

After several leaps, he arrived at the cliff behind the City Lord Manor. Facing the crosswind blowing from the distant forest, his long hair and robe sash whipped about, giving Ling Yi the feeling of floating like an immortal.

Almost forty years...

Ling Yi looked up at the faintly visible Morning Star, and a wave of melancholy suddenly rose in his heart.

Ordinarily, the moment such useless emotions appeared, Ling Yi would have cut them off.

But now, Ling Yi allowed his thoughts to run wild.

For on this Douluo Continent, where the plot had been utterly thrown into disarray by the flutter of his butterfly wings, his fortieth Birthday was about to arrive.

The birthday was not the key. What mattered was that this birthday fell in Douluo Calendar 2631.

I wonder whether he would continue to be reborn, or disappear from the current Timeline like Qian Renxue did?

Ling Yi turned back to look at the small house within City Lord Manor, his gaze seeming to pierce through to the figure with flowing Blue Silver hair lying naked inside.

Turning back, Ling Yi watched the great sun gradually rise over the Eastern Horizon and murmured, "Almost forty years..."

As his voice fell, he closed his eyes. With a thought, faint pale-blue ripples spread outward from Ling Yi's body, too subtle to detect.

All around him, countless Blue Silver Grass plants swayed their leaves, responding to something.

In an instant, everything within dozens of li entered Ling Yi's mind.

Dozens of li were not the limit. The frequency, like waves of sunlight, continued extending outward.

A hundred li... a thousand li... ten thousand li... a hundred thousand li—!!!

At last, the land beneath his feet became a sphere, appearing within Ling Yi's mind.

His consciousness stood amid the endless, dark, freezing, violent void of chaos, looking down upon the sphere whose two-thirds radiated a deep azure glow. Ling Yi's will transformed into the will of heaven:

Whether you come or not, this world will ultimately be different because of me.

"And now, on the Douluo Continent, I, Ling Yi, have the final say—!"