Chapter 421: Faking Death to Escape, and Robbing the National Treasury While at It.

Heaven Dou City, undercurrents surging.

Deep within the Imperial Palace.

Emperor Xue Ye sat on the dragon throne, his face as dark as water.

The lights in the Imperial Study flickered restlessly, casting flickering shadows on his aged face, making him look like a boss about to explode.

"Ninety-one bolts of purple lightning, striking inside Heaven Dou City, and you people actually can’t find out who did it?"

His voice wasn’t loud, but the ministers kneeling below had their foreheads pressed against the floor.

"Your Majesty, that Lightning Tribulation came suddenly and left just as suddenly."

"We searched a ten-mile radius, but apart from some strange phenomena near the Crown Prince’s Residence, we have no clues elsewhere."

"And the Crown Prince’s Residence... we dare not trespass."

Emperor Xue Ye narrowed his eyes.

The Crown Prince’s Residence.

Again.

He always felt this Crown Prince had been acting strange lately, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

"Keep searching. If you can’t find anything, don’t expect your salaries this month."

Meanwhile.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, meeting hall.

Ning Fengzhi sat in the Sect Master’s seat.

"Fengzhi, what do you think?"

Bone DouluoGu Rong’s voice came from the side.

"Purple Lightning Tribulation, eighty-one strikes, continuous and unbroken."

Ning Fengzhi said slowly: "This is not a natural phenomenon, nor is it the residual shockwave of a battle between Titled Douluo."

"Could it be someone Undergoing Tribulation?" Bone Douluo looked strange.

Sword Douluo glanced at him: "Read too many novels?"

"Cough, cough."

Bone Douluo coughed awkwardly.

"Should we investigate?"

"Yes, but be low-key," Ning Fengzhi said.

Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Yu Yuanzhen stood before the ancestral hall, gazing at the sky above Heaven Dou City.

He turned and instructed the Disciples behind him: "Send people to Heaven Dou City and interrogate every witness from that day."

"Remember, only ask, do not arrest. Do not cause trouble."

Three forces, three layers of undercurrents.

The waters of Heaven Dou City had been churned into countless eddies by those eighty-one bolts of Lightning Tribulation.

And the culprit, Lin Qingmo, was leisurely Cultivating in seclusion at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

A month later.

Lin Qingmo sat cross-legged in the center of the cultivation room, eyes slightly closed.

The phantom of the Blue Silver Life-Death Tree flickered behind him.

Purple lightning and emerald life essence intertwined, looking like cyberpunk ambient lighting in the room.

"My level 60 spirit power is quite stable now."

He opened his eyes and flexed his wrists.

Bang!

The door to the cultivation room was kicked open.

Liu Erlong stood at the door, her fiery red hair messy with excitement, her chest heaving—clearly, she had run all the way here.

Lin Qingmo sat on the cushion, slowly opening his eyes.

"The door—"

"This is not the time to discuss the door!"

Liu Erlong rushed to Lin Qingmo, pressed her hands on his shoulders, her mature and beautiful face filled with the words "Something big happened."

Lin Qingmo finally noticed her expression wasn’t like she was coming to pick a fight.

Well, she usually came looking for trouble every time this month.

But in the end, she always left trembling.

He thought it was another day of her being insatiable, but it didn’t seem like it.

"What happened? Why are you in such a panic?" Lin Qingmo asked.

Liu Erlong said in a deep voice: "Something major happened in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace! Crown PrinceXue Qinghe—is dead!"

Lin Qingmo’s expression froze for 0.5 seconds.

Qian Renxue?

Dead?

His first reaction was almost instantaneous: "Impossible."

"You still don’t believe it?"

Liu Erlong thought he was shocked.

"The whole Heaven Dou City is in an uproar!"

"Last night, two unknown Titled Douluo attacked the Imperial Palace treasury. Crown PrinceXue Qinghe resisted while injured and eventually died in defeat."

"Emperor Xue Ye has already declared martial law in the city, vowing to catch the murderer!"

Titled Douluo?

Imperial treasury?

Crown Prince dead?

These three keywords spun in Lin Qingmo’s mind, then quickly assembled into a complete picture.

"So that’s how it is."

Lin Qingmo’s eyes moved.

Two Titled Douluo, most likely Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo.

Crown PrinceXue Qinghe died in an attack; isn’t this just faking death to escape?

This is clearly shedding the golden cicada’s shell.

Suddenly, he felt an extremely familiar aura approaching rapidly.

"Erlong, you go out for a moment," Lin Qingmo said.

"Huh? But I haven’t—"

"I’ll listen to you in detail later."

Lin Qingmo winked at her: "For now, let me receive a ’deceased person’."

Liu Erlong froze for a moment, then realized what he meant, her pupils dilating slightly.

She didn’t ask more, nodded, and turned to leave the cultivation room.

Just after Liu Erlong left, a figure flashed in from the other side of the room.

Golden hair.

Golden eyes.

The aura of the SeraphimSpirit, though deliberately restrained, had an innate noble quality that could not be ignored.

It was none other than Qian Renxue, who had shed the disguise of Xue Qinghe.

Lin Qingmo looked her up and down.

He had to admit, without that disguise, she seemed much more relaxed.

Although her expression was still somewhat cold, the oppressive feeling between her brows had vanished.

"What are you playing at?"

Lin Qingmo started with a jab: "I asked you to help steal a national treasure, why did you steal your own life away?"

"You really guessed it."

Qian Renxue was not surprised.

"Nonsense. Two Titled Douluo attack the imperial treasury, and yet only the Crown Prince gets killed while everyone else is unscathed."

"This plot is too fake; even a screenwriter wouldn’t dare write it like this."

Qian Renxue’s mouth curled slightly.

This guy’s brain really worked fast.

"So, why?" Lin Qingmo asked.

Qian Renxue was silent for a moment.

Then she said: "Because of what you said that day."

"My words that day?"

"You said I wasted my talent."

"You said I could clearly crush with strength, yet I insisted on playing politics."

Qian Renxue’s tone was calm.

"I thought a lot after I went back, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt you were right."

She paused and continued: "The so-called Nation-Stealing Plan, when viewed from the perspective of the entire continent, is nothing more than a petty chess game."

"Even if it really succeeded, and Spirit Hall controlled the Heaven Dou Empire, so what?"

"Would the Star Luo Empire just surrender?"

"Would the Upper Three Sects sit idly by?"

"Would those families on the continent watch from the sidelines?"

"In the end, it’s just internal friction in another form."

Qian Renxue raised her head. The gloom from playing Xue Qinghe was gone from her golden eyes, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.

"Strength is everything."

"If I had the strength of a Titled Douluo, if I could pass the Angel God trials and inherit the Angel God position, what is the mere Heaven Dou Empire?"

"By then, who on the continent could stop me?"

"So I’m not playing anymore."

"I’m going back to Spirit Hall, to see my grandfather, and start true Cultivation."

Lin Qingmo listened quietly, then smiled.

"Congratulations."

"Congratulations for what?"

"Congratulations on your graduation."

Qian Renxue froze for 0.5 seconds, then rolled her eyes.

But the corners of her mouth were curling up.

(End of Chapter)

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