Qian Renxue's Ambition, Li Qinglian's Soaring Prestige

Applause surged like a tidal wave, enduring without end.

Li Qinglian stood at the center of the roaring sound, small in stature yet straight-backed.

Morning light fell upon his black hair, making the streak of pale white at its ends especially distinct beneath the golden sunlight.

"My heavens. Is this the Holy Son's strength?"

"Yan is a Soul Venerable, yet he was defeated by the Holy Son, who is only a Great Soul Master."

"What's so surprising about that? The Holy Son seems to be only six years old, yet he already has the cultivation of a Great Soul Master. That's the truly outrageous part."

At that moment, countless people went wild.

Even the other Holy Son candidates who had once been held in high regard were completely convinced.

Yan's talent was absolutely no worse than Hu Liena's!

Among all youths under fifteen in Spirit Hall, his talent was the greatest.

Hu Liena and Xie Yue had the advantage of a martial soul fusion skill. Setting that aside, they might even have been somewhat inferior to Yan.

The reason Bibi Dong had chosen to name Hu Liena the Holy Maiden while abandoning Yan was likely due to her personal bias.

Yet such a monstrous genius had lost to Li Qinglian!

One had to know that there was nearly a seven-year age gap between them!

At this moment, even before Pope Bibi Dong had issued that decisive decree, Li Qinglian had already thoroughly conquered them.

If such a monster could not become the Holy Son, then there had to be something shady going on!

I've finally secured my footing in Spirit Hall now, haven't I?

Bibi Dong's scheme has turned out to be a good thing for me instead. At the very least, it has completely established my prestige.

And although Bibi Dong handled this matter discreetly, it has still made many people realize that the Pope is targeting Li Qinglian. If Bibi Dong wants to pull any more tricks in the future, she'll have to be much more careful.

Otherwise, if her public image collapses, it will become even harder for her, a Pope who was not born of the Angel lineage, to establish her authority.

Li Qinglian looked toward Bibi Dong atop Pope Mountain, the corners of his lips rising.

Hu Liena had been named Holy Maiden by Bibi Dong for many years, but her influence within Spirit Hall had not actually been great.

Yet now, at least a hundred thousand people had gathered beneath Pope Mountain.

As these people spread word of today's events, Li Qinglian's fame would soar.

After rebuilding his cultivation, Li Qinglian's strength had weakened.

But this feeling of freedom made Li Qinglian feel great.

Clap, clap, clap.

"Qinglian, you're amazing."

Qian Renxue had long known that Li Qinglian could not possibly lose.

But she had not expected him to win so easily.

It could be said that once the Death Divine Tree wrapped around Yan, Yan had been doomed to lose!

Once Yan's maximum attack power could no longer pose an effective threat to Li Qinglian, Li Qinglian could continuously devour the energy within his body through the soul skill "Death Siphon," wearing down his attack power.

As one side waned and the other waxed, Yan's combat strength would only grow worse and worse!

This was why Xie Yue and Hu Liena had both felt that Yan's displayed strength was far weaker than usual. It was not that he did not want to use his full power, but that Li Qinglian had drained so much from him that even his most basic attack power had plummeted, not to mention his soul power, which was being frantically consumed!

And the soul skill Withered Glory Prison was even more terrifying. Like a carnivorous flower, given enough time, it could truly cause a living being to completely wither away.

One drained, while the other imprisoned.

Even when facing someone whose cultivation far surpassed Li Qinglian's, as long as they failed to defeat him immediately, they would be continuously worn down by him.

Qian Renxue walked over, the sharp gleam in her eyes growing even more intense.

Douluo Continent was a world where bloodlines reigned supreme.

This was true not only in the world of soul beasts, but even more so in the world of soul masters.

For this very reason, women in this world were far more rational and materialistic than those in her previous life.

No woman wished to see her child born with a chasm-like gap compared to children of the same age. The gap between martial souls could not be remedied through later effort, and martial souls were tied to bloodlines.

The birth rate in the God Realm was outrageously low.

After entering the God Realm, the chances of finding another partner of such exceptional quality would be infinitely close to zero.

I...

Absolutely cannot miss Li Qinglian...

Even if I go to the God Realm, I cannot allow myself to become someone as insignificant as a transparent shadow.

Looking at the youth before her, Qian Renxue clenched her fists even tighter.

However, Qian Renxue would never have imagined that even Angel God could make a mistake in judgment.

Li Qinglian and Goddess of Life were indeed of the same race and had similar appearances, but their cores were different.

That was why Angel God, with her wild imagination, had concluded that Li Qinglian was the child of Goddess of Life and some evil god.

How could she have known that Li Qinglian's Death Divine Tree and Goddess of Life's true body were existences of the same rank? Li Qinglian had merely been born much later.

Goddess of Life had been unwilling to bring him into the God Realm because she feared that someone would harm him.

Before Li Qinglian appeared, there had been no Death God King in the God Realm.

Yet the authority over death, that enormous and delectable cake, had already been carved up among numerous gods.

Once Li Qinglian, the Death Divine Tree, emerged into the world, the impact would be immense.

Would those vested interests be willing to take out the authority they had claimed and return it to Li Qinglian? Difficult!

This was also where Li Qinglian differed from inheritors like Qian Renxue.

Qian Renxue's inheritance was, in essence, a transfer and handover of power.

Li Qinglian, on the other hand, had to fight an armed struggle to make those who had taken what belonged to him return it!

That would be very dangerous!

If Qian Renxue knew that Li Qinglian was someone Goddess of Life regarded as her other half, she would probably slap herself hard across the face.

Trying to steal a man from a God King, Qian Renxue, Qian Renxue, you really dared to dream big!

But who could possibly have such wild imagination as to think that Goddess of Life and Li Qinglian had that kind of relationship?

Even Angel God, whose imagination ran wild, had suspected Goddess of Life and Evil God King, yet she had never considered that Goddess of Life might like Li Qinglian.

Moreover, Goddess of Life's feelings for Li Qinglian were a genuine physical attraction!

Other than Goddess of Life, who knew that he was the Death Divine Tree, perhaps only the other several supreme gods in heaven and earth possessed such insight.

Yet only Goddess of Life could be certain that Li Qinglian was the Death Divine Tree.

Even if a supreme god saw Li Qinglian, they could only speculate at most.

Death energy was an extremely complex composite energy.

Withering, decay and flourishing, deterioration, corrosion, undead... there was simply too much to uncover from the Death Divine Tree.

Moreover, many gods associated with the darker side of the God Realm had taken portions of death's authority to varying degrees. Thus, Li Qinglian's power seemed to be connected to many gods of the darker side.

The core method of death was withering, while the core of destruction was annihilation. Their essences were worlds apart. Yet when these methods were used in battle, ordinary living beings might not be able to distinguish withering from annihilation with the naked eye.

"I lost."

"I concede wholeheartedly. I have no objection to Li Qinglian being named the Holy Son."

Yan's eyes were filled with loss and pain.

He did not know why he could not defeat Li Qinglian.

But Li Qinglian's martial soul was indeed incredibly powerful!

This martial soul absolutely could not be treated as an ordinary plant martial soul!

It was practically the emperor among plants, the sovereign of death!

He knew that even if he did it all over again, he would still lose. His loss to Li Qinglian was a true gap in strength, not a mistake in battle.