Doubting the Angel God's Sanity

As the Angel God's priest, he knew the sins he had committed.

"Xiao Xue, what will you choose?"

He knew that by the moment Qian Renxue became a god in the future he had seen, he would already be dead.

And he would never mistake the Sea God Divine Power she wielded.

"Bo Saixi, I never thought you would be gone too."

But Bo Saixi had loved Tang Chen from beginning to end...

The scene continued. When a dark version of Qian Renxue appeared, everyone was stunned once more.

Especially when Xue Qinghe flashed across the screen.

Ning Fengzhi's eyes flickered. In the end, all that remained was a bitter smile. "To think I actually taught a god."

In the palace, Emperor Xue Ye coughed a mouthful of blood onto the floor. "The son I was proudest of... was someone else in disguise..."

He had not even known his son had been replaced.

"Was I never a worthy father?"

Outside the window, two streaks of light, one red and one green, flew out of Heaven Dou City.

No one dared stand against the pressure of Titled Douluo.

Pufferfish and Snake Lance rushed toward Spirit Hall with Qian Renxue.

Their cover was blown. They could not stay.

"Damn that sky screen! What does introducing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect have to do with us?"

Pufferfish cursed as he scattered poison behind them to ward off pursuers.

Snake Lance drove his Soul Power to its limit. If Sword and Bone Douluo intercepted them, they would surely die.

He could only hope reinforcements from Spirit Hall arrived soon—preferably Great Enshrined Qian Daoliu himself.

But Qian Renxue's gaze remained fixed on the sky screen.

In the scene, dark Qian Renxue kept tempting her: kill Qian Daoliu, and she could become a god. She could make that woman regret everything.

"The Eighth Trial... requires me to kill Grandpa?"

Tears slid down her cheeks. If becoming a god meant killing her grandfather with her own hands, she would rather never become one.

Throughout her childhood, only Qian Daoliu had been kind to her.

After a moment of anguish, she made up her mind!

"Uncle Snake Lance, leave me here. I don't want to go back."

Snake Lance froze at the sight of her tear-streaked face. He and Pufferfish served Spirit Hall, but they had long since come to think of Qian Renxue as a daughter.

Anyone who became a Titled Douluo was a genius. He quickly grasped what was at stake.

"You don't want to become a god?"

Qian Renxue nodded.

Pufferfish panicked. "Nonsense! Young Mistress, if you don't become a god, won't the Great Enshrined have sacrificed himself for nothing?"

Snake Lance smacked him on the head. "Is your skull full of air, just like your Martial Soul? The Young Mistress doesn't want the Great Enshrined to die! If she doesn't go back and undertake the Angel Nine Trials, he won't die."

Only then did Pufferfish understand. The Great Enshrined was called invincible in the skies. If the Angel God had not demanded his death, how could he have fallen?

"Then where do we go now?"

Just then, a faint breeze brushed past them.

"Well, well. Whose little angel is this, crying over the chains of fate?"

A fresh breeze carrying the scent of Apple Cider swept past Qian Renxue's ear. She looked up and saw an emerald-green cloak fluttering in the moonlight.

The Young Poet sat cross-legged on a floating Harp. He plucked its strings, sending a ring of starlight rippling outward.

"Don't be so quick to run, little lady.

"When I passed through Heaven Dou City, I heard the wind telling a story about a cage—

"The chains of an angel's Divine Trial, her grandfather's sacrifice, and those fists you've clenched so tight."

Venti winked, and the Cecilia flower on his hat brim swayed gently.

"Want to hear another way this could go?"

He brushed the strings. Images of Teyvat Academy appeared in midair: a clock tower woven with the Seven Nations' Elemental Power, floating star charts in the Library, and a nun dozing beneath the Windmill.

(Rosaria suddenly sneezed.)

"Where I'm from, there's a god named Barbatos who can't stand boring scripts about things being 'fated to happen.'

"Even his apprentice—" Venti pointed to himself.

"—could whisk a hunted kitten into a tavern and hand her over to a dependable teacher while he was at it."

He leaned closer, his voice turning as solemn as a roaring wind. "If you break free of the chains of fate, the wind will race with you toward the heavens—that poem wasn't just for Zhu Zhuqing, you know."

The Harp grew louder, and Venti's figure scattered into dandelion seeds. "Want to see what a life beyond the Divine Trials looks like? Come to Teyvat Academy and say you're 'Venti's friend.' Remember to bring a bottle of Dandelion Wine as a little gift for the head of Anemo Academy!"

The last breeze swept away into the distance with his laughter. At some point, an Emerald Feather had appeared in Qian Renxue's palm, with crooked words carved into it by Anemo.

"Why must an angel sing inside a cage?" —by the best bard

Pufferfish and Snake Lance were utterly dumbfounded. Time had seemed to stop just now, leaving them able to do nothing but watch it all unfold.

"Uncles, who was that young man just now...?"

Pufferfish and Snake Lance looked as if they had seen a ghost.

Someone who could pin two Titled Douluo in place was a "young man"?

He had to be an old monster.

Douluo Continent was terrifying. Even after becoming Titled Douluo, they could still be treated like ants.

"That senior didn't... tell us where to go, did he?"

Pufferfish asked nervously.

Would refusing get us killed? Why did his pressure feel even more terrifying than the Great Enshrined's?

Qian Renxue was still in a daze when a whisper reached her ear.

"The wind will guide your path."

The scene in the sky continued.

Qian Renxue was still wavering. Dark Qian Renxue kept tempting her, insisting that killing Qian Daoliu would grant her the Godhood Legacy.

The Qian Renxue in the present felt her heart twist painfully.

Tears spilled down her cheeks despite herself. She no longer dared look at the screen of light.

Snake Lance sighed and led Qian Renxue slowly after the Sylph.

"Don't worry, Young Mistress. That senior was so powerful. Even if... he must have a way for you to become a god without killing the Great Enshrined."

Qian Renxue's eyes flew wide. On the sky screen, Qian Daoliu had seized control of the purple sword and drawn it toward his own chest.

"No, Grandpa!"

Her tears streamed down her face until she could no longer get a word out.

Qian Daoliu drove the sword into his chest, then embraced Qian Renxue one last time.

"Xue'er, you've always been Grandpa's pride."

You've always been Grandpa's pride...

As the Angel Holy Sword pierced him, the Angel God's Authority of Judgment activated.

It began replaying Qian Daoliu's sins.

He had covered up Qian Xunji's secret deeds and allowed Bibi Dong to start a war across the continent.

Those two charges left the members of the Upper Three Sects staring in disbelief.

That was all it took to condemn him?

And wasn't the Angel God an ancestor of the Qian Family?

So was the Angel God's lack of sense passed down only to the women, not the men?

"Fengzhi, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't have any Godhood Legacy, does it? Or some divine ancestor?"

Gu Rong sounded worried. He did not want his precious little Rongrong to inherit stupidity.

Chen Xin looked just as concerned. No one had said a God-Level Martial Soul came with inherited intelligence, either.

Ning Fengzhi was a little frightened himself. After thinking for a long while, he said,

"As far as I remember, we don't. But the ancestor who passed down Heart Separation Control didn't die in battle or live out his natural years."

Gu Rong and Chen Xin's expressions changed.

Rongrong practiced Heart Separation Control too. They would have to check on her state of mind when they had the chance.