Three Factions

Li Hanche looked at Ning Rongrong's excited little face, her mind utterly swept away by the thrill of shopping.

He felt that bringing this little rich girl shopping was practically handing out year-end bonuses to every crooked merchant in Heaven Dou City.

The sky gradually darkened.

Sword Douluo and Ning Fengzhi had not returned since going to the palace. They had only sent a servant with word that they would be staying overnight in the palace, and that Ning Rongrong should return to the villa with Li Hanche first.

After hearing the message, Ning Rongrong clapped her hands excitedly, turned around, and headed toward the villa with light, quick steps.

"Hey! I'll take you back to the sect!"

"I said I'm staying at your place! Grandpa Sword and Father are both at the palace—what would I do going back alone? That huge sect would be completely empty, and there wouldn't even be anyone to talk to. Don't you have two servant sisters at your house? I can chat with them!"

Li Hanche looked at her utterly self-righteous expression and said helplessly, "Let's make this clear first. You make your own bed and fetch your own washing water. No one will wait on you."

"Got it, got it! Damn Li Hanche, you're more nagging than my father."

Li Hanche: "..."

The Imperial Study was brightly lit.

Emperor Xue Ye sat in the seat of honor, his fingers tapping intermittently against the armrest of the dragon throne.

Ever since Xue Qinghe had begun handling state affairs in his stead, it had been a long time since he had remained in the Imperial Study at this hour.

But today's matter was worth making an exception for.

Sword Douluo Chen Xin sat at the head of the guest seats, while Ning Fengzhi sat opposite him, with Xue Qinghe beside them.

"Spirit-Concentrating Jade Marrow."

Emperor Xue Ye spoke first, his aged voice still full and resonant.

"I recall that there is still a piece in the imperial treasury. Worn on the body, it can continuously nourish the sea of consciousness and provide a certain buffering effect against external spiritual attacks."

Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly.

"Though Spirit-Concentrating Jade Marrow is good, it can only be worn on the body. It is passive defense."

Sword Douluo Chen Xin spoke unhurriedly, as though discussing a technical matter.

"Against the soul attack of a ten-thousand-year soul beast, passive defense alone is not enough. This old man would rather find something that can directly increase the strength of one's spiritual power, such as the Nine-Jointed Spirit-Nurturing Bamboo."

Ning Fengzhi froze slightly.

"The Nine-Jointed Spirit-Nurturing Bamboo? That thing exists only in legends. Each bamboo joint contains a drop of innate spirit-nurturing liquid, and consuming it directly can permanently increase spiritual power. But no record has ever documented where it grows. It has never even appeared in an auction house catalogue."

"There is one. When this old man was young, I saw one within the Star Luo Empire. I roughly remember the location. This old man will make the trip personally."

Emperor Xue Ye fell silent for a moment.

"The Spirit-Concentrating Jade Marrow in the imperial treasury shall be kept for that child."

His finger struck heavily against the dragon throne's armrest.

"That child is from Heaven Dou City. His first soul ring was the first in a thousand years, he broke through Rank 20 at seven, and over the years he has won no small amount of face for the empire."

"One piece of stone is still within my authority to grant. As for the Nine-Jointed Spirit-Nurturing Bamboo, I will have to rely on Sect Master Ning and Your Excellency Chen Xin."

Ning Fengzhi nodded.

"It is all for Hanche. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Heaven Dou Empire have always been inseparable."

He raised his teacup and took a sip.

With all three factions nodding their agreement, the matter was settled.

The Crown Prince's bedchamber.

Xue Qinghe sat alone before his desk.

He was thinking about Li Hanche.

That child they had picked up from the Martial Soul Temple should originally have belonged to Spirit Hall, yet Xue Qinghe had gotten there first and snatched him away.

For two years, the boy had called him Big Brother, going from cautious at the beginning to blurting it out as naturally as breathing now.

At the academy, he had spread the word that every teacher and student had to lower their heads upon seeing him, or he would invite a teacher to test their sword.

