"I told you, you've lost, Tang San." Qian Renxue's cold, clear voice echoed through the air, like snow falling in June—inexplicably sending chills down one's spine.
"Yes, I've lost. But the one who truly lost is you, Qian Renxue." Tang San gave a cold laugh. "Victory and defeat are common in war, but you no longer have any hope of turning the tables."
That's right—so what if he had no combat power left?
Couldn't Bo Saixi and Tang Chen simply cut off Qian Renxue's head?
"Not good." Tang San's expression suddenly changed slightly. "Great-Grandfather, Senior Bo Saixi, we need to leave quickly—it's Qian Daoliu."
"What!" Bo Saixi and Tang Chen were both startled. Continuing to fight Qian Daoliu in their current condition could easily lead to an accident.
Moreover, with such a massive disturbance just now, it might have already attracted attention from the Heaven Dou imperial capital.
Thinking of this, the two no longer paid attention to anything else.
Catching up with Qian Daoliu or reminiscing could wait for later. Tang Chen reached out, grabbed Tang San, and flew off into the distance.
Watching the three of them leave, Qian Renxue did not pursue. Only after the trio had completely vanished from sight did the true colors of Qian Renxue's six soul rings on her Six-Winged Angel martial soul finally reveal themselves.
The original configuration of six black and three red changed to six black, two red, and one brilliant gold.
The red of the ninth soul ring had completely faded away. That soul ring belonged to the million-year-old Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.
Beside Qian Renxue, a figure gradually appeared from nothing—an old man with flowing golden shoulder-length hair, his entire demeanor exuding an air of immortality and sage-like grace.
He gazed at the departing Bo Saixi and Tang Chen, a trace of melancholy appearing on his face:
"Little Xue, aren't we going after them?"
Qian Renxue shook her head upon hearing this and said, "Tang San should still have a trump card. The Asura God Sword carries the aura of the Asura God—we won't be able to take him down."
Since Tang San was a person from the future, that meant in the other world, she had inevitably lost to him. Tang San must have become a god—very likely a dual-god-position God King.
Even under normal circumstances, defeating him didn't mean the opponent truly had no power left to resist—especially with Bo Saixi and Tang Chen present. Her goal had more or less been achieved; there was no need to create unnecessary complications.
It was just that…
Thinking of the tragic scene in the Barak Kingdom, blood threads appeared at the edges of Qian Renxue's pupils.
Her heart felt considerable reluctance.
"That guy Tang San is truly too ruthless."
He had mass-produced Jade Phosphor Serpent poison and, through his earlier battle with Dugu Bo, converted it into Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison, then scattered it across every major city in the Barak Kingdom.
Moreover, for some unknown reason,
the released Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison behaved like a wild dog off its leash.
It kept devouring everything around it, possessing extremely strong infectivity and transmissibility.
This wasn't just framing Dugu Bo to ruin his reputation.
It was even forcing a complete break with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
After suppressing her emotions, Qian Renxue let out a long sigh: "Grandfather, I'll head back to Spirit Hall first to complete the eighth trial. Next comes the martial soul rebirth that the Silver Dragon King spoke of. After this battle, I already have confidence in succeeding."
"Little Xue…" Qian Daoliu sighed.
"Go ahead and do it with peace of mind. Grandfather will always be your strongest support."
"As for the Barak Kingdom, leave it to Grandfather to handle." Qian Renxue paused slightly in her speech. "With Dugu Bo in trouble, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect shouldn't continue to stand by and do nothing."
"Grandfather isn't a child—I understand."
"Cultivate well. Even if the sky falls, Grandfather and your Golden Crocodile Grandfather are here!"
"Mm."
Qian Renxue nodded, then transformed into a streak of light and flew toward Spirit Hall.
…
Several days had already passed since the Xue Beng coup incident.
