Chapter 406 Root Cause of the Problem
Gu Yuena sighed heavily as she looked at Xuan Ming's silent, suppressed expression, as if he were about to explode at any moment. She knew that any further words of provocation at this moment could be the last straw that broke the camel's back.
She glanced deeply at Bibi Dong, whose expression was solemn, her eyes conveying a silent warning and entrustment. Then, without saying another word, her figure transformed into a streak of silver light and vanished from the Pope's Palace.
Only Xuan Ming and Bibi Dong remained inside the hall.
Bibi Dong stepped forward, gently embraced Xuan Ming's tense body, pressed her cheek against his cool chest, and felt his non-existent yet seemingly audible rapid heartbeat.
She could clearly sense that Xuan Ming's mental state was becoming increasingly sensitive, like a fully drawn bowstring, where the slightest disturbance could cause him to completely lose control.
The greater the pressure and potential threats he faces, the more he subconsciously associates the situation with the worst possible outcome; this is a survival instinct ingrained in his bones by his past experiences.
"Calm down..." Bibi Dong's voice was soft, "It hasn't come to that yet."
Leaving the Pope's Palace, Gu Yuena didn't linger at all. Her figure was like lightning as she flew straight towards the Angel Temple, which stood atop the mountain behind Spirit City and radiated holy light.
Her arrival instantly alarmed all the guardians who were protecting the place.
Several powerful auras soared into the sky. Apart from the deceased Golden Crocodile Douluo, the other elders all emerged, surrounding Gu Yuena with eyes filled with vigilance and hostility. The unfathomable aura emanating from Gu Yuena made them feel unprecedented pressure.
Just as the atmosphere was about to become tense, a gentle yet authoritative voice rang out. "All of you, step back."
Qian Daoliu appeared at the temple entrance. He nodded slightly to Gu Yuena, his eyes filled with complex emotions. "Your Excellency Silver Dragon King, what brings you to the Angel Temple?"
Gu Yuena looked at him, her tone flat yet resolute. "I want to see Qian Renxue. Now."
Qian Daoliu frowned slightly. " Xiao Xue is currently in seclusion..."
"Either, let her come out to see me," Gu Yuena interrupted him, her voice suddenly turning cold, emanating a terrifying aura that sent chills down one's spine, "Or, I'll kill all of you right now, including Qian Renxue in the temple!"
Her meaning was clear: if the Qian Renxue matter could not be properly resolved and became the fuse that ignited Xuan Ming, then she wouldn't mind erasing this "root of the problem"!
She would stop at nothing to prevent Xuan Ming from going to extremes!
Qian Daoliu felt the unmistakable killing intent emanating from Gu Yuena, and his heart trembled. He had no doubt that if he refused again, the Silver Dragon King would attack immediately! With the power she was currently displaying, no one present could stop her!
After weighing the pros and cons, Qian Daoliu finally nodded heavily. "... Please follow me."
Gu Yuena followed Qian Daoliu into the solemn Angel Temple.
Qian Daoliu before the Angel God Statue in the center of the temple and offered a few devout prayers. Then, the statue emitted a soft golden light, and a portal to a strange space slowly opened— the Angel Secret Realm.
Not long after, a dazzling golden figure slowly emerged from the secret realm. Qian Renxue was dressed in a magnificent golden palace gown, with the phantom of her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul faintly visible behind her, exuding holiness and nobility. Her aura was much stronger than before, clearly indicating that she had gained a great deal in the secret realm.
However, when she saw Gu Yuena and felt the unfathomable, vast aura emanating from her, which seemed to be one with the entire world, a hint of shock and indescribable complexity flashed in her golden eyes.
She thought her progress was fast enough to close the gap with this woman, but she never expected... the other woman's strength seemed to have reached a level she couldn't comprehend at all? Had she already become a god?
Gu Yuena didn't care about Qian Renxue's thoughts. She went straight to the point and told her without reservation about the content of Xuan Ming's current Fourth Trial, " Severing Romantic Ties," and the fact that Qian Renxue was the most crucial and unsolvable link in it.
Upon hearing this, a hint of mockery flashed in Qian Renxue's golden eyes. She crossed her arms, her tone tinged with schadenfreude. "So what? His failure in the God's Trial suits me perfectly, doesn't it? I'd love for him to stay stuck there forever. Only by becoming stronger than him can I get everything I want, including... him."
Her gaze was intense, filled with undisguised ambition and possessiveness.
Gu Yuena looked at her, her eyes icy. "You're dreaming."
She directly shattered Qian Renxue's unrealistic fantasies and presented a harsh truth. "You think his failure in the assessment was simply due to being stuck at a bottleneck? Let me tell you, once this assessment is deemed a failure, Xuan Ming will immediately abandon all illusions and choose to forcefully attempt to break through to the God Realm!"
Qian Renxue's expression changed slightly.
