Chapter 447: The Battle Ends: Qian Daoliu's Final Invitation

"Alas, it seems we have lost!" Qian Daoliu sighed. He rushed into the battlefield once more, just as he had earlier when he saved Golden Crocodile Douluo from Yu Yuanzhen, and blocked this final Slash from Lan Xue for Golden Crocodile.

His intervention also signaled the Spirit Hall's admission of defeat.

Seeing Qian Daoliu step in to block her attack, Lan Xue did not persist. She was combative, not foolish; having just fought Golden Crocodile Douluo until her soul power was overloaded, was she supposed to fight Qian Daoliu in this state? She immediately withdrew her remaining soul power, landed steadily on the ground, and while enduring the pain in her body, asked neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Senior Great Elder, does your intervention now mean the Offering Hall has admitted defeat?"

Qian Daoliu nodded helplessly and reluctantly. "That is correct. Lan Xue, congratulations to your Gu Lei Kingdom on the victory. Rest assured, I will certainly fulfill what I promised you. Within five years, as long as your Gu Lei Kingdom does not come to cause us trouble, our Spirit Hall will not come to cause trouble for you either."

"Good, thank you, Senior!" Lan Xue bowed and smiled. Although she was severely injured and her soul power was basically exhausted, for some reason, her spirit was surprisingly good.

Qian Daoliu noticed this. He also discovered that the Mysterious Ice Halberd in Lan Xue's hand, whose shaft had already cracked, was actually recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. Not only that, but on the restored halberd shaft, dazzling blue ice crystal patterns had been added, and the blade was even sharper than before.

"Not only has your martial soul recovered, but it has also undergone a degree of evolution. It seems you have gained from a disaster and are about to break through to Level 97." As a veteran Limit Douluo, few people had a deeper understanding of the realm beyond Level 95 than he did.

After Level 95, for every level gained, the degree of fusion between a Spirit Master and their martial soul deepens significantly. The martial soul may even be enhanced; it is by no means as simple as soul power becoming more profound.

Lan Xue had, of course, discovered this herself. She had two Immortal Herbs in her body and three soul bones on her person. Coupled with her cultivation under the constant assistance of her son's soul skill, Increase Experience, her soul power accumulation speed was quite fast.

Over these past few years, having successively defeated two great experts, Tang Hao and Golden Crocodile, the improvement of her realm was only natural. After returning, as long as she cultivated diligently for a period, breaking through to Level 97 should not be a major problem.

If her soul power was insufficient, she would continue to use soul bones to supplement it. Currently, the Gu Lei Kingdom was not lacking in such things.

The people of the Gu Lei Kingdom stood by Lan Xue's side one by one. Nan Feihuang supported his mother and said, "Mother, you have worked hard. From here on, leave everything to your son."

After speaking, he handed his mother over to his father to care for. Lan Xue nodded, her exhausted body leaning against her husband's embrace, and closed her eyes to rest and recuperate.

Thus, of the five battles between the Offering Hall and the Gu Lei Kingdom, the Gu Lei Kingdom had taken three of the first four. The outcome was already decided, and this final fifth battle did not need to be fought.

With three wins out of five, the winner was undoubtedly the Gu Lei Kingdom.

The Offering Hall, which had looked down upon the world for over a hundred years, had finally met its first defeat. But no one expected that they would not be defeated by the Upper Three Sects, nor by the Two Great Empires, but by the hands of the Gu Lei Kingdom—the weakest and most obscure of the former four kingdoms.

Nan Feihuang led Xun Yu toward Qian Daoliu and bowed. "Senior, the wager has been fulfilled. My Gu Lei Kingdom thanks the Offering Hall for the concession."

"Kid, you are outstanding, very outstanding. I will give you one more chance; how about joining my Offering Hall?" Qian Daoliu asked.

Feihuang frowned. "Is the Senior intending to break the agreement?"

He had already won this best-of-five battle. If Qian Daoliu remained persistent, he would have no choice but to flip the table.

