Chapter 52: Learning Part of the Truth, Qian Renxue's Unusual Calmness
In front of the angel statue, Qian Daoliu's fingertip trembled violently, and the pendant in his palm nearly slipped out.
The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably, and his expression was extremely strange, yet he remained silent, forcing himself to continue listening to his granddaughter's "shocking" plan.
"If that's not enough, given the Grandmaster's theoretical achievements, we could offer a Spirit Bone of fifty thousand years or more to win him over. Using such a Spirit Bone to gain the Grandmaster's loyalty, our Spirit Hall will surely gain another top-tier combatant. After all, if he can help two grandfathers Break through their Bottlenecks purely through theory, no one can guess how unfathomably profound this Grandmaster's true Cultivation level is."
Subtle movements beside him caught Qian Daoliu's attention. He saw the various Worshipers, including the Second Worship Gold Crocodile Douluo, looking at him with a mixture of pity. Even in the eyes of the two Titled Douluo, Qian Jun and Jiang Mo, there was a hint of barely concealed schadenfreude.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, what do you think of this idea?"
Qian Renxue's voice came from the pendant, carrying a trace of imperceptible suspicion.
"Xue'er, Yu Xiaogang is somewhat special. He is the son of the current Clan Chief of the Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus Rex Sect, so he cannot be casually killed."
Qian Daoliu wanted to gloss over it. At this moment, his appearance bore a resemblance to Salas when he had reported the news to Qian Renxue previously.
"Then what is his current spirit power level?"
Qian Renxue's tone revealed surprise, but she pressed the question.
"It seems to be level twenty-nine now."
"In other words, he's still just trash. I didn't expect that woman's methods to be so clever that she could control this Yu Xiaogang."
Qian Renxue's voice came from the pendant, clearly approving of the "Bibi Dong scheme" she had imagined.
"Bibi Dong controlling Yu Xiaogang—" Qian Daoliu fell silent again. Faced with such complicated relationships, he truly didn't know how to clearly explain it to his granddaughter.
"However, trading the life of the Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus Rex Clan Chief's son for the Grandmaster's favor is, I believe, very worthwhile. After all, once the Spirit Empire truly unifies the continent, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School lacks offensive power, so if they surrender, we can spare some of their direct Bloodline. As for the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus Rex Sect, their direct Bloodline must be completely purged; we absolutely cannot give them a chance to rise again."
Qian Renxue's logic was clear, and she weighed the pros and cons and made the final decision with ease.
"Yu Xiaogang himself is a direct Bloodline member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and he will eventually be purged anyway. It might as well be left to the Grandmaster as a punching bag."
"I even think that, to show how much we value him, the Supreme Pontiff should personally step forward and proactively abandon Yu Xiaogang. Although our Spirit Hall is currently divided into two factions, we should demonstrate our shared high regard for the Grandmaster. This way, the Grandmaster will receive courtesy from the Hall of Worship and respect from the Supreme Pontiff, and he will undoubtedly side with our Spirit Hall wholeheartedly."
Good heavens, Qian Daoliu was completely numb. He seriously suspected that his granddaughter already knew about the past between Yu Xiaogang and her mother; otherwise, why would these schemes precisely target her mother's weak spot?
"Xue'er, do you know something?"
Qian Daoliu asked cautiously.
"What do I know?"
Qian Renxue, leaning against the soft couch, looked utterly bewildered and instinctively sat up. Although she was only ten years old, she already faintly displayed graceful curves, hinting at a stunning future figure.
"Grandpa, what could I possibly know?"
Hearing his granddaughter's counter-question, Qian Daoliu coughed twice and mumbled, "Nothing, nothing."
While replying, he winked at the Worshipers, signaling them to quickly come up with a solution.
The Worshipers of the Hall of Worship exchanged glances, then all spread their hands toward Qian Daoliu, clearly indicating they could offer no assistance.
Left with no choice, Qian Daoliu braced himself and said, "Xue'er, how about we cancel the plan to recruit the Grandmaster? Thinking about it now, it does seem a bit unreliable. If we must, we can simply order the Spirit Halls in various regions to send people to search for the Grandmaster."
Qian Renxue had already sat up straight, her beautiful brows tightly furrowed. She felt that something was amiss. Why would a perfectly good plan be abandoned just like that? The plan clearly had no issues.
"Alright, Xue'er, Grandpa still has some—"
Qian Daoliu was about to forcibly end the communication, but he was interrupted by Qian Renxue again.
In her mind, pieces of information quickly connected—the conversation with Salas, the dialogue with her grandfather; they all seemed to be deliberately hiding something. Then there was this plan, which was inexplicably initiated and now inexplicably canceled, and the true initiator of the plan—
"What exactly is the relationship between this Yu Xiaogang and that woman?"
Qian Renxue's words were unusually calm, but anyone could sense a bone-chilling coldness emanating from the depths of her tone.
Unable to hide it any longer, Qian Daoliu sighed deeply: "Alas! Xue'er, I'll tell you the truth, but please don't get angry."
Qian Renxue's tone remained calm: "Grandpa, speak."
"That Yu Xiaogang is your mother's—"
"She is not my mother."
Qian Daoliu's words were abruptly cut off by Qian Renxue's icy voice.
