"Xian'er has a point."
Qian Renxue replied through a voice transmission.
She slowly raised her slender hand and pressed it against her golden mask.
At the same time, she flicked the fingers of her other hand. A gentle golden light brushed She Xian's cheek, removing his mask.
"Dugu Bo, raise your head."
Qian Renxue's noble, authoritative voice echoed through the valley, utterly devoid of warmth.
Dugu Bo, sprawled on the ground, trembled all over and cautiously raised his head.
As the masks fell away,
a peerless beauty, breathtaking enough to dazzle the entire Douluo Continent, was revealed without reservation in the shifting light and shadow of the valley.
Innate nobility and sanctity flowed between her brows.
Her exquisite beauty was edged with a frost so severe it warned all strangers away, like a deity looking down upon all living things.
Standing beside her was the unmasked young man, She Xian.
His handsome features were just beginning to sharpen, and a carefree smile played at the corner of his mouth.
His presence made a striking contrast with Qian Renxue's sacred, untouchable aura.
Dugu Bo's emerald snake eyes widened, and even his breathing stopped.
What a beautiful woman!
What a handsome young lad!
"Take a good look at my face, young master of Spirit Hall."
Qian Renxue looked down at Dugu Bo coldly as the sacred Angel Soul Power faintly radiated from her.
"I am Qian Renxue, the young master of Spirit Hall."
The young master of Spirit Hall?
Dugu Bo's thoughts churned like a storm.
Since when did Spirit Hall have a young master?
Before Dugu Bo could recover from his shock, golden light suddenly blazed around Qian Renxue!
Strange Soul Power surged over her body like waves, and her tall, graceful figure began to twist and reshape in a bizarre transformation.
Her waterfall of golden hair rapidly lost its color.
Her exquisite feminine features shifted and reformed amid the light, while her bones gave the faintest sounds of snapping out of place.
In the blink of an eye,
the noble and sacred young master of Spirit Hall, Qian Renxue, was gone.
In her place stood a young man dressed in the splendid robes of the Heaven Dou Empire's Crown Prince, gentle as jade and smiling amiably!
The current Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire—Snow Qinghe!
"Look again... Do you recognize this face?"
"Snow Qinghe" spoke slowly. His voice was no longer Qian Renxue's cool, mature tone, but the voice of a man Dugu Bo had heard before.
"Thud!"
Dugu Bo's body, which had been kneeling on one knee, tipped backward. He landed on his backside in a heap of rubble!
His eyes were stretched wide, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks, and his mouth gaped wide enough to swallow a fist. His expression was a sight to behold!
"Y-Your Highness?"
He had seen the Heaven Dou Crown Prince, Snow Qinghe, when he was with Prince Xue Xing. There was no way he could forget that face.
Snow Qinghe was Qian Renxue?
Qian Renxue was Snow Qinghe?
W-what on earth was going on?!
A thunderclap weighing ten thousand jin seemed to crash down in Old Poison's mind, plunging him into boundless confusion and collapse.
Who was impersonating whom?
Had the Heaven Dou Crown Prince infiltrated Spirit Hall?
Or had the young master of Spirit Hall become the Heaven Dou Crown Prince?
Logic crashed against itself in his mind.
Dugu Bo turned his stiff neck and looked at She Long and Ci Xue, standing behind "Snow Qinghe."
The two renowned Titled Douluos stood there with their arms crossed, their faces expressionless.
Yet their eyes held the utmost reverence for this "Your Highness."
They didn't seem surprised by any of this.
Dugu Bo understood it all at once.
The Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Family couldn't possibly have Titled Douluos.
She Long and Ci Xue had to belong to Spirit Hall.
And the Heaven Dou Empire couldn't possibly command Titled Douluos from Spirit Hall!
That left only one possibility.
The young master of Spirit Hall had infiltrated the Heaven Dou Empire!
A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of Dugu Bo's feet straight to the crown of his head!
He understood!
He finally understood!
