Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

Qian Renxue's gaze fell on Qian Daoliu's forehead, where a rhombus-shaped golden gem appeared, like a third eye slowly opening, its entire body radiating a warm and profound luster.

A strange golden light shone from the rhombus-shaped gemstone, shining directly on the angel statue's brow.

The moment the light touched the statue, it was not deflected or bounced off, but rather silently merged into it, like a drop of water falling into the water.

Then, a golden vortex began to appear between the eyebrows of the angel statue.

The vortex wasn't large, but its edges were adorned with fine runes, like countless tiny snakes of light swimming in the same direction.

The center of the vortex was slowly expanding, revealing a space behind it filled with golden light.

Qian Renxue's pupils contracted slightly. Even in this state where divinity prevailed, a very subtle hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

The door leading to the true temple of angels was slowly opening before her.

Qian Daoliu didn't say much. He took the lead and walked towards the spinning golden vortex.

His pace was slower than usual, but it carried an undeniable certainty, as if he had been walking on this road for a long time and had finally reached the end.

Qian Renxue followed.

The moment she stepped across the edge of the whirlpool, she felt as if she had passed through a layer of warm water.

The surrounding scenery vanished in an instant; the golden halo of the temple, the outline of the angel statue, and the patterns on the ground were all replaced by a pure golden light.

Then, she found herself standing in a completely different hall.

The dome was higher and farther than any building she had ever seen, so high that she could hardly see the end.

The giant pillars supporting the dome are carved with countless figures of angels, some flying, some praying, and some holding long swords pointing into the distance.

Each statue is so lifelike that it seems as if it might step down from the stone pillar at any moment.

In the very center of the main hall stood an angel statue that was even larger than the one in the main hall.

Its face was shrouded in light, making it difficult to see clearly, but the spread of its six wings carried an indescribable antiquity and holiness, as if it had existed there since the beginning of the world.

Qian Daoliu stood in front of the angel statue, with his back to Qian Renxue.

His voice echoed in the empty hall, carrying a calmness that had been tempered by time: "This is the true Temple of Angels, the threshold between the mortal realm and the divine realm. The first eight trials you completed were all conducted in its projection. And this is the true location of the angelic throne."

He turned around, his gaze falling on Qian Renxue: "This is where you will complete the final test of the Nine Trials of Angels. At the same time, it is also where you will truly inherit the Angelic Godhood and enter the Godhood."

A resolute glint flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes.

There was no wavering in those pure golden eyes, only an unwavering determination as firm as iron.

When she spoke, her voice still carried that almost divine indifference: "What needs to be done?"

Qian Daoliu raised his hand and pointed in front of the angel statue. A longsword floated in front of the statue's pedestal.

The sword was completely dull and lifeless, as if it were covered with a thick layer of ash.

A round, transparent gemstone is inlaid at the hilt of the sword, with no light flowing inside, like a star that has not yet been lit.

“Awaken this sword with your blood,” Qian Daoliu said. “It has been dormant for too long. Only the blood of the chosen successor of the angels can make it open its eyes again.”

Qian Renxue did not hesitate.

She stepped forward, toward the floating longsword.

As she stood before the longsword and reached out to grasp the hilt, the instant her fingertips touched the metal, an extremely gentle warmth flowed from the hilt into her palm.

She applied slight pressure, running her fingertips along the edge of the sword hilt. Golden blood seeped from the wound, flowing silently along the grooves of the hilt, eventually gathering on the transparent gemstone.

The gemstone flashed slightly the instant it came into contact with the blood.

The light was initially very faint, like a newly lit candle flame.

Then it began to brighten, and the internal transparency gradually faded, replaced by a slowly forming golden halo.

Qian Renxue was about to continue observing the changes in the gemstone when she found herself unable to move.

The longsword was silently drawing blood and soul power from her through her hand gripping the hilt, along her meridians.

The absorption was not fast, but it carried an irresistible, steady rhythm, as if the law itself were at work.

Her feet seemed to be nailed to the spot; no matter how she tried, she couldn't move an inch.

As Qian Daoliu watched the gem gradually light up and saw Qian Renxue's figure being drawn to the sword hilt, a slow smile crept onto his lips.

There was no bitterness or reluctance in that smile, only a sense of relief as if one had finally seen the finish line.

The light in his eyes was more intense than ever: "I have waited for this moment for far too long."

Then he looked at Qian Renxue, his voice still steady, but with an unwavering solemnity like a mountain: "Child, this is your final test, and also Grandpa's final test. No matter how much pain you endure, you must succeed."

Qian Renxue's heart sank suddenly.

The emotions surging within seemed somewhat sluggish under the shroud of divinity, but the unease was real.

She could sense something deliberately concealed in Qian Daoliu's words. "Grandpa, what are you going to do?"

Qian Daoliu smiled slightly.

