In the main hall of the Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City.
Salas stepped out of the carriage. Soul Power enveloped him, shielding him from the rain as he walked into the hall without a drop touching him.
Recalling Xue Qinghe's ravenous gaze when they parted at Moon Xuan, Salas felt an even greater sense of satisfaction.
A preliminary cooperation agreement had been reached between the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire. As the sole representative of the Spirit Hall, Salas needed to write a letter to Pope Bibi Dong to report the outcome of this meeting.
He strode to the study door, pushed it open, and closed it behind him.
"Salas!"
A cold, deep voice echoed behind Salas.
Before Salas could react, a thin, bony hand landed on his shoulder.
"Who… who are you?"
Salas's voice trembled slightly.
He hadn't sensed this person's presence at all when he entered the study.
He himself was a Soul Douluo with a Soul Power level of eighty-seven. For someone to avoid his senses at such close range, their Soul Power level was likely that of a Titled Douluo.
Salas couldn't help but feel afraid, thinking a hostile Titled Douluo had specifically ambushed him here.
"Don't be afraid, you're one of us."
The person stood behind Salas, waving a token in front of his eyes with his other hand.
"Elder's Token!"
Salas exclaimed, then relaxed. He thought to himself:
I was scared to death, I thought it was a hostile Titled Douluo here for an assassination, but it turns out to be one of our own elders who likes playing pranks.
Turning around, Salas looked at the unfamiliar old man in a gray robe before him, trying to recall if the Spirit Hall had anyone like him.
The gray-robed elder spoke in his low, hoarse voice:
"My title is 'Snake Spear'. You can call me Elder Snake Spear."
Salas nodded. He had indeed heard of such an elder in the Spirit Hall.
"The reason I'm looking for you…" the gray-robed elder said, beckoning Salas closer and gesturing for him to lean in.
Salas immediately understood, thinking the elder had something secret to tell him, and brought his face closer to the gray-robed elder.
"Slap!"
A loud slap echoed in the study.
Salas was struck by the gray-robed elder, the immense force sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Get up."
Before Salas could question him, the gray-robed elder's command reached his ears.
He got up from the ground, about to say something, when he saw a palm rapidly expanding in his vision.
"Slap!"
Another loud slap, and Salas was once again sent flying to the ground.
"What dirty (Elder Snake Spear), pig hand (stop)." Salas's old face was swollen on both cheeks, and his speech had become slurred.
He covered his face with his hands, looking at the gray-robed elder a few meters away through the gaps between his fingers, and mustered the courage to question him:
"Why (without reason), why are you hitting me (why are you hitting me)?"
"It's very simple," the gray-robed elder replied, not angered by Salas's questioning but happy to enlighten him:
"A big shot above dislikes your actions and therefore sent me to teach you a small lesson."
A big shot? Salas's heart leaped, and he began to speculate about the identity of this important figure.
In the entire Spirit Hall, only the Pope and that one person from the Qian family could arbitrarily dispatch a Titled Douluo.
And the reason that person would teach him a lesson was none other than factional strife, the struggle between the Qian family's lineage and the current Pope.
Among those in the Spirit Hall who knew of Qian Renxue's existence were the six Great Worships of the Worship Hall, Bibi Dong, and the two Titled Douluo elders, Snake Spear and Porcupine.
Therefore, Salas assumed the big shot who dispatched Elder Snake Spear to teach him a lesson was the Great Worship of the Spirit Hall, Qian Daoliu, never imagining that the big shot was the Heaven Dou Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, whom he had offended today.
Elder Snake Spear walked up to Salas and patted his shoulder, saying:
"Salas, remember today's lesson and do not repeat it in the future!"
After saying this, Elder Snake Spear quietly left the study. Before leaving, he glanced back at Salas with a look of pity.
This puzzled Salas greatly, but he soon understood the meaning of Elder Snake Spear's pitying glance before he left.
Because when Salas turned around, he discovered another gray-robed elder had appeared behind the desk at some point.
An ominous premonition surged within Salas. Then, under Salas's worried gaze, the gray-robed elder stood up from the armchair and said with a fake smile:
"Salas, my title is 'Porcupine'. You can call me Elder Porcupine."
"Like Snake Spear, I am also here on the orders of that big shot to give you a small lesson."
The voice echoed in Salas's ears like a demon's whisper, and he instinctively covered his face with both hands.
"Why are you covering your face? I didn't say the lesson I'm giving you is a slap,"
As the words fell, Porcupine Douluo appeared behind Salas. A thick, sharp spike materialized in his hand, which he then swung forcefully at a certain spot behind Salas.
...
Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, the Crown Prince's sleeping quarters.
In front of the dressing mirror, Qian Renxue, now in women's clothing, used a comb to tend to her slightly curled golden hair.
Gazing at the familiar yet strange peerless face in the mirror, Qian Renxue became momentarily entranced.
