Chapter 147

Qian Renxue left the blacksmith association, following the only main road there, Qian Renxue walked toward the distant familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar alleys, and happened to glimpse a mechanical clock pointing to seven o'clock placed on a nearby shop.

"The timing is just right; now is exactly the time of dawn's rebirth."

The rising sun gradually shone, and as the distance closed, the bustling clamor, noisy shouts, and cries became increasingly evident; this busy metal city soon reappeared before her eyes.

The sound of hammering rose; in the workshop not far away, many blacksmiths were already sweating, shouting with effort. Indeed, this is a city full of vitality, vast and grand; the dry, warm wind brought vigor from the newborn morning sun, and a few bird calls rang from the sky. Qian Renxue lifted her head, the sunlight especially glaring.

She raised a hand to block the morning light, but could not muffle the clamor at her ears, nor stop the metallic scent spreading at her nose.

"The armor just forged, each for only three silver soul coins, offers astonishing defense, cheap and durable!"

"Egg soup, granny cake with wheat beer, come take a look!"

Moving street vendors and passing pedestrians bustled, their cries rising and falling; among them, some would stop to consider carefully, while most impatiently waved their hands, because today's work had yet to be settled.

Seeing this scene, Qian Renxue involuntarily halted her steps, as if separated by an age; through the myriad postures of the people, she seemed to see the various bitterness of her past life.

Commoners lack strong soul power and martial souls, only able to toil all day in this extremely cruel world, just as pitiable as she once was.

On her face, the interest in pretending had rarely faded; she lacked the former feigned gentle smile. Qian Renxue lowered the edge of her skirt and stepped forward, merely wishing to leave this street as quickly as possible.

"Ding—"

Just then, a carriage sped by, stirring up the not-yet-dry filthy water in a puddle; a drop splashed onto Qian Renxue's white silk stockings, staining the clean silk with a dim, wet hue, chilling her and awakening her thoughts.

"Miss, would you like a ride?"

She had intended to refuse, but seeing the middle-aged carriage driver's sweaty face and recalling the astonishment of onlookers, Qian Renxue lightly nodded.

Although her current attire does not show off wealth, being relatively restrained, it remains clothing that commoners can only aspire to but cannot attain; in Bingxin City, it undoubtedly stands out as incongruous, for soul masters are ultimately a minority, with only a few thousand appearing each year, while commoners occupy the vast majority of the world.

Yet they are powerless to change this world; though the world tier of the Douluo Continent is low, it is far more cruel than other worlds; a person's status is determined at birth, and the sole means for commoners to have an upward path—the Spirit Hall—is this world's evil force, how tragic and ironic.

Qian Renxue said calmly: "Well, to the Spirit Hall's main palace, eight copper soul coins, no haggling."

"All right, please! I have some recent newspapers in the carriage; if you're interested, you can flip through a few during the ride to relieve boredom; of course, if you'd do me the honor, I'd be happy to chat with you."

A smile easily spread across the man's dark complexion; he had stopped nearby because he happened to see this richly dressed miss with a gloomy expression, seemingly avoiding the scene before her.

It wasn't to fleece some fat sheep; from the miss's intentional evasive movement, one could see her discomfort with this street, and such passengers tend to be generous, rarely haggling; this isn't a remarkable talent, merely a means to make a living, and such generous good customers shouldn't be easily let go.

Qian Renxue entered the carriage under the driver's welcoming gesture; without needing to look closely, she caught sight of several askew newspapers placed on the seats.

【Bingxin City Daily — Helping Citizens' Lives】【Seven Treasure Glazed Sect spends heavily to recruit strongsters, offering excellent pay and benefits】【Star Luo Royalty's Crown Prince Davis is extensively recruiting purple-eyed girls as maids; the Netherworld Duke's daughter seemingly intends to break off the engagement, infuriating the Majesty.】 Not merely simple oil-paper ink print; on several recruitment sections are dense job postings, many of which have been circled with a pen, and beside some are notes: 'Working hours too long,' 'Unfixed environment,' 'Only recruiting soul masters,' etc.

Frankly, the handwriting is quite messy, the wording relatively straightforward; it should be the carriage driver's own annotation.

"Because the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect has been destroyed, the Clear Sky Sect has retreated from the world, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect is beginning to worry? After all, among the top three sects, only it remains."

Qian Renxue lightly rested her chin, pondering slightly; it seemed that among the top three sects, only the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect had not yet been harmed by her.

"What's the deal with this Davis? Recruiting maids can even stir up scandalous news; isn't he afraid his throne will be unstable? This newspaper actually dares to arrange stories about royal offspring, unafraid of being shut down? Indeed, no matter which world's people, they all love gossip."