Even after being expelled, he had not been in the least anxious. With one leg crossed over the other, he had told Xue Qinghe that he would go to an advanced academy and beat up every student there too.

Two years ago, he could barely stand steady in the Far North and had been sent flying by a single swipe of an Ice-Armored Dire Bear's paw. Now, he could grit his teeth and hold out beneath Sword Douluo Chen Xin's Soul King pressure, then spit blood and ask whether he could withstand a ten-thousand-year soul ring.

He broke through Rank 20 at seven, and his first soul ring was two thousand one hundred years old.

At eight, he declared that his second soul ring would be ten thousand years old. No—more accurately, he had said it at six.

There was not a second one like him in the entire Douluo Continent.

A head soul bone.

One that was ten thousand years old. Only that could truly bring about a qualitative transformation in spiritual power.

The Heaven Dou Empire could provide Spirit-Concentrating Jade Marrow, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could offer the Nine-Jointed Spirit-Nurturing Bamboo. They were all good things, but at the end of the day, they were external aids.

External things could assist, but they could not treat the root cause.

To make spiritual power truly strong enough to withstand the soul impact of a ten-thousand-year soul beast head-on, he needed something capable of fundamentally changing the nature of spiritual power.

Among the people he knew, the only one qualified to produce such an item was Spirit Hall's Grand Consecrator, the ninety-ninth-rank Ultimate Douluo Qian Daoliu—his grandfather.

Of course, that woman could not be allowed to find out about this.

If that woman saw him asking for a soul bone on behalf of a Heaven Dou Empire genius, she would probably be very displeased.

But Grandfather was different. Grandfather did not care about the state of the continent; he only cared about what his granddaughter wanted.

A genius who could challenge opponents above his rank, whose first soul ring had been two thousand one hundred years old at the age of six, who had taken Chen Xin, the Sword Douluo, as his master, and who had endured a Soul King's pressure from a Titled Douluo at the age of eight.

If Grandfather learned that such a child was being nurtured by Qian Renxue, he would only be delighted.

Most importantly, it was a head soul bone more than ten thousand years old.

This was not some commonplace hundred- or thousand-year trinket.

Only Spirit Hall's deep foundations, only her grandfather Qian Daoliu, could possibly produce one without asking why or what price had to be paid once she made the request.

She put brush to paper.

The letter was simple: she greeted her grandfather, then got straight to the point.

She did not conceal any information about Li Hanche.

What he had done over the past two years, what he intended to do next—she wrote it all down on the paper.

"Uncle Snake, deliver this to my grandfather. This letter is important. Make sure you place it personally in his hands."

Snake Spear Douluo appeared soundlessly in the room, accepted it with both hands, and did not ask why.

The young lady's orders had never required a reason.

He tucked the letter close against his body, then vanished into the night with a flicker of his figure.

Heaven Dou City, villa.

Li Hanche sat cross-legged on the carpet, holding a handful of dice.

Ning Rongrong sat across from him, Qingluo on his left, Baiwei on his right. A low table stood between the four of them, with a deck of cards spread across it and several scattered dice.

"Three sixes. Triplets. I take all."

Li Hanche set the dice cup on the table and reached for the copper coins on its surface.

Ning Rongrong slapped a hand over his.

"You cheated! I clearly saw one of your dice fall out while you were shaking the cup!"

"That was your illusion. Junior, if you can't afford to lose, just say so. I'll give you a discount."

"Who's your junior? Who can't afford to lose? Again!"

Qingluo and Baiwei exchanged a glance, both seeing amusement in the other's eyes.

These two children had bickered all the way from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to Heaven Dou City, and even after two years, they still had not had enough.

The table was piled with the spoils Ning Rongrong had bought while shopping that day.

What Li Hanche did not know was that, at this very moment, three different forces were making preparations for his second soul ring.

All he knew was that when he lifted the cup's cover tonight, it would be another night of sweeping all before him.