"I truly didn't expect the situation to change so quickly."
Chen Junting shook his head and thought no more about it.
Regardless of who was currently in charge of the three great empires or why those things happened, he would naturally find out once he returned to the sect.
His most important task right now was to see how far Ning Tian's trials had progressed. Secondly, he needed to focus on his upcoming breakthrough, as well as finding that group of hidden fellows.
In addition to that...
There was no shortage of the God of Destruction's entrustment to him.
Take good care of Wang Dong'er, and try to see if he could find any clues of Tang San making a move on the Douluo Continent. The latter was the most important, but whether this matter actually existed, he wasn't certain.
But if one were to use Chen Junting's words:
This kind of thing is absolutely guaranteed, Senior God of Destruction!
Back then, Chen Junting never expected that the God of Emotions would directly tell the God of Destruction about Wang Dong'er's matter. When the God of Destruction contacted him, Chen Junting could hardly believe it in his heart.
Because in his impression, the God of Emotions Rong Nianbing didn't seem to have much of a relationship with the God of Destruction. Yet just like that, after learning about Wang Dong'er's matter, Rong Nianbing directly contacted the God of Destruction, and then even aroused the God of Destruction's suspicion toward Tang San. He even guessed that Tang San might make a move on the Douluo Continent.
Originally, he had long wanted to tell the God of Destruction about Tang San's purpose, but hindered by a lack of evidence, coupled with Tang San's extremely positive image among everyone in the God Realm, it made it hard for him to speak up.
But now, with Rong Nianbing's intervention, this obstacle was gone. According to the God of Destruction's words, even acting on rumors and hearsay would do.
One had to say, the God of Emotions "Rong Nianbing"—was a well-deserved best support and best MVP of the entire match!
However, he didn't need to report so early.
After all, even acting on rumors and hearsay required time. Besides, they were in the dark right now while Tang San was in the open. They had plenty of time.
"Tang San..."
...
After almost non-stop flight, Chen Junting flew in the air for a full day before finally arriving at the Valley of Love.
The moment he stepped into the valley, swirling mist enveloped him in an instant. But Chen Junting was unhurried. Following its guidance, he easily entered the interior of the valley.
Then, taking a familiar path, he arrived at the Sun Moon Lake.
But just as he set foot there, Whoosh—
A sound of tearing air suddenly exploded beside his ear. Almost without the slightest pause, Chen Junting didn't even look. His right hand reached out to the rear side, his five fingers spreading and then clenching.
Bang—
An exquisite red embroidered ball stopped in his palm.
Bringing it before his eyes to take a look, "A divine weapon?"
"How about it, not bad, right?"
A sentence with a slightly questioning tone had just left his mouth when a gentle voice filled with longing, accompanied by a waft of fragrant breeze brushing past his nose, quietly sounded beside Chen Junting's ear.
In the next second, a figure threw herself into Chen Junting's already open arms, golden hair dancing. What a beautiful scene.
"Why haven't you come to see me for so many years?"
Feeling her constantly nuzzling and rubbing against his chest with her face and nose, along with those complaining words full of resentment, a trace of apology flashed through Chen Junting's eyes. He tossed the divine weapon "Red Embroidered Ball" aside with one hand, letting it follow a parabolic arc and crash to the ground, while both his arms pulled Ning Tian in, his hand stroking her beautiful hair.
"It's my fault..."
Just like that, the two completely cast aside a dignified divine weapon, confiding their feelings to each other. Regarding his experiences over these years, Chen Junting didn't hide anything, telling her everything in full detail.
Naturally, this included those dirty deeds related to Tang San. Anyway, Ning Tian was also privy to these matters.
"...So after we return to the sect, I'll have to find a time to tell the God of Destruction about those things Tang San did to the Douluo plane, to make trouble for Tang San and leave him overwhelmed. This way, I think becoming a god through faith will also be easier."
As they spoke, the two changed their posture. From the initial embrace, it became Ning Tian leaning against him.
Chen Junting lowered his eyes, his gaze entirely gentle.
"What about you, Xiao Tian? How have things been these years?"
"Of course I've been great."
When it came to herself, Ning Tian's face overflowed with confidence.
"Dong'er obtained the Sea God's divine weapon, and I just happened to smoothly obtain the God of Love's Red Embroidered Ball yesterday. However, purely in terms of weight, it's only slightly heavier than a normal embroidered ball. And as long as you don't use the power of the God of Love to stimulate the divine weapon's might, then it's no different from an ordinary embroidered ball."
"Right..."
Suddenly, Ning Tian seemed to remember something.