Qian Renxue sighed softly; after a while, the clip-clop of hooves gradually softened, occasionally one could still hear prayers; clearly, the Spirit Hall's main palace had arrived.

"Here, one silver soul coin, more than enough as a tip."

"Thank you, miss; you are truly a kind person, may the Angel God bless you!"

The middle-aged man, flattered and startled, took the silver soul coin, bowed in thanks, then hastily drove the carriage away to the end of the street.

Although this middle-aged man hadn't done anything, that newspaper had indeed pleased her; a little tip is no surprise, moreover, she had no copper soul coins—Qian Renxue always carried only gold soul coins on her person, these few silver soul coins were extorted from Ake.

"Angel God, huh."

Qian Renxue murmured to herself, a mysterious light flickering in her eyes; it seems that after Bishop Mieles's death and that faction was resolved, the Spirit Hall's image among commoners is still not bad.

Perhaps the Spirit Hall ought not to fall; at least before a superior system appears, it cannot yet fall.

No matter how evil and ruthless her actions appear in the eyes of those soul masters, she cannot stop, for she is the Angel God of the Spirit Hall, an Angel God not attached to petty love.

"Your Highness."

Qian Renxue heard the salutations of those around her all the way, gave a faint nod, and then arrived at her own room.

Unlike the exquisite main palace of the Spirit Hall, Qian Renxue's room lacks a spacious living room; classical sofas and soft armchairs are neatly arranged, the office desk rests by the bright, sunlit window, overall presenting a cool, simple tone, much like the occupant's personality; only the sunlight drifting past the window adds a hint of warmth to the room. As Qian Renxue opened the door, Xueke's motion of writing on the table paused; she wore a black-and-white maid outfit, her petite frame looking somewhat cute; she swiftly grabbed the broom leaning nearby and swept haphazardly, then pretended nothing was amiss, silently shifting her gaze to Qian Renxue.

"Ake, you were just sneaking a look at my desk notes, weren't you?"

Xueke's movement froze; she inwardly cursed Qian Renxue for returning so early today, sensing Qian Renxue's tone was odd, she quickly lowered her head and apologized softly.

"Sorry, miss, I only wanted to tidy your desk a bit, then accidentally saw some content."

Qian Renxue nodded lightly, seeing her hesitant expression, she said calmly: "Is there something you want to ask?"

Xueke gave an embarrassed laugh, hesitated a moment, then said: "Nothing much."

Seeing Qian Renxue's calm gaze, Xueke stammered: "All right, in a few days it will be February 8, your birthday; I just wanted to know your preferences."

She merely wanted to see if Qian Renxue had the habit of keeping a diary; a deeper understanding of Qian Renxue's current stage, she never expected to see the battle armor design plans—this battle armor must have been told to Qian Renxue by that scoundrel Ye Feng; weren't they originally engaged? Moreover, Xueke didn't particularly care about the early preparations of the battle armor; later, everyone had it.

Xueke's battle armor was also forged by Qian Renxue; their relationship had been that close thanks to various chances and coincidences, as the transmigrants gathered together, forming a genuine team, they did not slaughter each other, they were the strongest team, and that bonding agent was precisely Qian Renxue before you; but after she became a god, she completely changed in order to raise her standing in Qian Renxue's eyes; Xueke had once relied on the system to study battle armor crafting for a period; in her previous life, the core formation of Qian Renxue's battle armor was personally designed by her, yet after Qian Renxue became a god, that battle armor merged into part of her divine attire.

Strangely, when designing the battle armor back then, Qian Renxue's battle armor was supposed to have a dual-loop circuit that could 'switch' in every aspect; I don't know why, since she isn't a twin martial soul, can the Angel Holy Sword count as a second martial soul? Thinking this way, the former divine realm was also strange— the six sovereign gods never appeared together, and at meetings there was always someone missing.

Especially the Asura God; after entering the divine realm, Xueke has never seen him.

Only Qian Renxue, this Angel God, has seen the Asura God; the two seemingly once fought a divine battle in the Angel God's Hall, after which the Asura God vanished without a trace; initially Xueke thought the Asura God had been gravely wounded by Qian Renxue and sent away to recuperate.

All along, the Angel God has taken the Asura God's place in the Divine King Council; the votes of the five great gods have remained much the same as before, while the Asura God's vote has always been in abstention.

Were it not for his law-enforcement squad always staying obedient, Xueke would have thought the Asura God had been killed outright by Qian Renxue.

But who exactly snatched Tang San's Asura God position? Why has he never shown his face? Could it be that perpetually offline, vanished Yutianlin? That guy slaughtered so fiercely in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect—could she have inherited the Asura God's position? Qian Renxue fell silent for a moment, then said: "Ake, you clearly understand my preferences, as if you've known me for ages; don't you find this strange? Over these two months together, I believe you know what I like best."

