Sunday and Setting the Stage

Martial Soul Hall Library—

Soft dawn light streamed through the window lattice, adding a touch of elegance to this place steeped in the scent of books.

Qian Mo was quietly flipping through a book in his hands.

Six years had passed since his Martial Soul awakening.

The golden legendary template Qian Mo had drawn from that Template Card corresponded to Sunday's template from Honkai: Star Rail, a figure who had once carried the bearing of the strongest beneath the Aeons.

Qian Mo had been utterly dumbfounded by this at the time.

After all, his appearance did indeed lean heavily toward that of the Halovian.

But he was an absolute pragmatist. How was he compatible with an idealist like Sunday?

Still, when he thought of how unreliable 9527 was, Qian Mo could not even be bothered to complain.

After all, wasn't it perfectly normal for something given by a scammer to be a scam?

And just as the Template Card's description had said, this power was merely the best option for him to cultivate and grow stronger with. It did not directly grant him power.

However, the template was not entirely without benefits.

Aside from granting Qian Mo Sunday's basic talents and unlocking the power of the Paths, it also bestowed upon him the Halovian's most distinctive trait: the Heaven Ring.

It had become Qian Mo's second Martial Soul.

But in Qian Mo's eyes, none of that was the important part.

The important part was that there were both Path powers and the Holy Grail involved.

It was hard for Qian Mo not to suspect that his transmigration had been the handiwork of the Aeon of Elation!

After all, it was not the first time that that god of mischief had caused trouble across universes!

Still, Qian Mo did not dwell on that question for long.

The reason was simple: the gap between their levels was far too great. It was like a nation's president deciding to mess with some insignificant commoner within his own country.

What could that commoner possibly do?

He could only endure it~

However, after remaining vigilant for some time, Qian Mo realized that things were not actually so terrible.

Although Aha, that god of mischief, delighted in chaos, He would not interfere excessively. A script like that would be far too boring~

And Aha's lore of ascension clearly stated that He was a being who loathed the loneliness of the universe.

Perhaps Qian Mo forging ahead to Trailblaze an unknown path was what this suspicious god truly wanted.

Having figured that out, Qian Mo chose to simply go with the flow.

Though Qian Mo did not make the slightest sound to disturb anyone and was seated in a corner of the library, his outstanding looks and the elegant, noble aura that seemed to seep from his very bones still drew the attention of many girls in the library.

Qian Mo had long grown used to it.

After all, what normal person did not enjoy looking at handsome men and beautiful women?

Thus, Qian Mo was currently watching a beauty as well.

However, his movements were natural and discreet, and there was not the slightest hint of desire in his eyes. If anything, there was even a trace of disdain.

In a corner not far away,

a lovely woman with silky, waist-length golden hair and wine-red eyes was speaking softly with admiration to a crew-cut man who was only barely somewhat handsome.

Yet from time to time, she let out suppressed exclamations she could not hold back, causing those seated nearby to frown in displeasure.

But upon seeing the woman, those people all turned their gazes away in unspoken agreement and retreated with fear in their eyes. Not one of them dared step forward to rebuke her rudeness.

That was because this woman was a famous figure in Martial Soul Hall, the Saintess dearly favored by the Pope: Bibi Dong.

She was someone ordinary people absolutely did not dare offend.

Qian Mo simply watched the two converse from afar.

Qian Mo admitted that Bibi Dong was a rare beauty, but his heart did not stir in the slightest, and there was even some disgust in his eyes.

Because Qian Mo knew very well that beneath that glamorous exterior was the soul of a selfish, ungrateful woman blinded by love. In the future, she would go even further and become completely insane.

Thus, Qian Mo was watching Bibi Dong not because he coveted her body, but because he wanted to resolve Bibi Dong, this great trouble for Martial Soul Hall.

The simplest solution would naturally be to kill Bibi Dong and remove the problem outright.

But Qian Mo's mind had long ceased to be that of a child, so his perspective on matters was naturally not so one-sided.

As he had said before, Bibi Dong was indeed a rare beauty, but that was all she was.

Because at this point, she did not yet possess the lofty, noble bearing described in the original work.

So the question was this.

What kind of woman could Qian Xunji, the Sealed Chamber Douluo who stood almost on equal footing with the other two emperors of the Douluo Continent, not find?

Why had he chosen to threaten Bibi Dong into remaining in Martial Soul Hall through such disgraceful means?

Was it simply because Bibi Dong possessed Innate Full Soul Power and could cultivate to become a Title Douluo?

Did Martial Soul Hall really lack Title Douluo?

Or was it because of Bibi Dong's Twin Martial Souls?

One had to know that Bibi Dong had figured out the cultivation method for Twin Martial Souls herself. In this era, those with Twin Martial Souls could generally only cultivate one of them, so their value was no different from that of ordinary Soul Masters.

As for the explanation given in the Douluo Continent anime adaptation,

it was that Qian Xunji had noticed Bibi Dong's talent from the beginning and wanted her to bear the next Angel God.

Qian Mo found that even more absurd.

Although Qian Mo had read many books, he had not found any specific research materials on the matter.

But even ordinary Soul Masters would not choose a partner whose attributes conflicted with their own. It was the same principle as a fire-attribute Soul Master not absorbing a water-attribute Soul Ring.

Because the natures of the two sides conflicted!

As for Bibi Dong's Innate Full Soul Power,

such people were rare, but one emerged somewhere across the Douluo Continent every three or four years. There were also many more whose existence had not been made public by the major factions, meaning there were only more such geniuses.

There were even female Title Douluo elders within Martial Soul Hall itself. Qian Xunji could have chosen someone else to be Qian Renxue's mother.

Yet Qian Xunji had made none of those choices. Instead, he had chosen, against all common sense, to become the Sealed Chamber Douluo, become the pain of Bibi Dong's entire life, and ultimately die to Bibi Dong's scheme.

After analyzing everything, Qian Mo's gaze darkened.

Because all the information pointed to one possibility.

A god was setting the stage!

But in the end, Qian Mo let out a soft sigh, helplessness flashing through his eyes.

As the saying went, one's position determined one's perspective.

Having become a member of the Angel Clan, Qian Mo had already been passively placed on the list of people who might become Bibi Dong's future enemies.

But that was not a major issue. The Douluo Continent was so vast that Qian Mo could simply find a place to lie low. If he wanted to be more decisive, he could even flee overseas.

Yet after all these years of living with them, and with the Soul Rings for his first Martial Soul having been hunted with the enthusiastic help of the Angel Clan,

the kind smiles of his clansmen flashed through Qian Mo's mind.

Qian Mo felt that he could not simply abandon them, because these good people did not deserve to be implicated by a madwoman's resentment.

Gently closing the book and rubbing its rough cover, Qian Mo hesitated and pondered for a moment longer before slowly rising to walk toward Bibi Dong and the other man.