Supporting herself on Chen Junting's chest with both hands, she stared directly at him, then gradually shifted her gaze to his right hand.
The moment she saw the item wasn't in his hand, she couldn't help but ask, "Where did my embroidered ball go?"
(Red Embroidered Ball: My heavens! I'm a divine weapon after all, and you only remember me now?! (┳Д┳))
"So this is the God of Love's divine weapon..."
After Ning Tian picked up the divine weapon "Red Embroidered Ball" from the ground, Chen Junting asked for it back again. This time, he examined it seriously.
He clearly felt that the power of faith on this divine weapon was very rich. In Ning Tian's words, the greatest function of this divine weapon was to arrange marriages, and it could also bestow beautiful blessings upon a pair of true lovers, but it was very hard to use in combat.
Or rather, this divine weapon's combat method was extremely one-dimensional, only able to "smash."
Simple and crude, without much effect, yet it could still count as a combat method. Only because the power of faith contained within this divine weapon was very rich and endless, therefore, the so-called "smash" was actually using the "weight" of the power of faith to subdue the enemy.
"That's right."
Glancing at the divine weapon being toyed with by her Junting-gege, Ning Tian raised her hand and summoned her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.
A nine-tiered gem pagoda plus a gem pedestal in the form of the Acacia Heartbreak Red, shining brightly. "If possible, I actually want to wait until after I become a god, to let my martial soul 'Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda' become a true divine weapon, replacing it."
At this moment, whether in her eyes or her words, Ning Tian's confidence was fully displayed, completely the high-spiritedness of a young girl.
"Is that so, it's indeed a good idea."
Returning the Red Embroidered Ball to Ning Tian, a smile had already overflowed on Chen Junting's lips, along with praise for Ning Tian.
In the end, for some unknown reason, he was in such a good mood that he added, "But as a divine weapon, the Red Embroidered Ball is also quite nice."
Actually, he was quite happy, but this happiness wasn't because Ning Tian obtained the God of Love's divine weapon. Rather, the acquisition of the divine weapon undoubtedly meant that Ning Tian had already passed the seventh trial.
She was only two trials away from Ning Tian becoming a god.
Most importantly, Ning Tian's current God of Love affinity had already reached a one hundred percent progress.
When she passed the eighth trial, it would increase further. By the ninth trial, with the favor of the God of Love's remnant soul and the help of an affinity exceeding the max level, the probability of Ning Tian successfully inheriting the God of Love's divine throne would be extremely high!
Accidents?
They basically didn't exist.
"Then what's the content of the eighth trial?"
Faced with Chen Junting's inquiry, Ning Tian naturally told him frankly, "It's for me to raise my cultivation to Level 99, and this is a hard requirement."
Level 99...
A hard requirement...
Was it because there was no Grand Priest or Grand Worshipper to open the ninth trial?
But this thought only flashed through Chen Junting's mind. He didn't ponder over it too much, instead asking, "What about the time?"
Ning Tian shook her head, "There's no hard requirement for time. To put it in an exaggerated way, as long as I can raise my cultivation to Level 99 before I die and open the inheritance of the ninth trial, that's fine."
That was truly lenient.
Amidst his sighs, Chen Junting also judged Ning Tian's current cultivation at Level 95, becoming a well-deserved super Douluo of the auxiliary system.
Moreover, when she broke through to Level 90 back then, she had also smoothly condensed the soul core required at that time.
Chen Junting wasn't surprised by this.
After all, regarding the theoretical part of the soul core condensation method, Ning Tian was practically thoroughly familiar with it. Coupled with her excellent talent and the protection of the God of Love's remnant soul, with all this, it would be hard not to succeed.
Thus, Chen Junting's focus shifted to another matter. "Xiao Tian, since the eighth trial only requires your cultivation to reach Level 99, then you don't necessarily have to stay here next, right?"
"Exactly."
Upon mentioning this, a trace of uncontrollable excitement flashed through Ning Tian's eyes.
She had stayed here for a full four years. Other than cultivating, it was accepting trials. She hadn't even seen a single living person. Even when the people from the Ming Dou Nine Treasure Pavilion delivered supplies, they could only leave them at the outer perimeter of the Valley of Love, completely unable to enter.
Under such circumstances, loneliness was the norm.
"Then alright, let's go home!"
After Ning Tian stored the divine weapon "Red Embroidered Ball" into the God of Love's brand on her glabella, Chen Junting's arms swept her up, directly giving her a princess carry into his embrace. There was no maidenly blush on her face, only the sweetness and joy in her eyes and smile.
