Teacher, your spirit in heaven must be pleased

"How was Qian Renxue a love-brain?"

Qian Renxue looked utterly incredulous.

Xu Fan slapped the edge of the bed and complained, exasperated at her failure to live up to her potential:

"Bro, think about it. She endured and lay undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire for almost twenty years,

made every move with care, finally cleared away the princes and outlived the emperor, and was just one step away from taking the throne. And what happened?

Tang San ruined it all in the Heaven Dou Palace Coup.

Anyone else who had over a decade of painstaking work destroyed overnight would have become Tang San's mortal enemy, right?

But Qian Renxue somehow developed feelings for him instead!"

Qian Renxue's brows knitted tightly, and a sense of absurdity welled up in her heart.

Xu Fan slapped the quilt, his face full of bitter anguish.

"Not only did she not fight Tang San to the death, she actually fell for him!

Later on, in several battles, she even had the overwhelming advantage of a god over a mortal and could have crushed Tang San dead on the spot,

but she either underestimated him or wavered, letting Tang San slip away at the critical moment every single time!

If that isn't a love-brain, what is?"

Qian Renxue felt a tightness in her chest.

Just days ago, Xu Fan had praised her as a peerlessly beautiful goddess in the readers' hearts, a heaven-favored daughter born at rank twenty,

only to turn around and seat her at the same table as Xiao Wu, Bibi Dong, and Hu Liena,

slapping the label of love-brain on her!

Going easy on him?

Developing feelings for Tang San?

She had shouldered heavy responsibilities since childhood, her thoughts devoted entirely to Spirit Hall's plans and her own cultivation,

so how could she possibly develop such absurd feelings for an enemy who destroyed twenty years of her painstaking work?

Qian Renxue's breathing grew slightly uneven. She could not help leaning closer and pressing him:

"Then tell me, how exactly did she go easy on him?"

She really wanted to understand just how her future self had acted so foolishly.

But Xu Fan suddenly stopped, braced a hand behind himself, and leaned back, shaking his head with a grin:

"Bro, that's late-story stuff. If I tell you ahead of time now,

it won't be any fun when you hear it later."

Qian Renxue: "..."

As she watched Xu Fan looking so perfectly justified in protecting her listening experience, a breath of frustration lodged right in her throat.

If this brat told stories in Heaven Dou City, he could probably torment his listeners until they could not bear to stop.

Curiosity burned like fire in her heart, yet her identity prevented her from grabbing him and demanding answers.

Xu Fan shifted into a comfortable position and said thoughtfully:

"Still, coming back to it, Qian Renxue's problem can't all be blamed on so-called feelings."

Qian Renxue's eyes flickered, and she looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Her greatest opponent wasn't Tang San at all. It was herself."

Xu Fan looked at the roof beams, a touch of wistfulness in his voice.

"She lacked love and care from childhood, living for years under Bibi Dong's indifference and hatred and the expectations and pressure of all the enshrined elders.

And Tang San happened to be a special presence."

Xu Fan spread his hands and speculated from a reader's perspective:

"He was both the person who destroyed her plans and someone who shattered her understanding, someone who kept her from easily controlling the situation.

That uniqueness gave Qian Renxue an unnecessary obsession."

At this point, Xu Fan sighed softly:

"Ultimately, I think she just lacked love growing up, and that ended up turning into a heart demon."

A heart demon.

Qian Renxue's gaze trembled slightly.

She could not help recalling her experiences over the past few days.

Ever since she had begun listening to Xu Fan tell these stories, she had struggled to sleep almost every night, constantly thinking about her fate.

At this moment, she once again recalled what Xu Fan had said before:

"Kill one Tang San, and a Tang Si or Tang Wu will pop up."

If she now focused all her attention on Tang San, plotting how to kill him ahead of time,

then even if Tang San had yet to truly threaten her, he was already influencing her judgment.

He might even lead her into another kind of obsession.

