Two hours later.
Over two hundred li south of Heaven Dou City, in a desolate mountain area, a battle came to an end, leaving a ravaged field behind.
Dust-covered and disheveled after a lesson, Chu Chengzhou glared indignantly at Qian Daoliu's departing figure in midair.
As it turned out, some things could not be avoided just because he did not want them.
Under the pretext of testing and instructing him, Qian Daoliu unceremoniously gave Chu Chengzhou a thorough beating to keep a young man from floating off after gaining a bit of strength.
Of course, that was not the point.
Qian Daoliu admitted this young man was excellent. His future achievements would definitely not be lower than his own, and it was not out of the question that he might one day ascend to godhood.
At the same time, Qian Daoliu was very displeased.
From what he knew, Chu Chengzhou was quite the philanderer. Not only did he have three girlfriends at home, even Spirit Hall's current Saintess Hu Liena was one of his little girlfriends.
He had only one precious granddaughter, Qian Renxue. With the young man so fickle, he naturally had to give him a good thrashing to vent his dissatisfaction.
Besides, the young man was already formidable. Once his wings fully hardened in the future, Qian Daoliu might no longer be able to lay a hand on him.
"This beating cannot be for nothing. You bully me, I will go bully your granddaughter."
Staring at Qian Daoliu's departing figure, Chu Chengzhou thought bitterly.
If he had gotten to eat some meat, then taking a beating would have been nothing. The problem was he had not even had a taste yet. Was that not unjust?
Night deepened at the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
"So late, and you are not going to your Elder Sister Yuehua. What are you doing here?"
In the bedchamber, Qian Renxue, stunningly beautiful in a purple nightdress and about to sleep, looked in some surprise at Chu Chengzhou, who had just entered.
Chu Chengzhou being together with Tang Yuehua of the Moon Pavilion could be hidden from Hu Liena and Xiao Wu, but not from Qian Renxue.
After all, he had spent every night at the Moon Pavilion lately and had not bothered to hide his movements.
"Xue'er, today is your enthronement day. I have a gift for you."
Chu Chengzhou said with an unchanging expression.
At once Qian Renxue grew interested. "A gift? What gift?"
Smiling, Chu Chengzhou took a finely packaged large gift box from his storage soul tool and handed it to Qian Renxue.
Opening it, Qian Renxue found what seemed to be a gold-and-crimson ceremonial dress.
Seeing this, Qian Renxue looked at Chu Chengzhou in puzzlement.
"Xue Qinghe has imperial robes. How could my little angel not have an empress gown? I had this made just for you. Come, Xue'er, let me see the bearing of Her Majesty the Empress."
Chu Chengzhou smiled with ill intent.
An absolutely beautiful empress in royal robes, paired with holy angel wings. The thought made him a little excited.
"Chu Chengzhou, have you noticed that you are actually a pervert?"
Lowering her head to glance at the empress gown in the box, Qian Renxue spoke faintly.
How could she not know what this fellow was up to?
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou's face darkened. A pervert? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
"Little Xue'er, do not slander my innocence. I simply want to see the bearing of an Angel Empress."
Chu Chengzhou waved a hand in a feigned defense.
"Really?"
Qian Renxue's fine brows knitted slightly. She did not quite believe it.
"Could it be false? Come, Xue'er, I will help you put it on."
As he spoke, the considerate Chu Chengzhou stepped forward to help her change before she could refuse.
At first, Chu Chengzhou was very proper, like the gentleman in the old tales.
But when Qian Renxue, wearing a crown, with bare jade feet, appeared before him in a gold-and-crimson empress gown patterned with soaring phoenixes, and gave him a look of holiness tinged with a hint of allure, the expressionless Chu Chengzhou could not hold back.
He scooped Her Majesty the Empress into his arms and set her on the bed, lifted her golden hair, leaned down to whisper a few words in her ear, and when two pairs of holy angel wings unfolded from her back, he placed his hands upon them.
It was a posture that carried a sense of control, as if he could grasp every inch of road, every moment.
Soon, the engine rumbled in a low growl, like a beast deep in its throat. Every acceleration and every brake was like the beast's breath, heavy and powerful.
His eyes were fixed ahead. Though the night was deep, the white headlights lit the way forward and cast his features in even sharper relief.
Every turn, every lane change, was like his decisions, firm and decisive.
The speed rose. The wind howled. All sounds merged with him. It was a kind of speed, a kind of passion, and also a kind of calm, a kind of composure.
Music played in the car. Every note was like the rhythm of his heartbeat, now fast, now slow, full of life's cadence.
The music echoed at his ears, blending with the wind and the engine to form a unique melody. It was his rhythm. It was his melody.
No one knew how long had passed when an intersection appeared ahead. His heartbeat quickened in an instant. He took a deep breath and pressed down hard on the accelerator. The car shot toward the intersection like an arrow.
In that instant, he seemed to feel the power of freedom and the infinite possibilities of life.
Chu Chengzhou: I am on the road.
Little train, woo woo woo.
Half a month later, on a deserted island in the vast sea.
As the surging bloodflame halo contracted and became Tang Yuehua's seventh spirit ring, a torso spirit bone that shone with a diamond sheen floated up. A giant sea clam nearly ten meters across, its shell covered in spikes and gleaming like diamond in the sunlight, lost all life.
Although Tang Yuehua's six spirit bone slots were already full and she could not refine the dropped torso spirit bone this time, with her prior accumulation plus the soul power boost from a hundred-thousand-year seventh ring, after advancing to seven rings, her soul power level still rose straight to Rank 80 quasi Spirit Douluo.
Glancing at the hundred-thousand-year Golden Hawksbill lying on the beach not far away, Chu Chengzhou could not help feeling a bit relieved.
Fortunately, before coming to the sea to hunt, he had first taken Tang Yuehua to the Star Dou Forest to add his eighth spirit ring in advance, and he was now an eight-ring Spirit Douluo.
Otherwise, after cultivating for so many years only to have Tang Yuehua, who had cultivated for just a few months, step into the eight-ring stage first, that would have been awkward.
With a wave of his hand, after putting away the torso spirit bone dropped by the hundred-thousand-year Diamond Sea Clam, Chu Chengzhou controlled the already prepared hundred-thousand-year Golden Hawksbill to offer another sacrifice.
It had to be said, Tang Yuehua's rate of soul power increase was absolutely the fastest on the continent. No Spirit Master could compare, not even him with his cheat.
In just about three months, she had gone from a Rank 9 Spirit Scholar to an eight-ring Spirit Douluo, an increase of over seventy levels. Perhaps only those super cheat characters in certain fanfictions with innate Rank 90 soul power could surpass her.
What was most important was that Tang Yuehua was not an ordinary Spirit Master.
Although the Ruyi Ring was a support-type martial soul and its Ruyi soul skills were also support-type, the all-hundred-thousand-year spirit rings and spirit bones that gave her overwhelming attributes, paired with the twelve hundred-thousand-year spirit bone skills granted by six hundred-thousand-year spirit bones, meant that Tang Yuehua, about to become an eight-ring Spirit Douluo, absolutely had Titled Douluo-level combat strength.
Even if her combat experience and technique were lacking, with that extreme hardware she could still thrash Titled Douluo like She Long.
T/N: For 40 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle