Such a Stingy God

Beyond the heavenly curtain, the leaders of Douluo Continent's major powers all pricked up their ears.

Heaven-Earth Valley of Love, a place where gods had fallen—those words alone were enough to make hearts race.

Although no one knew where Mingdu actually was, it had been left behind by the God of Love. Who wouldn't be tempted?

The benefits inside had to be substantial.

But after hearing about the Truth or Dare trial, quite a few people secretly drew in a cold breath.

Telling the truth was not difficult. The problem was that it all had to be the truth.

Everyone present was a major power in their own right, with secrets hidden deeper than the sea. If those secrets were dug up and displayed by Sun-Moon Lake, they might as well take a blade to the chest.

The higher-ups of the major powers said nothing, but they were all calculating the same thing: this place came with both risks and rewards.

The opportunity was genuinely enormous, but if things went wrong, they would go wrong completely.

Of course, they were mistaken. Those rewards...

Were ridiculous.

They were nowhere near as good as Shura's. His first trial had given out a domain.

Even less so than the Sea God's.

Qian Renxue turned another page and discovered that the following content was a firsthand account written from Ning Tian's perspective.

It recorded the list of those who had entered Heaven-Earth Valley of Love together: Wang Dong'er, Wang Qiu'er, Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xiao Xiao, Jiang Nannan, Xu Sanshi, Zhang Lexuan, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Dai Huabin, and Zhu Lu. Twelve people in total.

She continued reading Ning Tian's account. Ning Tian and Wu Feng had been teleported to the top of a cliff, with roiling clouds below and no visible bottom. A voice came from the void and asked several questions.

She answered them one by one. Then—

Following the voice's instructions, she released all her pressure.

She jumped straight off the cliff.

Qian Renxue froze, her finger stopping on the page for a long while.

"She jumped off a cliff?" Thinking she had read it wrong, she read it again. "After answering the questions, she... jumped down?"

"What kind of record is this? She jumped off a cliff and didn't die?"

"Of course she didn't die!" Yin Hongye said. "But look at the reward afterward, and you'll realize it would have been better not to enter that damned place."

Mu Hongchen leaned over the back of the sofa and glanced at the page. He clearly had never read it before. "No wonder that place was a forbidden zone. What a shitty trial."

"If I remember correctly, she wasn't even a Soul Sage at the time. Ten thousand years ago, people couldn't fly. Ning Tian was an auxiliary-system soul master with virtually no frontal combat ability. Making her jump off a cliff was the same as making her die."

"What an absurd place. Looking at this history, I feel like I'm a model citizen."

"Bullshit. You're a three-good student; I'm a five-good student."

Yin Hongye retorted and told Qian Renxue to keep reading. She was about to see a whole lot more absurdity.

Qian Renxue continued reading and spoke the line describing the reward.

"'Die for love and emerge from pain. Truth or Dare cleared. The rewards obtained by Ning Tian and Wu Feng carry greater weight, so the two may only receive one reward. This reward will solve all of your problems.'"

"'Ning Tian, from this moment onward, your gender will be changed to male. Go.'"

"This counts as a reward?"

Qian Renxue was stunned. She stared at the page, her mouth opening and closing slightly. She read it three times, confirming that she had not misread a single word.

Beyond the heavenly curtain, the leaders of all major powers simultaneously fell into deathly silence.

What kind of reward was that?

Were they short those few ounces of flesh?!

How the hell did that improve one's strength?!

The expression on Ning Fengzhi's face could no longer be described as merely remarkable. He set down his teacup, rubbed his brow, and forced himself to calm down.

That was his descendant, but why didn't she have the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda?

"And she even married Wu Feng afterward. Though I don't know how a girl so easily accepted becoming a man."

Yin Hongye was genuinely curious, but unfortunately, the history book did not say. "If I remember correctly, one god can influence another god. Do you think Ning Tian's ancestor, Ning Rongrong, might have..."

Naturally, he meant Ning Rongrong. If he remembered right, Ning Rongrong had presided over that trial.

Would it have killed her to give Ning Tian the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda directly?

Qian Renxue thought it over and felt that made sense, but something still seemed off.

Beyond the heavenly curtain, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Fengzhi slowly turned his head and looked at Ning Rongrong, who stood nearby. There was not a trace of a smile on his usually gentle face, and his gaze was as cold as winter frost.

"Rongrong." His voice was icy, cold enough to chill one to the bone. "In the Divine Realm, you clearly had the chance to leave behind the inheritance of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda for future generations, yet you failed to do so."

Ning Rongrong opened her mouth, the color draining from her face. "Dad, that was me ten thousand years in the future! I don't know anything about it!"