If that really happened, how would she differ from that future Qian Renxue, whose hands and feet were bound by Tang San, trapped within her heart demon?

Qian Renxue slowly unclenched her hands, and a trace of ease spread through her previously taut back.

At this moment, Qian Renxue suddenly felt somewhat grateful for her earlier decision to order Porcupinefish Douluo not to act,

which had inadvertently allowed her to pull free of that obsession before it could take root.

Xu Fan waved a hand and naturally brought the conversation back:

"All right, bro, let's leave the very late-story stuff alone.

Picking up where we left off at Nuoding Academy, Tang San and Xiao Wu,

those two lived such carefree lives at the junior academy..."

Qian Renxue's expression gradually regained its composure.

Understanding how Tang San got his cheats was still necessary, but there was no longer the slightest impatience in her heart.

Spirit City, the Pope's Hall.

Towering pillars reached straight to the vaulted ceiling, and the solemn hall was vast and deep,

the cold light all around silently conveying a suffocating solemnity and oppressive weight.

On the papal throne, Bibi Dong rested her chin on one hand, her posture upright and straight,

her entire figure radiating the chilling majesty of someone long accustomed to high office.

She held a thin secret letter between her fingers.

The letter came from the undercover network in Heaven Dou City, with Porcupinefish Douluo's secret mark beside the signature.

Several lines were written clearly upon it:

The blacksmith in Holy Soul Village is suspected to be Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect. Heaven Dou's undercover network caught wind of this and hereby reports it.

Bibi Dong lowered her eyes and scanned the paper, and an exceedingly faint, cold smile suddenly curled her lips.

"Heh."

An extremely soft scoff echoed through the empty hall.

"Xiao Xue really is thoughtful. All she thinks about is avenging her daddy."

Her voice was cool, undisguised mockery lacing every word.

In her view, that daughter far away in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace had a head filled with reverence for her birth father and obsession with her enemy,

and the moment she found the slightest trace of Tang Hao, she could not wait to send word back to Spirit Hall.

In Bibi Dong's eyes, such naive persistence was nothing but a laughable weakness.

Bibi Dong's gaze shifted slightly, settling on an empty patch of shadow in the hall, her expression dark and inscrutable.

Her tone carried a trace of indescribable derision:

"Teacher, if your spirit in heaven knew how filial your daughter was, you would be very pleased, wouldn't you?"

The air froze for a moment, and the hall was so quiet that a falling needle could have been heard.

Bibi Dong withdrew her gaze. The trace of mockery on her face instantly vanished, replaced once more by the indifference of one who ruled over everything.

At her command, light and shadow flickered slightly within the hall,

and two figures quietly appeared, silently dropping to one knee.

The man on the left wore splendid brocade robes and had delicate, feminine features.

The man on the right was wreathed in black vapor, his entire figure seemingly wavering between the real and the unreal.

They were Yue Guan and Gui Mei.

"Your Holiness, what are your orders?"

Yue Guan bowed his head slightly, his shrill voice utterly respectful.

Bibi Dong placed the letter beside the armrest, her tone calm and majestic:

"You two, lead an elite squad and depart at once for Holy Soul Village in Fasinuo Province. Search for Tang Hao's whereabouts."

The two Titled Douluo's expressions grew slightly grave.

Bibi Dong lowered her eyelids a fraction and delivered an exceedingly brief order:

"If you find him, capture him alive, at any cost!"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance. Both knew Bibi Dong's methods well and dared not hesitate for even a moment, bowing in unison to accept the command:

"As you command, Your Holiness."

Black mist swirled and golden light flickered as the two figures flowed out of the Pope's Hall like mercury spilling across the ground.

The hall returned to deathly silence.

Bibi Dong lowered her eyes, looking at the message beside her hand.

Her five slender, fair fingers slowly closed, Soul Power silently surging in her palm.

Crack.

The letter was ground into exceedingly fine fragments between her fingers and palm, turning into a puff of white ash.