"Hmph, how much stronger are you than me? If you encountered that monster back then, you'd have gotten beaten up just the same."
Falling Devil Douluo glared at Glowing Feather Douluo, speaking irritably. He had almost managed to forget about that humiliating incident, but this guy had to go and reopen his old wounds in public.
If it weren't for the Grand Worship watching them, he would have already launched an attack.
"Anyway, I wasn't the one who got beaten up, so say whatever you want to make yourself feel better," Glowing Feather Douluo shrugged, his words laced with undisguised sarcasm.
Hearing this, Falling Devil Douluo was furious. This guy was deliberately provoking him because he knew he couldn't do anything about it.
And it was true, in a one-on-one fight, he wouldn't have the upper hand against Glowing Feather Douluo. Besides, the Grand Elder was present, strictly preventing them from infighting.
Qian Daoliu and the other worship elders looked on helplessly at the two's bickering. These men were well over a hundred years old, yet their personalities were anything but composed; they acted even less mature than Lin Mu, who wasn't even thirty yet.
At that moment, Lin Mu's attention wasn't on the two of them. To him, defeating Falling Devil Douluo wasn't an achievement worth being proud of, and he didn't care about the gossip.
After all, there had been an element of trickery involved in that victory. He had crushed Falling Devil Douluo for two reasons: his overwhelming advantage in martial soul quality and soul rings, and the terrifying speed of the Hurricane Armor.
The armor was simply too fast; Falling Devil Douluo couldn't even react in time. Combined with powerful soul bone skills, Lin Mu had defeated him in a single move.
While the two worshipers argued, Lin Mu kept a close eye on the battle between Qian Renxue and Thousand Jun Douluo. Among Titled Douluos, Qian Renxue's ability to hold her own despite a three-level deficit in soul power was exceptionally rare.
"Lin Mu, you said you just came back from Sea God Island?" Qian Daoliu suddenly asked, breaking Lin Mu's concentration.
"That's right." Lin Mu turned to look at Qian Daoliu with a strange expression. "You probably want to ask about Bo Saixi, don't you?"
Qian Daoliu was stunned. He hadn't expected Lin Mu to see through his thoughts so easily. Although he had made his choices long ago, the memory of Bo Saixi and his rivalry with Tang Chen still left him with a lingering trace of resentment.
But how could Lin Mu know about those ancient affairs? Could Bo Saixi have told him? He didn't expect that after so many years, she still hadn't forgotten him.
But the next second, he was metaphorically slapped in the face.
"Old Qian, don't flatter yourself. Bo Saixi doesn't like you at all. The person she loves is Tang Chen. You were just the third wheel in their story," Lin Mu said earnestly, patting Qian Daoliu on the shoulder.
Hearing this harsh truth, Qian Daoliu's face turned as black as the bottom of a charred pot. Although he didn't fully understand modern terms like third wheel, he grasped the general meaning perfectly.
He hadn't expected to be comforted, or rather, mercilessly mocked, by his granddaughter's future husband.
The other elders collectively pretended they had suddenly gone deaf. None of them dared to pry into the Grand Worship's romantic gossip.
After a long while, Qian Daoliu finally managed to calm his breathing and asked, "Who told you all this?"
"I've been to Sea God Island several times recently. Your old nemesis, Tang Chen, was there," Lin Mu said calmly.
Upon hearing the name Tang Chen, Qian Daoliu's pupils dilated. He stood stunned for a long time.
If Tang Chen was on Sea God Island, didn't that mean he had fulfilled his promise to Bo Saixi, found a divine inheritance, and broken through to Level 100?
Thinking of this, Qian Daoliu's face grew increasingly grim. He asked in a deep, tight voice, "Has Tang Chen... become a god?"
If Tang Chen had truly broken through to Level 100 and was living happily on Sea God Island with Bo Saixi, the thought of it would be worse than death for him.
Seeing Qian Daoliu's intense reaction, Lin Mu's expression grew strange. In his opinion, Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen hadn't truly been enemies in the past, but rather friendly rivals who simply belonged to opposing factions.
If that weren't the case, Qian Daoliu wouldn't have kept his promise to leave the Clear Sky Sect alone for so long.
According to the lore, Qian Daoliu, Tang Chen, and Bo Saixi had formed a classic, tragic love triangle. However, unlike the Golden Iron Triangle, their bond wasn't solid, and they had eventually parted ways.
Pushing his thoughts aside, Lin Mu answered calmly, "He died a year ago."
"Died?"
Qian Daoliu was stunned for a moment. The heavy weight of jealousy in his heart instantly vanished, replaced by an extremely complicated expression. His old friends and rivals were gradually fading away, leaving him alone in a changing era.
Turning their gaze back to the battlefield, Qian Renxue and Thousand Jun Douluo simultaneously activated their seventh soul skills.
The instant the Seraphim Martial Soul True Body and the Coiling Dragon Staff Weapon Soul True Body collided, golden and blue energies violently intertwined.
The clash unleashed a terrifying shockwave with a massive impact radius. Due to the sheer force of the energy backlash, both combatants were forced back a considerable distance.
Immediately afterward, they both activated their ninth soul rings, clearly intending to decide the outcome in one final exchange.
Two completely different ultimate powers erupted simultaneously. Although Thousand Jun Douluo held the absolute advantage in total soul power, Qian Renxue's ninth soul ring was a 100,000-year soul ring, making the outcome highly unpredictable.
In an instant, the Coiling Dragon Staff expanded into a pillar that seemed to support the sky, crashing down toward Qian Renxue with overwhelming, suffocating force.
Most soul masters would have chosen to meet the attack head-on with their strongest soul skill. However, Qian Renxue was prepared; she activated a soul bone skill in advance, accelerating to avoid the core area of the devastating strike.
BOOM!!
With an earth-shattering bang, the Coiling Dragon Staff smashed into the ground, creating a massive crater, but it failed to inflict any substantial damage on Qian Renxue.
The next moment, the Angelic Holy Sword, wreathed in the ultimate solar flames of the sun, plummeted from the sky directly above the Thousand Jun Douluo's head.
Seeing this, the Thousand Jun Douluo reacted swiftly. However, due to the massive soul power consumption of his previous attack, he could only hastily manifest his Weapon Soul True Body again to defend himself.
BANG!!!!
Protected by the Coiling Dragon Staff's Martial Soul True Body, Thousand Jun Douluo didn't suffer significant physical trauma from the initial impact.
However, the attack wasn't over. The true terror of Qian Renxue's ninth soul skill was the solar flames, which possessed an intensity approaching that of ultimate fire.
Under the relentless, scorching heat of the divine flames, Thousand Jun Douluo's defenses began to melt, leaving him with no choice but to admit defeat.
Having successfully passed the fifth trial, Qian Renxue immediately deactivated her martial soul, rushed over to Lin Mu without a word of explanation, grabbed his hand, and forcibly dragged him away.
Watching their rapidly departing figures, Qian Daoliu sighed with a hint of melancholy.
Not long after, Lin Mu and Qian Renxue returned to Spirit City. Compared to a few years ago, the city had expanded considerably, as it was now the grand capital of the newly established Spirit Empire.
Still pulling him along, Qian Renxue dragged Lin Mu straight into her private chambers. The room's structure and elegant decoration were similar to her former palace in the Heaven Dou Empire, making it obvious this was where she cultivated and rested.
Just as Lin Mu was looking around the room, Qian Renxue made her move. Having been separated for two and a half years, her patience had completely evaporated.
The two started in the bedroom, before the passion eventually carried them to various other parts of the room.