"Any news of Tang Hao?" Qian Daoliu turned around and faced the towering Angel God statue once more, his voice betraying neither joy nor anger.
"No, big brother." Golden Crocodile Douluo, clad in a golden robe, shook his head, his tone carrying barely suppressed fury.
"Ever since that brat killed Qian Xunji, he has vanished from the face of the earth. Spirit Hall's spies are spread across the continent, yet we haven't caught even a glimpse of him."
"Even after we drove the Clear Sky Sect back to their ancestral grounds and forced them to seal their gates, that little bastard still hasn't shown himself. Could he have fled overseas already?"
Qian Daoliu let out a long sigh and said gravely, "When news of Qian Xunji's death reached us, I personally went to the scene to search, yet found nothing. To hide things so thoroughly from me, there is likely..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression changed as he cried out, "Could it be..."
Qian Daoliu nodded solemnly, a shadow flashing through his eyes.
"If not for a god's interference, Tang Hao, with the strength of a newly advanced Titled Douluo, could never have killed Qian Xunji on the spot. Even if he used Tang Chen's Ring Detonation secret technique, Qian Xunji's Martial Soul quality far surpassed his..."
Then he waved a hand. "Speak no more of this matter. Send word to Spirit Halls across the land. There is no need to search for him so openly anymore. If his trail is discovered, do not act rashly. Report it immediately."
Ye Chenxing, who had been standing nearby "invisibly," understood the situation perfectly.
In the original timeline, Tang Hao had defeated Qian Xunji despite having only just become a Titled Douluo, even though Qian Xunji's Martial Soul quality and Soul Power Level both surpassed his. The Asura God must have been behind it.
However, because Tang Hao was Tang Chen's descendant and Qian Xunji had also been killed by Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu had failed to realize that Tang Hao did not merely seem to have divine aid—he truly did.
And the Asura God's direct involvement meant that this "heavily altered Douluo" had also received Tang Buddha from him.
At that moment, the scene before his eyes rippled like water.
When his vision cleared again, Ye Chenxing found himself inside a spacious bedchamber.
The architectural style continued Spirit Hall's usual grandeur and splendor. Exquisite angel murals covered the soaring dome, while pale golden patterns adorned the surrounding walls, reflecting a cold metallic gleam beneath the moonlight.
A room of this scale would have been the highest standard of treatment even among the continent's foremost imperial families.
In contrast to the lavish decor, the room contained few furnishings. Apart from a few basic necessities, there was only a bookshelf crammed full of books.
Yet a closer look revealed that this was a girl's room.
And its owner was curled up beneath a huge blanket, her tiny body twitching.
Even in her sleep, tear tracks clung to the corners of the girl's eyes. Her little hands gripped the blanket tightly as she murmured indistinctly, "Father... Mother... don't go. Xue'er will work hard at cultivating..."
Hearing those heartbreaking words, Ye Chenxing could not help feeling a pang of sorrow.
Originally, these names had been nothing more than symbols on a page to him—so-called "paper characters."
But as he watched the girl's shoulders tremble beneath the covers, watched the tears slide from the corners of her eyes, she gradually became flesh and blood in Ye Chenxing's heart.
This was not a book. This was a living person.
As if sensing Ye Chenxing's pity, scene after scene flashed rapidly before his eyes, like a recording played at fast-forward.
He saw what could be called the most extraordinary Martial Soul awakening on Douluo Continent.
Six-year-old Qian Renxue stood beneath the Angel God statue as golden holy light nearly set the entire hall ablaze. Her innate level-twenty god-bestowed Soul Power made even the usually composed Qian Daoliu lose control, and tears filled his eyes as he threw back his head and laughed.
He also learned that, in this world, Bibi Dong had never shared that tangled love and hatred with Yu Xiaogang.
Her tragedy stemmed solely from the betrayal of being forcibly violated by the mentor she had revered as a father.
The despair in her eyes resembled a stagnant pool, devoid of both love and hatred. Once a person lost those two emotions, there was only one ending left for her.
Amid that despair rooted deep in her bones, she gave birth to Qian Renxue. Then, like a withered flower, she died in loneliness within the Saintess Hall.
Qian Renxue grew up day by day in such an environment.
Without any spiteful conflict with Bibi Dong, she would never have done something as absurd as going to the Heaven Dou Empire to play at infiltration like in the original work.
Within that resplendent yet utterly desolate Worship Hall, her life consisted of nothing but cultivation.
As she advanced step by step toward the end of her divine trials, Qian Renxue finally learned a cruel truth: even becoming a god could not bring her dead parents back to life.
At that moment, the girl who had always tried so hard to be sensible changed. She no longer acted coquettishly toward her grandfather as she had in childhood, and she no longer took the initiative to express her feelings.
Qian Daoliu saw it all, but said nothing. He merely continued to assist her in silence.
At the same time, Ye Chenxing saw events unfolding at the other end of the continent.
In this timeline, Tang Hao had forcibly endured too much Asura Divine Power. He had long since lost all cultivation and become a cripple, which was also why he could directly take credit for killing Qian Xunji.
Before Tang San turned six, everything followed the original timeline.
Even without his cultivation, Tang Hao, that biological father, still had no intention whatsoever of forging weapons to earn money, raise his child, or improve their lives. The future God King's childhood remained hellishly difficult.
When Tang San turned six, he still chose Yu Xiaogang as his master. The difference was that this time, he truly chose that ten-year-old solitary bamboo.
Although he gained Blue Silver Pole Vault, a Soul Skill more practical than Blue Silver Entanglement, his unstable foundation and pathetic Soul Power forced Tang San to use that Clear Sky Hammer earlier and more frequently to save his life.
The price was not merely a limited future. More fatally, he entered Spirit Hall's sights much earlier.
Unfortunately for him, the Pope of this lifetime was not some love-struck fool with countless ties to his teacher.
Instead, it was Qian Daoliu, a man who had lost his son in his later years, held a deep hatred for Tang Hao, and completely controlled every aspect of Spirit Hall.
As for the Asura God, because he had given Tang Hao such outrageous support in this world, not only causing Qian Xunji's death but also bringing impeachment from the God Realm Committee upon himself, he could no longer interfere with the lower realm at will.
After confirming that Tang Hao no longer had a god's aid, Qian Daoliu personally acted and completely erased the father and son.
Time leaped forward once more.
Because of Pope Qian Daoliu's low-profile style, Spirit Hall remained quiet across the continent for a long time, even stirring the two great empires and the upper three sects into restless action.
Until that day, the doors of the Worship Hall slowly opened.
A breathtakingly beautiful woman emerged from the shadows. She wore a brilliant golden Pope's robe, and two tear tracks that had not yet dried remained on her exquisite face.
No one knew what she had lost, but the instant the entire world felt that sacred pressure, they understood:
Spirit Hall's new Pope was a god.
The scenes that followed filled Ye Chenxing with shock and admiration.
Qian Renxue completely cast aside her personal feelings. Having spent her entire life within the Worship Hall without ever interacting with the outside world, she had retained the heart of a child. With the body of a god, she unified the entire Douluo Star.
She wiped out every Evil Soul Master on Douluo Star and suppressed the Sea God's inheritance grounds, which had once attempted to interfere with her divine trials.
For a hundred years, she devoted herself wholeheartedly to the people without schemes or calculations, driven only by pure kindness and the responsibility of the Angel God. Thus, she became the center of countless people's faith.
With that immense Faith Power and the help of the plane's master, she successfully reached the realm of a half-step God King and ascended to the God Realm.
From a little flower weeping beneath a blanket to a blazing sun illuminating all things.
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