Douluo Continent: I teach and nurture students at Tianshui Academy!

Twenty-four years ago, Emperor Xueye announced that his firstborn son would be the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire and would inherit his throne in the future.

Then Gu Shenge was born. Unfortunately, the palace caught fire on the day he was born. He vaguely remembered that someone took him away. When he woke up again, he was in the small village where he was raised.

Gu Shenge didn't know what had happened at first, until he went to Tiandou City at the age of seventeen and met Prince Xuexing, which solved the mystery.

Because he looked so much like Emperor Xueye when he was young, Prince Xuexing invited him to the Tiandou Imperial Palace and conducted a test, verifying his identity using a special royal blood test method, before confirming that he was Emperor Xueye's son.

The reason he appeared in the small village was because of one of Emperor Xueye's concubines, who was also pregnant and wanted her child to become the crown prince and sit on the throne.

So she arranged for someone to deliberately set a fire, and then ordered someone to kill Gu Shenge. But that person wasn't stupid; he knew how serious the crime of killing a prince was, so he secretly placed Gu Shenge in a village outside Tiandou City. Even if the matter was eventually exposed, he could at least ask for a chance to live.

Unfortunately, that person was eliminated by the people arranged by the concubine. Not long after, the matter was exposed. The concubine was so frightened that she miscarried and lost her child. She was then sentenced to death by Emperor Xueye.

Fearing a recurrence of such an incident, Emperor Xueye changed his mind and stipulated that only outstanding princes could inherit the throne.

Afterwards, the Empress became pregnant again and gave birth to Xue Qinghe. Eleven years later, she gave birth to Xue Ke and then passed away.

Emperor Xueye was surprised to learn that Gu Shenge was still alive and wanted him to acknowledge his ancestors, but Gu Shenge refused.

Then-

He ran away the next day. After being free for more than ten years, suddenly a father appeared. Who could stand that? He certainly couldn't.

Therefore, Gu Shenge felt helpless about being the eldest prince of the Heavenly Dou Dynasty; he would rather be the son of a commoner.

If you give birth but don't raise your child, you can repay it by cutting off a finger; if you give birth and raise your child, you can repay it by cutting off your head; but if you raise your child before you give birth, it will be difficult to repay you even after a hundred generations.

For the sake of his own flesh and blood, all he could do was ensure that the bloodline of the Heavenly Dou royal family would not perish.

~

(The protagonist's identity as the eldest prince of the Heavenly Dou Kingdom is useful.)

Chapter 40: The Taiyin Refining Divine Technique, Bibi Dong's Doubts.

Gu Shenge shifted her gaze slightly, looking at the rewards for the two quests: [Attacking from the Demon Soul Sect] and [The Perfection of Taiyin].

The first reward for the quest was a scroll called "The Hundred Beasts Picture," and he looked at its description.

[Title: Hundred Beasts Painting]

[Description: This is a celestial artifact from a powerful cultivation world. It was casually crafted by an eighth-level Celestial Emperor based on a divine artifact. It contains a secret realm within and can be used to contract and tame spirit pets. The prerequisite is that the tamed spirit pet must be powerless to resist or willingly submit.]

"Why does this picture of a hundred beasts sound so familiar?"

After reading the introduction, Gu Shenge felt that the introduction and functions of the Hundred Beasts Compendium were very similar to a divine artifact in a book he remembered called "Stellar Transformation".

The Book of Myriad Beasts originally belonged to an eighth-level Immortal Emperor.

Could it be that the Hundred Beasts Chart was created by that Immortal Emperor Ni Yang, who forged a copy of the Myriad Beasts Manual?!

Wow, this system is really powerful!

Gu Shenge unfolded the Hundred Beasts Painting, which depicted a landscape of mountains and rivers, but no beasts were visible.

Following the system's instructions, he used his mental energy to wrap a drop of blood from his fingertip and let it fall onto the Hundred Beasts Painting. The blood merged into the painting, and his mental energy fused with the Hundred Beasts Painting. A dozen minutes later, Gu Shenge refined the Hundred Beasts Painting without any difficulty.

The secret realm within the Hundred Beasts Diagram is even larger than Gu Shenge's Bright Realm, at least as large as the Star Dou Great Forest.

This is just a replica casually crafted by an eighth-level Immortal Emperor; it is truly powerful.

