Making up for Douluo's lack of a Three-Year Pact

Bibi Dong's face was livid. "Great Enshrined, are you going to interfere in the Pope Hall's daily affairs?"

"Bibi Dong." Qian Daoliu spoke unhurriedly, but every word weighed a thousand pounds. "I do not concern myself with Spirit Hall's specific affairs, but I do concern myself with my own granddaughter."

Bibi Dong's breathing quickened.

She stared at Qian Daoliu, then looked at Qian Renxue, whom he shielded behind him, and sneered. "Good! Good! Good!"

"Qian Renxue, from this day forward," Bibi Dong said, enunciating every word, "I, Bibi Dong, sever our mother-daughter relationship. From now on, you are no longer my daughter. Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."

The Pope Hall fell into deathly silence once more.

No grief was greater than a heart that had died. Qian Renxue thought, Bibi Dong, my mother, doesn't want me anymore...

Cheng Ran: Xiao Xue, this is a good thing!

Qian Renxue: *?*

Cheng Ran: But if anyone's going to sever this mother-daughter relationship, we should be the ones to say it! It's all right, Xiao Xue. Just watch me help you escape your birth family's psychological manipulation and make up for Douluo's lack of a Three-Year Pact!

Qian Renxue: *?????*

Inside her mind, Qian Renxue felt as though lightning had struck her.

She was certain now. This was an Evil God who enjoyed toying with humans for his own amusement!

Just listen-was any of that something a human would say?

The next moment, Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) stepped out from behind Qian Daoliu and faced Bibi Dong directly.

Everyone thought she would cry, beg for mercy, and fall apart.

But she did not.

Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) raised her head, the corners of her lips curving upward. "Sever our relationship? Fine."

Bibi Dong froze.

She had not expected Qian Renxue to agree so readily.

"But you don't get to decide who's disowning whom," Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) said, word by word. "Whoever has the bigger fist gets the final say. Three years from now, at Spirit Hall, you and I will fight to decide the victor."

As those words fell, even the air throughout the hall seemed to freeze.

Qian Daoliu's expression changed.

Qian Renxue was dumbstruck. Three years from now? Fight my mother, a Titled Douluo with twin martial souls? Lord Evil God, you think far too highly of me!!

Cheng Ran: As the Evil God, I guarantee that in three years, you'll ascend Martial Soul Mountain, defeat Bibi Dong with ease, hand her a letter of repudiation, and make your name known throughout the world!

In the hall, Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) continued:

"If I win, then I, Qian Renxue, will be the one choosing to sever our mother-daughter relationship. From then on, our bond as mother and daughter will be crossed out with a single stroke."

"If I lose, this body will be yours to command. Whether you want to use me as a tool or refuse to acknowledge me as your daughter, I, Qian Renxue, will not utter a word of protest."

"Bibi Dong, do you dare accept this three-year deadline?"

The Pope Hall was terrifyingly quiet.

Bibi Dong stared at Qian Renxue, her gaze complicated to the extreme.

She, Bibi Dong, was a level ninety-five Titled Douluo.

Qian Renxue was a level forty-nine Soul Ancestor.

In three years, could she cultivate from level forty-nine to the level of a Titled Douluo and gain the strength to fight her?

Absurd, laughable, utterly foolish!

"Fine."

Just one word.

But the instant that word fell, the temperature throughout the hall plummeted.

"Three years from now, at Spirit Hall." Bibi Dong's voice was ice-cold. "I'll be waiting. If you don't dare come, I won't even need to lift a hand. I will announce this document severing our relationship to the entire world myself."

"It's a promise," Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) said calmly. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west-do not scorn a young girl for being poor!"

Qian Daoliu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

He could tell that Qian Renxue was not acting on a momentary impulse. There was something in her eyes he had never seen before.

It was like smashing the cauldrons and sinking the boats, yet also like the flames before rebirth.

Bibi Dong turned and strode back to the papal throne, her back to everyone.

"Now, get out!"

The fiercely proud Bibi Dong lost her composure completely and flew into a rage, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily.

