Douluo's Soul Power increases by two levels every year

Chapter 240 The Storm Is Brewing

Qian Renxue has been very irritable lately, as if nothing is going right.

Xueye seemed to have come back to life, and actually began to concern herself with state affairs. She even used the reason that blood is thicker than water to bring Xuexing back to Tiandou City from the border. Even Xuebeng, who had been banished to the cold palace, reappeared in Qian Renxue's sight!

This made Qian Renxue wonder if the poison in Xueye's body had been neutralized!

But no matter how Qian Renxue investigated, Xue Ye seemed to be in a hopeless situation and was not long for life; he clearly had a pulse indicating that he would not live much longer!

Sitting in her seat, Qian Renxue's brows were tightly furrowed. She spoke in a low voice to the shadows before her, "Porcupinefish! Is the deadly poison in Xueye's body truly still not cured?"

Hearing this, the Douluo of the Prickly Porcupine in the darkness sneered disdainfully and said confidently, "Your Highness, please rest assured! Tang San was helpless even with the poison I left in Dugu Bo's body, let alone the toxins that have accumulated in Xue Ye's body for so long! Perhaps Xue Ye's condition is just a temporary resurgence, and she won't last much longer! Your Highness, there's no need to worry!"

Upon hearing the answer from the Porcupine Douluo, Qian Renxue calmly nodded.

The day after Tang San arrived in Heaven Dou City, Qian Renxue went to see Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo was still half-dead, his face was ashen, his mouth was bluish-purple, and foul-smelling poison gas was coming out of his mouth. Not only was the poison in his body not cured, but it was also showing signs of worsening. He looked like he would never wake up!

Seeing Dugu Bo like this, Qian Renxue naturally concluded that Tang San was helpless against the porcupine venom that the Porcupine Douluo had inflicted on Dugu Bo's body.

Of course, this was also because Dugu Bo was protected in the secret chamber of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, with two peerless Douluo, Chen Xin and Gu Rong, in charge. Qian Renxue did not dare to bring the Porcupine Douluo there, otherwise she might have been able to see some clues—provided that the Porcupine Douluo was not discovered by Chen Xin and Gu Rong!

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it..." Qian Renxue murmured softly.

Qian Renxue also didn't believe that Tang San could cure the poison in Xue Ye and Dugu Bo's bodies!

A person's energy is limited. Tang San was only fourteen or fifteen years old. Even if he was born with full soul power, it would have taken up a lot of his time to cultivate the weak martial soul Blue Silver Grass to the level of a high-level Soul Master.

Besides, Tang San also needs to study the knowledge of soul beasts and soul masters with the master, and learn to forge and teach himself hidden weapons. Even if Tang San is truly a genius, how much time can he squeeze out to study toxicology?

Compared to herself and Han Feng, they were also geniuses. Han Feng was almost useless except for cultivation and combat, and his soul power was only a few levels higher than Tang San's. She herself had innate level 20 soul power, but because she was infiltrating Heaven Dou City and studying the Spirit Hall's collection of books, her cultivation had fallen behind. She could barely be considered a genius, but she was definitely not worthy of her extraordinary innate soul power!

If Tang San could truly balance cultivation with learning from the master and self-studying hidden weapons, he could develop a divine weapon like the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

If Tang San could reach the level of the Porcupine Douluo and Dugu Bo before he even turned twenty, Qian Renxue would have to suspect that Tang San might also be a reincarnation of a soul beast!

Despite this, Qian Renxue always felt a pang of anxiety, as if something bad was about to happen!

"Dugu Bo is still unconscious. Although Xue Ye had a brief moment of lucidity before death, it only proves that he is nearing the end. Xue Beng and Xue Xing have returned to the royal family, but they are ultimately not capable of great things and are not worth worrying about! Although Ning Fengzhi and the others have some suspicions about me, they have no evidence and it's just some unfounded rumors... Could it be that something happened to Xiao Feng?" Qian Renxue asked with a gloomy expression, unable to contain her worry.

After Dugu Bo was attacked, Qian Renxue knew that Ning Fengzhi had suspected her, but she didn't take it to heart.

After all, when the other two princes died, many officials suspected her to some extent, but she still managed to become the Crown Prince of Tiandou!

After much thought, the only person who could stir Qian Renxue's heart was Han Feng!

"If Your Highness is truly worried, why don't you let me go and kill Tang San?" Seeing that Qian Renxue's brows hadn't relaxed, Serpent Spear Douluo assumed that Qian Renxue was still worried that Tang San would cure the poison in Xue Ye's body, so he spoke up.

"Hmph!" The words of the Serpent Spear Douluo pulled Qian Renxue back to her senses, and she then let out a cold snort.

If she could kill Tang San, would Qian Renxue ever let him go?!

In Qian Renxue's eyes, Tang Hao killed Qian Xunji, so Tang Hao was her father's killer. The son should pay for the father's sins. Qian Renxue also regarded Tang San as an enemy and wished she could get rid of him as soon as possible!

But the problem is, it's impossible!

Everyone in the world knows that Tang San went to cultivate with his father, Tang Hao. Now that Tang San has appeared in Heaven Dou City, how could Tang Hao possibly be far away?

"Tang Hao! Gu Rong! Chen Xin! Who are you to challenge!?" Qian Renxue asked coldly, her mood so bad that she didn't give the Serpent Spear Douluo any face at all.