Ning Fengzhi said nothing. He merely looked at her. That gaze made Ning Rongrong feel worse than any rebuke could have.

Ning Rongrong also realized that she had no choice but to bear this blame.

Ning Fengzhi rose to his feet, his voice calm as he issued his final ultimatum. "Uncle Sword, pass down the order. From today onward, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will seal itself off and no longer concern itself with worldly affairs."

Sword Douluo Chen Xin was slightly startled, but he did not ask any questions. He merely cupped his fist and replied, "Yes."

Ning Fengzhi turned back, his gaze falling on Ning Rongrong. There was no anger in that gaze, only disappointment—utter, complete disappointment.

"Also, find several suitable sons-in-law willing to marry into the family for me."

"Rongrong, you have disappointed me too much."

Ning Rongrong looked as if she had been struck by lightning, and her eyes instantly reddened.

"Dad, no!" She rushed forward and grabbed Ning Fengzhi's sleeve, her voice trembling with tears. "I never did any of those things! That was me twenty thousand years in the future—it has nothing to do with me! I—I don't want to have children!"

Ning Fengzhi neither shook off her hand nor looked at her. "Since some things have already happened, we must take precautions. I was too indulgent toward you in the past."

Within the heavenly curtain, Qian Renxue continued turning the pages and read aloud the events Ning Tian had recorded one by one.

Dai Huabin took Zhu Lu's punishment in her place. His right arm vanished, and his once handsome, resolute face began to twist and deform inch by inch, as though it were rotting away.

By this point, Qian Renxue had already sensed that something was wrong.

Xu Sanshi received Jiang Nannan's forgiveness. The book gave only a brief account, saying merely that "the shackles in his heart were completely removed." He had passed this trial and received a reward.

Jiang Nannan's soul power directly rose to rank sixty. Qian Renxue raised a brow. That reward was at least practical.

Bei Bei received three chances to ask questions of the released light-and-shadow figure.

He Caitou's reward was the simplest and also the vaguest. The book contained only one sentence: "The resolution of the knot in his heart was the best reward for him."

Xiao Xiao's soul power likewise rose to rank sixty, just like Jiang Nannan's.

Zhang Lexuan's reward caused Qian Renxue's finger to pause. The book stated that she had lost her memories of her beloved.

It seemed to be a reward.

Qian Renxue closed the book without immediately turning another page. But these rewards were truly absurd!

What stingy gods!

Within the heavenly curtain, all five God Kings had come to watch the show. Upon seeing those rewards, the five God Kings fell silent at the same time.

Did this crap deserve to be called a reward?

Shura looked at the Sea God. "What rewards did your divine trials give?"

"An increase of one rank in soul power, or an increase of a hundred years to a soul ring's age, something like that. Wasn't this the worst kind of reward?" The Sea God was also stunned. He had never seen gods so stingy.

"Damn it, the God of Love fell asleep. Which idiot presided over the trial in the future? They couldn't even bear to hand out a single normal reward?" the Kind God King could not help saying.

"Who the hell knows?" The Evil God King was speechless. He felt it was better not to leave after all. Without him, the Divine Realm seemed like it was going to fall apart.

The Destruction God King said nothing, but his face was already filled with speechlessness.

The Life Goddess merely smiled without saying anything further, instead looking toward the image in the heavenly curtain.

"There's more. If I remember correctly, Ling Bing Douluo Huo Yuhao lost his first love there. Then they made his lover and another girl who had feelings for him kill each other."

"Then they repeatedly shattered and healed him mentally, over and over again," Yin Hongye added.

"Where did you learn that?" Mu Hongchen asked doubtfully. "The book doesn't say that."

"Just go into Sea God Pavilion and take a look. Shrek Academy never stopped me anyway." Yin Hongye casually made an excuse, but he really had gone in once.

"It also says that the Sea God Tang San's group presided over it."

Upon hearing this, Ning Fengzhi chose to believe it rather than not. This daughter was useless. He would have a grandson, let him take his mother's surname. Was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect lacking sons-in-law willing to marry in?

Qian Renxue nodded. Without fully believing it, she continued reading. What followed was not really about later events, but merely normal records.

Among the records of various events, Qian Renxue read about incidents such as rescuing Senior Ma Xiaotao. Clearly, the history book still contained traces of whitewashing.

Those outside the heavenly curtain did not understand why those matters were worth recording in particular, but they continued watching patiently.

Di Tian, however, faintly sensed unease when the next highlighted event was read aloud: "The sacrifice of the imperial auspicious beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion; the fury of the Beast God!"

"What?! Despicable humans!"

At that moment, Di Tian's aura suddenly erupted. That had been the hope of their Star Dou Forest!