Cao Thief Douluo

Azure Luan Douluo answered without a moment's thought, his voice leisurely. "Neither."

Qian Renxue froze. "Neither? Third Offering, this is a single-choice question."

Azure Luan Douluo waved a hand, looking as though he had seen through the mortal world. "Young Master, I've lived for nearly two hundred years. I saw through all that love and romance long ago.

"That beloved you mentioned, all that sacrifice and winning her heart back-it's just young people making a fuss.

"At my age, how could any of that be as fun as fishing?"

Qian Renxue: "..."

Cheng Ran: Well, damn. This old man really has life figured out.

Qian Renxue could not resist pressing further. "Third Offering, what about when you were young? Given the same question, what would your younger self have chosen?"

Azure Luan Douluo paused in midflight, then suddenly gave a meaningful chuckle. "Heh heh."

"When I was young?" He stroked his chin. "That would be a different story."

"When I was young, I would have pretended to agree to help her, made her weep with gratitude, and had her tell me where that man was. Then I would have ostensibly taken people to rescue him, while secretly killing him instead. To everyone else, I'd say the rescue failed and he died."

His tone was calm. "Then I would appear at her side as her benefactor, asking after her well-being and taking every care of her.

"In the pain of losing her husband, she would be at her most vulnerable. I would slip through that opening, gentle and considerate, and let things flow naturally to their conclusion, actively pressing in for the seed.

"She might have been married before, but that's exactly to my taste. I like it."

Qian Renxue went completely rigid in midair.

The expression on her face shifted from confusion to shock, then to blankness...

Cheng Ran burst into laughter inside her mind.

Cheng Ran: Hahahahahahaha!

Cheng Ran: What a scheming man! What a Cao Thief Douluo! Who would have thought that you, Azure Luan Douluo, with those thick brows and big, honest-looking eyes, were this kind of person!

Qian Renxue: Who is Cao Thief Douluo?

Cheng Ran: Not important. All you need to know is that he had a famous saying: "Better that I betray the world than let the world betray me."

What Azure Luan Douluo just said was cast from the exact same mold as that thief Cao.

Pretend to rescue someone, but actually kill him and take his wife, then make her feel eternally grateful for it.

Such scheming, such methods, such hidden depths-even I, the Evil God, bow in shame.

Qian Renxue began questioning her life. "Am I really the problem? Or is this world sick...?"

She glanced at Azure Luan Douluo. The level ninety-seven Super Douluo was flying ahead with a perfectly composed expression, entirely unaffected by their earlier discussion.

Cheng Ran: All right, stop thinking about it. We're almost there. It's that cliff up ahead.

Cheng Ran knew full well that changing Qian Renxue's thinking would take day after day of brainwashing. It was fine; there was plenty of time ahead.

Qian Renxue slowed down, landed on the crown of an enormous tree, and looked ahead.

Before her stood a steep volcanic cliff, its face baked crimson by years of exposure to lava.

Sunlight poured down on the clifftop, reflecting off the scorching rocks in dazzling golden rays.

Amid that golden light, a huge, three-headed avian Soul Beast lay atop the cliff, its three heads facing different directions as it basked leisurely in the sun.

Each of its three heads had a different appearance.

The middle head was pure gold all over and radiated a dazzling aura of light.

The left head was flame-red, its beak faintly exhaling scorching breaths of fire.

The right head was holy white as snow, with sacred purifying power swirling around it.

Three attributes.

Qian Renxue's pupils contracted sharply. "What is that thing? I've never seen a Soul Beast like it in any text."

Cheng Ran: A Radiant Three-Headed Phoenix. An ancient phoenix subspecies combining the three attributes of light, blazing fire, and holiness. Extremely rare. No more than three have ever been recorded across the entire Douluo Continent. This one is roughly thirty-eight thousand years old.

Beside her, Azure Luan Douluo's expression changed dramatically the instant he saw the Three-Headed Phoenix.

