Yu Xiaogang's heart suddenly sank.
Something was wrong.
Their reactions were very wrong!
Hu Liena paid no more attention to his shouting. Her voice rang out across the square once again, this time carrying the solemn weight of an epic tale.
"Back then, after Qian Xunji severely wounded Ning Lin and drove him out of Spirit City, he didn't hide in some dark corner and curse heaven and everyone around him like you did."
"He left."
"He went to the Star Dou Great Forest."
Hu Liena's words made everyone prick up their ears.
"He wasn't running away. He was searching for a way to save my teacher.
"He knew that, with my teacher's Soul Power at level eighty-nine, she only needed to take one more step, break through to level ninety, and become a Titled Douluo. With her unparalleled twin Martial Souls, she would surely be able to escape Qian Xunji's control!"
"To that end, he braved death deep within the Star Dou Great Forest and refined a Breakthrough Pill, using blood from his own heart as the catalyst."
"A pill... capable of allowing a level eighty-nine Soul Douluo to ignore the bottleneck and force a breakthrough to Titled Douluo... the Nine-Turn Nirvana Pill!"
"What?!"
The entire crowd reeled at those words!
The Soul Masters, in particular, stared with their eyes wide and their breathing quickened.
A Breakthrough Pill that could force a breakthrough to Titled Douluo?
What a heaven-defying thing!
It was unheard of!
Hu Liena continued without pausing.
"After completing the Breakthrough Pill, he disregarded the grievous injuries he had suffered while practicing Alchemy and risked his life to return to Spirit City, hoping to deliver it to my teacher."
"But he failed."
Hearing this, a savage grin of delight appeared on Yu Xiaogang's face again.
"See! I told you..."
"Qian Xunji discovered him."
Hu Liena interrupted him, her voice growing even heavier with grief.
"Qian Xunji, that beast, didn't kill Ning Lin on the spot."
"Because an even more perverse, even more vicious idea occurred to him."
"He actually... took Ning Lin into the Secret Chamber where my teacher was imprisoned!"
Boom!
The crowd erupted.
Everyone was horrified by Qian Xunji's utterly twisted conduct.
How could anyone be so cruel?
To make a man watch the woman he loved suffer humiliation, then make him watch her be driven to despair by the very hope he had brought her.
"Inside the Secret Chamber, Ning Lin found his only chance. With the last shred of his strength, he thrust that Nine-Turn Nirvana Pill into my teacher's mouth."
"My teacher immediately began her breakthrough to level ninety!"
Hu Liena's voice suddenly rose, carrying a trace of excitement and exhilaration.
But a moment later, it turned to boundless sorrow.
"At the sight, Qian Xunji flew into a rage and moved to ruin my teacher's advancement. He knew that once she succeeded, he would never be able to control her again!"
"And at that very moment..."
Hu Liena looked toward Ning Lin, her gaze filled with admiration and grief.
"Ning Lin stood in front of my teacher."
"He summoned every bit of his Soul Power and drew upon the very source of his Martial Soul's power."
"With his lifespan as fuel, his blood as an offering, and his soul as the price, he ignited the Five-Colored Divine Flame!"
"Like a shooting star, like an egg hurled against a rock, he charged at a level ninety-five Titled Douluo—Qian Xunji, the inheritor of the Angel God at the time!"
Hu Liena's words faded.
The entire Heaven Dou Square fell into an unprecedented, deathly silence.
A falling pin could have been heard.
Everyone seemed to see that scene before their eyes.
Inside a dark Secret Chamber, a woman struggled through an agonizing breakthrough while a man burned everything he had, becoming a brilliant yet resolute streak of light as he hurled himself at an invincible god.
How tragic and heroic that must have been.
How profound his love must have been.
A long time passed.
"Wh-what happened next?"
A trembling female voice, thick with tears, broke the deathly silence.
It was Ning Rongrong.
Tears had long since covered her face. Her beautiful eyes were red as she looked at Hu Liena expectantly and asked the question everyone wanted answered.
A bitter smile appeared on Hu Liena's face.
"What happened next?"
"My teacher used the precious time Ning Lin had bought with his life to successfully break through to level ninety."
"And at the instant of her breakthrough, she gained complete control over her second Martial Soul, the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor."
"His Holiness the Pope, with her twin Martial Souls, now possessed enough strength to contend with Qian Xunji, and even kill him in return."
Everyone's hearts eased at that, only to leap into their throats again.
What about Ning Lin?
Hu Liena's gaze grew distant and sorrowful.
"As for Ning Lin..."
"Under the combined impact of his Five-Colored Divine Flame, which burned through everything he had, and the holy light of Qian Xunji's Six-Winged Angel..."
"He turned to ash."
"Not even a trace of his remains was left."
"We all thought he was truly dead. We never imagined that, after all these years, he would appear here again."
After finishing, Hu Liena gave Ning Lin a long look, took half a step back, and said no more.
The entire square fell silent again.
Grief surged like a tide, drowning everyone.
"So..."
Ning Rongrong's tears burst their banks, yet she smiled—a smile more painful than weeping.
She looked at Ning Lin and spoke with a voice choked by sobs, yet utterly clear.
"So you weren't truly dead, were you?"
"You were reborn through a special ability, something like a phoenix rising from its ashes!"
"But burning everything you had that time also destroyed your talent, turning you from a favored son of heaven into... into a Soul Master who could never advance again."
"You felt you were no longer worthy of Her Majesty Bibi Dong, who had become the Pope and stood at the pinnacle of the continent, didn't you?"
"That was why you pretended you really were dead and hid away alone, silently watching over her and protecting her. You just didn't want to become her burden again or hold her back, did you!"
Every word Ning Rongrong spoke struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.
She abruptly turned and raised a slender finger, pointing from afar at Yu Xiaogang, who had already gone deathly pale and collapsed on the ground.
"Do you see now, Yu Xiaogang?!"
"This is true love!"
"One man staked his life and burned everything he had just to win a thread of hope for the woman he loved. Even after his talent was utterly destroyed, he chose to quietly disappear so he wouldn't burden her!"
"And the other!"
Ning Rongrong's voice brimmed with endless contempt and hatred.
"Because he couldn't have her, he joined forces with outsiders and personally pushed the woman he loved into the abyss, destroying everything she had!"
"You! How dare you speak of love?!"
"How dare you even call yourself human?!"
Those words, striking straight at the heart, made the entire crowd explode.
"Well said! The little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect said it perfectly!"
"One is a divine dragon in the heavens, the other a stinking bug in the dirt! They're as far apart as clouds and mud!"
"Boo-hoo... It's so moving... Lord Ning Lin is a real man!"
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