"The plane you live in is very unusual. When I signed a contract with you through the Ancient Elves Clan's summoning array, it put me in an incredibly mysterious state, as though I were standing in the void, looking down upon the world. And there, I saw some very strange things and events."
Inside the secret chamber, Jiang Li began explaining certain things to Qian Renxue.
His words were nine parts truth and one part falsehood. Even though Qian Renxue could sense his emotional fluctuations, with him deliberately controlling them, she could detect nothing unusual.
"An unusual plane? Looking down upon the world?"
"I understand some of what you're saying, but I can't quite grasp it all."
"What exactly does that mean?"
Qian Renxue was somewhat puzzled by Jiang Li's words.
"A plane is easy enough to understand. Take the Holy Demon Continent-it's only one part of this plane. Likewise, the Douluo Continent you live on is only one part of its plane."
"The Douluo Continent-or rather, the Douluo Plane would be more appropriate-is itself a planet, while the Douluo Continent is merely one continent on that planet. When I looked down upon the plane, I took a cursory glance. Besides the Douluo Continent, the Douluo Plane has three other continents. They simply differ in size and development."
"The reason I say your plane is unusual is that a world barrier surrounds the Douluo Plane. This world barrier offers protection, but it also imposes restrictions. To me, though, it looks more like a cage, like a prison trapping the living beings within."
Jiang Li continued spinning his tale, slipping certain secrets into it as he quietly informed and guided Qian Renxue.
Perhaps Qian Renxue did not understand what any of this meant, but once she returned and told Qian Daoliu what had happened here, perhaps things would become entirely different.
"A planar barrier? Grandfather probably knows something about that."
Qian Renxue silently committed it to memory, planning to ask her grandfather upon her return whether he knew anything about it.
"I'm only telling you this to give you a basic concept of planes."
"What comes next is the important part."
"Of the four continents on the Douluo Plane, why did I focus my attention on the Douluo Continent where you live? The reason is simple. Your continent has many places that catch the eye."
"Your location was one of those points. Another was a place imprisoning many beings with evil, fallen, and dark auras. Besides those, there was also an island out at sea. If your continent really does have divine inheritances or the like, they would be in those three places."
"And I saw it clearly at the time. The point of light from the place imprisoning all those dark Fallen Soul Masters was extremely bright, brighter even than your location. It was made up of two powers, too."
"Of course, these were only things I saw at a glance."
"When you return to the Douluo Continent this time, if you want to find something good, I'll point you in a direction. There are two fairly large forests on the Douluo Continent, with quite a few Soul Beasts dwelling in them-the Soul Beast forests you mentioned. In the relatively smaller one, there's an absolute treasure land, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. That was the place I saw most clearly. There are Immortal Herbs there, and plenty of them."
"If you have the time, you can take some people there to look around. It has the Immortal Herbs you and I need."
Only then did Jiang Li reveal his purpose.
He would get to the Immortal Herbs first. As for the other good things, he would figure out a way and find opportunities to get them later.
Jiang Li's original plan had been to have Qian Renxue summon him over, then visit the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Although he did not want to admit it, he did have selfish intentions.
He would take all the Immortal Herbs himself, then distribute them to suitable people around him.
He had not expected the two planes to be too far apart for teleportation. Moreover, once he went over through Reverse Summoning, he would be unable to return to the Holy Demon Continent without coordinates.
Only then had he chosen this compromise, waiting until he had voluntarily signed a Blood Pact with Qian Renxue before bringing it up.
"Don't worry. I'll look for that place as soon as I return. Whatever medicinal herbs there are, I'll bring them to you."
Qian Renxue gave her solemn assurance, then went over a few other matters before leaving.
Meanwhile, the Douluo Continent had been anything but peaceful lately.
Within the Heaven Dou Empire, power reshuffles kept occurring. Many people who held real power were replaced without anyone noticing, or wiped out entirely and supplanted by another group.
