An Undeserved Calamity

An Unmerited Disaster

Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, ancient trees towered into the sky, their dense branches and leaves blocking out most of the daylight.

Slashes of fierce golden sword energy swept back and forth, continually tearing through the forest air as they pursued the figure ahead.

Damn it, I have the worst fucking luck! I just came out to hunt a spirit beast and I have to run right into Qian Renxue!

Feeling the oppressive force pressing down from behind, Lu Chen cursed inwardly. He did not dare to slow his pace in the slightest, continuously executing Flash Step in a desperate attempt to put some distance between himself and the golden figure behind him.

As for why Qian Renxue was hunting him down, the whole affair was completely unmerited.

What decent person goes bathing in the Star Dou Great Forest!

Sixteen years ago, he was a programmer on Earth who happened to be adding a new feature to a video game when suddenly his computer screen erupted with dazzling light.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he had transmigrated to Douluo Continent, born as a newborn infant in an obscure little village on the outskirts of Tiandou City.

Six years of time passed in the blink of an eye, and finally the age arrived for him to awaken his Martial Soul.

However, the goddess of fortune was not standing on his side.

At the awakening ceremony, he only awakened a set of ordinary iron armor, and even his innate spirit power was a pitiful rank 1.

One could say he hit rock bottom among spirit master talents.

Without any accidents, his future would simply be that of cannon fodder.

Yet just as he was losing heart, his cheat arrived—the Flash Sale Shop.

The software he had previously developed became his cheat on Douluo Continent, and it had even undergone localization adjustments.

The rules of the Flash Sale Shop were very simple: at midnight on the first day of every month, three random items would be restocked for him to purchase.

The types of items encompassed everything, ranging from large soul tools and cultivation cultivation methods to pills, daily necessities, and even martial souls could be purchased.

The higher the quality of the item, the more gold soul coins it required.

With this reliance, Lu Chen firmly made up his mind to develop in a low-profile manner.

Ever since then, he deliberately avoided Spirit Hall and detoured around the protagonist group, relying on the system to steadily grow stronger.

In his view, as long as he did not die, becoming a god in the future was practically a sure thing.

Enduring ten years of dormancy, day after day utilizing the shop's supplies to polish his foundation and break through realms.

He finally rose from a weak rank 1 spirit master, pushing all the way through to become a sixty-rank spirit emperor of the present day.

This trip to the Star Dou Great Forest had the sole purpose of finding a high-tier spirit ring that suited his Martial Soul.

He originally thought this operation of his would go as smoothly as past ones, but he never expected to run into Qian Renxue, let alone mistakenly stumble upon her bathing in a forest lake.

This completely stirred up a hornet's nest.

"Angel Domain!"

Right at that moment, a cold voice brimming with anger suddenly exploded through the forest.

In a split second, golden light bloomed across the heavens and earth, and the dim, profound depths of the forest were instantly chased away, replaced by a golden space brimming with divinity.

Countless rays of golden light surged from all directions, transforming into golden chains that locked Lu Chen's limbs and torso mid-air.

Lu Chen tried struggling a few times, only to find he could not break free with brute force, and he sighed helplessly. Sigh, it looks like the only way to get out of this is to fight Qian Renxue.

He was someone who loathed trouble the most.

Fleeing all the way hadn't been out of fear for Qian Renxue.

Instead, he worried that a battle between the two of them would attract a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast from the Star Dou Great Forest.

One had to know that their current location was deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.

Yet there was no other way now; Qian Renxue had locked onto him with absolute focus.

Right now, he had no choice but to throw down with Qian Renxue to escape.

He saw Qian Renxue hovering in mid-air, the Angel Sword in her hand pointing right at him.

The three pairs of wings behind her were unfurled, brimming with divine radiance.

This was Lu Chen's first time facing Qian Renxue head-on.

He had to admit that Qian Renxue was beautiful, prettier than any girl he had ever seen.

A head of gilded hair cascaded like a flowing spring, and when her three pairs of golden angel wings spread open, they carried their own divine halo, as holy as a heavenly goddess descending to earth.

The only flaw was that this flawless face was shrouded in a wave of irritation and killing intent.

"Hey, hey, I already told you I didn't do it on purpose. Can't you let me go?"

Lu Chen gave an awkward smile, trying to communicate with Qian Renxue to clear up the misunderstanding.

Yet what met him was still Qian Renxue's ice-cold sword edge.

"Since it's like this."

"Then Qian Renxue, have you ever been defeated?"

"Or rather, can you accept being defeated by someone of the same generation?"

Seeing that communication was impossible, Lu Chen said in a low voice.

Qian Renxue's talent truly was high, but because of her infiltration into the Heaven Dou Empire, she had no way to cultivate with peace of mind, and her current strength was merely that of a sixty-rank spirit emperor.

And he was also a sixty-rank spirit emperor now.

Even though he hadn't found a suitable spirit ring yet, not counting as a true spirit emperor in the strict sense.

If they really fought, he wouldn't necessarily lose to Qian Renxue.

