Dugu Yan and Ning Rongrong

On the way there, she kept comforting herself. Maybe Lin Ming had run into a friend and was just having a meal with her. It was no big deal.

Then she saw Lin Ming and Dugu Yan sitting together, chatting and laughing as they ate. The table was covered with exquisite dishes, and the atmosphere was warm and harmonious.

A sour feeling instantly welled up in Ning Rongrong's heart, as if someone had overturned a jar of aged vinegar. It was so sour her teeth ached.

"Rongrong?" Lin Ming put down his chopsticks and looked at her in surprise. "Why are you here? Didn't you say you were cultivating this afternoon?"

"Am I not allowed to come?" Ning Rongrong walked into the private room and stood before the table, looking at Lin Ming and then Dugu Yan. Her eyes grew redder and redder, and her voice trembled. "Am I... here at the wrong time? Did I interrupt you?"

Dugu Yan was somewhat embarrassed as well. She hurriedly stood up and said helplessly, "Lin Ming, how about I leave first? You two can talk..."

"Don't go." Lin Ming reached out to stop her, his tone calm yet firm. Then he turned to Ning Rongrong, patted the chair beside him, and gave her a gentle smile. "Rongrong, you came at exactly the right time. Come sit down."

Ning Rongrong froze for a moment. After hesitating briefly, she still walked over and sat beside Lin Ming. She lowered her head, twisting the corner of her clothes between her fingers, clearly sulking.

Lin Ming took her small hand, then took Dugu Yan's hand and placed the two hands together. Then he said in all seriousness:

"Rongrong, let me introduce her. This is Dugu Yan, the granddaughter of Poison Douluo Dugu Bo and my friend. I met her when I was hunting for a soul ring in Sunset Forest. She was being chased by a thousand-year Bamboo Leaf Green Snake, so I saved her. Later, I helped her and her grandfather cure their poison, and that's how we became friends."

Then he turned to Dugu Yan. "Yan Yan, this is Ning Rongrong, the young miss of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and my fiancée. Our engagement has already been arranged."

When Ning Rongrong heard the words "my fiancée," more than half the jealousy in her heart immediately vanished. Still, she gave a haughty snort and turned her head away, refusing to look at Lin Ming.

Lin Ming smiled and continued, "Rongrong, don't overthink it. Yan Yan is my friend. She invited me to dinner today specifically to thank me for saving her life. There is nothing between us. We're completely innocent.

"Besides, think about it. I'm an attack-type Soul Master, so I'll inevitably have to fight people in the future. I may even face life-threatening danger. You're a support-type Soul Master. Though you can give me powerful enhancements, you can't stay by my side every moment, can you? What if I encounter danger and you aren't there? What am I supposed to do?"

Ning Rongrong's ears twitched slightly, as though she were listening carefully to him.

Lin Ming pressed his advantage. "Yan Yan is an attack-type Soul Master with the Green Phosphorus Serpent Emperor Martial Soul. She's a level thirty-six Soul Elder and very strong. If she can form a team with us, then whenever we face danger in the future, we'll have another layer of protection and another source of strength, right?

"Besides, her grandfather is Poison Douluo, a Titled Douluo! If we can build a good relationship with Poison Douluo, then the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will gain another powerful ally in the future. That will greatly benefit the sect's development too, right?"

Ning Rongrong tilted her head and thought about it. What Lin Ming said seemed to make some sense.

She had only been overwhelmed by love and was utterly devoted to Lin Ming. On top of that, his explanation was logical and well-founded. He had considered her feelings while also giving a reasonable explanation, so she quickly accepted Dugu Yan's presence.

"Fine..." Ning Rongrong pouted, looked at Dugu Yan, and held out her pinky finger. "Then let's be sisters... and protect Lin Ming together."

Dugu Yan did not know whether to laugh or cry, but she still held out her pinky and hooked it with Ning Rongrong's. "All right."

Only then did Ning Rongrong smile in satisfaction. Holding Dugu Yan's hand, she began chatting with her.

The two girls were close in age and both lively and cheerful. They quickly hit it off, chatting from cosmetics to clothes, from clothes to cultivation. They chattered nonstop, as if the jealousy from earlier had never existed.

Watching the two get along so well, Lin Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

From the day he awakened the system, he had known that he would definitely have more than one woman in the future. The system had chosen five wives for him. He had only secured Ning Rongrong so far, and there were still four more waiting for him to win over.

If he could not even get past Ning Rongrong, he could forget about the other four.

Fortunately, Douluo Continent was not a monogamous world. In this world, it was perfectly common for the strong to have multiple partners.

Forget three wives and four concubines—even a harem of three thousand beauties would draw no criticism as long as you were strong enough. Which powerful Titled Douluo did not have wives and concubines in droves? Even Ning Fengzhi, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, had several concubines.

Lin Ming had never claimed to be a saint. He was an ordinary man who liked beautiful women, power, and strength. Since fate had given him this opportunity, why should he let it go to waste?

Was he supposed to watch helplessly as those outstanding women threw themselves into other men's arms? That would be far too wasteful.

Besides, he had a perfectly righteous reason—he would definitely ascend to the Divine Realm in the future.

When that time came, he could take his women with him and let them ascend together, sharing eternal life and everlasting youth. But if he did not accept them, they could only remain on Douluo Continent and become piles of dry bones after a hundred years, their beauty fading into dust.

That would be too cruel.

He was doing this for their own good.

Lin Ming silently gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart, then continued stuffing his face with food without a shred of guilt.

Meanwhile, at the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial palace.

Late at night.

The lights in the crown prince's bedchamber were still on. The candle flames swayed gently in the night breeze, casting shifting shadows.

A slender figure stood before the window with her back to the door. Moonlight streamed through the window and fell over her, outlining a graceful, enchanting curve as beautiful as a sculpture.

She had removed her daytime disguise and revealed her true appearance—golden hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, gleaming faintly under the moonlight.

Her skin was fairer than snow and smooth enough to seem breakable with a puff of breath. Her features were exquisitely flawless, like heaven's finest masterpiece, every detail perfectly placed. Her amber eyes shone with wisdom and coldness, as though they could see through every illusion in the world.

She was Qian Renxue, the young mistress of Spirit Hall and inheritor of the Angel God.

To carry out that plan, she had disguised herself as Crown Prince Xue Qinghe and infiltrated the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family more than ten years ago.

Over those ten years, she had proceeded step by step, carefully building her own power, winning over court officials, eliminating dissidents, and gradually earning the Heaven Dou Emperor's trust.

The time to cast the net was almost here. As long as she successfully ascended the throne, the entire Heaven Dou Empire would fall under her control.

However, Qian Renxue knew very well that even if she seized the Heaven Dou Empire, she might not be a match for that woman.

Bibi Dong.

Her mother, the Pope of Spirit Hall and a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo. That woman's strength was unfathomable, and her ambition was even greater—she wanted to unify the entire continent.

Even if Qian Renxue controlled the Heaven Dou Empire, it would be nothing but chickens and dogs before absolute strength, incapable of withstanding a single blow.

Therefore, Qian Renxue needed her own inner circle: a group of powerful people she could trust completely, who could serve as her future foundation, help her oppose Bibi Dong, and help her fulfill her ambitions.