First Meeting, My Name Is... Qian Sha Yu!

Inside the cold, silent grand hall of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, the air was thick as if frozen solid.

A piercing deathly stillness shrouded every inch of the ornate hall.

Qian Renxue slumped on the dragon-headed throne that symbolized supreme imperial authority, her eyes tightly shut.

Her breathing was rapid and uneven.

The voice from deep within her mind continued to echo without end.

It belonged to an unfamiliar man.

Low, hoarse, and filled with undisguised, boundless killing intent.

Every word She Long and Ci Xue had reported earlier kept circling in her ears.

The brutal slaughter in Heaven Dou City's central square not long ago had never been her will.

The peerless fiend wielding a blood-red divine sword who had severed Bone Douluo's arm was absolutely not her, a level-seventy Soul Sage.

It was him!

A terrifying demon that had silently parasitized the deepest part of her soul.

Qian Renxue's face was pale as paper, her expression dark to the extreme.

She couldn't accept this fact.

The angel bloodline she had always been so proud of—radiant and sacred—actually shared one body with such a bloodthirsty monster.

The bloody scenes described by She Long and Ci Xue remained vivid in her mind.

The entire Heaven Dou City had changed hands in a single day.

All these ironclad facts had come from her body, yet were completely beyond her control.

Her slender fingers suddenly clenched.

The golden dragon-head armrest couldn't withstand the violent force and let out an overloaded crack.

Fragments and gold dust trickled from between her fingers.

Crack!

The entire sturdy throne armrest crumbled beneath her palm, turning into a mess of debris.

"What exactly are you? Why do you say you're me?"

Qian Renxue sank her consciousness into the Sea of Spirit and shrieked hysterically, "Why are you hiding inside my body?"

Her voice rose and fell through the vast space of consciousness.

At the other end of the Sea of Spirit stretched a towering sea of dark crimson bloodlight.

Qian Sha Yu sat cross-legged amid the scarlet waves of energy.

This was his first time communicating with Qian Renxue.

Qian Sha Yu's expression was calm and still, with a faint trace of amusement at the corners of his eyes.

"I am your Second Personality."

For now, he was determined to identify himself as Qian Renxue's Second Personality.

Upon hearing that, Qian Renxue found it absurd.

A Second Personality?

This was simply the most ridiculous joke in the world.

Since childhood, she had received Spirit Hall's strictest elite education.

Her mind had been tempered countless times, hardened like cold iron from the highest skies.

How could she possibly have developed some Second Personality?

Moreover, she was Spirit Hall's lofty young mistress, a genuine woman.

How could a bloodthirsty, brutal male personality have appeared out of nowhere within her?

"What utter nonsense!"

Qian Renxue let out a furious roar.

"I absolutely cannot have a Second Personality!"

"Much less a man's soul!"

"Stop pretending to be some mysterious ghost here. What demon or monster crawled out of hiding?"

Listening to Qian Renxue's nearly uncontrollable screams, Qian Sha Yu gave a soft, mocking laugh.

He had no intention of proving his identity to her at all.

"Believe it or not."

"As your Second Personality, I possess a Killing Angel Martial Soul independent from yours."

"Normally, I remain dormant."

"Only when you're driven into a hopeless corner and your mind is on the verge of complete collapse will I forcibly take over this body."

"To put it plainly, I only appear to clean up your mess and protect you."

Protect you.

Those simple words struck heavily against Qian Renxue's heart like an iron hammer.

Qian Renxue's soul body trembled slightly.

A feeling of unreality she had never experienced before spread through her chest.

From childhood to adulthood, she had been the unwanted spawn despised by her mother, Bibi Dong.

She had been the angel heir upon whom her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, had placed great hopes.

She had to be perfect, bear the responsibility of Spirit Hall's unification of the continent, and give everything for the Qian Clan's glory.

No one had ever told her they would protect her.

Even the elders who had guarded her for years merely followed orders.

But just as Qian Renxue's emotions spiraled out of control and her mind churned violently,

Qian Sha Yu's vicious mockery shattered all that warmth.

"But honestly, Qian Renxue, you're stupid beyond belief."

"What?" Qian Renxue's expression changed drastically. "You said I'm stupid?"

"That's right."

"You clearly possess a Divine Angel Martial Soul and the continent's only innate level-twenty soul power."

"With such unprecedented, unparalleled talent, instead of cultivating properly,"

"you insisted on coming to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace to carry out some childish, laughable Usurpation Plan."

"Playing those filthy, lowly political tricks all day—do you really think you're so clever?"

This cold ridicule completely ignited the fury buried within Qian Renxue.

The Usurpation Plan had been her only obsession for the past twenty years.

It was the achievement she had gained by sacrificing her youth.

She would never allow anyone to trample upon that pride.

"Shut up!"

Qian Renxue shrieked sharply.

"You cowardly demon hiding in the shadows, you don't understand anything at all!"

"At nine years old, I infiltrated the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace alone and concealed my identity as Xue Qinghe."

"Every day, I lived behind a cold mask, taking every step cautiously, trembling with fear, walking on thin ice."

"I poisoned and killed princes. I gathered forces within Heaven Dou's imperial court."

"I gave twenty years of my life for Spirit Hall's great cause of unifying the continent!"

"What right do you have to deny all the effort I've made?"

"Pfft!" Qian Sha Yu's laughter shook through the scarlet waves, carrying undisguised contempt.

"Deny you?"

"I'm merely stating a cruel fact."

"You infiltrated the palace from age nine until nearly thirty, wasting a full twenty years of your best youth, yet in the end, you still failed to completely seize the Heaven Dou Empire."

"Even at the very end, you were nearly driven to mental collapse by that brat Tang San."

"If you hadn't been backed into a corner, how would I have had the chance to take over this body? You would have become a complete failure."

"The twenty years of undercover work you were so proud of ended with you nearly being killed by Tang San?"

"And me?"

There was a trace of proud confidence in Qian Sha Yu's voice.

"From awakening to taking over this body, I spent only twenty-four hours."

"I suppressed the coup in Heaven Dou City through overwhelming methods."

"With one sword strike, I severed the right arm of Bone Douluo from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, beating Sword and Bone Douluo until they didn't dare face me head-on."

"Before the citizens of the entire city, I cut off Xue Ye the Great's dog head and used iron-blooded methods to forcibly seize the Heaven Dou Empire's highest authority."

"The goal you couldn't achieve in twenty years, I accomplished in less than a day."

"Tell me, what did I rely on?"

"I relied on invincible strength, not those pathetic schemes and calculations of yours!"

Every word from Qian Sha Yu was like a blade, ruthlessly piercing Qian Renxue's heart.

Qian Renxue's face turned deathly pale.

She opened her mouth, desperately trying to find a reason to refute him.

She wanted to explain how complicated political struggles were.

She wanted to explain how profound the Heaven Dou Empire's foundations were.

But every word that reached her lips turned into futile bitterness.

The cruel reality stood before her.

Ironclad facts were worth more than countless arguments.

After painstakingly planning for twenty years, she had nearly ended in complete defeat.

Even now, Tang San's counterattack still made her heart race in fear whenever she recalled it.

If Qian Sha Yu hadn't appeared out of nowhere and suppressed the entire situation with absolute strength, Heaven Dou City's situation would likely have collapsed long ago.

Qian Sha Yu had appeared for only one day, yet had single-handedly rewritten the entire situation in Heaven Dou City.

At that moment, the pride and confidence she had built over the past twenty years nearly vanished completely.

Qian Sha Yu showed no mercy. His cold voice continued to hammer at her soul.

"On Douluo Continent, there has only ever been one core rule: the strong devour the weak."

"Whoever has the bigger fist speaks the truth."

"If you could have cultivated to level ninety-nine, reaching the realm of a Peerless Douluo like your grandfather Qian Daoliu, at an earlier age,"

"then this tiny Heaven Dou Empire would be nothing more than ants you could crush with a flick of your fingers. Why would you need to infiltrate as an undercover agent?"

"Why would you need this Second Personality to come out and save your worthless life?"

"You squandered unparalleled divine talent on meaningless internal struggles."

"That isn't sacrifice. That's a waste of heaven's gifts!"

Every sentence from Qian Sha Yu seemed to reshape her entire worldview.

"I..."

Qian Renxue was utterly lost.

The sacrifice she had been so proud of appeared so laughable and absurd before absolute power.

If she had devoted all her efforts to cultivation sooner,

then with an innate level-twenty starting point, she would likely already be a Soul Douluo by now and become a Titled Douluo not long after.

At that point, she could have suppressed Heaven Dou City through absolute strength. Who would dare refuse to submit?

What could Tang San possibly use to act arrogantly before her?

The vast imperial hall was deathly silent.

Qian Renxue slumped upon the golden dragon throne, radiating despair and dejection.

Her proud head slowly lowered.

Her once-dazzling golden hair seemed somewhat dull and lifeless.

Who knew how much time passed.

She pressed her dry lips together and asked in a voice so faint it was nearly inaudible.

"You're my Second Personality... then... what's your name?"

Deep within the space of consciousness, the bloody mist churned.

Qian Sha Yu slowly opened those demonic eyes as crimson as blood.

His fingertips brushed over the cold blade of the Slaughter Blood Sword as he said coldly, "First meeting. My name is Qian Sha Yu."