"Promise? What promise did Spirit Hall ever make to you?" Qian Renxue's voice was calm and unruffled, nearly causing the already tense Yu Xiaogang to choke on his own breath. His eyes bulged as he pointed at Qian Renxue.
"You... you... you're not keeping your word!"
"Is the great Spirit Hall really so lacking in integrity?"
Yu Xiaogang was so furious his nose was crooked.
I just killed my beloved woman and my shoulder-to-shoulder brother, and now you're not playing by the rules and still want to kill me? Is this right?
"Hehe, I know you're anxious, but don't rush." Qian Renxue glanced at the sky. It was still shrouded in scattered blood qi, meaning the plan had not yet begun. She could still make this Yu Xiaogang spit up three liters of blood from sheer rage.
"I promised not to kill you. I promised that the Angel Clan would not kill you. But..."
"Bibi Dong is not of the Angel Clan. She doesn't even acknowledge herself as part of the Angel Clan."
As she spoke, Qian Renxue stepped back two paces, leaving the position to Bibi Dong.
"Little Xue, sigh!" How could Bibi Dong not see that Qian Renxue was deliberately doing this? A mere three-ring Soul Elder—did she really need to take him so seriously?
In the end, this was all enmity from the previous generation.
The Rakshasa's Scythe in Bibi Dong's hand emitted faint black qi.
"Bibi Dong, you dare kill me!" Yu Xiaogang was furious beyond measure.
"Little Xue is right. I truly am not of the Angel Clan, so her promise has nothing to do with me."
"You're just playing with words! Dong'er, Dong'er..."
"No matter what you call me, the saintess of Spirit Hall who could be fooled by you back then no longer exists."
"I am Bibi Dong, the Pope of Spirit Hall, and now also the Rakshasa God."
"Die!"
"No—"
A piercing, wretched scream rang out. Black light enveloped Yu Xiaogang's entire body. In an instant, both his body and soul were completely disintegrated.
Bibi Dong gently lowered the raised Rakshasa's Scythe and exhaled a breath of turbid air:
"Is this satisfactory, Little Xue?"
"Barely acceptable." Qian Renxue's voice carried a slight ripple, but it quickly smoothed out.
At this moment, the eyes of everyone from Shrek looked as if they had died.
No one could save them. When a first-level god wanted to kill, no one on the entire Douluo Continent could escape.
"Rest assured, there's no need for me to kill you." Qian Renxue's voice was like a guiding light in the darkness. "You did not participate in the conflict between the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire, nor did you harm Spirit Hall's interests. You can live."
"This... is this true?" One of the Shrek teachers couldn't help but speak up. No one wanted to die!
But Spirit Hall had just played word games to kill someone—what use were any words now?
"I, Qian Renxue, have no need to spout nonsense in a situation like this. As for Yu Xiaogang, you must all know his situation clearly enough."
"Spirit Hall is not a band of indiscriminate killers. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Clear Sky School were simply too excessive, which is why they were exterminated."
Hearing Qian Renxue's words, the Shrek group thought about it and realized it seemed to be true.
Though Spirit Hall was somewhat overbearing, most of the time they acted in response rather than initiating.
The Clear Sky School had killed a Pope and still hopped around carefree for so many years.
If Tang Hao hadn't been so reckless, Spirit Hall probably wouldn't have targeted him. As for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, everyone knew Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong once had an unclear relationship. She had even personally given him a pill capable of breaking through to Soul Elder.
To say there was nothing improper between them—no one would believe it.
Back then, the pill Bibi Dong gave Yu Xiaogang to break through ranks had been stomped into the dirt by him.
This was a Pope!
A former Title Douluo, now a deity. Not subjecting Yu Xiaogang to lingchi torture hundreds of times was already showing great mercy.
"You don't need to overthink it. Isn't the relationship between our Spirit Hall and one of the former Upper Three Sects, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School, quite good?"
"Sect Master Ning is still my teacher. Spirit Hall is not like the ungrateful soul master alliance of the Clear Sky School. Unifying the continent is only to better face the coming crisis."
"To be honest with you all!"
"The enemy of Spirit Hall is the gods!"
"During the Soul Master Competition, you must have seen it—that false projection of the Angel God was the work of the Sea God. We will surely take revenge."
"Alright, that's all I'll say to you." Qian Renxue spoke calmly. "Our demands are not high. As long as you swear on your martial souls that you will not oppose Spirit Hall, we can take you away."
"How about it?"
"Good—this is what you said." The many Shrek soul masters immediately swore their oaths. Zhao Wuji, however, hesitated.
"What's wrong, Your Excellency the Unmoving Bright King? Are my words from Qian Renxue not sincere enough?"
"No, no—I wouldn't dare, Your Excellency the Angel. It's just that I once had some enmity with Spirit Hall."
"I'm worried..."
"That matter is already in the past. Since you managed to escape, and we did not act against you during the Soul Master Competition, it ends there."
"What we need is stability. To put it bluntly, I don't quite trust you."
"Though you might not cause any major consequences, I also don't want the new order to be disrupted."
"Very well!" Zhao Wuji immediately swore he would no longer oppose Spirit Hall.
"One more thing—you can no longer establish academies, especially not with the name 'Shrek' in any form." Qian Renxue added.
"Yes..." Zhao Wuji nodded.
Teaching a bunch of weird-looking students, each one resembling evil soul masters.
Even he, Zhao Wuji, felt uneasy!
What Zhao Wuji didn't realize was that Qian Renxue was actually questioning their level of teaching students.
After all, what kind of academy recruits genius students and then has a large portion die before graduation?
That was clearly misleading the youth!
Qian Renxue also had no intention of settling old scores after the fact. There was no need for that.
"Oscar, the oath just now not to oppose Spirit Hall is the basic one. If you want to bring your teacher back to life, I can do it. The condition is that you swear loyalty to Spirit Hall."
As Qian Renxue's words fell, Oscar was stunned.
He was only a level 62 Soul Emperor, and an auxiliary one at that—how could Qian Renxue take a fancy to him?
"Is what you say true?"
"Correct. I value your talent. A full innate soul power auxiliary soul master—in the entire history of the Douluo Continent, only you and Ning Rongrong exist."
"Though you're incomparable to that heretical freak, Spirit Hall needs talents like you."
Having already read the original story from Ning Rongrong, Qian Renxue felt Oscar was still worth cultivating and decided to see if she could recruit him.
Ning Rongrong had a grudge against Oscar—she, Qian Renxue, did not! If you, Ning Rongrong, don't want him, does that mean I, Qian Renxue, can't have him?
Oscar immediately knelt on both knees and swore on his martial soul that he would devote the rest of his life to serving Spirit Hall.
The condition was that Flender could be brought back to life.
"Very good. I'm satisfied." Qian Renxue nodded. "Since we're bringing Flender back, let's include Liu Erlong as well!"
Qian Renxue's words stunned Oscar once again.
After all, Oscar knew very well that Liu Erlong was from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
In the future, perhaps his and Teacher Flender's descendants might stand on the opposite side of Spirit Hall.
With these thoughts, Oscar—knowing Flender seemed to have feelings for Liu Erlong—made no further requests.
Bibi Dong, standing to the side, was about to speak but was silenced by a look from Qian Renxue. She swallowed the words that had reached her lips.
(End of chapter)