The smile was faint, yet it carried a tenderness that Qian Renxue had never seen on his face before.

It was as if an answer that had been hidden in his heart could finally be revealed without reservation at this moment.

“Silly child. There are always gains and losses; this is my destined fate. As the guardian of the Angel God, my existence is for the sake of the Angel God's inheritance. Without me, you cannot complete this final process.”

Qian Renxue's pupils suddenly contracted. She wanted to release the sword hilt and rush towards Qian Daoliu, but her body remained motionless. The long sword was firmly adsorbing her soul power, making it impossible for her to break free at all.

"Grandpa!" A hint of human urgency finally crept into her voice; the indifference that had enveloped her tone was being torn apart by a more primal emotion. "You don't want to!"

"Don't be sad," Qian Daoliu interrupted Qian Renxue, his voice still calm.

"You cannot move now, much less stop me. Remember my words."

He paused, his gaze falling on her face. Something in his aged yet still sharp eyes was slowly brightening: "Lead the Spirit Hall to glory. Take good care of Bai Xue."

The moment the words fell, golden flames suddenly rose from Qian Daoliu's body.

The flames weren't scorching, but they possessed an irresistible quality, as if burning the very soul itself. They absorbed Qian Daoliu's body, power, and his entire life into that fiercely burning golden light.

Qian Renxue screamed and struggled desperately: "No!!!"

The sound echoed in the empty hall, struck the stone pillars carved with angels, and bounced back, but could not change the fact that something was happening.

The power of the Thousand Streams is flowing irreversibly toward the angel statue.

The golden flame, like a ignited river, flowed from his body into the base of the statue, spreading upwards along the lines of the sculpture, illuminating one by one those lines that had been covered by the dust of time.

When the last glimmer of fire completely merged into the angel statue, Qian Daoliu's figure had already disappeared.

The towering angel statue was radiating an unprecedentedly brilliant golden light, illuminating the entire hall as if it were daytime.

At the same time, the long sword was slowly moving outward in Qian Renxue's palm.

She could feel the suction force weakening, and at the same moment, the soul power being drawn from her body turned in another direction, flowing into her meridians, into the small golden sword pattern on her forehead, and into every corner of her body that was being reshaped.

Qian Renxue exerted her strength and pulled the golden longsword completely out of its base.

The moment the sword was drawn, a golden beam of light, condensed to its fullest extent, shot into the sky, turning the entire dome of the hall into a flowing golden ocean.

Under the beam of light, the angel statue slowly tilted forward, its six wings closing to envelop Qian Renxue completely.

The force was so immense that it almost shattered her consciousness in that instant. But she didn't let go; she still gripped the sword, letting the golden torrents surge into her body.

Chapter 576 The Same Road

I don't know how much time passed.

In this space completely submerged in golden light, time became a blurred concept, and all perception was compressed down to the power surging within Qian Renxue's body.

Then, a voice rang out from all directions at the same time.

The sound didn't come from any specific direction; it came from the dome, from the stone pillars, from the angel statues, from the longsword she held. It came from all places, and from within her own body.

"An angel has descended."

Qian Renxue's body is being reshaped.

She could feel her bones being reconstructed by some stronger, lighter substance.

Her meridians were widened, strengthened, and plated with a layer of flowing golden patterns.

Something in her blood is being replaced by something purer and more ancient.

Behind Qian Renxue, six golden wings were slowly unfolding from her shoulder blades.

Each feather shimmered with a sacred golden halo, forming ever-expanding rings of light around her.

Qian Renxue stood there, holding the golden longsword that had been fully lit up.

The pure golden eyes reflected the slowly returning light of the angelic temple.

At this moment, the divine position of the angel was fully bestowed upon her.

Qian Daoliu has disappeared.

……

Pope's Palace.

Bibi Dong abruptly stood up from her throne. Her movement was so fast that the papal robes made a dull rustling sound as they rubbed against the air.

She didn't even realize she had stood up; she felt as if she had been suddenly pulled upwards by something, and her gaze was fixed on the direction of the ancestral hall.

That power.

The power that was spreading from the depths of the shrine in all directions carried a kind of force she had never sensed before...

No, she sensed it.

She had sensed similar fluctuations when the divine phenomenon rose in the far north and when auspicious energy filled the sky in the Starry Sky Forest.

But this time is different.

This time, the force was too close to her, so close that it felt as if a light brighter than the sun had suddenly shone in the room next to hers.

Bibi Dong's pupils contracted violently. It was as if something had torn open her senses, and that golden, vast, and pure divine power, almost without any impurities, was surging into her consciousness in a way she could not stop.

Qian Renxue. She became a god.

“How could this be…” Bibi Dong’s voice escaped from between her lips, carrying an incredulity she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Her fingertips tightened sharply on the armrest of the throne, her nails almost digging into the repeatedly polished metal surface.