Spirit Hall's traitor

Of the nine in this match, the strongest was at least worth a look.

Moreover, in a sense, facing him meant Qian Renxue was cleaning house.

His name was Mo Qinglian, and his martial soul was a yellow peach tree.

A former member of Spirit Hall, he was wanted and hunted by Spirit Hall for privately selling disciple admission slots.

Speaking of which, this was an open secret in the Heaven Dou Empire's aristocratic circles, but among the common people, it was a scandal that shook the entire Heaven Dou Empire.

While serving in Spirit Hall's External Affairs Department, Mo Qinglian had been specifically responsible for recruiting disciples in Heaven Dou Province.

Simply put, he was the chief examiner and had considerable say over who could enter Spirit Hall.

A core position in Spirit Hall was a job for life, and wealthy merchants with neither power nor influence went to every possible length to squeeze their children into Spirit Hall.

Normal Spirit Hall selections tested talent, comprehension, and martial soul quality.

But with Mo Qinglian, what mattered was the thickness of one's banknotes.

Prices started at a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, openly listed, with the same fair treatment for young and old alike.

Once, a manager from Heaven Dou City's auction house had sent money, which Mo Qinglian accepted, only to express deep regret during the interview: "Your son's martial soul is a hoe. This... doesn't quite meet Spirit Hall's requirements."

The manager took the hint and added another payment.

Mo Qinglian accepted the money and marked the documents. "I took a closer look at your son's hoe martial soul. Its quality is exceptional. The colleague responsible for awakening his martial soul made an operational error; your son's innate soul power was actually rank six. As it happens, Spirit Hall recently had an opening for a Medicine Garden disciple. I think your son is very suitable, a promising talent!"

The manager left, thanking him profusely.

Mo Qinglian had done this countless times in Heaven Dou Province. As long as people paid, he turned no one away.

In the most outrageous instance, a billionaire's son had a body martial soul: his scalp.

It was a trash martial soul that did nothing except provide light when infused with soul power.

But that wealthy merchant slipped him a million Gold Soul Coins.

Mo Qinglian approved him without another word and even personally wrote a recommendation letter, praising the young master as "naturally gifted, with the potential to bring glory to Spirit Hall."

But even that was not the most outrageous part. What truly brought Mo Qinglian down was the publication of that year's Spirit Hall disciple selection results in Heaven Dou Province.

That year, Heaven Dou Province recruited seven core disciples for Spirit Hall.

Once the results were published, observant citizens of the Heaven Dou Empire noticed something jaw-dropping.

There were seven admission slots, and all seven admitted candidates had interview scores above eighty.

Meanwhile, among the hundreds of rejected candidates, including several exceptionally talented youths with outstanding martial souls, every interview score was in the forties or fifties.

Public opinion erupted.

"Seven recruits, exactly seven scores above eighty, and everyone else got forty or fifty? Do you think ordinary people are idiots?"

"These admissions were tailor-made for preselected candidates!"

"Everyone suffers, but yellow peaches taste sweet."

Public resentment ran rampant, and the uproar kept growing.

Some bold commoners took their complaints directly to the reporting desk at Spirit Hall headquarters.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, a Titled Douluo of Pope Hall, was ordered to investigate.

The investigation revealed irregularities in every disciple recruitment Mo Qinglian had handled over the past three years.

The estates, farmland, and other properties under his name were worth tens of millions of Gold Soul Coins in total. He also kept several pairs of sisters at home, and even had a mistress whose martial soul was a cat-eared girl.

Corrupt. Utterly corrupt!

A chief examiner in the External Affairs Department was richer than several elders.

Bibi Dong was furious. This incident had sent Spirit Hall's reputation among the Heaven Dou Empire's commoners plummeting.

Spirit Hall recruited disciples on the principle of "talent from across the land, regardless of background." Thanks to Mo Qinglian, it had become "talent from across the land, depending only on the bid."

