Picking up Qian Renxue

Early morning, in a dense mountain forest in the Heaven Dou Empire on the Douluo Continent.

A six-year-old blonde girl dressed in fine clothes, with exquisite features and skin as fair as snow, darted through the forest like an agile cat, fleeing for her life.

Her delicate little face was as pale as paper. Blood stained the back of her clothes, and beads of sweat covered her forehead.

Qian Renxue glanced back at the gaunt Fallen Soul Master with the sinister aura several dozen meters behind her, and humiliation surged through her.

Soul Masters with the six-winged angel martial soul had always been the bane of Fallen Soul Masters, striking terror into countless hearts and sending them fleeing at the mere sight of them. Now she was being chased into a wretched retreat by a Fallen Soul Master. It was an unspeakable disgrace!

Qian Renxue cursed inwardly. What are the Spirit Hall's enforcers and bishops even doing? They actually let a Fallen Soul Master like this run rampant and murder people in broad daylight!

And I clearly remember resting in the crown prince's bedchamber after scolding that useless Xue Beng.

How did I suddenly end up in an unfamiliar mountain forest? And run into a Fallen Soul Master, of all things!

That would be bad enough, but why has my body shrunk too? My strength has even dropped from Soul King to the level of someone who has just undergone martial soul awakening.

Damn it, that Fallen Soul Master's martial soul isn't strong, and he's only a Soul Grandmaster. He's a worthless ant.

If I had even one soul ring and could use martial soul possession, I could kill him with a single stroke!

The Evil Soul Master noticed Qian Renxue's gaze and grinned, revealing eerily white teeth.

He took a deep breath, committing Qian Renxue's scent firmly to memory.

A sickly pallor spread across his face, and his gaze grew ever more feverish and greedy as he watched her.

The Evil Soul Master's name was Li Wu. His martial soul was an evil wolf, and he was a Soul Grandmaster who could improve his cultivation and talent by devouring fresh flesh and blood.

Moreover, the stronger the cultivation, the greater the talent, and the more powerful the underlying essence of the person whose flesh he devoured, the greater the improvement.

From Qian Renxue's aura and age, he could deduce that she was extraordinarily gifted, and that her martial soul had to be exceptional.

Devouring her would undoubtedly benefit him enormously. It might even allow his martial soul to evolve, sending him soaring into the heavens in a single leap. That was why he pursued her so relentlessly.

Li Wu's burning gaze sent a chill through Qian Renxue's entire body. She abruptly focused her attention, swallowing all her questions.

Her eyes hardened with resolve. The most important thing right now is to shake off this Fallen Soul Master and escape alive. Only then can I find answers to those questions!

Drawing on her past experience and considerable mental strength, Qian Renxue mobilized the soul power in her dantian and channeled it into her legs and feet, increasing both her speed and her explosive power.

Li Wu looked startled as he watched Qian Renxue's speed increase, clearly surprised by how fast she could move.

"Hehehe, little girl, you run pretty fast," Li Wu said with a laugh. "But you're a Soul Scholar without a single soul ring, and you think you can escape a Soul Grandmaster like me? Dream on!

"First soul skill! Evil Wolf Transformation!"

Two soul rings, one white and one yellow, rose around Li Wu's body. Then the white ring abruptly lit up and flashed.

As his first soul skill activated, Li Wu's eyes turned blood-red, and the muscles of his formerly gaunt body swelled, making him powerfully built!

His hands became sharp wolf claws, a layer of gray fur grew over his skin, and his face protruded, making him look as savage and hideous as a wolf.

Li Wu's first soul skill, Evil Wolf Transformation, increased his strength, speed, and defense by 30% for one minute.

With the enhancement of his first soul skill, Evil Wolf Transformation, Li Wu grew even faster.

He did not bother dodging the branches and bushes in his path, charging straight through them with his strengthened body.

By contrast, Qian Renxue had to dodge around the branches and bushes blocking her way. Inevitably, the distance between them began to shrink.

Fifty meters, forty meters, thirty meters!

A minute later, Li Wu had driven Qian Renxue onto a cliff.

Li Wu licked his lips and said gently, "Little girl, stop running. Come home with your big brother. I'll be very gentle."

"Idiot!"

A mocking smile wholly unsuited to her age curled across Qian Renxue's exquisite, adorable little face. She looked at the cliff, hundreds of meters high, and leaped without hesitation!

Li Wu's expression changed drastically when he saw Qian Renxue jump straight off the cliff. He immediately reached out to grab her, but it was already too late. She had leaped over the edge and was plummeting.

