The luan raised her head and cried out, her voice carrying for a thousand miles as golden light enveloped even the waters around Sea God Island.
At that moment, Qian Renxue's Soul Power broke through to Level 70!
Behind her, six wings of light unfurled, shedding a sacred radiance.
Framed by the spectacle of the sacrifice, Qian Renxue looked like a true god.
Beautiful, solemn, sacred, and inviolable.
Rays of blood-red light circled Qian Renxue, gradually gathering into a blood-red Soul Ring.
The red was so vivid it seemed ready to drip, with four golden patterns inscribed upon it.
When the four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring finished forming, the Blazing Light Sacred Luan's figure began to fade.
And Qian Renxue's Soul Power surged once more.
Level seventy-one! Level seventy-two! Level seventy-three! Level seventy-four! Level seventy-five! Level seventy-six! Level seventy-seven! Level seventy-eight!
When the luan's figure vanished completely, the radiance filling the sky gradually faded as well.
Qian Renxue opened her eyes. At some point, a faint golden tint had appeared in them.
"Dad, I'm Level 78!"
"Level 78?"
Ye Qingxian was stunned, while Ah Yin took it a little better.
After all, that had been the sacrifice of a four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
Raising Qian Renxue's Soul Power by only nine levels had already wasted far, far too much.
...Original timeline...
Qian Daoliu burst out laughing. "Good, good, good! My Xue'er is already a Level 78 Soul Saint.
"When you come back, Grandpa will find the Blazing Light Sacred Luan for you.
"Have her sacrifice herself for you, and within ten years, Spirit Hall will surely see the birth of a true god!"
Qian Xunji shot through the air, racing toward the sea.
What he did not know, however, was this.
There was no need for him to search. On an island in the sea, the Blazing Light Sacred Luan was watching the sky screen too.
"If I sacrifice myself to that human, she can bring me back to life once she becomes a god?
"Perhaps that really is a good way."
The luan soared into the sky. Her time was running out, and she had no confidence whatsoever in surviving the four-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation that was soon to come.
She took human form and headed toward the continent.
The countless spectators beneath the sky screen had gone numb.
A Soul Saint, rising eight levels at once!
"I can't even gain one level in two years, and she gained eight at once!
"No, wait, sixty-nine to seventy-eight-that's nine levels!"
"A four-hundred-thousand-year Seventh Soul Ring means far more than just gaining nine levels of Soul Power.
"Boo-hoo, I'm crying with envy."
In a cave deep in the wilderness.
Tang Hao woke from the pain-not in his arm, but in his... backside.
He looked back and saw a Wolf Bandit plowing away at him.
"Ah!!!!"
Tang Hao erupted, and the Wolf Bandit behind him was instantly shattered into a mist of blood.
"Xiao San, my son!"
Tang Hao searched everywhere and finally found Tang San deeper in the cave.
And what Tang San was going through at that moment was even worse than what he had suffered.
Two Wolf Bandits with bulging muscles were attacking him from both ends. Tang San was awake, but powerless to resist, his face ashen and his body twitching slightly.
"Ah!!! Die!!!!"
Tang Hao roared, and the two Wolf Bandits were instantly blasted to pieces. Tang San was finally freed.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
He coughed weakly, bringing up a large mouthful of foul-smelling mucus.
"Xiao San."
"Xiao San!"
Tang Hao was overcome with grief. His own son had finally gained a chance at revenge, only for it to be ruined just like that!
"No, there's still hope!
"There's still hope!"
Tang Hao hoisted Tang San onto his back and raced toward the Blue Silver Forest.
By then, Tang San was nearly in a stupor.
What meaning was there in his continuing to live?
He was no longer clean. Both above and below, he had been torn open.
Wolf Bandits...
...Sky screen timeline...
After the Blazing Light Sacred Luan's sacrifice, Qian Renxue could be said to have barely made up for some of the shortcomings in her foundation.
"Your first six Soul Rings are already fixed, but you can increase their ages through divine trials.
"As for Soul Bones... although the Angel Set can evolve into Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones when assembled,
"they're still lacking a little something.
"Stay on Sea God Island and cultivate for now.
"I'll go look around the sea and see if there are any Soul Bones suited to you.
"All your Soul Bones should preferably be at least two hundred thousand years old."
With her Soul Rings' ages falling short, he could only make up for it with Soul Bones.
Qian Renxue had already absorbed a skull bone, so the quality of her remaining five Soul Bones had to be raised.
"Thank you, Dad."
Qian Renxue was touched, and her loathing for Bibi Dong grew even deeper.
The father in this spacetime did not even know her, yet he treated her so well.
Meanwhile, her mother in the other spacetime wanted to kill her.
No matter how terribly you were wronged, I'm innocent.
What gives you the right to abuse me?
Once I go back, I must take back Dad's position as Pope.
I won't let that woman destroy Dad's Spirit Hall.
Qian Renxue made that vow in her heart, then began cultivating together with Ye Qingxian.
With their already substantial Soul Power foundations, they soon cultivated the Bright Jade Technique to the seventh level.
And the Bright Jade Technique's effect of preserving youth also began to show in subtle ways.
Ye Qingxian and Ah Yin were already at the finest stage of their lives.
Naturally, there was no visible difference.
But Qian Renxue was already in her twenties. Although her skin was still excellent, almost flawless, after making progress in the Bright Jade Technique, she could clearly feel that her appearance had grown younger.
...Original timeline...
Every woman in the world went mad over it.
Even Bibi Dong was jealous when she saw the change in Qian Renxue's appearance on the sky screen.
"Why? Why are you so fortunate?
"Why can you enter the Heavenly Screen Spacetime?
"Why do so many people love you?
"Just wait. When you come back, everything you have will become mine."
Bibi Dong's presence grew ever colder and more sinister. Her life had been destroyed, and no one else could expect to have it easy.
...Sky screen timeline...
A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Qian Renxue's Soul Power reached level seventy-nine.
Qian Xunji had also searched all the waters around Sea God Island, but found no Soul Bones particularly suited to Qian Renxue.
He was in no hurry, though.
And with the month at an end, the system began tallying up his rewards.
[Temporary nurturing target: Qian Renxue.] [Soul Power raised by ten levels, one set of four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and Soul Bone, Bright Jade Technique cultivated to mastery.] [Reward: Spacetime Fishing Rod (can cross spacetime and fish for all things)]
Qian Xunji's eyes lit up at once. Fish for all things across spacetime?
What could he catch?
He promptly took out the Spacetime Fishing Rod and cast the purple-gold rod, carved with dragons and phoenixes. The line instantly disappeared into the void.
Then the float bobbed, and Qian Xunji gave a sharp pull.
[Catch obtained: Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.]
"Oh?"
Qian Xunji looked at the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone in his hand, brimming with vitality, and an intrigued expression came over his face.
...Original timeline...
After a difficult journey, Tang Hao finally brought Tang San to the Blue Silver Forest, so the Blue Silver King could perform a Second Awakening of his Martial Soul.
"My emperor has actually been hurt so badly.
"Tang Hao, you caused my emperor's death, and now you've brought her child to this state.
"You deserve to die!"
The Blue Silver King attacked in fury, calling forth an endless mass of vines.
Tang Hao did not dodge. After being struck only a few times, he lost consciousness completely.
"Fuck***"
The Blue Silver King's entire grass body went numb.
There was actually someone so hateful in this world.
"She chose the wrong man! My emperor chose the wrong man!"