Undercover in Heaven Dou, disguising herself as a man every day, she had dedicated her most beautiful years here.
Whenever she encountered unpleasant matters while impersonating Xue Qinghe, she would revert to her female form.
Only by looking at her true appearance in the mirror could she realize that she was also a woman, a woman like that person.
Although Qian Renxue never admitted to being that woman's daughter, her identity as a woman herself gave her the motivation to continue her undercover mission, because she would never admit defeat in front of that woman.
While halfway through styling her golden hair, two old men in grey robes appeared behind Qian Renxue and respectfully reported:
"Young Master, we have taught Salas a sufficient lesson."
"Although it's only superficial injuries, it's enough to make Salas too ashamed to face anyone until he recovers."
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue continued to style her golden hair as if she were indifferent to the outcome, but the slight smile that curved her lips betrayed her true feelings.
Qian Renxue had been annoyed with that old fellow Salas for a long time.
It was because Salas had caused her considerable trouble during her undercover mission. What happened today was merely a fuse, causing the pent-up dissatisfaction in Qian Renxue's heart to erupt all at once.
And Salas belonged to Bibi Dong, which was just another reason to teach him a lesson.
An hour later, Qian Renxue finished styling her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror with reluctance, remained silent for a few seconds, and then resumed her disguise as Xue Qinghe.
...
The specific details of the meeting between the Heaven Dou Royal Family and Spirit Hall were highly classified, with very few people aware of them.
Even the empire's three hereditary Dukes were not privy to the specifics of the information, but this did not include Lin Rong.
His sources of information were not limited to Dugu Bo, who was a royal enshrinement. Even Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, had secretly passed this intelligence to him for reasons unknown.
Regarding Ning Fengzhi's actions, Lin Rong guessed that the old fox had likely become suspicious of the relationship between Dugu Bo and himself.
After all, with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's influence, if Ning Fengzhi were determined to investigate the events following the Tang Sect banquet that year, he would surely find some clues.
However, Ning Fengzhi would at most suspect a cooperative relationship between him and Dugu Bo, never imagining that Dugu Bo had submitted to him.
In Ning Fengzhi's view, a Titled Douluo was among the highest echelon on the continent, so how could they possibly submit to such a mere child?
Knowing that he might learn the specifics of the discussions between the Royal Family and Spirit Hall from Dugu Bo, Ning Fengzhi's actions were undoubtedly to curry favor with him and repay a debt of gratitude.
Dugu Bo had returned to Heaven Dou City two days prior.
He had also gone in search of divine inheritance. Unlike Yang Wudi, who returned with the Love God artifact "Moonlight Love," Dugu Bo returned empty-handed.
However, this did not mean he had not found the Thunder God Inheritance in Thunderclap Canyon. On the contrary, Dugu Bo had discovered the Thunder God artifact in a hidden cave within Thunderclap Canyon.
It was a small hammer, seemingly ordinary, but it was covered in dark purple lightning.
An aura of endless destruction emanated from the dark purple lightning, causing even Dugu Bo, a Level 96 Titled Douluo, to feel a tremor of fear.
Dugu Bo had a premonition that if he were to touch even a trace of the dark purple lightning, he would be annihilated.
Don't think that Yang Wudi easily brought back "Moonlight Love"; it was because he held Lovesick Heartbreak Red and possessed the aura of Love God Divine Power, allowing him to take the Love God artifact without its explicit approval.
Dugu Bo could not contend with the dark purple lightning on the hammer, and in his helplessness, he could only return empty-handed, telling Lin Rong about his findings in Thunderclap Canyon.
After hearing Dugu Bo's description, Lin Rong's mind conceived the idea of going to Thunderclap Canyon to retrieve the Thunder God artifact.
Dugu Bo could not contend with the dark purple lightning on the hammer, but that didn't mean he couldn't.
The Divinity within him had been refined from the Thunder God Bloodline carried by the Thunderclap Nether Vine Spirit Bone.
Although the Thunder God Bloodline had been completely refined by the Marrow Cleansing Scripture, Lin Rong could still use the power of the Marrow Cleansing Scripture to reverse and trace back the Divinity within his body, transforming it back into pure Thunder God Bloodline.
Artifacts were sentient. Although it had not yet reached the stage of having a spirit, the artifact still possessed a high degree of spirituality.
Lin Rong possessed the pure Thunder God Bloodline. The Thunder God artifact sensed the aura of the Thunder God and would regard him as its master, rendering the dark purple lightning harmless to him.
And after he took the Thunder God artifact, he only needed to circulate the Marrow Cleansing Scripture to cancel the reverse tracing, and the Thunder God Bloodline in his body would revert to formless Divinity.
If it weren't for the impending meeting between the Heaven Dou Royal Family and Spirit Hall, which required Lin Rong to await the outcome of the discussions to make corresponding arrangements, he would have already set off for Thunderclap Canyon with the old butler.
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