Gu Shenge had a strange idea: could the secret realm space in the Hundred Beasts Diagram be merged with the Bright Realm?

But it's just a thought; with his strength, it's impossible for him to combine the two, at least not now.

After storing the Hundred Beasts Painting in her system space, Gu Shenge looked at the reward for another task.

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have obtained: The Taiyin Refining Spirit Technique]

"Taiyin Refining Spirit Technique?"

The name sounded like a method for cultivating spiritual power, and an introduction to the Taiyin Refining Spirit Technique appeared before Gu Shenge's eyes.

[Title: Taiyin Refining Spirit Technique]

[Synopsis: The method of refining the spirit draws the essence of the moon into the body, cleansing and tempering the soul, gradually transforming it into a Yin divine soul, mastering all kinds of divine abilities, such as manipulating objects out of the body, controlling the soul in dreams, traveling day and night, and possessing other bodies for rebirth.]

After reading the introduction to the Taiyin Refining Spirit Technique, a look of satisfaction appeared in Gu Shenge's eyes. With this method, he could make up for the shortcomings in his soul.

Cultivating the physical body with the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Diagram and the soul with the Taiyin Refining Spirit Technique—cultivating both body and spirit—is the true path.

The Taiyin Refining Spirit Technique was implanted into Gu Shenge's mind by the system, making it impossible for him to forget.

Now that the Taiyin Martial Soul's nine spirit rings are complete, and the matter in the Arctic Ice Plains is settled, it's time to return to Tianshui Academy. There are only two days left before the start of the semester.

Before leaving, Gu Shenge had Xue Di take him to the core area, where he plundered a great deal of various ice-attribute natural treasures, half a lake of ice-attribute spiritual liquid, a large amount of thousand-year-old Xuanbing marrow, and nine extremely precious ten-thousand-year-old Xuanbing marrows. The harvest was enormous, and he stored it all in his Ming Realm.

He's practically a "skin-rogue"!

If it weren't for the fact that the power of the Bright Realm plane couldn't cover the core area, he would have even wanted to move the entire core area away.

…………

Wuhun City, Worship Hall.

Beneath the angel statue, Qian Daoliu looked at the intelligence in his hand, his eyes constantly changing, showing surprise, astonishment, and above all, solemnity.

During the investiture ceremony, he observed the expressions and behaviors of all the representatives of the various forces who attended, in order to determine which were friendly to the Spirit Hall and which were dissatisfied with it.

Prince Xuexing's behavior was naturally noticed by Qian Daoliu. His excitement when Gu Shenge appeared, as well as his complicated gaze, aroused the suspicion of Old Master Qian.

Suspecting that Prince Xuexing had a relationship with Gu Shenge that he was unaware of, he arranged for someone to investigate.

Although Emperor Xueye concealed it well, he could not escape the eyes and ears of the Spirit Hall.

Qian Daoliu never expected that Gu Shengge was actually the long-lost eldest prince of the Tiandou Empire, the eldest son of Emperor Xueye, and that Xue Qinghe, who was replaced by his granddaughter, was his own younger brother.

This put Old Master Qian in a difficult position.

He thought highly of Gu Shenge and even wanted to match him with Qian Renxue, but unfortunately, he was a member of the Tiandou royal family, and his granddaughter had a blood feud with him for killing his brother, and he had more than one brother.

If Gu Shenge were to find out all this, he would probably become an adversary of the Spirit Hall.

The human heart is unfathomable. Although Gu Shenge is now close to the Spirit Hall and is the youngest elder of the Spirit Hall, he is ultimately a member of the Heaven Dou royal family, and his thoughts must be for the Heaven Dou royal family.

Although he did not reveal his identity as the Heavenly Prince, it is presumably a trump card hidden by Emperor Xueye.

Gu Shenge is too young, unbelievably young. She has reached the title of Douluo at the age of only twenty-three. If given another ten or twenty years, she will probably reach his level.

If the Spirit Hall were to go to war with the Heaven Dou Empire, he would likely be a sharp blade piercing the heart of the Spirit Hall.

In an instant, Qian Daoliu felt countless suspicions and even a hint of killing intent towards Gu Shenge. He could not allow him to continue to grow stronger.

It's a pity that such an outstanding and exceptionally talented person is a member of the Heavenly Dou royal family. How much better it would be if he were an ordinary commoner.