The Serpent Spear Douluo in the darkness paused—if he could defeat either Tang Hao or either of the two peerless Douluos of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, why would the Spirit Hall send him to secretly protect Qian Renxue?

But faced with Qian Renxue's questioning, the Serpent Spear Douluo was ultimately unwilling to give up. He gritted his teeth and stammered, "Your Highness, why not go all the way? Invite the Second Elder and the others here. With the Second Elder's strength, he will surely be able to kill Tang Hao! Then we can wipe them all out in one fell swoop, wouldn't that be wonderful!?"

"Ha!" This time, before Qian Renxue could even speak, the Porcupine Douluo sneered, mocking, "Invite the Second Elder? How? The entire Heaven Dou City is under lockdown. Do you really think you can leave Heaven Dou City right under the noses of two peerless Douluos?!"

Qian Renxue also snorted coldly. Although she didn't speak, the coldness in her eyes told Serpent Spear Douluo her attitude.

Qian Renxue wasn't without ways to contact Qian Daoliu, but she wouldn't ask for his help unless absolutely necessary.

Otherwise, even if Qian Daoliu couldn't easily take action, with the strength of the elders like Golden Crocodile Douluo, why would Qian Renxue need to go through the trouble of infiltrating the Heaven Dou royal family?

"It was my recklessness!" Serpent Spear Douluo scoffed inwardly and could only lower his head to admit his mistake.

"Hmph!" The Porcupine Douluo let out a smug sound.

Ever since he learned that Tang San was powerless to help Dugu Bo, the Porcupine Douluo felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. As long as his mistakes were not exposed, whatever happened was none of his business. The Porcupine Douluo had decided to do nothing until the matter was settled, for too much talk and too much action would only lead to more mistakes!

"Xiao Feng! You absolutely can't get hurt!" Qian Renxue ignored the Serpent Spear Douluo and the Porcupine Douluo, her gaze drifting to the window as she prayed anxiously.

Meanwhile, in the secret chamber of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Ning Fengzhi, Gu Rong, Chen Xin, Dugu Bo, and Tang San gathered together.

Ning Fengzhi first looked at Tang San and asked softly, "Little San, can you cure the poison in His Majesty's body?"

Upon hearing this, Tang San gave a wry smile and forced a reply, "Uncle Ning..."

The deadly poison in Xue Ye's body was a type of poison that Tang San had never even seen before. It was extremely dangerous and interconnected. Even with all his skills and the help of the immortal herbs, Tang San could only slightly postpone Xue Ye's death. Not to mention a complete cure, even if he wanted to extend Xue Ye's life by a few years, he would first need to know what kind of poison Xue Ye had been poisoned with in order to treat the symptoms!

Seeing the troubled look on Tang San's face, Ning Fengzhi shook his head helplessly.

Ning Fengzhi knew he was being unreasonable. Since it was poison used by the Spirit Hall to assassinate the Heaven Dou Emperor, how could it be so easily countered?

"I've put you in a difficult position!" Ning Fengzhi patted Tang San's shoulder, indicating that Tang San shouldn't take it to heart.

Then, Ning Fengzhi looked at Gu Rong and asked, "Uncle Gu, did you gain anything?"

"Heh!" Gu Rong chuckled strangely, revealing a meaningful smile before slowly saying, "My gains are far greater!"

"I questioned Zhilin and the other two, and they confirmed what the old poisoner said. The Crown Prince did indeed receive a letter from Han Feng that day, but I asked all the palace guards, and none of them saw the Crown Prince enter or leave the Crown Prince's palace that day—yet the Crown Prince was not in the Crown Prince's palace that day!"

"Later, I learned from Xue Ke about a princess named 'Qianqian'..."

"A princess?" Ning Fengzhi frowned upon hearing this word and hesitated before saying, "There are no princesses in Tiandou City!"

"Hehe!" Gu Rong chuckled and continued, "As the sect leader said, there is indeed no princess in Tiandou City, but Xue Ke swears that Qianqian is a princess, only she is confined by His Majesty, so she is unknown to outsiders!"

After Gu Rong finished speaking, Ning Fengzhi frowned even more deeply.

Ning Fengzhi has a list of all members of the Tiandou royal family and has never heard of any princess who has been confined to her quarters!

"Following this lead, I continued my investigation and discovered something even more intriguing..." Gu Rong grinned, explaining, "While there is indeed no princess named Qianqian in the royal family, there was a maid named 'Qianqian' eight years ago!"

"And this maid was none other than a maid in the Crown Prince's palace, and at the time, she was one of the Crown Prince's most trusted! But she suddenly died!"

"His death was sudden. That day, only the Crown Prince and this maid named Qianqian went to the Soul Hunting Forest, but only the Crown Prince returned. The maid named Qianqian was nowhere to be found!"

"You mean, the current crown prince has been replaced?!" Dugu Bo's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he exclaimed in horror.

Gu Rong shrugged and said flippantly, "I never said that; you just guessed!"

"You!" Dugu Bo was anxious again. His body, which was already recovering from a serious illness, flushed sickly with excitement.

Ning Fengzhi waved his hand and calmly said, "I heard that when the other two princes passed away, Prince Xuexing secretly criticized Qinghe... If the Crown Prince was indeed switched, perhaps Prince Xuexing knows some inside information! Fortunately, Prince Xuexing has already returned to Tiandou City, so I'll have to trouble you, Uncle Gu, with this matter!"

"Yes!" Gu Rong replied in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)