Douluo I world, Suotuo City, the Rose Hotel.
"Little San, let's stay here." Xiao Wu pointed ahead, bouncing with delight.
Tang San followed Xiao Wu's gaze and saw a three-story building standing by the street. It wasn't particularly large, but it was rose-red from top to bottom, and the whole building had been sculpted into the shape of a rose in full bloom.
Few passersby went past without taking a second look.
"It's quite distinctive." Tang San smiled and led Xiao Wu toward the entrance by the hand.
Just as Xiao Wu stepped onto the stairs-
Hum!
A deep hum came from overhead, as though someone had struck a giant drum across the entire sky.
Tang San stopped in his tracks, instinctively pulled Xiao Wu behind him, and looked up.
It wasn't just them. The shopkeeper, the staff and the passersby outside the Rose Hotel, and everyone in the Douluo World, all looked up at once.
At some point, a gigantic screen of light had appeared in the heavens.
The screen stretched across the sky, its edges shimmering with a pale golden halo, while the image at its center flowed slowly like rippling water.
The next moment, a clear voice came from the Sky Screen, resounding in every corner of the Douluo Continent.
[The Sky Screen has opened!]
[Welcome to the livestream of Shendu "Mu Sheng" becoming a god!]
[One lucky person on the continent will be chosen at random to enter the livestream and bear witness!]
[Ten-second countdown: ten, nine, eight...]
The voice from the Sky Screen and the words on it left every living creature on the Douluo Continent shocked and bewildered.
"Shendu? What Shendu?"
"What the heck is a livestream? Can you eat it?"
"Who the heck is Mu Sheng? Becoming a god? You've got to be kidding!"
"Don't pick me, don't pick me, don't pick me!"
Outside the Rose Hotel, Tang San frowned deeply and said to Xiao Wu in a low voice, "We don't know what's going on. Don't act rashly yet."
Before he could finish, Tang San heard a shout beside him, so excited that the voice cracked.
"Pick me, pick me, pick me!"
Xiao Wu jumped into the air, one hand raised high while the other gripped Tang San's sleeve and shook it hard. "Little San! Let me go!"
Tang San nearly stumbled from her tugging. "Xiao Wu, calm down!"
Xiao Wu's eyes shone like two little stars as she said excitedly:
"Little San, think about it. If I go and witness him becoming a god, then we'll have met! What if he's in a good mood and helps me bring my mother back to life?"
Tang San froze.
Xiao Wu's mother... He fell silent for a moment, then forcibly swallowed the words "It's too dangerous" that had reached his lips.
Passersby turned to look at the girl in the pink dress, bouncing up and down like a spring. Someone muttered under their breath:
"Whose child is that? She's far too bold."
"Didn't you hear it's a random selection? You could shout yourself hoarse and it wouldn't help..."
The countdown on the Sky Screen continued: [...Three, two, one! Selection complete!]
[Teleportation will now begin. Xue Qinghe (Qian Renxue) will enter the livestream!]
Heaven Dou City, the imperial palace's main hall.
Emperor Xue Ye sat upright on his throne, listening as a ceremonial official read out the day's memorials. The civil and military officials stood solemnly in attendance.
Crown Prince Xue Qinghe stood at the head of the civil officials, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, his face gentle and his posture respectful.
The instant the Sky Screen's voice fell silent, Xue Qinghe raised a finger and pointed at the tip of her own nose, bewilderment written all over her face:
"Me? I'm going to the livestream?"
Before the assembled officials could react, a beam of golden light shot straight down from the Sky Screen, enveloping Xue Qinghe with pinpoint accuracy.
The golden light flashed, and she was gone!
"Young master!"
Two thunderous shouts rang out at once.
The figures of two close attendants standing in the shadows of the hall's pillars flickered, and they appeared where Xue Qinghe had just been standing.
The man on the left was tall and thin, with a serpentine lance at his waist and a face like cold iron. He was Snake Lance Douluo, She Long;
The man on the right was short and stout, his whole body swollen like a pufferfish, his skin faintly purplish-black. He was Porcupinefish Douluo, Ci Xue.
The two released their presences at the same time. With a series of cracks, fine, spiderweb-like fractures spread through the hall's blue-gray bricks. The pressure of Titled Douluo bore down like a tangible weight, sending the civil and military officials around them stumbling.
Emperor Xue Ye sprang to his feet.
He stared at the two attendants in shock. He recognized them as the crown prince's personal guards, who had followed Xue Qinghe for years. They had always been meek and deferential, and he had never given them much thought.
Titled Douluo?
Two Titled Douluo were serving as his son's guards?
Since when had his son become so damn impressive?!
No, that wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that his son had been teleported away!!!
Beneath the Sky Screen, the people of the entire Heaven Dou Empire saw it happen.
"Isn't that His Highness the crown prince? His Highness was chosen?"
"But what was that written on the Sky Screen... Xue Qinghe (Qian Renxue)? What is Qian Renxue? What does the part in parentheses mean?"
Spirit City, the Pope's Hall.
Bibi Dong stood by the window, looking in the direction where the golden light from the Sky Screen had vanished. With a crack, her grip left a fracture in her scepter.
Xue Qinghe, Qian Renxue-of course she knew who that was. The piece she had placed with her own hands had just been exposed before everyone by the Sky Screen.
"Qian Renxue..."
Bibi Dong murmured the name, inscrutable emotions churning in her eyes: anger, worry, and the faintest trace of concern, so faint that even she was unwilling to admit it.
Spirit City, the Worship Hall.
Qian Daoliu was resting in the hall with his eyes closed.
As Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined and a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo, he hadn't been moved by anything in a very long time.
When the Sky Screen's voice rang out, he took it for some new trick a Soul Master had come up with and couldn't even be bothered to open his eyes.
Not until the words "Xue Qinghe (Qian Renxue)" struck his ears.
Qian Daoliu's eyes snapped open, and he shot to his feet. The cushion beneath him exploded into dust with a bang.
In two strides, he reached the hall's entrance. He tilted his head back and stared fixedly at the words on the Sky Screen, his thick, graying brows knotted together, anger almost bursting from his eyes.
"Give me back my granddaughter!"
Qian Daoliu roared and raised his right hand. Brilliant golden Soul Power gathered in his palm, forming a blade of light some ten feet long. With the full force of a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo, he slashed it straight at the screen of light in the sky, without a hint of flourish.
The golden blade tore upward through the air with a piercing shriek. Its force was so fierce that even the clouds above the Worship Hall were cleaved in two.
Countless Soul Masters within and outside Spirit City looked up in horror, only to see that golden light charging straight into the sky like a furious dragon.
Then it struck the Sky Screen.
"Hum!"
An exceedingly faint ripple spread across the surface of the Sky Screen, like a pebble tossed into a lake, sending out a few rings. And then... that was it.
The golden light dispersed. The Sky Screen hadn't budged, and even the image hadn't so much as flickered.
Qian Daoliu froze. He looked down at his palm, then back up at the Sky Screen, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
A full-powered strike at level ninety-nine, and hitting it had been like scratching an itch?
Just what was this Sky Screen made of?
"I refuse to believe it!"
Qian Daoliu's face darkened. He thrust out both palms, his golden Soul Power surging as three consecutive attacks blasted toward the Sky Screen.
The shockwaves from the Soul Power cracked the steps outside the Worship Hall, and roof tiles clattered down, but the screen of light on the Sky Screen remained completely unscathed.
"...Someone, come here."
Qian Daoliu's voice was extremely grim.