One could say she is thoughtful, or perhaps something else; Ake even knows her own birthday, yet in the Spirit Hall, Qian Renxue has never had such a birthday celebration.

Cold sweat broke out on Xueke's back; "Heh, perhaps it's because we get along exceptionally well."

Qian Renxue gave her a deep look; just as Xueke grew increasingly nervous, Qian Renxue laughed: "Forget it, it doesn't matter; I don't care about your secrets, you may keep your own secrets, Ake—I only care about value; show me your worth, and I won't harm you."

Xueke stared fixedly at Qian Renxue, as if meeting her for the first time; value, again value— is value really that important to you? No, perhaps the present Qian Renxue is the true Qian Renxue; her past self was merely a disguise, she is simply such a cold-blooded person.

Qian Renxue raised her brows, puzzled: "You look angry; can you tell me why?"

Hearing Qian Renxue's words, Xueke found it increasingly unbearable; angry? She should be angry! The humiliation of being toyed with in the palm of a hand she will never forget; thus, in this life she will be stronger than Qian Renxue! She refuses to be a mere assistant! You want value? I will use this value to become stronger than anyone else, leading them to defeat you! After she brought Atoleis to Bingxin City, the original timeline had already shifted; unlike before, now she has seen Qian Renxue's truest self.

It was also when she was closest to Qian Renxue; to conquer a person, one must first tear away her disguise—only then can you approach her.

Xue Ke's face no longer bore the feigned innocence; she gritted her teeth and said, "I have a way to help you make battle armor. As a condition, I want you to also forge a set of spiritual battle armor for myself, and give me some dark-attribute heavenly treasures."

Indeed, she needs spiritual battle armor; an ordinary complete one-character battle armor can only be worn by a Soul King-level soul master, but spiritual battle armor is different—spiritual battle armor that fuses with a soul master's bloodline can reduce the soul master's usage restrictions.

Because the martial soul itself is weak and due to the royal family's status, the martial souls of the Tian Dou Snow family often mutate after consuming some heavenly treasures; this is also part of the reason the Snow family has stood firm. The Black Swan is one of the top-tier mutant martial souls among them—as the saying goes, "darkening makes it ten times stronger, purifying weakens it by three tenths"—the Black Swan is truly a powerful combat martial soul.

Xue Ke didn't want to walk the old path of her previous life; she wanted to change her martial soul attribute and possess true combat power! Without strength, she could do nothing at all! Qian Renxue's expression showed some surprise; for a moment she didn't react, "What are you saying? You can make battle armor?"

Xue Ke lowered her gaze, not looking at her, and threw the notebook she had just written at Qian Renxue, "Do you accept it?"

Qian Renxue took it, flipping through her own blueprints, discovering that the left gauntlet design had been revised once, far more exquisite than her previous design, with five complex core magic arrays drawn around it. This. "Completely acceptable, this is a very reasonable request."

Xue Ke nodded satisfiedly and continued: "Your gauntlet's chosen metal is demon silver, mainly to boost your elemental amplification and control, but since your left palm can transform into the dark gold terror claw, the extensibility of the spiritual battle armor is very important."

"I designed a transformation array at the position of your palm; although demon silver's extensibility isn't as good as that of heavy silver, it's still decent. I must ensure that your left hand and forearm remain covered by the battle armor during any transformation. At the knuckle, I've left an array for toxin emission, facilitating toxin diffusion; at the fingertip, I've left an opening for the dark gold terror claw to extend."

Qian Renxue stared, "Dark gold terror claw? Where would I get a dark gold terror claw?"

"I don't have that either?" The originally fluent Xue Ke suddenly choked; it turned out Qian Renxue hadn't yet obtained that external soul bone, the dark gold terror claw, at this time. Fortunately, Qian Renxue merely looked at her in surprise and didn't ask further.

Xue Ke continued: "The core array on the back of the hand mainly serves to boost your elemental amplification and soul power amplification; it is a transformable multiple double-loop array that, after transformation, becomes blood qi amplification and spiritual power amplification."

Looking at those intricate patterns on the blueprint, Qian Renxue's eyes flickered; Ah Ke truly understood her, even knowing that she wanted to forge battle armor capable of transforming twin martial souls.

"Even if the five core arrays are used on a two-character battle armor, they are not weak; ordinary single-metal spiritual battle armor is actually not that strong, nor does it have enough potential. You can add rarer refined crystals to demon silver, fusing them into a spiritual alloy called 'Ling Gold'; among alloys composed of two metals, Ling Gold is the best for elemental amplification and itself is the most active."

"'Ling Gold' is also the spiritual alloy Qian Renxue used in her previous life; it is the base metal of Qian Renxue's battle armor."

(End of chapter)