Scheming

"Of course, where there is reward, there must also be punishment."

Gu Yue's expression slightly changed, and he continued:

"If you fail the test, you will not only receive no benefits, but you will also face severe punishment. As for what the punishment will be, you will be given a hint at the time."

"Understood."

Qian Xunji suppressed his wildly beating heart and respectfully accepted the order.

To be honest, he couldn't figure out what his lord was really planning either.

Is this an attempt to collect faith across the mainland? But if the goal is to collect faith, why go through the Spirit Hall to orchestrate this?

Surely they wouldn't deliberately reveal such a place of opportunity just to benefit the entire continent?

What made Qian Xunji even more puzzled was the almost exaggeratedly generous reward.

Rewards can't just be made up out of thin air. If something could appear out of thin air without paying a price, then the law of conservation of energy would cease to exist.

Qian Xunji pondered deeply, but couldn't fathom Gu Yue's true intentions, so he decided to stop wasting his energy.

Since he doesn't yet have the ability to escape the chessboard, he should just obediently follow orders.

Just gazing at the shimmering gold and silver platform in the center of the lake, Qian Xunji felt a surge of heat rise in her heart, and cautiously whispered:

"My lord, may I perhaps give it a try and seek some opportunity?"

Gu Yue glanced at him indifferently.

In his view, without the covert protection and manipulation of external forces, someone like Qian Xunji would probably be lying on his deathbed in no time if he were to undergo God of Love's interrogation.

Someone like Qian Xunji, who can't even love himself, how could he possibly have any genuine feelings to love others?

"If you're tired of living and want to experience death again, feel free to try."

Gu Yue's tone was casual, but to Qian Xunji it was like a cold thorn piercing his back.

Qian Xunji quickly smiled apologetically and dispelled the dangerous idea.

"Let's go. I have already opened the spatial passage. When the time comes, the winner will step into the spatial vortex and arrive here."

The power of space rippled outwards, and two figures quietly departed from the Qiankun Asking Love Valley.

Inside the Pope Palace, on the arena of the Qian Xunji Death Theory Competition, he thought to himself:

"Dongzi, Dongzi, do you really think this is a stage I prepared for Gangzi? No, no, no, this is a stage I prepared for you. Your decisive moment has arrived."

The reason why Qian Xunji repeatedly tolerated the ambiguous relationship Bibi Dong, Liu Erlong, and Yu Xiaogang was all part of a scheme.

He really wanted to know whether Bibi Dong, after experiencing a series of shocks, seemed numb to Yu Xiaogang's absurd and ridiculous behavior, still harbored deep feelings for that lung fog deep down.

Has her love-struck mind ever wavered even slightly?

In her past life, Bibi Dong never knew the truth behind her so-called love until she died with resentment in her heart.

If she were to see through this veil of hypocrisy in this lifetime, the scene would surely be incredibly exciting; just thinking about it sent shivers down his spine.

After all, Qian Xunji is now destined to become the man who controls the God of Evil Thoughts.

With Bibi Dong, the Rakshasa Godhood from her previous life, present, who on the entire continent could better understand how to incite evil thoughts?

He wanted to drive Bibi Dong step by step into the abyss, making her witness firsthand that everything in her past life was a joke.

By then, she will find out that it was all fake, completely fake!

What is real? She can't tell, she simply can't tell!

As for Liu Erlong, she was the chosen mother of the next generation of Six-Winged Angel in this life.

Her Red Dragon Martial Soul possesses a fire attribute that perfectly matches the attributes of Six-Winged Angel.

Compared to Bibi Dong's two Evil attribute Martial Soul, the fire attribute is better for the Six-Winged Angel. Even though Liu Erlong's talent is somewhat lacking, his current aptitude is enough to make up for it.

Although he is now Dark Angel and Quasi-God attributes can be successfully passed on to his descendants, it is not a big problem. Even if the attributes are not right in the future, he can simply swallow his pride and beg the Lord to take action to remove the attributes for the next generation.

Most importantly, the clown from his past life is still the clown in this life, and he's still going to bully Yu Xiaogang.

The only difference is the methods; we don't need to use the same ones from the previous life anymore...

Before we knew it, the day of the theoretical competition had arrived.

At noon, the sun shone brightly in the sky.

At the summit of Pope Mountain, the magnificent Pope Palace appears even more imposing and majestic under the blazing sun.

Descending the winding steps from the main gate of the palace, two rows of the Spirit Hall knights clad in gleaming silver heavy armor stood solemnly with their hands on their swords, forming a straight line from the entrance of the Pope Palace all the way to the Pope Mountain, their imposing and awe-inspiring aura enveloping the entire mountain range.

At this moment, the Soul Master, scholars, and onlookers who had flocked from all over the continent upon hearing the news were all kept at the foot of Pope Mountain, gazing up at the scene from afar.

Only members of major sects and participating teams are qualified to set foot on the plaza Pope Mountain.

In the center of the square, a spacious debate stage rises from the ground, with red and blue debate seats set up on both sides, and soul-guided loudspeakers standing at the four corners.

In the air directly behind the debate stage, a huge spatial vortex, resembling a sky full of stars, slowly rotated.

clang--

The clear, resonant chimes of the bells echoed gently from the Pope Palace, silencing all the noise throughout the mountain.

A group of cardinals walked steadily out from the side of the temple gate, standing in two rows on the left and right.

The leading cardinal, wielding his Soul Power, sang aloud:

"His Holiness the Pope has arrived!"

"Long live! Long live! Long live!"

The fervent shouts echoed throughout the entire Spirit City and Pope Mountain.

This is the awe-inspiring cry of the Temple Knights standing in neat rows on Pope Mountain, and also the worship of countless Soul Master who believe in the Spirit Hall below the mountain.

Accompanied by shouts, Chihiro, clad in a dazzling golden robe, wearing a purple-gold crown and holding a jeweled scepter, Qian Xunji out of the main hall.

Ning Fengzhi and Yu Yuanzhen, who had been invited, had also arrived and were seated on either side under the guidance of their attendants.

The Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, who was in charge of presiding over the ceremony, wore a long robe with gold patterns. After the routine introduction of the various forces involved in the grand event, his voice spread throughout the Pope Mountain with the spread of his Soul Power:

"The inaugural Continental Theory Competition has officially begun."

"As decided by the Spirit Hall, the Spirit Hall has specially offered the Qiankun Fortune Secret Realm, a place of extraordinary opportunity discovered during this grand event, as a reward for the debate."

Yue Guan loudly read out the charter:

"The competition adopts a debate format. In each round, scholars from both the red and blue teams will take the stage to debate the topic on the spot, each holding a for-or-foreign position. The winner of each round, as determined by the judging panel, will immediately gain one opportunity to enter the secret realm."

At this point, Yue Guan vividly recounted the opportunities and punishments within the Qiankun Asking Love Valley.

After the announcement, not only were the scholars' eyes red, but a clamor erupted throughout the Pope Mountain.

No need to wait for a so-called grand champion to be decided; can winning a single round instantly grant one a chance to defy fate?

If such a miracle is truly real, which Soul Master in the world could resist such temptation?

Just as the frenzy and clamor of the entire arena was about to become uncontrollable, Qian Xunji, with Qian Xunji confident smile, slowly raised the jeweled scepter in his hand and lightly waved it in the air.

Three dazzling orbs of light quietly appeared in mid-air, hovering silently in the eyes of the crowd.