It seems I'm going to fall into his hands.

Only then did Lin Mo remember the matter Qian Renxue had interrupted.

"Oh, I wanted to find Grandpa Golden Crocodile and ask about the later stages of the Golden Family's body-tempering technique."

"Body tempering? Then I want to go too."

After hearing this, Qian Renxue thought for a moment. Apparently deciding that body tempering could make her stronger as well, she wanted to go with Lin Mo. Naturally, Lin Mo had no reason to refuse and nodded.

Thus, the two little ones headed over together.

Along the way, Qian Renxue chattered nonstop. Lin Mo's earlier words had clearly stirred up her enthusiasm for becoming stronger.

It was just hard to say how long that state of mind would last.

"Grandpa, Lin Mo and I are here."

The moment she entered the Enshrinement Hall, Qian Renxue saw Qian Daoliu standing with his back to them, gazing up at the Angel God statue.

Hearing Qian Renxue's voice, Qian Daoliu turned around in surprise and disbelief. Seeing Qian Renxue run happily into his arms, he was still somewhat dazed.

"Xue'er, did you miss Grandpa?"

Meanwhile, Lin Mo awkwardly scratched his head where he stood. After all, the person who had deceived his granddaughter was standing right in front of him.

"Mhm, I missed Grandpa."

"Why are you so happy today? Did you find out some surprising news?"

After some deliberation, Qian Daoliu finally voiced the question in his heart. Upon hearing it, Qian Renxue nodded vigorously.

Though Qian Daoliu showed nothing on his face, his heart sank. He thought Qian Xunji had secretly let Qian Renxue go see Bibi Dong.

Then Qian Renxue mysteriously leaned close to Qian Daoliu's ear and rattled off a whole stream of words.

The more she spoke, the brighter Qian Daoliu's eyes became. By the end, he burst into laughter and nodded repeatedly, praising Qian Renxue without hesitation.

"That's right. Only by becoming the Angel God can you save your mother. We truly are rather powerless."

Lin Mo, standing to the side, felt even more awkward. After all, he was the one who had started this lie. Yet judging by things now, Qian Daoliu seemed quite satisfied with it.

Upon hearing Qian Daoliu's words, Qian Renxue nodded sharply as well. After all, her grandfather's words were practically a final confirmation of Lin Mo's guess.

"I'll become the Angel God as soon as possible, then save my mother and remove the evil attribute from her martial soul."

When Qian Renxue said this, her little face was exceptionally serious, and fighting spirit blazed in her eyes.

"Mhm. Grandpa believes in you."

Qian Daoliu did not care whether this lie would be exposed in the future. He only hoped that Qian Renxue could use this drive to become the Angel God as soon as possible.

After all, the lie was not entirely wrong. Bibi Dong was clearly not in a normal state now, and it was very likely that she had been affected by her martial soul.

After all, the Bibi Dong of the past was no fool. She would never have done something like killing Lin Mo and Qian Renxue in the street.

"Um... Your Eminence, Grand Enshriner, is Grandpa Golden Crocodile here? I need to speak with him about something."

Though this was a joyful scene of grandfather and granddaughter reconciling and breaking the ice again, Lin Mo could not help interrupting. After all, he had come today to find Golden Crocodile Douluo.

"That's right, that's right. We need to find Grandpa Golden Crocodile and ask about his body-tempering technique."

Qian Renxue chimed in as well, her expression full of excitement and boundless drive.

Qian Daoliu raised his eyes to look at Lin Mo, his gaze brimming with teasing amusement. It made Lin Mo's scalp tingle, and he awkwardly turned his head away.

Perhaps considering Lin Mo's contribution in making up this lie, Qian Daoliu ultimately gave up on continuing to tease him with his gaze.

"All right. Your Grandpa Golden Crocodile is cultivating at the back mountain right now. He isn't in secluded cultivation today, so you can go find him."

"That's great! Yay! Grandpa, we'll be going now."

Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue jumped up excitedly. She quickly ran to Lin Mo's side, grabbed his hand, and dashed toward the back mountain.

"Hey, hey, slow down, slow down, Xue'er. Um, Your Eminence, Grand Enshriner, goodbye..."

The sound of his farewell drifted through the air and echoed for a long while. Qian Daoliu silently watched the two receding figures, and the trace of worry between his brows gradually eased.

He had originally been thinking about how to make Qian Renxue temporarily put aside matters concerning Bibi Dong. Unexpectedly, that little liar had already taken care of it.

And he seemed to have handled it quite well.

"Sigh, it seems Xue'er will fall into that brat's hands in this lifetime."

Qian Daoliu's words were filled with emotion, but he was not overly opposed to it. There was nothing wrong with being able to deceive people—it showed that the child had some cunning.

Besides, deceiving Xue'er was at least for Xue'er's sake. It could still be considered a well-intentioned lie.

Moreover, Qian Daoliu could tell that Xue'er was too pure-hearted. When she took charge of Spirit Hall in the future, she would very likely suffer for it. With such a shrewd right-hand man by her side, things would be much easier in the future.

"Grandpa Golden Crocodile, Grandpa Golden Crocodile!"

Golden Crocodile, who had been cultivating cross-legged, abruptly opened his eyes. He slowly rose to his feet and looked toward the direction from which the voice came at the foot of the mountain.

Looking closely, he saw that it was Qian Renxue and Lin Mo.

"Those two little ones are here. It seems Xue'er is in a much better mood."

Golden Crocodile, who was usually stern and unsmiling, could not help but curl his lips into a smile when he saw Lin Mo and Qian Renxue.

"Grandpa Golden Crocodile."

"Your Grace, Second Enshrined One."

"Mm, you two little ones are here. What do you need from me today?"

Lin Mo and Qian Renxue exchanged a glance, then spoke almost at the same time.

"Grandpa Golden Crocodile, I want to temper my body."

"Your Grace, Second Enshrined One, I want to ask about the later stages of the Golden Family's unique body-tempering cultivation method."

Golden Crocodile Douluo suddenly understood. So these two little ones had come for this today. He nodded and looked at them, unable to keep the satisfaction from showing in his eyes.

Having talent was not scary. What was scary was having talent and still working hard.

It was not as though Golden Crocodile Douluo had no descendants, but most of his children and grandchildren had failed to inherit his talent.

His son was the same age as Qian Xunji and was now only an eighty-seventh-rank Soul Douluo, serving in the Angel Legion.

As for his grandsons, there was even less to say. Their talents were mediocre, each worse than the last. The best among them had only possessed seventh-rank innate soul power.

Even if they could become Titled Douluo, they would likely only be among the weakest, utterly incapable of restoring the Golden Family's former prestige.

"Since you two little ones want to learn, I'll teach you today."

"Follow me."

After saying that, Golden Crocodile Douluo headed toward the depths of the forest behind the mountain. Lin Mo and Qian Renxue exchanged another glance before hurrying after him.

The mountain behind the Enshrinement Hall was actually an enormous soul beast forest. Most of the soul beasts within were hundred-year or thousand-year soul beasts, while ten-thousand-year soul beasts were quite rare.

However, the rarity of the soul beasts inside was far beyond what any ordinary artificial forest could compare to.

They followed Golden Crocodile Douluo, encountering no danger along the way. After all, he had already released his aura, and those hundred-year and thousand-year soul beasts did not dare approach.

At last, they arrived at an open lake. Its water was crystal clear, shimmering with rippling light. The more Lin Mo looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.

As if confirming his thoughts, Golden Crocodile Douluo slowly spoke.

"This place was built as an exact one-to-one replica of the Lake of Life in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest."