This Was All Scripted

Far North

After more than a year in seclusion, Qian Xunyi had stabilized his foundation, and his soul power had risen to level ninety-six.

Level ninety-six—the realm of a Super Douluo. Upon reaching this level, Qian Xunyi immediately sensed the vast gap within it.

Though levels ninety-five and ninety-six differed by only one level, the slightest difference led to worlds apart. Now, he could easily crush his level ninety-five self.

It was difficult to precisely compare his current strength.

He could only infer it according to the author's settings. Hmm...

A level ninety-six Super Douluo possessed the strength to contend with a First-Level God, while their physical body rivaled a Divine Artifact.

In other words, did he now possess the combat power of First-Level Gods such as the Sea God, Angel God, and Rakshasa God?

And this was not the combat power of the Level-100 Gods who had just inherited their divine positions at the end of Soul Land I, but that of genuine level-one gods at level one hundred and thirty.

The increase in strength left Qian Xunyi intoxicated.

Yet the three Soul Rings—a 380,000-year Ice Empress Soul Ring, a 990,000-year Tianmeng Soul Ring with its origin intact, and a 680,000-year Snow Empress Soul Ring—had only barely pushed him into the realm of a Super Douluo.

One had to know that Twin Martial Souls were cultivation accelerators. Tang San and Bibi Dong had both rapidly reached the realm of Limit Douluo by attaching Soul Rings to their second Martial Souls. What kind of rings had Bibi Dong attached? Aside from Xiao Wu's mother, all of them had been Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Rings of over fifty thousand years.

If his current Soul Ring configuration were given to Bibi Dong, pushing her straight to level ninety-eight, or even ninety-nine, would not be a problem.

Still, it did not matter. Qian Xunyi still had six empty Soul Ring slots.

After emerging from seclusion, Qian Xunyi sensed that during the past year or so, Qian Daoliu and the people from the Body Camp had contacted him through Angel Feather.

Qian Xunyi contacted Qian Daoliu first. The moment the connection was established, Qian Daoliu's furious scolding came crashing down on him.

"You brat, where the hell have you been for the past year? We contacted you, and you never answered. Anyone who didn't know better would think you had died somewhere." Though he was berating him, Qian Daoliu's voice carried concern.

"Old man, I was in seclusion this past year, improving my realm, so I blocked off contact through the Sea of Spirit." Qian Xunyi explained, then asked, "What is it?"

"Your niece has been born. Her name is Qian Renxue. When are you coming back?"

His niece—Qian Renxue?

Though he was interested in Qian Renxue, the future Angel God, that did not change Qian Xunyi's plans.

"Old man, I plan to continue training these next few years, so I won't be returning to Spirit Hall."

Qian Xunyi pondered for a moment, then felt he could not simply offer nothing. He said, "Father, you can secretly collect Whale Glue. If Qian Renxue refines and consumes Whale Glue from childhood, it can improve her constitution, increase the age limit of the Soul Rings she can absorb, and may even allow her to absorb a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring as her second Soul Ring."

"Is what you said true?" Qian Daoliu asked in surprise.

"Am I not a ready-made example?"

Qian Daoliu fell silent, but his desire for stability ultimately prevailed. "There are still risks in doing this. Besides, early advantages have little impact on overall strength. There is no need for us to covet this small increase in Soul Ring age. Our Angel Clan does not seek the limits of Soul Ring configurations. Their age can be increased through divine trials."

"Old man, a soul master's cultivation is like climbing stairs. Every soul master who can enter the realm of Title Douluo can take nine steps. Every extra bit they can advance with each step gives them a little more accumulated advantage than others. If I had only absorbed a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring as my second Soul Ring, then yes, the impact would not have been great. But the advantages accumulated by every ring allowed me to obtain a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring as my eighth Soul Ring. Do you still think the impact is insignificant?"

Qian Daoliu fell silent.

"Of course, if you want to be more cautious, Old man, why use Xue'er as experimental material? Spirit Hall has plenty of people we can use for experiments. You can first have them consume Whale Glue and test the limits of Soul Ring absorption, gathering data to pave the way for Xue'er."

"This..." It truly was a good method, but it somewhat violated Qian Daoliu's principles.

"If that still won't do, then find people in Spirit Hall's prisons. There are plenty of people in this world who have chosen the path of death. Use them for human experiments. Surely that won't weigh on your conscience, will it?" Qian Xunyi said coldly.

"Fine." Qian Daoliu nodded. This was indeed a feasible method that he could accept psychologically.

"However, Father, I hope as few people as possible know this secret. Especially Brother Ji and Bibi Dong. Don't let them find out."

"Why?" Qian Daoliu did not understand.

Qian Xunyi said, "You wouldn't want to receive a book one day titled Eleven Core Competencies of Martial Souls, would you?"

A chill ran down Qian Daoliu's spine. "I understand."

After ending contact with Qian Daoliu, Qian Xunyi established contact with the Body Camp.

Red Star reported on Yu Xiaogang's movements over the past year or so.

"You're saying that after you drove him out of the Body Camp, he returned to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, and the next place he appeared was Sunset Forest?"

"Yes. After Yu Xiaogang and his father entered Sunset Forest, they stayed inside for nearly a year before leaving," Red Star said.

Qian Xunyi revealed a meaningful smile, then said, "You did well. This intelligence is crucial."

According to the original work, after Yu Xiaogang left Spirit Hall, he did not return to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect. Instead, he met Flender and Liu Erlong, traveled the continent with them, and formed the Golden Iron Triangle.

Yet reality had taken an abrupt turn. Yu Xiaogang had returned to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect and brought his old father to Sunset Forest.

So that meant...

That useless fog-brained Gangzi had also enjoyed the benefits of rebirth!

Judging by the habits of the author writing this book, he loved having the future protagonist group, already at the peak of their power, reincarnate into the past to torment others. It had been a fine tradition ever since this book's second playthrough.

Explaining Yu Xiaogang's motive for going to Sunset Forest through rebirth made perfect sense.

After all, the Icefire Yin Yang Well was there.

But how could Yu Xiaogang know that the opportunity there had never been prepared for him?

As a transmigrator, Qian Xunyi had begun searching for the Icefire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest very early on, intending to seize it first. Yet whether he sent others to search or looked for it personally, he had never found the Icefire Yin Yang Well.

Later, Qian Xunyi gave up. The reason was simple—

If one spread out a map of Douluo, one would notice that the Star Dou Great Forest was roughly the size of a province in the two great empires, while Sunset Forest was even smaller, and its soul beasts were generally weaker than those of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Humanity had explored this forest for tens of thousands of years. Every region, the age of its soul beasts, and what lay within had all been clearly marked. So how had no one discovered the Icefire Yin Yang Well?

How could Dugu Bo have found the Icefire Yin Yang Well by such a coincidence? And how could Dugu Bo just so happen to be someone who knew nothing about immortal herbs, be plagued by deadly poison, and be a strange-tempered yet loyal man, while Little Wretch just so happened to be able to cure Dugu Bo's poison?

How could there be so many coincidences in this world? A script—this was all scripted!