Qian Daoliu shook his head. "How could I be such a despicable person? Back then, when I lost to Tang Chen, I promised him I would never set foot in the Clear Sky Sect for the rest of my life, and I never broke my word. If I could be like that toward Tang Chen, how could I break my promise to a junior like you?"

Hearing this, Nan Feihuang felt somewhat relieved. Although he did not think much of Qian Daoliu's indecisive and inactive personality, Feihuang still admired his character to some extent. At the very least, he could distinguish right from wrong, which was better than himself.

Qian Daoliu continued, "I just wanted to give you one more chance. You should understand that although you defeated us today, the foundation of the Gu Lei Kingdom is still far inferior to ours. You will never be a match for our Spirit Hall in the end. Joining us is your best choice. That way, you and Xiao Xue can also be together. As Xiao Xue's grandfather, I never actually thought about breaking up a pair of lovebirds." "Feihuang!"

Before Nan Feihuang could answer, accompanied by an anxious voice, Qian Renxue descended from the sky. She should not have appeared, but she could not help it now, because she had not expected that the grandfathers of her own Offering Hall would actually lose.

That meant her plan to bring Nan Feihuang home and raise him had failed again.

Now, her grandfather's invitation to him was the only chance left.

"Xue Jie, you have come too," Feihuang said calmly.

"Yes, I have come. I have come to persuade you. Feihuang, come with Xue Jie. Do you not want to be with me forever?" Qian Renxue said.

"Go with you to the Spirit Hall, and then be killed by someone?" Nan Feihuang countered.

"Do you still think even now that I am the one who wants to harm you? I have been with you for so many years; do you not have even this much trust in me?" Qian Renxue was extremely agitated. She did not resent Nan Feihuang for ruining so many of their Spirit Hall's plans; after all, it was indeed the Spirit Hall that wanted to kill him first.

What she resented was that Feihuang did not trust her, even though she had never once thought of harming him in the slightest.

"I know. Actually, I have never believed that the person who wanted to harm me was you," Feihuang said bluntly.

Qian Renxue's eyes lit up, and the gloom in her heart vanished instantly. So her Feihuang had not truly doubted her; he trusted her. "Since that is the case, Feihuang, come with me, we..."

Before Qian Renxue could finish her sentence, she was sternly interrupted by Nan Feihuang. "But Xue Jie, within the Spirit Hall, there exists someone who wants to kill me at all costs. You cannot deny this, can you? I can guess who she is. In the entire Spirit Hall, who else has the authority to mobilize the Nine Great Elders and act over the heads of you and the Great Elder? Besides that Pope, who else could it be?"

"So you are worried that if you go to the Spirit Hall, you will continue to be persecuted by her. Rest assured, I will not let her hurt you again," Qian Daoliu guaranteed.

This time, he had truly made up his mind. He would no longer be inactive. As long as Nan Feihuang was willing to return with him, even if it meant tearing his face off with Bibi Dong, he would protect Nan Feihuang.

After all, the value Nan Feihuang could display at this moment was no less than Bibi Dong's, and it would allow his granddaughter to be with her lover.

He admitted that his son was at fault back then, but no matter how great the fault, Qian Xunji had already died at the hands of Bibi Dong. The grievances should be cleared. Moreover, no matter what, Bibi Dong should not have taken revenge for the son's mistakes on the granddaughter.

Furthermore, besides hatred, did the Spirit Hall not have grace toward her? The Spirit Hall raised her, educated her, gave her the best cultivation resources, helped her achieve the status of Title Douluo, and bestowed upon her the Pope Throne. How could she ignore all of this? By only remembering the hatred and not the grace, Qian Daoliu realized that he truly could not indulge Bibi Dong any longer.

If not for her, Nan Feihuang would not have reached this current state with Qian Renxue, and the Gu Lei Kingdom and the Spirit Hall would not have come to such a clash.

They had alive-and-well forced a force that could have been a strong ally into a great enemy.

(End of chapter)