The Star Luo Empire wanted to seize this opportunity to wage war against the Heaven Dou Empire and unify the continent. It even took the initiative to curry favor with Spirit Hall, offering it a share of the benefits.
But Spirit Hall remained unmoved. Not only that, it barred them from taking action under the pretext of preserving stability on the continent.
It had to be said that Bibi Dong truly had a deft hand.
After learning of the Worship Hall's actions, she approached them herself to cooperate, placing the powerful figures Spirit Hall had previously kept hidden into positions of real authority in the Heaven Dou Empire. She even vigorously supported the Holy Dragon Sect in establishing itself within the Heaven Dou Empire.
She also used Spirit Hall's resources to help Tuoba Xi, the Holy Dragon Sect's sect master, attempt to break through to the Titled Douluo rank.
Once Tuoba Xi broke through, he would become an official imperial worshipper of the Heaven Dou Empire.
As for Xue Beng, he had become a puppet emperor through and through.
Compared with the overt chaos in the Heaven Dou Empire, undercurrents constantly stirred within the Worship Hall in Spirit City.
The reason was simple. Qian Renxue had not returned for a very, very long time, and Qian Daoliu had been in an awful mood throughout this period.
When his granddaughter had gone to the Heaven Dou Empire on a mission before, he had not thought much of it. After all, she had still been on the Douluo Continent, and he could see her whenever he wished.
But now that his granddaughter had gone to the Holy Demon Continent, he could neither contact nor see her. That feeling left him unable to find peace of mind.
For that reason, Qian Daoliu had been very ill-tempered lately, losing his temper repeatedly in a rare display.
"Number Two, why are you hovering in front of me all day? Hurry up and cultivate. See whether you can break through to rank ninety-nine."
"Guang Ling, can't you be a little more composed?"
"Qian Jun, Jiang Mo, can't you two make some time to give your juniors more guidance?"
"..."
Qian Daoliu had been exceptionally irritable lately.
Everyone rubbed him the wrong way.
Naturally, they knew Qian Daoliu was behaving this way because of Qian Renxue.
So they had all been avoiding him lately.
To be honest, they were somewhat worried too, and rather looked forward to seeing what good things Qian Renxue would bring back.
"Number Two, what's going on with you? It's been so long, and you still haven't broken through."
"Can you really break through by staying in seclusion all day?"
Today, Qian Daoliu had sought out Golden Crocodile Douluo again. His heart had truly been growing more unsettled lately, and he kept feeling that something major was about to happen.
"Big Brother, even if you're always worrying about Xue'er, you don't have to torment us."
"Weren't you the one who told me to enter seclusion and break through a while ago? What's wrong now?"
"No matter how worried or anxious we are, there's nothing we can do. We have to believe in Xue'er."
Golden Crocodile Douluo truly wanted to cry but had no tears. What was all this supposed to be?
Qian Daoliu had practically been possessed lately. His usual image had utterly collapsed.
"Grandfather, why are you arguing with Grandpa Golden Crocodile again?"
With a flash of sacred light, Qian Renxue appeared inside the Worship Hall.
"Xiao Xue, you're back! You're finally back!"
The most excited person was not Qian Daoliu, but Golden Crocodile Douluo.
Qian Daoliu had truly been far too obsessed lately.
He had suggested that Qian Daoliu go out to travel and gain some experience, but Qian Daoliu had declared that, as a worshipper of the Angel God, he had to guard the Angel Temple.
And since they were the only ones here, they were the only ones left to suffer.
"Grandpa Golden Crocodile, what's wrong?"
Qian Renxue was astonished to see Golden Crocodile Douluo so excited.
He was the steadiest of all the Worship Hall's worshippers.
Yet today, he was this excited.
"Xiao Xue, you're back. Good, very good..."
Before Golden Crocodile Douluo could say anything, Qian Daoliu was already standing before Qian Renxue.
Seeing Qian Renxue return safely, all his worries instantly vanished.
Before you continue