By the old emperor's decree, the current crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Qinghe, traveled incognito to inspect the conditions of the common people.
Of course, the real Xue Qinghe had long since been replaced by Qian Renxue in a prince-swapping scheme.
As an infiltrator, she had already passed through the most difficult stage of fighting for power and profit. The capable competitors were either dead or crippled, while the only surviving Xue Beng was a useless good-for-nothing with no ability whatsoever.
It could be said that all she needed to do now was wait for the old emperor to succumb to poison. Then, she could rightfully inherit the throne and seize the entire Heaven Dou Empire in one stroke.
This time, having been ordered to travel incognito, she had merely planned to wander around near Heaven Dou City and return once enough time had passed.
After all, most of the court had already been bought off by her. So long as she did not make any fundamental mistakes, her position as crown prince was as secure as a mountain.
Not long ago, she had simply been strolling down the street when she suddenly sensed a powerful fluctuation of Soul Power.
In this day and age, a Soul Saint could absolutely be considered a powerhouse who dominated a region. Thus, upon sensing Flender's aura, Qian Renxue's attention was immediately drawn. She was extremely curious about what could have happened to make a Soul Saint erupt with Soul Power within the city regardless of the consequences.
Once she arrived and saw the scene for herself, Qian Renxue understood.
A peerless genius who was still young yet possessed enough strength to barely exchange blows with a Soul Saint—looking across the entire history of Douluo Continent, such talent would likely rank among the top five.
If she could bring such a prodigy under her command, he would surely help her accomplish great things in the future!
For that very reason, Qian Renxue was inevitably tempted.
She had originally been wondering how to build goodwill and draw closer to this young prodigy after rashly questioning whether both sides knew their mistakes. Yet unexpectedly, the moment he saw her appear, he took the initiative to ask for help.
It seemed this was Heaven's blessing!
The Angel God's mercy!
This youth had to have been sent by Heaven specifically to lend her a hand!
At that moment, only one thought remained in Qian Renxue's mind:
She had to turn this youth into one of her people as soon as possible.
After signaling Snake Lance and Pufferfish, her two personal guards, to clear out and take away the bystanders, she immediately began probing into the youth's background and family circumstances, lest preventable accidents arise later.
Unexpectedly, this seemingly honest and simple youth skillfully avoided her probing.
Was it a coincidence, or had he already seen through her intentions?
Qian Renxue considered it and decided it was probably a coincidence. That was why she immediately extended an invitation to the youth, asking him to go home with her!
As long as he was willing to go with her, she had at least a hundred ways to turn him into one of her people!
Yet faced with her "sincere" invitation, the youth clearly froze for a moment before hurriedly shaking his head.
"Wouldn't that be inappropriate? Wouldn't I be causing you too much trouble, big brother? The elders in my family once taught me that when I'm away from home, I can't casually trouble other people."
Although the youth's face was filled with embarrassment.
Qian Renxue's intuition told her that this brat seemed to be deliberately refusing her invitation...
(It had to be said that a woman's intuition was sometimes inexplicably accurate...)
Just as Qian Renxue was hesitating between continuing to probe or acting directly, she saw the youth before her suddenly begin searching through his pocket and pull out a... jade bottle?
This sight left Qian Renxue somewhat dumbfounded.
How had such a large bottle come out of such a small pocket?
"I suddenly remembered that I'm an alchemist. To express my gratitude for big brother's righteous intervention and rescue, I'll give you this pill that I personally refined. I hope you won't dislike it, big brother."
Hearing the youth's words, Qian Renxue's curiosity deepened.
An alchemist?
Was there even such a profession on Douluo Continent?
Could this brat be trying to fool her with some randomly rolled herbal pill?
Though she was suspicious, she still casually accepted the jade bottle the youth handed over, opened it, and poured out the pill inside.
To be honest, Qian Renxue had not held much hope.
But once the pill landed in her hand, her thoughts suddenly changed.
Its surface was smooth and lustrous as jade, while its medicinal fragrance was intoxicating. One need only take a whiff of the scent it emitted to know that this pill was far from ordinary.
"Little brother, this pill... did you really refine it? What is it called? What does it do?"
"Of course I refined it. This pill is called the Soul-Gathering Pill. After taking it, it can greatly increase a soul master's Soul Power. The reason I possess level 40 Soul Power at only nine years old is entirely thanks to this pill!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue's shock grew even greater!
The pill in her hand could actually allow a nine-year-old youth to reach level 40 Soul Power?
If what this youth said was true, then she had truly encountered an unprecedented treasure!
Thinking this, Qian Renxue secretly mobilized her Angel Soul Power and carefully scanned the pill. After confirming that it contained no hidden toxins, she no longer hesitated and directly swallowed it.
Only after she felt the medicinal power take effect and her Soul Power rapidly growing stronger did she notice the rather awkward expression on the youth's face.
This made her suspicious once more, so she simply asked directly:
"Why are you making that expression? Is something wrong?"
The youth awkwardly scratched his head. It seemed that only after careful consideration did he speak with some regret.
"My thoughts were a mess just now, and I forgot to mention something. This pill's effects are indeed exactly as I said, without the slightest falsehood. But whoever takes it may be affected by a side effect that comes with the pill... I was just about to remind you, big brother, but before I could say anything, you swallowed it. Even if I wanted to stop you now, it would be too late..."
Hearing that, Qian Renxue instinctively replied:
"A side effect? What side effect? I feel perfectly fine right now, and my Soul Power is rapidly growing stronger..."
Yet after saying this, she discovered that the expression on the youth's face had become even stranger than before.
"B-big brother, your voice... why did it suddenly change?"
"My voice? How could it..."
As soon as the utterly confused Qian Renxue spoke those words, she abruptly realized that something was wrong.
Why had her gentle male voice suddenly reverted to her original female voice?
And besides her voice, her body also seemed to be changing!
The disguise she had created with the Angel God Raiment Soul Bone was rapidly fading away, quickly revealing Qian Renxue's true appearance.
And this was only the beginning of the changes.
As the Soul Power within her gradually grew stronger, her body began shrinking at an incredible speed!
Moreover, the process was completely irreversible and impossible to stop.
All she could do, while fully conscious, was watch in horror as these incomprehensible changes appeared in her body.
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