"No, no, no!!!"

Li Wu cried out at the sight, nearly stamping his feet in desperation.

This cliff was hundreds of meters high. Even a Soul Grandmaster like him would certainly die from such a fall, let alone a six-year-old girl.

His feast, his future, his dream of martial soul evolution—with one snap, they were all gone.

But Li Wu soon realized that things did not seem to be unfolding as he had expected.

He looked closely and saw a streak of brilliant golden light suddenly rise from the plummeting blonde girl.

The brilliant golden light began at her forehead and instantly spread over her entire body.

A huge golden phantom appeared behind her.

Its features were indistinct, but he could tell it was a woman. It radiated an incomparably holy aura, and three pairs of wings extended from its back.

In an instant, Qian Renxue's rapidly falling body floated upward, as though it had escaped the pull of gravity.

Qian Renxue's expression was proud, her gaze imperious.

Angels did not die in the sky!

As the bearer of the six-winged angel martial soul, she was a sovereign of the skies, invincible in aerial combat.

Even without a soul ring, even though she could not yet use martial soul possession, she would never die in the sky!

The three pairs of wings on the phantom of her six-winged angel martial soul sheltered her like a paraglider, allowing her to ride the wind through the sky.

Qian Renxue turned to look at Li Wu above her, her eyes icy. "You hideous Fallen Soul Master. Once I obtain a soul ring, I will kill you!"

Just as Qian Renxue descended steadily toward the foot of the cliff under the protection of her six-winged angel martial soul.

Up on the cliff, Li Wu felt that holy aura and stared at those three pairs of wings. His pupils contracted, and he cried out in disbelief.

"This... this holy aura... is this the legendary six-winged angel!?

"Impossible! Weren't that martial soul and the Spirit Hall destroyed by Lord Sea God Tang San ten thousand years ago? Aren't there only two-winged holy angels and seraphim left now?

"Where did this bearer of the six-winged angel martial soul come from?"

Still gliding, Qian Renxue heard Li Wu's words, and disbelief filled her face.

What did that Fallen Soul Master say?!

Ten thousand years ago?! Could this be the world ten thousand years in the future?

How did I end up in a world ten thousand years in the future?

No, that damned Fallen Soul Master said the six-winged angel martial soul and the Spirit Hall were destroyed. How is that possible?

How could the Spirit Hall possibly be destroyed?

Tang San? Isn't Tang San just a mere Soul Elder? There isn't even a single Titled Douluo among all the teachers and students at Shrek Academy.

Him? Worthy of becoming a god? Worthy of destroying the Spirit Hall?

Just as Qian Renxue's concentration shattered.

Li Wu, the Evil Soul Master at the edge of the cliff, recovered from his shock.

His expression twisted viciously. Damn it, who cares whether her martial soul is a six-winged angel! If she really does have that martial soul, isn't that even better?

If I kill her and devour her flesh and blood, my martial soul and my talent will definitely evolve. Maybe I'll even have a chance to become a Titled Douluo or a Super Douluo someday!!

The yellow hundred-year soul ring around Li Wu flashed.

Second soul skill, Evil Wolf Annihilation Wave!!

Li Wu opened his bloody maw, and a blood-red beam half a meter thick erupted from his mouth, ripping through the air toward Qian Renxue!

At that moment, Qian Renxue was still reeling. Moreover, without a soul ring, she could not use martial soul possession and had no way to unleash the true power of her six-winged angel martial soul.

She could not even fly freely, only glide briefly with the help of her martial soul. She had no way to dodge nimbly in the air.

The blood-red beam struck Qian Renxue squarely in the back.

Qian Renxue grunted and spat out a mouthful of blood. Like a kite with its string cut, she tumbled unsteadily out of the sky and finally fell into the raging current below the cliff.

Up on the cliff, Li Wu burst out laughing when he saw his attack hit Qian Renxue.

"To think that I, Li Wu, would one day encounter the bearer of a six-winged angel martial soul! That's a martial soul with the potential to become a god.

"If that last attack killed the girl, doesn't that mean I, Li Wu, snuffed out a future god? Hahahahaha!"

"Today, I'll eat her and use her flesh and blood to lay the foundation for my road to the heavens!"

Li Wu wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurried off to search below the cliff.

Three hours later, in Qinghe Village in the Heaven Dou Empire.

A six-year-old boy walked out of his home and sat down beside the little river near Qinghe Village, admiring its clear waters.

The sun shone brightly overhead, and the clear river reflected the boy's figure.

