Douluo: Qian Xunji's Joyful Life

Chapter 43: You're Really Foolish

Ah Yin retreated a few steps, keeping what she considered a safe distance. "What are you planning? What happened to Brother Hao and Brother Xiao?"

Qian Xunji thought for a moment. "Tang Hao and Tang Xiao… If I've got the timing right, they're probably climbing back to the Clear Sky Clan by now."

"Alright, put this on and come with me to the Wuhun Hall."

He handed her what looked like an ordinary white flower, about the size of a palm, shaped like a peony without leaves, with a root system fused to a block of pitch-black rock. It was surprisingly heavy; Qian Xunji, with his formidable cultivation, actually had veins bulging in his wrist just holding it.

"What is this? I sense a colossal amount of energy coming from it."

Ah Yin's eyes widened in amazement. The power contained in that white flower was even more overwhelming than her own soul beast core.

She was a hundred-thousand-year-old Blue Silver Emperor, knowledgeable about the rare medicinal plants below the rank of immortal herbs. But anything at or above immortal-level was beyond her experience; such flora simply didn't exist in the regular Blue Silver Forest or the Star Dou Great Forest's Lake of Life without special conditions.

"Acacia Vermillion (a.k.a. Love's Heartbroken Red). It'll mask your soul beast aura. Even though you haven't recognized it as your master, so you can't fully tap its potential, it'll be enough to hide your aura from any Titled Douluo. You wouldn't want to return to the Wuhun Hall only to have a dozen or so watchful eyes fixed on you every day, would you?"

Qian Xunji tossed her the Acacia Vermillion, and she instinctively caught it. Indeed, she felt her soul beast aura veiled. Its effect surpassed even her Blue Silver Domain's concealment.

From where he stood, Qian Xunji observed her with focused spirit power. The Acacia Vermillion masked her aura so thoroughly that even his own protectors—both Titled Douluo—couldn't detect her soul beast origin. Only Qian Xunji himself, aided by a head soul bone that boosted his spiritual strength, could sense faint traces of her aura beneath the flower's cover.

"Why are you giving me this? Don't you want my soul ring and soul bone?"

Ah Yin didn't understand. A soul master discovering a hundred-thousand-year soul beast would typically capture it. Yet Qian Xunji's behavior seemed almost protective.

"Blue Silver Emperor, you've lived all these years, so you must know how humans came to exist, yes?"

Of course Ah Yin knew that the earliest humans were originally soul beasts who took human form, gradually giving birth to an entire race. Over tens of thousands of years, beast martial souls once mirrored the original beasts of the soul beast realm, while tool martial souls emerged from prolonged mutational divergences. In those days, humans were mere prey to soul beasts—no different than any other rung in the beastly food chain—until the divine realm's laws appeared, awarding soul rings upon slaying beasts. One pioneer human fused a soul ring, gained power, and the roles reversed. Now, everything was different.

"Children inherit their parents' talents. A soul beast who's cultivated to human form is basically guaranteed innate full soul power, and your martial soul also carries a domain. That's top-tier. Plus, you're a Blue Silver Emperor with the affinity of life. Quite a match for the Six-Winged Angel—so you get my drift."

"You can't be serious!" Ah Yin startled at the look in Qian Xunji's eye. She realized he wanted her to bear his children. Impossible. She'd never do that, especially not for this villain; if she had to have children, they'd be Tang Hao's…

Qian Xunji raised an eyebrow. "What's so impossible? Soul beasts not only have to cultivate, but also must hunt for food and avoid being hunted by enemies. Merely surviving is exhausting. You're worried about 'love'? Far as I know, beasts just mate by force, then part ways."

"Don't lump me in with common soul beasts!" Ah Yin shrieked. She'd spent ten thousand years in the Blue Silver Forest before taking human form, so she'd scarcely faced such life-or-death issues in that place.

"Oh, so you deny it? Let's see. You said it yourself—Tang Hao and Tang Xiao got hurt by me. Didn't you also say you wouldn't yield to me even if you died?"

Flushing with indignation, Ah Yin snapped, "You hurt Brother Hao and Brother Xiao, and you've killed soul beasts the same as me. Even if it kills me, I'd never have children with you!"

Qian Xunji gave a scornful grin. "How naive. You, a hundred-thousand-year shapeshifted soul beast, actually like Tang Hao? You think Tang Hao and Tang Xiao haven't slaughtered countless soul beasts?"

"That's nonsense!" she retorted. "I spent a year with Brother Hao and Brother Xiao. Apart from that one incident where we killed a soul beast so Brother Hao could get his eighth ring, they never did any random killing!"

Qian Xunji chuckled icily. "Then let me ask: when you first met Tang Hao, what rank was he?"

"What does that matter?" she demanded.

Growing impatient, Qian Xunji warned, "Answer. Otherwise, I won't mind roughing you up again. At Soul King level, are you capable of resisting me?"

"Seventy-nine. So what?" Ah Yin answered, hugging her body fearfully, trying to pull her dress tighter.

"In two years, he advanced eight ranks. That's insane speed," Qian Xunji sneered. "Let's break it down. Tang Hao left his clan to get his seventh ring—everyone in the major clans knows that. After obtaining it, his rank would be around seventy-one. A soul master can ascend through cultivation, resources, soul rings, and soul bones. You lived with him for a year, so resources are out. He gained maybe one rank from that ring. That means the other five ranks? Soul bones. How many beasts do you guess he had to kill for that? Probably more than I have. So consider your precious 'good' Brother Hao. Are you telling me a Ten-thousand-year beast's life is worthless compared to a Hundred-thousand-year beast's?"

"I… that's not…!" Ah Yin covered her ears, tears trembling in her voice. She couldn't accept the notion that Tang Hao and Tang Xiao had done such cruel things. She'd left the forest to help ease tensions between soul beasts and humans. If they were so merciless, what was the point?

"Do I need to lie? If what I said was false, eventually the truth would emerge and ruin my plan. That's pointless." Qian Xunji approached, using a finger to lift her chin. She froze, forced to meet his deep blue eyes, though her own soul power was sealed so she couldn't resist.

"You don't believe me? You're a healer, yes? This region is near Heaven Dou City, the capital of Heaven Dou Empire. Why not go there, practice medicine, and find out the truth? That'll show you just who your dear Tang Hao is."

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