Yu Xiaogang stepped forward. "Dong'er, Qian Renxue is your own daughter, after all. Blood is thicker than water. She's only fifteen. What ill intentions could a fifteen-year-old girl possibly have?"
Bibi Dong laughed as she watched him earnestly trying to persuade her.
"Yu Xiaogang, twenty years ago, you had neither the courage nor the ability to take me away. Twenty years later, you've come to lecture me on being a mother? Who gave you the nerve?"
Yu Xiaogang's face turned purple. "I... I wasn't strong enough back then..."
"Not strong enough?"
Bibi Dong took a step forward. She had not released her Titled Douluo pressure, but her air of authority alone forced Yu Xiaogang back several steps. "You're trying to persuade me to accept Qian Renxue. Do you think I don't know what you're thinking?"
Cold sweat broke out on Yu Xiaogang's forehead.
Bibi Dong enunciated every word. "You think that by latching onto me, the Pope, you can get Spirit Hall to endorse those bullshit theories of yours, and by taking Qian Renxue as your disciple, you can ride her reputation to success?"
Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled. "Dong'er, if that's what you insist on thinking, there's nothing I can do..."
Bibi Dong cut him off. "Yu Xiaogang, today I've finally understood. You never truly loved me, from beginning to end. You love yourself and those hollow, illusory claims to fame of yours."
Yu Xiaogang's face burned. He realized he had made a fatal misjudgment.
The relationship between Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue was ten thousand times worse than he had imagined.
I miscalculated, I miscalculated! If only I'd known, I should have told Bibi Dong I was an ignorant charlatan and had her recommend me to Qian Renxue as a teacher. Then I could have stolen Qian Renxue's achievements and ruined her!
"Get out." Bibi Dong turned her back on him.
Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth, still hoping to salvage the situation, but Bibi Dong's next words extinguished that hope completely. "Before I change my mind and kill you."
Yu Xiaogang staggered around and walked toward the hall doors with uneven steps.
Behind him, Bibi Dong spoke again. "Back then, I already thought you weren't a man. You didn't have the balls to take me away from Spirit Hall. Now I see you're not even as good as a woman."
Yu Xiaogang stiffened for a moment, then headed toward the city gates in disgrace.
In Spirit City's broad square.
Yu Xiaogang trudged along in disgrace, each step heavy, muttering to himself, "How could this happen... Aren't I Bibi Dong's first love? Why doesn't she care about our past?"
His mind was a muddled mess.
Several passing Spirit Hall deacons glanced at him, exchanged knowing smiles, and whispered, "That's the Grandmaster the Pope threw out."
Yu Xiaogang's face burned even hotter, and he quickened his pace.
Just then, a figure silently appeared in front of him.
Yu Xiaogang abruptly looked up.
It was a girl with cascading golden hair and a face too exquisite to belong to a mortal.
"You... you're Qian Renxue?"
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) nodded. "Yu Xiaogang, I've heard of you. You're my father's romantic rival."
Yu Xiaogang's expression changed drastically. "No, no, no, that's all in the past..."
"In the past?" Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue)'s smile turned cold. "People like you behave after a beating."
Before he finished speaking, Yu Xiaogang saw a blur.
A fist whistled through the air and smashed into his left eye socket.
Bam!
Yu Xiaogang flipped backward and rolled twice across the ground.
Before he could get up, the second punch arrived.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue)'s fists fell as fast as a rainstorm, the sounds of every solid blow echoing across the square.
The watching Spirit Hall deacons all stared wide-eyed. Someone even secretly took out a handful of melon seeds.
"This is for my father, you useless romantic rival!"
The final punch smashed into Yu Xiaogang's nose. Blood spurted out, tracing a crimson arc through the air.
Yu Xiaogang collapsed on the ground, his entire face so swollen that even Luo Sanpao would not have recognized him.
His belongings scattered across the ground, including a dagger for self-defense and a copy of the Angel Cultivation Technique covered in annotations.
Yu Xiaogang struggled to pick up the book. Now that its actual creator stood before him, he instinctively tried to grasp at his last lifeline.
"Your Highness Qian Renxue, I... I sincerely want to help you. Your cultivation technique is exquisite, but it still needs some theoretical refinement. If I became your teacher, I could definitely..."
