Douluo Continent: A Thousand Miles of Cultivation

Standing in a place filled with the smell of decay, mold, and blood, Dugu Yan saw a blue-purple street.

"Is this the underworld?" Naturally, Dugu Yan felt that she was dead.

Subconsciously, she began to look for Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, after all, it would be difficult for the two of them to escape the pursuit of a Title Douluo who also possessed the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul.

The strange crowds on the same street, more or less, were all heading towards a tall, old, tower-shaped building.

Unable to find the person she was looking for, Dugu Yan was at a loss for what to do. Without any apparent reason, she started walking and followed the crowd.

Dugu Yan felt a strange sense of familiarity. The people here all seemed to give her a nauseating feeling that she had become accustomed to, just like in that military camp where demons and monsters gathered.

A sudden chill ran down her spine, making the hairs on her back stand on end, but then she realized, where did she have any hair left?

Looking through the puddle at his feet, sensing his own soul power, he saw his current appearance clearly. "I've actually recovered?!"

However, before she could express any other emotions, the fluctuations of soul power suddenly became chaotic from the old tower-shaped structure.

"This is?"

There are no spirit rings, only martial spirits, and people wielding all sorts of weapons.

There were hundreds of people from the university, and judging from their clothing, they came from all over the country and all over the continent. However, the group of people in the very center who were besieging a handsome young man were almost all from the Heavenly Dou Empire.

From Dugu Yan's perspective, these people seemed to be trained by the royal family. Their soul power fluctuations varied, but they were at least at the Soul Emperor level.

The reason Dugu Yan didn't step forward to stop them was because she found that the boy being attacked didn't look like he was being attacked at all; it was so astonishing that it couldn't even be described as him being attacked.

The boy's figure moved with incredible speed, accompanied by equally decisive swordsmanship, each strike aimed at a throat, deadly and highly efficient—like cutting melons and vegetables.

Soon, the boy broke through, but more and more people surrounded him.

Seeing that no one was using their soul skills, Dugu Yan tried it herself, but she was even more confused.

Not only can you not use your soul skills in this strange place, but the people here are also strange. They were just passing by and had nothing to do with the fight, but they rushed in together just because they saw it.

That young man was terrifyingly strong; you should know that among the people he killed were many Soul Saints and Soul Emperors.

Among the people Dugu Yan had seen, there were very few of his age with this level of strength. At least Yu Tianheng couldn't do it. The only one who could probably do it without using skills was that 'Little Immortal'.

Purely in terms of sword skills, without considering soul skills, Qian Shuishui might not necessarily be stronger, and the same goes for that Crown Princess.

"Wait, a sword?" During a lull in the boy's attack, Dugu Yan saw clearly that the sword was the same strange-looking longsword that Qian Shuishui often used, which didn't seem to match her very well.

She had inquired and heard that it was said that her teacher, the Immortal Douluo Qian Shui, had given her his sword from when he was at a lower level.

A crazy thought flashed through Dugu Yan's mind: Could that boy be Qian Shui?

"Impossible! No matter how many people there are, they shouldn't be able to make him exert so much effort, right?" You must know that Qian Shui is the one who makes that evil spirit hesitate to act, and his strength is so great that his opponents regard him as the number one person in the world.

But Dugu Yan couldn't help but think in that direction, because there were places in Douluo Continent where soul skills couldn't be used. "Could this be the City of Slaughter?"

She remembered something: the year 2635 of the Douluo Calendar, when her grandfather disappeared.

I learned from the evil spirit that Dugu Bo was ordered by Qian Shui to be sent to the Slaughter City, a place where soul skills cannot be used.

Later, Qian Shui brought the son of the former imperial marshal, who was identified as an evil soul master, into the City of Slaughter. After that, Qian Shui killed her grandfather, Dugu Bo.

If that time really comes, Dugu Yan will not stand by and watch her grandfather die at Qian Shui's hands.

She could even kill Qian Shui?!

Dugu Yan clenched her fists, her face darkening. She was no saint either; given a second chance at life, she was determined to make amends.

Just like her indifferent footsteps, she remained detached, subconsciously waiting for a group of evil spirit masters to surround Qian Shui and exhaust his strength.

Finally, she can deliver a fatal blow to him, just like a mantis stalking a cicada.

