Zhu Zhuqing gazed at the newcomer, utterly entranced.
Her red lips parted slightly, her cool eyes filled with longing, and a flush rose on her fair cheeks.
The newcomer's silver hair was like moonlight condensed into frost, untouched by dust, and his moon-white robes stirred gently in the breeze.
Simply standing there, without deliberately drawing attention, he seemed to have already become the center of heaven and earth...
All things in the world naturally bowed before him.
His face...
Zhu Zhuqing could find no fitting words to describe it.
His brows resembled distant mountains, yet there was nothing feminine about him. Instead, he bore the weathered air of one who had watched a thousand sails pass...
Few knew the brocade-clad traveler walking through the night; beneath heaven, in the mortal world, stood a young lord in white!
Douluo Continent.
Deep within the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
Standing alone before a window, Qian Renxue gazed at the figure in the Heavenly Screen above and froze.
The pupils of her purple eyes widened slightly, her breathing unconsciously quickened, and her slender fingers gripped the window frame, her knuckles whitening with the force.
The breeze outside brushed through her long, golden hair, leaving a few strands against her faintly flushed cheeks, but she remained completely unaware.
"So this is... Heavenly Emperor Hao Lin Hao?"
Qian Renxue murmured, her voice carrying a slight tremor that even she had not noticed.
Qian Renxue reflected that she had seen far too many people of outstanding appearance.
The princes and nobles of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family who fancied themselves charming, the gallant, handsome young talents of Spirit Hall-even Xue Qinghe, whom she had once impersonated, had been gentle, refined, and distinguished in appearance.
But until now, Qian Renxue had always believed that the word "beauty" was reserved exclusively for women.
Yet at this moment, looking at that moon-white figure in the Heavenly Screen, Qian Renxue understood for the first time...
Beauty, it turned out, was not the exclusive province of women.
Such a face...
A beauty, a beauty who could intoxicate even a beauty's heart!
For a moment, Qian Renxue felt her heart race as an unfamiliar, indescribable emotion surged within her.
It was not just Qian Renxue.
At that moment, Bibi Dong, Wang Dong'er, Wang Qiu'er, Gu Yuena, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu...
Were all the same.
Shrek Academy.
"Heavens..."
Ning Rongrong covered her little mouth with both hands, her large eyes round and wide, her pretty face filled with incredulous shock and... dazzled admiration.
"Th-this is His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor? Lin Hao?"
Ning Rongrong's voice had grown almost airy. "Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu, did you see him? My heavens... how can someone like this exist in the world?"
Xiao Wu likewise stared blankly at the Heavenly Screen, her pink eyes filled with a dreamy haze.
"I suddenly envy Zhu Zhuqing so much..."
"Huh?" Ning Rongrong froze, then quickly understood. "You're right!"
Ning Rongrong's eyes shone. "Since Zhu Zhuqing was chosen to serve His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor, doesn't that mean she'll get to see Heavenly Emperor Hao often from now on? She can be that close to him?"
"Heavens..."
"If it were me, I'd trade all the wealth of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for that chance!"
The two girls made no attempt to lower their voices as they whispered together.
Not far away, Oscar's face went white in a flash.
He stared blankly at Ning Rongrong's excited face and the undisguised longing and envy in her eyes, feeling an inexplicable tightness in his chest.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to find his throat dry and unable to force out a single word.
On the other side, Tang San looked equally grim.
He stared fixedly at Xiao Wu's flushed cheeks and dreamy eyes, watching the yearning she unconsciously revealed while whispering with Ning Rongrong-
In an instant, Tang San's eyes filled with hostility. "Lin Hao, you've already given me reason to kill you!"
But the anguish in Dai Mubai's heart was even greater.
Just moments earlier, he had still been confidently murmuring that he wanted to see whether Heavenly Emperor Hao was even half as handsome as he was.
He had even planned how he would "magnanimously" express his understanding if the other man turned out to be a white-haired elder;
And how he would maintain his pride as a prince of the Star Luo Empire if the other man looked ordinary.
But reality dealt him a vicious slap across the face.
No, it was a dimensional reduction strike.
The instant Lin Hao appeared in the Heavenly Screen, all of Dai Mubai's confidence, all his pride, and every thought of comparison vanished into smoke and ash.
Dai Mubai considered himself handsome and distinguished, the object of countless noble girls' admiration even in the Star Luo Empire.
But compared with Heavenly Emperor Hao...
Even though he harbored hostility toward Lin Hao, he truly could not silence his conscience enough to claim the other man was less handsome than he was.
What cut his heart like a knife even more was Zhu Zhuqing's reaction in the Heavenly Screen.
The way his fiancée gazed at Heavenly Emperor Hao now held an infatuation, longing, and even... admiration that he had never seen before.
For a time, the three utterly dejected men unknowingly gathered in a corner.
Dai Mubai crouched on the ground, his voice muffled. "Zhu Zhuqing... Rongrong... Xiao Wu... they aren't that sort of person, right?"
"They wouldn't judge someone solely by appearances, right?"
Tang San leaned against the wall, utterly confident:
"Xiao Wu and I grew up together. How could she be bewitched by a mere outward appearance?"
Oscar nodded firmly as well. "Rongrong is lively, but she's very rational. She'd never be that shallow!"
"Boss Dai, stay strong!" Tang San patted Dai Mubai's shoulder.
Oscar did the same. "Stay strong, Boss Dai!"
Then the two left confidently, leaving Dai Mubai alone. "Fuck!!!"
Eastsea City, Eastsea Academy.
At that moment, even Tang Wulin conceded defeat, sighing softly. "A noble young lord in white, putting even a Banished Immortal to shame."
"He gazes upon the world, while they gaze upon him..."
At that moment, Tang Wulin no longer felt even a trace of jealousy. After all, there was simply no comparison.
Shrouding the Heavens World.
White Emperor City, White Jade Heavenly Street.
Lin Hao looked at the crowded throng around him and the clowning Black Empress...
He had only wanted to catch up with Black Empress. After all, after he had brought this Big Black Dog out of Purple Mountain, the dog had helped him a great deal before he became an emperor.
At the same time...
Lin Hao also intended to see whether he could contact that master of his and eliminate the Undying Heavenly Emperor together.
After all, he was now...
In his twilight years, his Qi and blood in decline. The other party ought to be sorely tempted.
Since that was the case, he might as well go all the way. Leaving him alive would mean trouble sooner or later.
Yet he had not expected this Big Black Dog to shout so ostentatiously the moment he arrived.
"You stupid dog. If you pull something like this again, don't blame me for stewing you and eating dog meat!"
"Heh heh~"
Black Empress gave a sleazy grin. "Lin Hao, considering I once played matchmaker for you, let me bask in a little of your glory..."
"I must let these foolish humans properly behold this great one's splendor."
"Then perhaps someone with the discerning eye to recognize a pearl will see how extraordinary I am and volunteer to become this great one's human pet?"
"You stupid dog, you actually have the nerve to bring up playing matchmaker..."
Lin Hao had only just begun to speak.
But the next second, he turned toward the boundless heavens beyond White Emperor City...
Several shadowy figures stood among the stars, each with a different bearing, clearly none of them human.
Looking at Lin Hao, they discussed in low voices. "This Heavenly Emperor Hao Lin Hao truly has suffered a decline in his Qi and blood. He is no longer at his peak."
"The opportunity the Ancient Emperor has been waiting for... has finally come!"
"Can you no longer hold back? Still, I didn't expect the first to arrive would be... the Primordial Ancient Mine!"