Gu Yuena continued, her tone heavy. "Moreover, I underestimated the restlessness and Destruction desires simmering within him. I previously thought that as long as he was confident in breaking through to the God Realm, he might not go to extremes. But now I'm certain."
"If he's not confident he can force his way through, he'll choose to destroy humanity first, clear away the obstacles, and then gamble on that slim chance!"
"If he's confident he can break through, he'll also immediately Destruction humanity after succeeding, then lead us away from this star system and fly far away!"
"In other words, if the God's Trial fails, and if this matter cannot be resolved peacefully, Xuan Ming will not hesitate to choose the most extreme and insane path!"
Gu Yuena stared intently at Qian Renxue's instantly pale face and said, word by word:
"He's no longer the Xuan Ming who used to have any reservations. The constant pressure and the feeling of being manipulated are enough to change anyone, and he's no exception. What you're facing now is a madman pushed to the edge of a cliff, who could drag the whole world Destruction with him at any moment."
"Your idea that you need to be stronger than him to get him is meaningless in the face of the choices he might make. Because in the end, you'll either be facing a Destruction, or... nothing will be left."
After saying those words, Gu Yuena stopped looking at Qian Renxue's ever-changing expression, her figure transformed into a streak of silver light, and disappeared directly into the Angel Temple.
She wasn't joking.
If Qian Renxue's situation ultimately cannot be resolved and becomes the trigger for Xuan Ming's downfall, then she wouldn't mind eliminating this "root cause of the problem" in the most direct and ruthless way possible beforehand.
To stop Xuan Ming from going down the path of Destruction, she was willing to pay any price and bear any sins.
Inside the Angel Temple, only Qian Renxue remained, standing still, her golden eyes filled with shock, struggle, and a hint of indescribable panic.
Would Xuan Ming Destruction humanity? That seemingly cold-hearted man, who harbors a bottom line she cannot comprehend deep within, that man she can never truly hate—would he really do something so insane?
She didn't want to believe it, but Gu Yuena's undisguised murderous intent and heavy tone made it impossible for her to completely ignore it.
As the sun gradually set, golden rays bathed Pope's Mountain in its afterglow.
Qian Renxue finally moved. She took a step and walked out of the solemn temple, down the long stone steps.
Instead of returning to her residence on the mountain, she headed straight for the Pope's Palace at the foot of the mountain.
It's been almost six years.
Nearly six years have passed since she entered the Angel Temple and began the Angel God Trial. During these six years, she has been almost completely isolated from the world, devoting herself wholeheartedly to the inheritance. The outside world has undergone earth-shattering changes, but she knows very little about them.
As she approached the magnificent and solemn Pope's Palace, Qian Renxue suddenly stopped. Instead of walking in directly, she flashed into the sky and looked down at the familiar yet unfamiliar Spirit City.
Chapter 407 I Don't Acknowledge
In six years, Spirit City has changed a lot.
The streets were cleaner and more orderly, and the patrolling Soul Master teams were disciplined, but an indescribable sense of oppression permeated the entire city. The past fervor and clamor had faded, replaced by a sense of caution and... lifelessness?
She did not land immediately, but transformed into a golden streak of light, leaving Spirit City and beginning to fly over the land known as the " Spirit Hall Empire ".
She flew over the fertile plains that once belonged to the Balak Kingdom, over the border passes where fierce battles had once taken place but which were now silent, and over some towns of considerable size.
Over the course of several days, she came to see an empire that felt completely foreign to her.
The law was extremely harsh.
Soul Master who oppress commoners? At best, their cultivation will be crippled; at worst, they will be executed.
Did nobles seize wealth through trickery and force? Many were executed along with their families.
The various Spirit Hall Branch are now more like law enforcement agencies, with their power strictly limited, and they can no longer act arrogantly as they did in the past.
She saw that farming Soul Tool from the Sun Moon Continent, powered by Soul Power, had been introduced into the farmland, and their efficiency far exceeded that of human labor.
I've seen some workshops attempting to produce complex civilian Soul Tool.
I also saw on the faces of ordinary people at the bottom of society that, in addition to the poverty that still existed, there seemed to be a hint of something new—a reverence for "order" and a faint hope for "fairness"?
But this so-called "fairness" comes at the cost of sacrificing the privileges of the entire Soul Master class.
All of this was completely different from the Spirit Hall Empire she knew.
Bibi Dong, that woman, she actually chose such a... self-destructive path?
As the ruler, instead of protecting the interests of the Soul Master class who supported her, she used iron-fisted methods to strip them of their privileges and bind them to harsh laws.
If the original Spirit Hall Empire at least had a powerful and war-hungry legion of Soul Master as its foundation, then the current Spirit Hall Empire's Soul Master are now demoralized and devoid of fighting spirit. Even if they fight to the death, they will not gain much substantial benefit, but will instead be subject to even stricter constraints.