But she was also conflicted. Without Qian Shui, how bad would the future be? What would Qian Renxue do if she found out that Qian Shui had died in the City of Slaughter?

Dugu Yan was conflicted and hesitant.

Thanks to Yin Jin's guidance, she had the vision to understand the situation on the mainland.

However, she also knew her own limitations and believed that she was not capable of integrating the Spirit Hall like Qian Shui.

If it weren't for the fact that the situation on the continent had been almost unified in recent years, the sea spirit beast tide on the east coast would have been absolutely impossible for the two great empires of that time to resist.

The most terrifying thing is the Spirit Hall itself. As an independent force, the Spirit Hall is only able to remain unmoved under Qian Shui's control. But without him, how much turmoil would the Spirit Hall cause if it were to participate in the conflicts on the continent?

Even if Dugu Yan killed Qian Shui and saved Dugu Bo today, wouldn't she still be dead by then?

Amidst the siege of nearly a thousand people, Qian Shui fought with bloodlust, but Dugu Yan still couldn't understand. So she followed, watching from afar, until Qian Shui finished off the last person.

"Who the hell is there?" Qian Shui roared, covered in blood.

Amidst the carnage, his response was the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex Martial Soul, a claw crackling with lightning.

"You actually dodged it? You little beast!" This was a Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex martial soul user whose aura was at least at the Soul Douluo level. "An attack by nearly a thousand people, and you didn't even get a scratch! I have to say, you're truly a monster!"

"It's really you!"

"Is this Yu Luomian?" Dugu Yan also knew that the other expert in that incident was Yu Luomian, the uncle of Yu Tianheng from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Clearly, the ambush was orchestrated by Yu Luomian; he had been waiting for this final moment.

After all, Qian Shui is incredibly strong at this age, and his speed is terrifyingly fast. If a high-level fighter were to kill him, it's very likely that he would skip class.

Yu Luomian's move was despicable, but very effective.

That attack just now almost tore off half of Qian Shui's body. He barely dodged it, but at least three of his ribs were reduced to ashes.

At this moment, Dugu Yan's pupils also contracted, because she saw Dugu Bo standing on the huge Azure Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, appearing behind Qian Shui.

"Grandpa, oh Grandpa! Is that really how it is?"

At this moment, Dugu Yan disregarded everything and rushed forward.

Even if she was stupid, she could see that if Dugu Bo really did die in the end, it was because he was killed in the end after besieging Qianshui.

However, the changes in the battle situation were beyond her control. Qian Shui's sword clashed with Yu Luomian's dragon-like arms once again, and Dugu Bo unleashed the Bilin Snake Venom he had gathered in his palm, striking Qian Shui with a palm strike.

At this moment, time slowed down countless times in Dugu Yan's eyes. She saw Qian Shui's primordial spirit leave his body, and in his soul form, he rushed towards Dugu Bo at a speed too fast for her to react to.

"No!" Dugu Yan exclaimed in terror.

With just that simple strike, Dugu Bo's soul was shattered, and he was utterly dead. As for Qian Shui's true form, her hand transformed into sharp claws, and with a sidestep, she nearly severed one of Yu Luo Mian's arms.

At this moment, time seemed to turn back again.

"Soul bone? But you must have been poisoned by that old poisoner! You're not going to survive!" Yu Luomian, having finished his attack, assessed his own situation with nothing but mockery.

Dugu Yan, who was about to rush towards Dugu Bo, found that time seemed to have completely stopped. Qian Shui sat cross-legged in front of her, grinning ferociously. The murderous aura around him was about to solidify, but he did not move at all.

"This is the almost certain death trap I faced when I was 15 years old."

Dugu Yan suppressed her tears and looked at the young man beside her in disbelief.

"Your Majesty?" Dugu Yan wanted to say something, but all the words she wanted to say came out.

Qian Shui continued speaking to himself, "Back then, I went to Tiandou City to participate in the Elite Tournament, but afterwards, these people joined forces to try and kill me."

Pointing to the scene before him, Qian Shui spread his hands and said, "Of course I'm not dead, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here."

"I intentionally let it go at the time, since they didn't manage to kill them."

