Heaven Dou City, the prince's residence.
Servants holding all manner of gifts stood in two full rows in the courtyard.
Qian Renxue inspected them one by one, then watched them individually as they sealed everything up.
Only when everything was finally ready did Qian Renxue nod in satisfaction.
"Come on. We're leaving for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Qian Renxue had originally been alone in the carriage compartment. Another person's voice suddenly sounded inside, yet she showed no surprise whatsoever.
"Young mistress, is this trip really necessary? If that Wang Ye sees through your disguise, all our efforts over the past decade and more could come to nothing."
"But increasingly, I feel as though all our efforts over these ten years have been nothing but playing house. There was never any achievement to begin with, so there's nothing to come to nothing."
"So you intend to-"
"I don't intend anything. Right now, I just want to see the person whose talent surpasses even mine."
The other voice fell silent.
Quiet settled over the carriage, and Qian Renxue closed her eyes and began cultivating inside.
Outside was a grand procession of carriages stretching for hundreds of meters. One carriage after another, laden with gifts, departed Heaven Dou City and headed straight for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Over in Star Dou Great Forest, Wang Ye was also riding Yu Yuanzhen, ambling leisurely through the woods.
The Soul Beasts in the forest were like old friends of his. Wolf-type Soul Beasts wagged their tails at him, tiger-type Soul Beasts exposed their bellies when they saw him, and monkey-type Soul Beasts even picked the wild fruits they considered most delicious and respectfully offered them to him.
"This Bhagavad Gita really is useful. Just what I'd expect of an art I deduced myself. Panel, let's see how much martial foundation I have now."
Rows of information appeared before Wang Qiye.
Martial Dao System of Divine Transcendence Disciples: 2,513 Copper Skin Realm: 100% Iron Bone Realm: 25.1% Golden Juice Realm: deduction in progress... Current arts: Nine Transformations of Heaven and Man (second level, 7.4%), Nine Lives Profound Art of Penetrating the Netherworld (first level, 77.4%), Bhagavad Gita (first level, 23.4%)
"Why do I still have so few disciples? Sect Master Ning is a little inefficient."
Several years earlier, Wang Qiye had cultivated his Soul Power to its peak. His strength could advance no further.
The First-Level Gods and Second-Level Gods of the Divine Realm had competed to send him invitations. Even Asura God could not resist extending an olive branch.
This was not because Wang Qiye was particularly beloved by the gods, but because he could adapt to almost any divine position.
Yet this enthusiasm pouring in from every direction instead made Wang Qiye afraid to choose.
One question kept circling in Wang Qiye's mind.
There was no such thing as a free lunch. Why were all these gods scrambling to give away their divine positions?
If there were a switch he could pick up to control the world, Wang Qiye felt that once he picked it up, he probably would not want to put it down for the rest of his life.
Putting himself in their shoes, these gods were relinquishing their divine positions and searching for successors with such extraordinary eagerness. Who wouldn't be frightened?
Moreover, each reason they gave was more absurd than the last.
"To take my family traveling through the universe."
"Because the Divine Realm is too boring."
"I'm retiring."
Would you believe that?
Wang Qiye hesitated for a long time, but still did not dare believe them.
After all, certain groups in his previous life had used the same excuses when fleeing with the money. If you really took over their positions and checked the accounts, you might find that the chives had already been harvested a hundred years into the future.
After weighing things over and over, Wang Qiye finally found a few threads of the truth through a conversation with a certain god.
"Life in the Divine Realm is lonely and dull. Even First-Level Gods cannot leave the Divine Realm at will. Only after passing their divine positions on to suitable people can they free themselves to roam the world and explore more distant realms."
"Ascension is a trap."
Wang Qiye understood. He would never ascend to the Divine Realm, not in this lifetime.
"But if I don't ascend to the Divine Realm, my strength can't improve, and my lifespan will eventually run out. Sect Master Yu, tell me, if you were in my position, what would you choose?"
Yu Yuanzhen trembled with fear, wishing he could stab his own ears deaf. "I don't want to hear this. I don't want to hear any of this."
"These are games played by gods. Can I even survive today after hearing this?"
"Of course you can. Sect Master Yu, don't underestimate yourself. You're a very important part of my plan, too," Wang Qiye said with a smile.
Yu Yuanzhen would rather Wang Qiye had shouted and screamed to vent his emotions. Perhaps that would have put him a little more at ease.
"In short, from that point on, I decided to launch my Martial Dao Transcendence Plan. The first step was to teach people the arts best suited to them, which I'd deduced based on each person's characteristics. As long as my disciples diligently study and cultivate those arts, I, their master, will be very pleased."
"You're that kindhearted? Didn't you just say there was no such thing as a free lunch?"
"Yes, there's no such thing as a free lunch." Wang Qiye casually tapped the True Dragon Nine Crowns in his hand a few times, and Yu Yuanzhen's mouth closed completely, his gaze turning vacant.
"The price they pay is that, after accepting my arts, all their growth adds bricks and mortar to my path."
But by then, Yu Yuanzhen could no longer speak. His mouth and eyes were crooked, and his body raced forward at Wang Qiye's command.
"Thank you so much, Sect Master Yu. Today, I've learned a second lesson: cheap goods really are no good."
"Sacrificing just one life can bring a body to demigod-level strength."
"The side effects of this demigod-level body really are astonishingly severe."
Elsewhere in Star Dou Great Forest.
Yu Xiaogang wriggled rapidly along the ground like a snake, sometimes using what remained of his arms to prop himself up and cross obstacles.
A six-thousand-year-old King of the Earth suddenly appeared. It seemed somewhat curious about the strange-looking thing before it.
"Hey, what are you trying to do? Get lost! I'm an honored guest of the Sky Azure Bull Python."
Yu Xiaogang quickly pulled out the Sky Azure Bull Python scale hidden in his clothes.
"Get lost right now! If you don't, I'll have the Sky Azure Bull Python take your miserable life!"
The King of the Earth hesitated for a moment, but eventually turned and left.
He could not understand Yu Xiaogang's threats, but the aura on the scale was unmistakably real.
With the utmost care, Yu Xiaogang tucked the scale back into his clothes and continued moving rapidly westward.
Of course, he had no ability to obtain a scale from the Sky Azure Bull Python himself. But as the Sky Azure Bull Python's habitat, the central lake would always have some naturally shed scales.
Yu Xiaogang had managed to hide one on his person.
During his escape, Yu Xiaogang truly exerted every ounce of strength he had, down to the strength he'd used to suckle as a baby.
He had only this one chance. If he failed this time, he would probably be watched even more strictly after having run away.
Moreover, given the strength of either Tang Hao or those few Soul Beasts in Star Dou Great Forest, Yu Xiaogang's speed was nothing in their eyes. He could only reach somewhere absolutely safe before they reacted.
As he fled, Yu Xiaogang suddenly noticed some Soul Beast corpses around him.
The farther he went, the more Soul Beast corpses appeared nearby, as though something had slaughtered the Soul Beasts here.
Yu Xiaogang was suddenly delighted. "Wonderful! Some Titled Douluo must be farming Soul Bones here!"
Whoever they were, Yu Xiaogang was confident that his status as the son of a Titled Douluo would persuade them to do him a favor.
So, utterly disregarding his disheveled state, Yu Xiaogang moved swiftly forward while calling out loudly.
"Senior, are you still there? May I ask which senior is here? Senior?"
At three o'clock, a pair of scarlet eyes opened.
Then another pair opened. Immediately afterward, pairs of scarlet eyes opened throughout the forest in every direction, silently watching this uninvited guest.
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