The Azure Luan Martial Soul within him actually gave an instinctive shudder.

It was the natural suppression a lower-order avian Martial Soul experienced when faced with the bloodline of a higher-order phoenix species.

Azure Luan Douluo blurted out in a low voice, "Young Master, this is definitely an ancient phoenix-species Soul Beast at the ten-thousand-year level! How could a level fifty Soul Ancestor like you possibly...?"

He paused, then frowned again. "Besides, this Soul Beast carries a phoenix bloodline. My Azure Luan Martial Soul is suppressed by its bloodline, so my aerial combat capabilities will be greatly reduced..."

"Rest assured, Third Offering." Cheng Ran smiled faintly. "Just watch. My Angel Martial Soul isn't suppressed by a phoenix bloodline."

Azure Luan Douluo froze, then seemed to understand something.

The Angel Martial Soul had a divine attribute and did not belong to the avian lineage.

Against a phoenix bloodline, not only would it suffer no suppression, its holy attribute would instead naturally counter it.

Watching Qian Renxue's calm expression, a thought suddenly arose in his mind: This girl specifically picked me. She probably never intended for me to be the main fighting force at all, only to guard her in the air because I can fly.

Qian Renxue: Lord Evil God, are you sure you can beat it?

Cheng Ran: Believe in me and gain eternal life. Log off. I'm taking over the account.

Qian Renxue drew a deep breath and chose to trust the Evil God.

After all, the Evil God had yet to screw her over.

Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) turned to Azure Luan Douluo. "Third Offering, I'll hunt down that Three-Headed Phoenix in a moment. Just stand guard nearby. Only intervene if I call you."

Looking into Qian Renxue's eyes, Azure Luan Douluo hesitated, then finally nodded. "Be careful, Young Master. Though your attributes counter this Three-Headed Phoenix, its strength must not be underestimated. I'll provide support from the air."

Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) spread her wings and flew out.

Eight platinum-white wings unfurled in the sunlight, like an angel descending to the mortal world.

The Radiant Three-Headed Phoenix sensed the intruder, and all three heads turned toward Qian Renxue at once.

The golden head in the middle attacked first, opening its beak to spit out a dazzling pillar of light.

Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) twisted aside to dodge. The pillar grazed her wingtip and blasted a crater several meters deep into the rock behind her.

Cheng Ran explained as he moved: Light-attribute attacks are much less effective against the Angel Martial Soul, but don't take them head-on. It wastes Soul Power.

The crimson head on the left followed immediately, spewing a blazing firestorm so hot that even the air warped.

Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) neither dodged nor evaded, charging straight into the flames.

Azure Luan Douluo's expression changed drastically in midair. "Young Master!"

Yet Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) passed through the firestorm completely unharmed, without even a singed hem.

Ice and fire immunity.

The Three-Headed Phoenix's left head let out a bewildered screech, seemingly unable to understand why its flames had no effect on this human.

Cheng Ran: See that? Fire does zero damage to you. Of its three heads, the fire head is completely useless against you. That's the same as losing a head. You only need to deal with the light and holy heads.

Qian Renxue: So ice and fire immunity can be used like this too!

Cheng Ran: That's called an attribute counter. Check the attributes before fighting a monster, understand?

The holy-white head on the right spat out a beam of sacred purifying power, shooting it straight at Qian Renxue.

This attack, too, was much less effective against the wielder of the Eight-Winged Angel Martial Soul. The Angel Martial Soul's own holy attribute provided natural resistance.

Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) flipped in midair, avoiding most of the purifying power, while her Angel Soul Power neutralized the remainder.

Azure Luan Douluo watched from the side, growing more alarmed the longer he looked.

This was the first time he had ever seen a level fifty Soul Ancestor dare to clash head-on with an ancient phoenix species at the ten-thousand-year level-and do so with ease.

What shocked him even more was that Qian Renxue's combat rhythm was nothing like that of a fifteen-year-old girl.

Every dodge was perfectly timed, and every attack went straight for a vital spot.