"But because of other plans, these people can no longer appear. After much thought, only the Slaughter City is suitable. If they really have the ability to walk through the Hell Road, they will obtain the God of Slaughter Domain."

Qian Shui acted like a tour guide, walking and recalling as she explained, "Is this the final scene? If I were only facing any one of them, I would have been certain of victory in the Killing City at that time."

Because the primordial spirit ignores defense and only attacks the soul. The only downside was that my cultivation level was too low at the time, and I only had enough remaining soul power to kill one.

Therefore, I chose to kill Dugu Bo, the titled Douluo with Medusa's skull, so that the poison in his body would dissipate.

"At that time, I was immune to all poisons and had no fear, but Yu Luomian would be poisoned by the injury and would surely die."

At this point, Qian Shui turned to Dugu Yan and said, "This is the hatred between you and me."

But Dugu Yan shook her head and said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty is joking..."

There's no point in dwelling on this issue anymore. To be honest, they really did have a grudge. Qian Shui was ambushed and killed without provocation, so it's plausible that he killed the entire Dugu family to eliminate future troubles.

"Your Majesty..." Just as she was about to speak, Dugu Yan thought of something else, "I wonder if I should also call you Your Highness the Crown Prince? Or Teacher Ning? Or Your Majesty the Immortal?"

"Cough! Cough! If you know, don't talk nonsense! I am who I am!" Qian Shui naturally refused to discuss such a socially awkward topic.

"Oh, so Your Majesty has returned to Douluo Continent?"

"More or less..." There's no need to hide it from those who know the inside story.

"I see... No wonder... Thank you very much..." Dugu Yan now understood why she had been saved.

But Qian Shui was unhappy. He really hadn't done anything. "I didn't save you! If you want to thank someone, go thank Rong Rong, Zhu Qing, Shui Shui, and Bi Ji later."

Then Qian Shui became serious again, "Of course I know what happened to you. Not saving you is not only because it's unnecessary, but also as punishment for your betrayal!"

Dugu Yan didn't feel that suffering was a big deal. She didn't know Qian Shui was coming back beforehand and was prepared to die.

But she still had time to think about the fact that Qian Shui was indeed there and could have saved her but didn't, since Qian Shui herself had already said it, so she could only go with the flow and say, "Understood."

"However, you haven't given up your pride in being human, which is commendable!" Qian Shui smiled slightly. "I don't have much to reward you with. I'll return the truth to you, and then you can make your own choice!"

As Qian Shui finished speaking, a massive glazed pagoda appeared, with eight red, one crimson gold, and one spirit ring lying horizontally, arranged in circles on each of the nine-story pagoda. Finally, the tenth ring to fall was a pure gold one, which stood vertically around the glazed pagoda.

"Ten rings, Your Majesty, you've broken through to level 100?"

Ignoring Dugu Yan's shock, Qian Shui pointed his finger, and all ten soul rings were collected into the tower. A golden light fell from the glass tower and descended upon Dugu Yan.

"This... Your Majesty, even if you choose to be human, you still have to..." Dugu Yan thought that she had only chosen not to become evil again.

"Of course! Life is full of suffering, so it is always easy to make people do evil, because that is the weakness of human nature. In such an environment, being able to awaken on one's own is an extremely difficult thing."

The battlefield of human nature is far more complex. Although Dugu Yan could not reach the point of laying down her butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot, it was enough that she was not coerced.

Qian Shui didn't do much; she had already suffered the hardships she was supposed to endure. She was simply given a chance to start over.

Dugu Yan smiled wryly. This strong person was indeed strong, but was it just as difficult for him, or even more difficult, to break out of the City of Slaughter? Was he praising himself?

Looking at the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda above her head, Dugu Yan wasn't too surprised, as she knew that Ning Huahua was Qian Shui.

But this level 100 strength baffled her; this man was excessively powerful. Especially in Dugu Yan's eyes, breaking through level 100 should have meant becoming a god, right? Yet he was unwilling to resolve the turmoil?

"Your Majesty, do you still want to remain behind the scenes?"

The only explanation is that Qian Shui is doing something else, such as raising his younger sister Ning Rongrong, which is why she asked this question.

However, Qian Shui raised an eyebrow, her expression quite varied, but she did not reply to her.

"Your Majesty, shall I tell Rongrong what you have to say?"