Yet the impact it caused had shaken the entire Heaven Dou Empire—and even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Inside Heaven Dou imperial capital, at the temporary office of the Seven Treasure Chamber of Commerce, Ning Fengzhi slammed his palm down hard on the table. His refined face showed clear anger, and his body trembled with rage:
"What a Star Luo Emperor Zhu Zhuqing—what a Sea God divine trial inheritor Tang San!"
"I, Ning Fengzhi, have finally witnessed your capabilities."
They were pinning every possible crime squarely on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
You people really know how to play!
Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison went out of control, leading to toxic mist invading every corner of the Barak Kingdom.
Massive numbers of commoners and nobles died.
With millions dead, what kind of reputation or power did Dugu Bo have to shoulder such a massive black pot?
But the problem was—even if the black pot didn't originally belong to Dugu Bo, someone would surely force it onto him.
After all, Dugu Bo had single-handedly wiped out over a hundred thousand soldiers of the Star Luo Empire in one go.
This "loss of control" killing several million civilians was practically child's play for him, wasn't it?
Yet this incident had absolutely nothing to do with Dugu Bo.
Ning Fengzhi had already roughly pieced together the sequence of events from the incoming intelligence reports.
It mainly started with Xue Beng's coup, pulling in Tang San and the others to forcefully attack Heaven Dou City. At the same time, the Star Luo Empire's armies in the Barak Kingdom and Fasnuo Province launched their assault.
Almost right before Xue Beng carried out his plan, the Star Luo Empire had already stormed the strategic passes of the Barak Kingdom and successfully occupied it. Moreover, they had many spies scattered throughout the Barak Kingdom.
The Barak Kingdom had originally been Xue Beng's main base of power, so having spies there was perfectly normal.
Completely rooting them out in such a short time was practically impossible.
Conquering the Barak Kingdom was one thing—but they even massacred cities.
No—massacring cities might even be an understatement.
They had turned the entire Barak Kingdom into something close to a dead zone.
And they used Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison to do it.
First, Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison proved ineffective against the Star Luo army. Then the Star Luo forces used their martial soul fusion technique, the Netherworld White Tiger, to launch a fierce assault on the Barak Kingdom and successfully take it.
With his poison neutralized, Dugu Bo had lost more than half his combat power. Facing Zhu Zhuqing—a Title Douluo who also possessed a divine tool—he had no choice.
Dugu Bo and Hu Yan Zhen were forced to lead the Heaven Dou army in a retreat from the Barak Kingdom.
They fell back to Fasnuo Province.
The occupation of the Barak Kingdom didn't last long, and with Xue Beng—the turncoat—doing something in the middle, it was taken almost without resistance.
Afterward, for some unknown reason, the Star Luo army withdrew. The Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison then began spreading throughout every part of the Barak Kingdom, quickly claiming millions of lives.
Upon learning that the spreading toxic miasma in the Barak Kingdom was Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison, Dugu Bo nearly spat blood in fury.
While remaining vigilant against the Star Luo army, Dugu Bo began arranging for people to clear the toxic miasma and evacuate the civilians.
But even with a prompt response, more than half the residents of the Barak Kingdom still died.
The nation of the Barak Kingdom had become a land shrouded in poisonous gas.
Moreover, the most critical point was that the poison in the Barak Kingdom was similar to Jade Phosphor Serpent poison, yet far stranger. Even Dugu Bo found it extremely difficult to clear the toxic miasma from the cities.
All he could do was establish isolation zones, quarantining the entire country.
That was everything that had happened these past few days.
After returning to Fasnuo Province, upon hearing the rumors that Dugu Bo's loss of control had caused the mass civilian deaths in the Barak Kingdom—and after days of exhaustion—he directly fainted.
Afterward, Spirit Hall began taking action, stepping in to pacify the civilians.
Dugu Bo was also sent back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"The letter from Ye Renxin says that Dugu Bo has been unconscious for several days and still hasn't woken up."
"It was probably too big a blow." Ning Fengzhi set the letter down and let out a deep sigh.
(End of chapter)