Ever since she had become Pope, no one had ever dared speak to her like this.

The elders felt as though a great burden had been lifted and left the Pope Hall one after another.

Qian Renxue left with Qian Daoliu as well.

In the empty hall, Bibi Dong gazed in the direction Qian Renxue had left, an emotion she had not felt for many years stirring in her eyes.

All these years, she truly had never regarded Qian Renxue as her daughter, but as evidence of a crime.

Qian Renxue, she murmured the name in her heart.

Was I really wrong?

A moment later, clarity returned to her eyes. "No! I wasn't wrong! Qian Xunji was the one at fault! I will never allow anyone to betray me!"

"Nana, have someone move all of Qian Renxue's belongings to the Worship Hall. I, Bibi Dong, will consider myself never to have had this daughter. From now on, without my permission, Qian Renxue is forbidden to set foot in the Pope Hall!"

Hearing this, Hu Liena froze, looking as though she wanted to speak but hesitated.

Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow. "What? Do you want to plead for her too?"

Hu Liena's expression changed. "Huh? No, Master. What I wanted to say was, Senior Sister Qian Renxue has always lived in the Worship Hall..."

Bibi Dong fell silent.

The Worship Hall.

As soon as Qian Renxue returned to her room, Cheng Ran's voice in her mind grew weak.

Xiao Xue, I can't hold on anymore...

Qian Renxue was startled, feeling relief mixed with a tiny trace of reluctance. Lord Evil God, what's wrong? Are you dying?

Cheng Ran: I've exhausted my spiritual power. I fought your mom for too long and overextended myself badly. I can't go on. I'm dying...

Qian Renxue's tone was worried. Lord Evil God, don't scare me. Don't die yet! Tell me the truth about my father and Bibi Dong before you die!

Though she said that, the irrepressible upward curve of her lips betrayed her.

Yes, someone as lonely as Qian Renxue was guarded against everything in the outside world, let alone an Evil God of unknown origin.

Cheng Ran: Hey, hey, you're celebrating too soon. I'm not going to die. I just need to go AFK for a while.

Qian Renxue: AFK? What does that mean?

Cheng Ran: Ask your grandpa about your mom. He knows. That's it for now. Hold things together yourself for a bit. Bye-bye.

Cheng Ran's voice grew fainter and fainter until it finally fell completely silent.

Qian Renxue tried calling out a few times, but received no response.

The Evil God had fallen asleep.

Qian Renxue sat blankly by the bed, suddenly realizing that control of her body had returned to her own hands.

She raised a hand and looked at her palm, her five fingers trembling slightly.

Everything that had just happened in the Pope Hall surged back into her mind like a flood.

Unleashing the six-winged angel, furiously talking back to the elders, calling Bibi Dong by name, standing as an equal against a Titled Douluo, and making a three-year pact.

Those words were what she had always wanted to say, yet she had not been the one to say them.

Without the Evil God's support, Qian Renxue felt as though all her strength had been drained away.

The presence with which she had faced Bibi Dong earlier had vanished without a trace.

She hunched her shoulders, belated fear washing over her.

I... I actually said those things to Mother? I even made a three-year pact with her?

The more Qian Renxue thought about it, the more frightened she became. She wrapped her arms around her knees and curled into a ball.

Outside the door, Qian Daoliu heard movement in the room and gently pushed the door open.

He saw Qian Renxue curled up in the corner of the bed. Where was even a trace of the sharpness she had shown while confronting a Titled Douluo in the Pope Hall?

She was clearly just a fifteen-year-old girl who had been wronged.

Qian Daoliu's heart ached, and he filled in all the blanks himself.

In the Pope Hall, Xue'er had been holding herself up with that one last breath of resolve.

Now that breath had dispersed, she could no longer hold on.

He walked over, sat by the bed, and reached out to gently stroke her head.

"Xue'er, it's all right now. Grandpa's here."

Qian Renxue's nose stung, and she nearly cried, but she forcibly held it back.

She lifted her head and looked at Qian Daoliu with reddened eyes. "Grandpa, I want to ask you something."