Return to Heaven Dou

Three days later, Tianlin bid farewell to Rongrong, Chen Xin, and the others, then returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy once more.

He should have left two days earlier, but Ning Rongrong had cried and refused to let him go, so Tianlin had no choice but to stay with her for another two days.

After returning to Heaven Dou City, Tianlin did not go straight to the Royal Academy. Instead, he headed for the imperial palace to inform Xue Qinghe that he had returned.

Though she was disguised as a man, she still had the heart of a woman. Her feminine pettiness was displayed to the fullest. If he did not visit her the moment he returned, she would surely hold it against him for a long time afterward.

Thanks to the Crown Prince Token, Tianlin could enter the East Palace without reporting in. It was noon, which should have been lunchtime, yet Xue Qinghe was still handling government affairs. It could not be helped—he had to maintain the image of a diligent Crown Prince at all times.

Because of this, many ministers whose stances had once been unclear had begun to favor him. After all, only he and Xue Beng remained among the princes. If they did not choose him, were they supposed to choose Prince Xue Beng, who was famous for being a wastrel and a bully?

"Your Highness, Young Master Tianlin has arrived!" a maid whispered into Xue Qinghe's ear.

Since Tianlin had visited many times, everyone in the East Palace already knew him. They knew that Tianlin was, more or less, the Crown Prince's junior fellow disciple and also his close friend.

"Xiao Tian, you're back!" Xue Qinghe put down the documents in his hand, rose to his feet, and said joyfully.

"Yes, Brother Xue. I successfully obtained my second Soul Ring. I only returned today, so I came specifically to pay my respects to you," Tianlin replied with impeccable politeness, which instead made Xue Qinghe somewhat dissatisfied.

"Xiao Tian, I've told you many times. You don't need to be so formal when you come here. Just relax." Xue Qinghe then ordered the palace maids, "All of you, leave. I want to catch up with my junior fellow disciple."

She thought Tianlin was only acting this way because there were too many outsiders around.

In truth, Tianlin genuinely did not want to become too close to Xue Qinghe. After spending so much time with her, he had found that she truly was an incredibly charming person. If she returned to her appearance as Qian Renxue, she would probably be even more devastatingly captivating.

Unfortunately, they were destined to be enemies. If they became too intimate, Tianlin feared that one day he might be unable to bring himself to kill her. And then, the one who died would be him.

Their current relationship was just right. They remained in contact while maintaining a certain distance. She used Heaven Snow Power to accelerate his cultivation, while he used the Nüwa Emperor Meditation Method to help purify her Soul Power. Neither owed the other anything. Even if the truth was exposed in the future, her killing him would not be ungrateful, nor would his killing her be disloyal.

"By the way, Xiao Tian, can you let Brother Xue see your second Soul Ring?" Xue Qinghe walked over to Tianlin and asked. What she cared about most was Tianlin's cultivation. The stronger Tianlin became, the stronger Heaven Snow Power would become.

Once Tianlin reached her level, the speed of their cultivation would increase severalfold. Perhaps before long, she could return to Spirit Hall and take the position of Pope back from that woman.

"Alright!" Tianlin nodded. He would not reveal things that could be concealed, such as his Second Spirit and External Soul Bone. But as for his second Soul Ring, even if he wanted to hide it, he could not. It was impossible not to use it in battle.

Thus, as the Demon Sword was summoned, one yellow and one purple Soul Ring slowly rose around him.

"Purple... a thousand-year Soul Ring!" Xue Qinghe was shocked. Hunting a thousand-year Soul Beast for his second Soul Ring—even she would not have dared to do such a thing.

"Yes, Brother Xue. My second Soul Ring came from a thousand-year Purple Fire Golden Eyes Beast."

"That was far too reckless! How could Sword Douluo have allowed you to do something so dangerous?" Xue Qinghe immediately grew angry. She did not know that Tianlin possessed a Second Spirit, so his reckless action filled her with lingering fear.

She... was worried about me? Tianlin froze slightly. He could sense that Xue Qinghe had truly been angry just now, and that anger had arisen from concern. Could it be that, in her eyes, he was more than just a cultivation cheat?

"Brother Xue, I'm fine, so don't worry. Ever since awakening my spirit, my body has grown tougher by the day. Even when I absorbed a thousand-year Soul Ring, I did not feel much pain," Tianlin unconsciously began to comfort Xue Qinghe.

One was seven or eight years old, while the other was seventeen or eighteen, separated by roughly ten years. Yet at that moment, it looked like a younger brother was comforting his elder brother.

Xue Qinghe smiled. "Forget it. As long as you're fine, that's enough. Xiao Tian, promise your brother that you will never do something so dangerous again."

"This time, you were lucky. Your Soul Ring is only a light purple, so it should have only just passed a thousand years. Besides, the Purple Fire Golden Eyes Beast itself is not a particularly powerful Soul Beast. It was only because of all those factors that you safely survived the danger. You may not be so lucky next time, understand?"

"Don't worry. I promise I won't do it again!" Tianlin solemnly promised in order to reassure her, though he definitely had no intention of keeping that promise.

If he wanted to grow stronger, absorbing Soul Rings beyond his level was the fastest path available to him.

Only after hearing Tianlin's promise did Xue Qinghe completely let go of her anger. She kept Tianlin in the East Palace for lunch, and then the two cultivated together with Heaven Snow Power for another two hours before Tianlin took his leave.

During their cultivation, Xue Qinghe noticed that Tianlin's Soul Power had already reached the peak of rank twenty-two and was about to break through to rank twenty-three. As expected of a thousand-year Soul Ring, its boost to him was truly immense.

"With Xiao Tian's cultivation speed, catching up to me is only a matter of time. I'm really looking forward to seeing how powerful the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of our two Divine Spirits will be then." Watching Tianlin's departing figure, Xue Qinghe revealed an expectant smile.

By the time Tianlin returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy, dusk was approaching. He headed straight for the training grounds. The nobles of Heaven Dou Royal Academy might find the tedious training unbearable and head off early to enjoy the nightlife.

But his friends would not. They had an incomparable desire to grow stronger. Unless they trained until the sun went down, they would never return.

Sure enough, when he arrived at the training grounds, Teacher Qin Ming was leading them through practical combat drills.

The Shi Brothers were paired against the couple, Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan.

"First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"

Yu Tianheng gathered lightning in his palm and struck at Shi Mo, the elder of the Shi Brothers.

"Hehe, First Soul Skill, Black Tortoise Shield!"

Shi Mo did not move in the slightest. The Black Tortoise Turtle truly deserved to be called a top-tier defensive Beast Spirit. Even a powerful Beast Spirit like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon could not shake Shi Mo in the least. Not only did Yu Tianheng fail to break through Shi Mo's defense, he was even forced back again and again by the rebounding force.

On the other side, Dugu Yan spat out Jade Scale Snake Venom, but it too was completely blocked by Shi Mo's turtle shell.

His turtle shell was slightly different from that of his elder brother, Shi Mo. Shi Mo focused on increasing his defensive power, while his defense was somewhat weaker, but it could resist all kinds of abnormal statuses.

Unexpectedly, after one exchange, it was the Shi Brothers, whose Soul Power was weaker, who held the advantage.