"What ability do you think you possess that would let you teach a rank-eighty Soul Douluo?" Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) interrupted him. His aura erupted, and seven Soul Rings lit up around him.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, red, red!
The dazzling Soul Rings brought another layer of cold sweat to Yu Xiaogang's back.
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) sneered. "As you are, you're not even as good as my two students, six-year-old Xiao Wu and twelve-year-old Xiao Yan."
Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang had a flash of inspiration. Becoming Qian Renxue's student might not be such a bad idea.
Qian Renxue's cultivation technique, cultivation, and background were all unparalleled. If he could latch onto such a powerful patron, why would he need to worry about making a comeback?
He rapidly weighed the gains and losses in his mind, and his last pitiful shred of dignity quickly crumbled before the prospect of benefits.
"Your Highness Qian Renxue!" Yu Xiaogang crawled a step forward, speaking with desperate urgency. "Please take me as your student! I'll agree to anything! I'll work like an animal for you! I'll even lick your shoes if you tell me to!"
Cheng Ran: "..."
Wait, you've actually left me at a loss.
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement entering his gaze. "Then go ahead and lick them!"
Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth, steeled himself, and lay down. He actually stuck out his tongue and began licking the toe of Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue)'s shoe.
He licked so deeply, so earnestly...
The Spirit Hall deacons nearby stared wide-eyed, their mouths forming circles.
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) looked down at him. "Wait, you actually licked it?"
Yu Xiaogang looked at him eagerly. "Yes, Teacher."
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) shook his head. "No good. This shows you're deeply calculating and will stop at nothing to achieve your goals. Someone like you isn't suited to being my student."
Yu Xiaogang's tongue froze in midair. "You... you're toying with me?"
He raised his peach-swollen eyes, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward the dagger on the ground.
But he quickly dismissed the thought. Impossible. He was rank twenty-nine. Even with a sneak attack, he could never kill a Soul Douluo.
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) noticed his gaze. "Oh? You want to pick up that dagger and ambush me? That shows you're extremely vindictive. Someone like that isn't suited to being my student either."
With his thoughts exposed, Yu Xiaogang could not help trembling.
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) shook his head and instructed him earnestly. "Actually, you could lick while secretly picking up the dagger and stabbing me when I'm not paying attention."
Yu Xiaogang froze. "?"
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) continued, "If you did both, that would show you're extremely greedy. You want this, and that, and everything else too. Someone like that still isn't suited to being my student."
The sweat on Yu Xiaogang's forehead mingled with blood, slid down his cheeks, and dripped onto the square's paving stones.
He swallowed, his voice on the verge of breaking. "Your Highness Qian Renxue, I was wrong! I won't do anything anymore! Please let me go!"
"If you do nothing," Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue) said, "then you really aren't suited to being my student, because you don't even dare to try. You're too cowardly to move."
Yu Xiaogang completely broke down. He lay spread-eagled on the ground with nothing left to live for, his voice filled with despair. "What exactly do you want? Are you a devil?"
Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue)'s lips curved upward. With a thought, his Eight Wings slowly spread, platinum light flowing beneath the sun.
"As everyone knows, I'm an angel."
"Boohoo... just kill me!" Yu Xiaogang cried. A grown man, he bawled in front of everyone.
The Spirit Hall deacons who had been watching from the side could no longer hold back. They covered their mouths and snickered, their shoulders shaking.
People did not share one another's joys and sorrows, partings and reunions.
Qian Renxue radiated an upright, righteous angelic aura. "Yu Xiaogang, you may leave. Although you're my father's romantic rival, I'm an angel. I'm kindhearted, so I won't kill you."
"I was just joking with you. Why aren't you laughing? You don't have a shred of humor..."
"Oh, and a word of warning: watch out for Tang San! Especially when you take him to hunt for Soul Rings."
"Thank you for sparing my life, Your Highness Qian Renxue!" Yu Xiaogang struggled up from the ground and staggered toward the city gates, his face black and blue, blood still dripping from his nose.
Boohoo, Dong'er, you were right. Qian Renxue was born rotten!!
Before you continue