Hearing Lu Chen's abrupt question, Qian Renxue, who was hovering in mid-air, abruptly halted her movements.

Within those clear golden eyes, a hint of distinct astonishment surfaced for the very first time.

Had she been defeated?

Of course she had been defeated.

Yet among her peers, never once had a single person possessed the qualification to make her taste defeat!

Ever since her Martial Soul had awakened, she bore the top-tier, god-grade Seraphim Martial Soul and had even received the Angel God's blessing, elevating her innate spirit power to rank 20.

Even her grandfather said she was the most talented spirit master he had ever laid eyes on.

And this peer before her, who looked ordinary and whom she had easily bound with her Angel Domain, actually dared to ask her if she had ever been lost?

Just as Qian Renxue's mind was momentarily dazed, the golden chains that had been tightly locking Lu Chen's body suddenly shattered inch by inch, turning into a sky full of fine, fragmented golden light particles that dissipated within the Angel Domain.

Dazzling, ultimate radiant golden light erupted with Lu Chen at the center.

Waiting for the light to scatter, one could see a suit of gilded, brilliant, and intricately patterned Golden Cloth materializing out of thin air, perfectly covering Lu Chen's entire body while the two pairs of golden wings behind his back slowly unfurled.

At the same time, five spirit rings—purple, purple, purple, black, and black—rose in neat order from beneath Lu Chen's feet, revolving around his entire body.

If anyone had ever read Saint Seiya, they would certainly be able to recognize what armor Lu Chen wore upon his body.

That's right, this was the Sagittarius Gold Cloth he had purchased from the Flash Sale Shop.

Because the Sagittarius Gold Cloth fit his original iron armor Martial Soul in perfect harmony, the moment he finished purchasing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, his Martial Soul evolved from the original iron armor into the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, which possessed the ultimate attributes of light and annihilation.

And thanks to the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, his cultivation speed had begun to soar at rocket pace.

At this moment, the astonishment on Qian Renxue's face completely transformed into shock, an incredulous expression rising on her gorgeous visage.

According to Spirit Hall's records, a spirit master's very first spirit ring was only a bit over four hundred years.

Yet the first and second spirit rings of this youth, who was roughly her own age, had unexpectedly reached an unprecedented level of the millennium realm!

"Qian Renxue, you've chased me for so long, it's about time I returned the favor!"

"Soul Skill—Golden Arrow!"

Accompanied by Lu Chen's falling voice, stellar light gathered around Lu Chen's entire body, and all his spirit power surged along the Cloth's patterns toward his right hand, slowly forming a golden arrow as solid as physical substance.

His Martial Soul, the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, was an extremely special Martial Soul.

No matter how many spirit rings he obtained, there was only a single soul skill—Golden Arrow!

The might of the Golden Arrow was related to the sum of his spirit ring ages.

He currently possessed five spirit rings; thanks to the system's help, his first spirit ring was 1,500 years, his second spirit ring was 4,000 years, and while his third spirit ring was also a purple millennium spirit ring, it had reached a staggering 8,000 years, while his fourth and fifth spirit rings were 15,000 and 30,000 years respectively.

Under a full-strength strike, to say it could pose a threat to a Titled Douro might be stretching it, but an average Spirit Douro might not be able to catch this arrow head-on.

This was also one of the reasons why he didn't fear Qian Renxue.

Though the power of the Golden Arrow was immense, its drawback was likewise extremely obvious.

That was, after firing a single shot, it required a very long time to condense a second Golden Arrow.

Fortunately, there were quite a few inherited combat skills within the Cloth, which were enough for him to handle the vast majority of situations.

"Hah!"

Lu Chen let out a low shout, his fingertips releasing.

Hum—

The golden arrow shadow transformed into a streak of light that lunged straight for Qian Renxue.

Facing Lu Chen's attack, Qian Renxue furrowed her brow, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.

Although her opponent was merely a fifty-rank spirit king, the other party made her feel immense pressure.

If she didn't take him seriously, she very well might end up injured or even perish!

"Fifth Soul Skill—Holy Sword!"

Following Qian Renxue's cold voice, the Angel Sword in her hand suddenly swelled, its holy golden light as scorching as the sun.

Clang—!!!

The Golden Arrow and the Holy Sword violently collided, and the berserk energy swept outward toward the surroundings like a tsunami.

Crack!

A sound akin to shattering glass suddenly rang out.

The space between the two of them seemed unable to bear this terrifying clash of attacks any longer.

Pitch-black spatial cracks instantly spread open, and berserk spatial turbulence gushed out from the fissures like a greedy black hole, instantly swallowing the caught-off-guard Lu Chen and Qian Renxue.

"Oh no, it's spatial turbulence!"

Qian Renxue's pupils contracted sharply, instinctively urging her six wings to protect herself.

Lu Chen's expression also shifted; he never imagined that a mere battle between the two of them would trigger a spatial anomaly!

In the span of a breath, both figures were entirely swallowed by the spatial cracks, vanishing completely from the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.