"Fine." Qian Daoliu paused before continuing, "That Yu Xiaogang was the current Supreme Pontiff's former lover. They originally planned to elope, but your father discovered them and forcibly separated the two. Later, the Supreme Pontiff ended up with your father."
Qian Daoliu still chose to selectively conceal part of the truth, as the events of that time were too complicated to clearly determine who was right and who was wrong.
Upon hearing this news, Qian Renxue did not fly into a rage as expected; instead, she was exceptionally calm. She let out a cold laugh: "Heh heh! So, the current Supreme Pontiff was adopted by Spirit Hall, nurtured with all its resources after her talent was discovered, and even crowned Holy Maiden. Yet, in the end, she wanted to elope with a piece of trash from the Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus Rex Sect, an enemy of Spirit Hall?"
Qian Daoliu could only give a muffled "Mm," indicating affirmation.
"She's an orphan who consumed so many resources from Spirit Hall, yet she nearly defected in the end. Where did she get the nerve?"
Qian Renxue's words were filled with intense mockery, and a long-fantasized image in her heart began to shatter at this moment.
She was, after all, her mother. Even with countless dissatisfactions in her heart, she had once comforted herself: perhaps she had some difficulty she couldn't speak of, and she should understand her. Even though Qian Renxue often saw the complex look in the other party's eyes and the disgust that could never be concealed beneath them, she still told herself this.
Perhaps I am not outstanding enough. After all, the other person possesses twin spirits. Even with my Innate Soul Power at level twenty, once I truly mature, I might still be slightly inferior to her.
After all, high Innate Soul Power merely means faster Cultivation speed. If not for the God Trial's blessing and the Grandmaster's theoretical guidance, I would definitely still have century spirit rings. But the other person only needs to Cultivate one Spirit to the Titled Douluo level, and the other Spirit can attach at least all ten-thousand-year spirit rings. If one were to boldly imagine, all hundred-thousand-year spirit rings might not be impossible.
Since she might not be satisfied with my Cultivation, I will make her look at me with new respect through external achievements. Holding this thought, Qian Renxue replaced the Heaven Dou Empire's Great Prince and plotted the famous "Stealing the Empire" grand scheme, just to make the Supreme Pontiff see her differently.
But only now did she realize that the Supreme Pontiff probably never cared about any of this. The only person she truly cared about was likely her Yu Xiaogang.
The idealized image of a loving mother in her heart quietly shattered. Qian Renxue felt an emptiness in her chest, as if she had lost some extremely vital spiritual pillar.
As the saying goes, a woman's most vulnerable time is also when external forces are most likely to take advantage. Reflecting on her previous approval of the "Bibi Dong Plan," Qian Renxue felt like a monumental joke.
Yet, the moment she thought of the Grandmaster, the confusion in her heart inexplicably dissipated somewhat, replaced by a slight, inexplicable goodwill.
When people lose a spiritual pillar, they subconsciously seek a new reliance. The "Grandmaster" had already profoundly influenced Qian Renxue's path of Cultivation, and since the Supreme Pontiff's true colors were exposed because of the "Grandmaster," the "Grandmaster" instinctively became her new spiritual anchor.
This shift was silent, unnoticed even by Qian Renxue herself. Most of the time, the spiritual pillar has always been there; we just often fail to notice it.
Qian Renxue naturally didn't know that her spiritual World had undergone earth-shattering changes in a short period. She merely coldly scrutinized the Supreme Pontiff's actions: "Since she chose to be with my father, she should have severed all ties with her past entanglements, instead of playing this trick of reviving old flames before my father's body is even cold."
"Moreover, how long has it been? My father's body hasn't even grown cold, yet she's already rushing to pull these stunts. Could it be that I'm supposed to gain another 'father' in the future?"
Qian Daoliu could only listen silently to his granddaughter's words, unsure how to offer comfort.
"And that damned plan to recruit the Grandmaster—I completely understand it now. I truly want to ask her: was her real goal the Grandmaster himself, or did she just want to firmly attach the title of 'Grandmaster' onto Yu Xiaogang's head?"
"Thinking about it this way, everything makes sense. No wonder she wanted to take the Grandmaster as a henchman; no wonder she set the rule of 'kill him if he doesn't obey.' So, she was afraid that the real Grandmaster would appear and ruin her Little Man's reputation! No wonder I thought her mind seemed normal usually, but this plan was full of flaws. It turns out her true purpose was never to enhance Spirit Hall's prestige or recruit the Grandmaster, but to permanently bind the title of 'Grandmaster' to Yu Xiaogang!"
A clarity she had never felt before surged into her mind. For the first time, Qian Renxue felt she had analyzed a plan so thoroughly. No wonder Grandpa had been evasive, no wonder Salas looked strange when reporting yesterday—all the doubts now had a reasonable explanation.
"That damned plan to recruit the Grandmaster is completely canceled! I will search for the Grandmaster myself; you don't need to interfere."
.
Hearing this, Qian Daoliu's heart stirred: It seemed his granddaughter was completely disappointed in that woman. Could the plan to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire also be discontinued?
"Xue'er, why don't you come back first? Anyway—"
Qian Daoliu paused, then his mind turned, and he found a reasonable excuse: "The Grandmaster's cultivation is unfathomably profound; finding him definitely won't be easy. Why don't you return first? You can Cultivate while dispatching people to search around. Wouldn't that be more efficient? After all, the Grandmaster couldn't possibly actively seek you out, right?"
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