Though, to some extent, it had also become the best advertisement for Spirit Hall's recruitment...

Bibi Dong personally gave the order: "Any hand reaching for bribes must be struck down. Execute Mo Qinglian! Make an example of him to deter others!"

But Mo Qinglian received advance warning. He had connections in Pope Hall through a chain of shared illicit gains. If he did not take his cut, how could the Titled Douluo elders take theirs?

On the very night the arrest order was issued, Mo Qinglian disappeared with the last batch of his ill-gotten money.

When Spirit Hall's pursuit team reached the Heaven Dou Empire's border, all they found was an empty estate and a note left on the table.

"My thanks to Elder XX of Spirit Hall for nurturing me. Until we meet again."

Mo Qinglian fled into Slaughter City.

Here, there were no Spirit Hall wanted notices or endless pursuits, only the strong preying on the weak.

Relying on his cultivation of over rank seventy, he specifically hunted newcomers who had just entered Slaughter City.

These newcomers often still carried valuables from the outside world. Killing one was enough to keep him living comfortably for months.

His hands were stained entirely with newcomers' blood, and he thrived in Slaughter City.

Mo Qinglian had met Qian Renxue once while in Spirit Hall. Although he did not know her exact identity, he knew she was definitely the daughter of someone high up in Spirit Hall.

Today, he had no other intention. He simply felt it was terribly unfair, and in his mind, he had already made Qian Renxue prey through whom he could take revenge on Spirit Hall and vent his resentment.

What he did not know was that, in Qian Renxue's eyes, he was prey too.

Qian Renxue thought, Spirit Hall's traitor must die today! Even if the King of Slaughter comes, he won't stop me. I said it.

The opening horn sounded.

Qian Renxue moved immediately.

She activated flight, her body sweeping across the arena. The Angel Blade condensed in her palm, its platinum radiance flashing through the dim arena.

Mo Qinglian reacted fastest of anyone there, immediately raising his weapon to block.

Clang!

Qian Renxue unleashed Angel Saint Step, her figure turning into afterimages as she darted among the remaining seven contestants.

With Angel Saint Hand, she seized a blade barehanded, forcibly wrenching the weapon from a saber-wielding burly man before reversing it and driving it into his own chest.

With Angel Saint Seizure, she locked the throat of a short man attempting a sneak attack and hurled him bodily out of the arena, smashing him against the stone wall of the spectator stands.

Her spiritual power, superior to that of ordinary people, captured everyone's movements. Not a single opening could escape her notice.

Every swing of the Angel Blade took a life.

Less than thirty breaths passed from start to finish.

Nine had entered the arena. Now, only Mo Qinglian remained standing to face her.

Eight streams of white light rose from the corpses and sank into Qian Renxue's body.

Her soul power had already far exceeded the rank-sixty limit. It was all stockpiled within her, waiting until she left Slaughter City and absorbed her Sixth Soul Ring to burst forth all at once.

Moreover, it was not just her soul power that was growing. The Angel Blade she condensed in her palm was somewhat sharper than when she first entered the city.

After slaying hundreds of sinners in succession, her understanding of "judgment" had deepened.

With every sinner she slew, her understanding of blade intent deepened another layer.

Slaying evil was judgment, and judgment was purification.

Her state of mind was clearer than when she had entered the city. Through these repeated acts of stopping slaughter with slaughter, the sacred essence of her angel martial soul was being honed into ever greater purity.

Mo Qinglian tightened his grip on his broadsword.

Although he no longer had his soul skills, his soul power of over rank seventy infused his weapon and flesh, giving him strength and speed far beyond the small fry in the arena.

"Little girl, you think clearing out those useless wretches means you can fight me?"

Mo Qinglian sneered. "When I was in Spirit Hall's External Affairs Department, you were still nursing. I despise privileged brats like you most of all. Why should decades of risking my life and bitter cultivation earn me nothing but the chance to be your dog?"