Tilting her head slightly, a pair of watery eyes stared straight at Chen Junting. Amidst the upturned corners of her mouth, the sentence "Carry me home" blurted out.
Perhaps sensing that the two were about to leave, the originally calm Sun Moon Lake rippled. The phantom of the God of Love's remnant soul quietly appeared, and had a moment of eye contact with the two who had just noticed the movement.
But more so, the gaze of the God of Love's remnant soul phantom was still focused on Ning Tian.
It seemed like only a few short seconds before the seemingly rigid God of Love phantom suddenly became animated, exactly the same as when Chen Junting and Ning Tian first saw this phantom.
Seeing this, Ning Tian was about to get down from Chen Junting's princess carry, but was stopped by the kindly-looking God of Love's remnant soul phantom. A warm, expectant tone echoed within the valley, "I will wait for you here to return, and then smoothly inherit my God of Love's divine throne."
Ning Tian didn't hesitate. Within her firmness was absolute confidence, as if to say, "If not me, then who?"
"I will, Teacher."
Whether it was because of Ning Tian's confidence and determination, or because of that "Teacher" address.
Anyway, as the phantom dissipated, a gratified "Good" echoed beside their ears.
Chen Junting lowered his eyes, his gaze seemingly "awakening" Ning Tian who was staring blankly at where the God of Love had disappeared. Beneath their feet, a Seven Kill Sword quietly formed. "Then my princess, we should set off."
In the next second, the Seven Kill Sword carrying them shot upward like a streak of lightning, like a reverse meteor flying from the ground straight toward the sky that was no longer interfered with under the influence of Ning Tian, the God of Love's successor.
Destination—Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
It was time to go home now!
...
Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Compared to the past, looking solely from the outer mountain gate, there didn't seem to be any changes here. It was just that the cultivation of the disciples responsible for guarding the sect's main entrance was almost a full tier higher than the disciples of the past.
Moreover, their vigor and spirit were extremely vigorous, far surpassing those ordinary soul masters of the same rank outside.
Such changes were all brought about by the formations Chen Junting had left in the sect back then, as well as that Golden Ancient Tree. After years of subtle influence, up to this day, a clear contrast had finally emerged.
At this time, the gaze of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples guarding the gate suddenly turned serious. Quite a few disciples responsible for aerial guard duty even directly ascended into the air.
Because, in their line of sight, a black dot was speeding directly toward them from above. That speed was absolutely not something an ordinary person could possess!
But when they clearly saw the black dot in the air, or more accurately, a man carrying a woman and the appearance of the woman in the man's arms, the original wariness in the sect disciples' eyes vanished entirely. All that remained was reverence and worship.
As the two descended and two tokens flew from their side into the disciples' hands, the gatekeeping disciples all dropped to one knee, saying in respectful tones, "Welcoming Sword Elder and Young Sect Master back to the sect!" ×N
Instantly, clear and resonant voices echoed layer by layer, surging directly from the outside in.
And at this very moment, Wu Feng, who was on the plaza about to drag Gu Tianchen back to her home, suddenly stopped in her tracks. When she heard the transmitted voices clearly, a look of pleasant surprise immediately appeared on her face!
"Xiao Tian is back!"
In the next second, she turned around and charged toward the outside of the sect. But she had barely moved when she was grabbed by Gu Tianchen beside her. Then, before Wu Feng could react...
Swish—
With a flash of their figures, they directly disappeared from the spot.
Leaving behind only a sentence, "This will be faster."
It took about only a second...
"Xiao Tian!"
Just as Chen Junting and Ning Tian walked into the sect, two figures suddenly appeared in front of them. In the blink of an eye, a streak of fiery red pounced forward!
Amidst her excited shout, a bear hug pulled Ning Tian into her embrace. Seeing this, Chen Junting had no intention of stopping it, but he still said:
"Xiao Feng, be a bit careful."
"I'm just too excited!"
Under Ning Tian's helpless yet happy gaze, Wu Feng replied without even turning her head. Although she immediately let go of the embrace, she held onto her hand without letting go.
"Xiao Tian, I missed you to death!"
"Good sister Feng, me too."
As two people who had grown up together, this was the first time they had been separated for so long. Naturally, they had a lot they wanted to confide in each other.
However, Gu Tianchen and Chen Junting beside them both persuaded the two. Of course, it was mostly directed at Wu Feng. After all, in broad daylight in public, it indeed wasn't a good place to chat, and some matters weren't for the sect's other disciples to know.
But before that, Chen Junting and Ning Tian naturally still had to go meet the Sect Master and the others first.
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