He had sharp brows, star-bright eyes, exquisite features, and striking good looks. His skin was wheat-colored, and his short black hair held a touch of carefree charm amid its disarray.

His black eyes revealed a steadiness and resolve that did not belong to a boy his age.

"My attempt at awakening my martial soul on my own failed again. I've clearly sensed the power hidden inside me, but no matter how many methods I try, I just can't draw it out.

"Do I really have to pay a huge tax and hire a Soul Master to awaken my martial soul?"

Ever since the Spirit Hall's destruction ten thousand years ago, ordinary people had no longer enjoyed the good fortune of having Soul Masters awaken their martial souls for free.

If an ordinary person wanted to awaken a martial soul, they had to pay a hefty sum, commonly called the martial soul awakening tax, to have one of the empire's Soul Masters perform the awakening.

After all, a Soul Master's time was precious. A single trip to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul beasts and gather rare medicinal herbs could earn them ten or even a hundred gold soul coins.

An ordinary person, meanwhile, might not manage to save even one gold soul coin in an entire year.

With their labor worth so much, Soul Masters naturally had no desire to spend time awakening ordinary people's martial souls without receiving anything in return.

Even when kindhearted Soul Masters or sects performed awakenings for ordinary people, there were simply too few of them to cover the entire continent.

Chen An rubbed the space between his brows, his clear black eyes unconsciously sinking into contemplation.

In his previous life, he had been a recent university graduate. Who could have imagined that, while waiting at a traffic light, he would be taken out by an out-of-control Dayun truck?

When he opened his eyes again, he had been reborn on the Douluo Continent. His parents had named him Chen An, hoping he would live a peaceful and safe life.

Chen An's parents were hunters. When he was four, they had gone hunting in the mountains and been killed by an Evil Soul Master, leaving him all alone.

With his mature mind, the inheritance his parents had left him, and the villagers' help, supporting himself was naturally no great difficulty.

But Chen An could not accept it. He could not accept spending his entire life in Qinghe Village, living out an ordinary existence.

He had come to this extraordinary world, the Douluo Continent, and witnessed the astonishing supernatural power of Soul Masters from afar.

The flames in Chen An's heart had been thoroughly kindled. He wanted to become a Soul Master and avenge his parents!

He wanted to behold the wonders of the world, be revered and feared by multitudes, reach the pinnacle of Soul Masters, and even become a god at level one hundred, living forever! Eternal and undying.

But Chen An had been stumped at the very first step on the path to becoming a Soul Master.

An orphan with barely a few coins in his pocket, he simply could not afford to hire a Soul Master to awaken his martial soul.

He had tried to awaken it himself, but every attempt had failed. Although he could sense his martial soul's power, he could never draw it out.

Without awakening his martial soul, he could not become a Soul Master. All his grand ambitions were mere drifting duckweed, empty talk.

"To die before the campaign is won, leaving heroes' tears to soak their robes forever"—no words could have described Chen An more fittingly.

After gazing at the clear river for a while, Chen An felt all the gloom in his heart disperse. He was about to head back and attempt another martial soul awakening on his own.

Just then, a conspicuous head of golden hair drifted downstream and caught Chen An's eye as he prepared to leave.

"Did a child fall into the water?!"

In his previous life as a young man on Blue Star, Chen An had thoroughly studied Marx, Lenin, and Mao's Selected Works. He was no saint, but he was willing to lend a hand when it was within his means and would not harm his own interests.

Three minutes later, Chen An successfully pulled the blonde child ashore.

Chen An was drenched. The rescue had exhausted him, and he panted heavily.

He wiped the river water from his face, lowered his head, and took a closer look at the blonde child he had rescued.

Whoa, why is this blonde girl so cute and delicate? And her skin is so fair!

Those clothes, and that storage soul tool ring... which dignitary's little princess is this?

Chen An checked the little blonde girl's pulse.

Hmm, she's still alive, but her back is wounded. She's really tough. Nine times out of ten, she's a Soul Master. An ordinary person would probably have died long ago after being injured and then soaking in the river.

Chen An rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment, then hoisted the blonde girl onto his back and quietly took her home to treat her.

As the saying went, wealth and fortune were found amid danger. As an ordinary person with neither money nor influence, if Chen An lacked the ruthlessness and drive to fight for more, he would spend his whole life stuck in the mud!

If a little blonde girl who looks about six could get away from them, that hostile Soul Master must be pretty pathetic.

That evening, at Chen An's home.

On the bed, Qian Renxue slowly opened her eyes and looked at the dilapidated wooden roof beams.

A thought passed through her little head. Where am I now?