Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Rongrong!!!"
Watching her daughter on the screen, her face covered in blood as she writhed in pain on the ground, Ning Fengzhi let out a heart-wrenching scream.
"Pfft!!"
Overcome by rage and grief, Ning Fengzhi spewed blood once more and tumbled straight off the sect master's throne, hair disheveled.
"That's my Rongrong! The future of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"
"How could she not even beat a cat?!"
"Why was that world's cat so fast?"
"Why was its attack so powerful?!"
"How could our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda be like paper in front of that beast?!"
Sword Douluo Chen Xin's Seven Kill Sword was trembling violently in his hand. The eyes that were usually as still as an ancient well were now filled with helplessness.
"Fengzhi, don't watch anymore."
Bone Douluo turned away and wiped at his tears. "That world is full of monsters—"
"That Empress may be a woman from a mortal dynasty, but the aura around her is at least at the Soul Emperor level."
"If that cat were in the Star Dou Forest, it could probably hunt Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."
"Rongrong is a support-type soul master. She really is at a disadvantage there."
For a while, the disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could only stare in shock as their little princess, usually so high and mighty that even Titled Douluo doted on her, was treated like a monkey by a group of women and had her face clawed up by a cat.
So the so-called Upper Three Sects didn't even have the qualifications to be someone's pet in that higher-dimensional world. That depended on the owner's mood.
Meanwhile, in the Dagan imperial harem.
The imperial garden.
Ning Rongrong was still twitching on the ground, her blood staining the white gauze red.
"That's enough. Quit wailing like you're at a funeral. You're annoying."
The Empress frowned impatiently, then casually pulled a jade bottle from her sleeve. She tipped out a green pill that gave off a rich medicinal fragrance and tossed it into the dirt before Ning Rongrong as if feeding a dog.
"This is a Second Grade Healing Pill. Eat it."
"The Sect Master said you can't die, and you mustn't be left with a scar."
"Eat this pill and your face will heal right away. It'll even flush some impurities from your body, so you won't look sickly all the time. It's an eyesore."
Ning Rongrong lay on the ground, staring at the pill, now smeared with dirt.
Just one whiff of its medicinal fragrance was enough to soothe the burning pain of her wounds!
She recognized that aura!
On the Douluo Continent, only the most elite healing-type Soul Saints could produce a healing wave like that!
But here, it was just a pill casually tossed out by a mortal Empress?
"I'll eat it, I'll eat it—"
Trembling, Ning Rongrong reached out, picked up the pill, and stuffed it into her mouth along with the dirt and blood.
To survive—and, more importantly, to avoid being scarred—she had to eat it!
As soon as the pill entered her mouth, a vast surge of life energy swept through her entire body!
Before their eyes, the wounds on her face began to scab over and peel away, revealing skin even fairer and more tender than before.
Even her Soul Power, which had been drained by her injuries, surged in an instant!
Level thirty, level thirty-one, level thirty-two—
With just one Second Grade pill, not only were her injuries healed, she even broke through two levels!
"This—"
Ning Rongrong froze. She touched her unblemished face and felt the abundant power within her.
Utterly shocked, she raised her head toward the lofty Empress and thanked her. "Th-thank you for the reward, Your Majesty—"
The Empress looked down at her with satisfaction and smiled, then nudged her chin with the tip of her foot.
"That's more like it."
"When you're alive, you have to know your place."
"If you're going to be a dog, you have to act like one."
"Be obedient, and I have plenty more pills like this."
Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent.
If Ning Rongrong's beating had made everyone feel anger and heartache,
then seeing her curry favor for a pill, even enjoying her life as a pet, was something no one could bear to face.
"She knelt?"
At Shrek Academy, Oscar dropped to the ground, his eyes vacant. "Was that Rongrong? Was that the proud Little Demoness?"
"She actually rubbed herself against that woman's foot?"
"All for that pill?"
Even Tang San, standing nearby, looked grim, his voice hoarse:
--
"That pill was too potent."
"It healed her injuries instantly and increased her Soul Power."
"In that world, resources like that may only be used to feed pets."
"But here, it would be an enormous stroke of fortune."
"That kind of disparity is enough to shatter anyone's will."
"Ning Rongrong is completely ruined."
High above the Nine Heavens, in the Battle Through the Heavens Plane, stood the Heavenly Palace.
Clouds and mist swirled around the place, and immortal cranes flew through the air. Every paving stone was made from the finest spirit stones, and the spiritual energy in the air was so dense it nearly condensed into liquid raindrops.
A crisp sound of footsteps echoed through a corridor that seemed to have been carved from a single slab of astral white jade.
The Guide Venerable walked at the very front. Behind him followed a stunned Xiao Yan, along with a prison cart escorted by two Heavenly Palace Golden Armor Guards.
Inside the prison cart, Dai Mubai stared at the ground beneath his feet with his mismatched eyes wide open, drool running down his chin.
--
"Th-this floor—"
Dai Mubai tremblingly reached through the bars, trying to touch the tiles that gleamed with a warm luster.
Even from this close, he could feel a pure, concentrated energy surging straight into his mind!
"How is this just stone? It's clearly top-grade Soul Power crystal!"
"In the Star Luo Imperial Family, we only have a gemstone of this quality, the size of a thumb, set into the tip of my father's scepter!"
"But here, they use it to pave the floor?!"
Dai Mubai went crazy. Compared to this place, the palace he had once been so proud of was nothing but a pigsty!
"Don't act like you've never seen the world."
The Guide Venerable glanced casually at the prison cart behind him. "These are merely Spirit Gathering Stones used for paving. In the Heavenly Palace, they're the least valuable stones."
"If you make a fuss over even this, just wait until we enter the inner hall. Your eyes might pop right out of your head."
These words were also transmitted to the Douluo Continent through Dai Mubai's point of view.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Spirit Gathering Stones for paving?"
Ning Fengzhi had only just regained consciousness. Seeing the endless white jade corridor on the Sky Screen, stretching as far as the eye could see, he clutched his chest once more.
"Those are Spirit Gathering Stones? They're Soul Power amplification stones!"
"Our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has only one fist-sized object with the same effect in our treasury, and I've kept it on display!"
"And they use them to pave the road? They even say they're worthless?"
Beside him, Sword Douluo Chen Xin looked at the corridor, shook his head, and turned away, unable to bear watching any longer.
The Heavenly Palace, Medicine Garden Corridor.
The group continued onward.
Soon, an unusual medicinal fragrance that refreshed the mind and spirit wafted toward them.
Xiao Yan couldn't help taking a deep breath. With just one breath, the Dou Zhe bottleneck he'd only just broken through loosened again, and the Dou Qi in his body surged like a river!
--
"That smells wonderful! What is it?" Xiao Yan asked in shock.
"Oh, we've passed the Medicine Garden."
The Guide Venerable pointed toward a flowerbed beyond the corridor and said nonchalantly, "Those are all low-grade ornamental plants. They're usually used to feed the immortal cranes or give the Handyman disciples something to practice on."
At that, Xiao Yan and Dai Mubai instinctively turned to look.
The moment they did, both of them froze!
The so-called flowerbed was a dazzling sea of colors, with auspicious light streaming from it in countless rays.
On the left grew a plant shaped like a full moon, its crystal-clear petals giving off a faint fragrance.
On the right grew one that was entirely fiery red, as if burning with flames. The air around it was warped by heat.
Farther away, a small white flower had petals as snowy as its namesake, with a touch of crimson in the middle.
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