The current Spirit Hall Empire is like a giant forcibly bound with iron chains. It appears orderly on the outside, but is full of cracks and discontent on the inside. It relies entirely on Bibi Dong Dong's unparalleled martial prowess and Xuan Ming's irresistible, godlike aura to barely maintain the framework of a "nation".
Qian Renxue couldn't understand it.
In her mind, Bibi Dong was an ambitious woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. How could she do something so self-destructive? Building an empire entirely dependent on personal force and riddled with internal conflicts was simply not a sustainable solution.
Is it because of Xuan Ming?
Because Xuan Ming disliked the old empire filled with violence and plunder, Bibi Dong was willing to go to any lengths to change it?
Qian Renxue refused to believe it. She couldn't believe that the cold, stubborn woman who saw power as everything would go to such lengths for a man, even willing to build her rule on such a fragile sandcastle.
But the facts before her left her no room for rebuttal.
However, it was precisely this "change" that she witnessed firsthand that made her even more suspicious of Gu Yuena's words.
If Xuan Ming was truly determined to exterminate humanity, why would he do these things?
Why did he still help Bibi Dong stabilize the empire? Why did he personally destroy the war spirit of the two empires and maintain a superficial peace? Why did he bring back Soul Tool technology from the Sun Moon Continent that could improve productivity and people's livelihoods?
Aren't these actions contradictory to his insane plan to " Destruction humanity"?
This is completely inconsistent with the behavioral logic of a " Destruction ".
She preferred to believe that Xuan Ming was still the complex and contradictory man she remembered—he abhorred pointless killing, resented the oppression brought by privilege, and perhaps harbored paranoia and a Destruction desire deep in his heart, but he also had a bottom line of not wanting to see life devastated.
He may be ruthless and obsessive, but his goal may never have been Destruction, but rather... to "correct" this world he dislikes in a way that he approves of.
Gu Yuena's words might just be alarmist talk, a tactic to force her to compromise?
Filled with doubts and complex thoughts, after traveling for nearly half a month, Qian Renxue finally returned to Spirit City.
This time, she did not hesitate and went straight to the Pope's Palace, which symbolized the highest power of the Spirit Hall Empire.
She was going to see Xuan Ming.
She wanted to ask him herself and hear his answer with her own ears.
She needed to find out whether what Gu Yuena said was true or not.
Pope's Palace, the flickering candlelight cast long shadows of the two figures on the polished floor.
Several exquisite dishes were laid out on the table, but Xuan Ming's eating was more like a ritual, a brief retrospective of his past mortal life.
Bibi Dong sat opposite him, not wearing the Pope robes that symbolized power and majesty, but a simple purple casual dress, her long hair draped lazily. She was naturally placing a piece of finely sliced fish into Xuan Ming's bowl, her movements practiced, her eyes filled with a kind of gentle focus that Qian Renxue had never seen before.
The scene at this moment truly resembled an ordinary couple's dinner, peaceful and harmonious.
This scene pierced Qian Renxue's eyes.
She stood at the palace entrance, her golden palace dress shimmering in the candlelight, but her expression was Ice Seal, her golden eyes fixed on the two people at the dining table, especially Bibi Dong, who felt completely unfamiliar to her.
Xuan Ming seemed oblivious to her arrival, continuing to eat slowly and methodically with his head down, without pausing his movements at all.
Bibi Dong looked up at Qian Renxue at the door, a complex emotion flashing in her purple-gold eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. She put down her chopsticks, gently wiped her mouth with a napkin, and remained elegant and composed.
Qian Renxue's gaze swept back and forth between Xuan Ming and Bibi Dong, her heart feeling as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, making it difficult to breathe.
She had never seen Bibi Dong like this before!
From childhood to adulthood, in her memory, Bibi Dong was always that high and mighty, cold and dignified Pope, a tool who would sacrifice everything for power and even use her own daughter.
She had never seen such a... such a "wife's" expression on Bibi Dong's face before!
Gentle, serene, and even carrying a subtle hint of dependence and contentment.
This realization, like the sharpest icicle, pierced through Qian Renxue's defenses, bringing with it an indescribable sense of absurdity and overwhelming anger!
Bibi Dong... her mother... if she was Xuan Ming's "wife"...
Then what is she, Qian Renxue?!
Was she an unwanted offspring from outside their "family"? Or... a ridiculous, unacknowledged... bastard?!
"I don't admit it!" Qian Renxue practically spat out these words through gritted teeth, her voice trembling slightly with extreme anger. Her golden eyes burned with intense flames as she stared intently at the calm Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong met her gaze, said nothing, but frowned slightly.
Xuan Ming finally put down his chopsticks, picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, his movements still unhurried. Only then did he slowly raise his head, his icy blue eyes calmly looking at Qian Renxue, who stood at the door, radiating anger.
Have you eaten?
Chapter 408 How Do You Want Me to End Things?
Xuan Ming's voice was flat, devoid of any emotion, as if he were asking a completely unimportant stranger. These three words sounded particularly abrupt in this tense atmosphere, even carrying an almost cruel indifference.