"Give it to His Holiness the Pope."

Qian Daoliu instructed his servant to take the intelligence to Bibi Dong.

A few minutes later, a hurried figure rushed into the offering hall. Before the person arrived, the voice preceded the person, disturbing the solemnity of the hall.

"Qian Daoliu, what on earth is going on?!"

Bibi Dong crumpled the intelligence report into tiny pieces, her beautiful rose-red eyes filled with disbelief. She coldly questioned the old man, saying she didn't believe the report. How could Gu Shenge be the eldest prince of the Heavenly Dou Empire? Wasn't the eldest prince Xue Qinghe?

Looking at the Pope, who had rushed over in a rage to question him, Qian Daoliu remained calm. Seeing her disbelief, he said indifferently.

"If you don't believe me, you can send someone to investigate yourself."

"it is good!"

Bibi Dong was too lazy to argue with Qian Daoliu. She just wanted to confirm the authenticity of the information as soon as possible. If Gu Shengge was really the eldest prince of the Tiandou Empire and Xue Qinghe's older brother, how should she face him?

In order to limit Qian Renxue's growth, she sent her to infiltrate the Tiandou Empire, kill and replace Xue Qinghe, and intend to seize the Tiandou throne.

If Gu Shenge knew that she had already killed her own brother, how would he view her?

Bibi Dong now has one more thing to worry about.

Watching her departing figure, Qian Daoliu hadn't expected things to develop this way. He sighed deeply. He didn't want to take action against Gu Shenge, but he also didn't want her to hinder the Spirit Hall's progress in unifying the continent.

On the other side, after leaving the Hall of Offerings, Bibi Dong ordered Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo to investigate the relationship between Gu Shenge and the Heaven Dou Royal Family as soon as possible. Then she slumped on the throne, sinking into deep fear and doubt.

She was afraid, afraid that the information was true.

She began to doubt again, wondering if Gu Shenge's purpose in approaching her was truly love at first sight, or if he had ulterior motives.

Once the seed of doubt is planted, it will take root and sprout as long as it receives some nourishment.

~

(Ahem, the relationship between the main character and Bibi Dong will be a little bit angsty, but it's not a big deal; it's nine parts sweet and one part sour.)

Chapter 41: Bibi Dong's Cold Attitude, Gu Sheng's Confession

Demon Soul Small Dimension.

"Ice Meteor is dead."

A vice leader of the Demon Soul Sect sensed the disappearance of the soul skill mark he had left on Icefall Venerable. His voice was calm and indifferent as he slowly announced his death, showing no concern whatsoever for his life or death.

Upon hearing that Venerable Icefall had died, the expressions of the Venerables still in the minor planes varied: some were disdainful, some were surprised, some were indifferent, and some were gloating.

"Hmph! I told him to be careful, but he wouldn't listen. He thought he could control that guy just because he had the Ice Demon Dragon Martial Soul. He deserved to die."

The Venerable One who had previously suffered a loss at Gu Sheng's hands spoke with schadenfreude. Beside him, a Venerable One with an extremely full figure, who remained magnificent and proud even under the cover of a black robe, spoke with a cold yet mocking voice.

"Bingyun fell for the sake of the Divine Cult. Compared to you, who only cares about yourself and only knows how to make excuses to belittle others, he was at least dutiful. As for you, Chiming? You're a piece of trash."

"Youhuang, do you want to die?!"

Hearing Youhuang's mockery, Chiming, who was already hot-tempered, was ignited like a powder keg due to the influence of his martial soul. His eyes, which were like crimson eyes under his black robe, seemed to spew out magma and engulf Youhuang. Nine soul rings rose from his feet, two yellow, two purple and five black, and powerful and scorching soul power erupted, crushing towards the woman beside him!

Facing the enraged Chi Ming, You Huang showed no fear, and the same spirit rings appeared beneath her feet.

However, her ninth spirit ring was black with a hint of eerie red, and it was a top-grade spirit ring with a quality of over 90,000 years. The pressure it released was far greater than that of Chi Ming, making her a titled Douluo who was infinitely close to level 98!

"enough."

The vice sect leader, who had just declared Ice Meteor dead, spoke again. His voice seemed to possess a certain magic, calming Chi Ming and You Huang down, and they both retracted their soul rings into their bodies.