The real Snow Qinghe had likely long since turned to dry bones.
The one sitting in the position of power, second only to one and above ten thousand, was not Crown Prince Snow Qinghe at all, but this terrifying young master of Spirit Hall!
The current Emperor Xue Ye was advanced in years.
The moment he passed away, Snow Qinghe would inherit the throne.
In the blink of an eye, the vast Heaven Dou Empire would change its name to Qian!
What a terrifying conspiracy!
This was no ordinary struggle between factions.
It was a long-planned scheme to steal an empire, with the whole realm toyed with in the palm of one's hand!
The valley fell silent, save for the suffocating pressure spreading through it like death.
Dugu Bo was drenched in cold sweat, trembling like a sieve.
He had thought he'd merely offended a heavyweight from Spirit Hall and been forcibly subdued into becoming a hired hand.
Only now did he realize he was standing atop a supervolcano that could swallow the entire Douluo Continent at any moment!
He knew a world-shaking secret.
If even a single word of it got out, not only would he be doomed—no one would be able to protect him or his granddaughter!
"Gulp!"
Dugu Bo struggled to swallow.
He immediately sprawled on the ground and slammed his head down again, his voice thick with boundless awe and fear.
"This old man... Your subordinate, Dugu Bo, pays his respects to the young master! Greetings, Your Highness!"
"This old man saw nothing and heard nothing today. I wouldn't dare reveal even the slightest hint of this secret!"
"If I ever go back on my word, I willingly submit to the agony of ten thousand poisons piercing my heart!"
Qian Renxue looked down at him. A warm, trademark Snow Qinghe smile curled her lips, but her eyes were cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
"Dugu Bo, there's no need to be so nervous."
"If you do your job well, I naturally won't treat you poorly."
"You'll remain the master of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Understand?"
"Your subordinate understands! I swear my life to your service!"
Dugu Bo answered loudly, his joints gone weak.
Qian Renxue had just regained her appearance and put her mask back on when she glanced at She Xian and suddenly noticed something was off.
"Xian'er, your Soul Power..."
Qian Renxue hurried over to She Xian and gently placed her slender hand on the boy's shoulder.
As she focused her senses, astonishment surfaced in her eyes, again and again.
"Level twenty-four? You've advanced to Soul Grandmaster?"
Qian Renxue's brows knitted together, her tone full of confusion.
By all rights, for a Soul Master to advance in rank, they had to hunt a Soul Beast and absorb its Soul Ring.
But she knew perfectly well that she, She Long, and Elder Ci Xue had just been refining Immortal Herbs. They hadn't taken this silly boy out to hunt even a single Soul Beast.
Without a Soul Ring, how could he possibly cross the level-twenty threshold and shoot straight up to level twenty-four?
"Teacher, don't worry. I advanced to Soul Grandmaster normally."
She Xian's thoughts stirred.
"Hiss!"
At the sound of a clear, soothing snake cry, the phantom of the White Snake Martial Soul flickered into view behind him.
Two purple Soul Rings rested beneath his feet.
"Xian'er, what on earth happened?"
Qian Renxue held back her astonishment, her eyes fixed on his Second Soul Ring.
"Where did your Second Soul Ring come from? Which Soul Beast did it come from?"
"Teacher, this Soul Ring didn't come from a Soul Beast. It came from an Immortal Herb.
She Xian pointed to the White Snake phantom behind him and explained with a grin, "Xiao Bai just completely absorbed and devoured that extremely cold Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass."
"The Immortal Herb contained an immense amount of heaven-and-earth essence. Xiao Bai used the herb's original energy as a foundation and condensed this Second Soul Ring for me. It's about six thousand years old."
"An Immortal Herb... can actually condense a Soul Ring?!"
Qian Renxue, She Long, and Ci Xue all gasped.
No killing, no Soul Beasts—could one really form a Soul Ring out of thin air by devouring a heavenly spirit herb?
This had completely upended the entire Douluo Continent's understanding of how Soul Masters cultivated!
Before you continue