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Half an hour later, watching Chu Chengzhou leave the main hall and Qian Renxue—who had transformed back into Xue Qinghe—Ning Fengzhi's expression was indescribably complex. He had not yet accepted this disciple.
Ning Rongrong wasn't an only child—she had several elder brothers. But these brothers were all mediocre talents.
For Xue Qinghe, his personal disciple, Ning Fengzhi had treated him like his own son. Over the years, the effort and heart he had poured into Xue Qinghe certainly surpassed what he had invested in his unremarkable biological sons.
He simply found it difficult to accept that the disciple he had painstakingly taught for many years was actually Qian Renxue, the Young Miss of the Spirit Hall.
Of course, Ning Fengzhi's inability to accept Qian Renxue wasn't just because she had deceived him, nor was it solely due to the alliance between the Tian Dou Empire and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
When Chu Chengzhou had earlier asked about his grievances with the Spirit Hall, Ning Fengzhi hadn't mentioned that he actually harbored deep conflicts with them—he simply lacked evidence, which was why he hadn't spoken of it.
Excluding the Star Dou Forest and the Extreme North Region, the territory of the Tian Dou Empire and its subordinate kingdoms and duchies occupied half the continent. Yet until two years ago, the Tian Dou Empire had only four openly known Titled Douluos:
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong; the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Family's clan leader Thunder Douluo Yu Yuanzhen; and the Tian Dou imperial court's guest Jade Phosphor Douluo Dugu Bo.
Why had only four Titled Douluos emerged from half the continent's territory, excluding those who had joined the Spirit Hall?
One must understand—those with innate full soul power were destined to become Titled Douluos.
Those with innate level 9 soul power, provided their martial souls had no restrictions and they didn't recklessly add soul rings, would also surely become Titled Douluos.
Even those with innate level 8 soul power—if they had optimal soul ring configurations, cultivated diligently, and possessed reasonable insight—still had a chance at becoming Titled Douluos.
In the past hundred years alone, nearly twenty individuals with full innate soul power had been born on the continent, with documented records. Those with lower innate talent—nine or eight levels—were certainly even more numerous.
If we take a hundred-year timeframe and use Spirit Hall City as the center point, at least a hundred or more genius soul masters with innate soul power level of eight or more must have been born across the entire northern continent.
Even if a large portion of these geniuses had joined the Spirit Hall, with the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and Tian Dou Empire as secondary options, plus the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Family who possessed the continent's number one beast martial soul inheritance—how could there have been only four Titled Douluos within the Tian Dou Empire's territory?
So where did all the other Titled Douluos go?
Genius soul masters still required nurturing after birth. At least half of them never received perfect cultivation guidance during their growth, losing their potential to become Titled Douluos.
The remainder—some died during soul ring hunting. After all, while soul masters hunted spirit beasts, spirit beasts also hunted soul masters.
But compared to those who lost their lives hunting soul rings, even more died from assassinations by enemy factions.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had Ning Fengzhi as its sect master—why was there no sect mistress?
In his youth, Ning Fengzhi had been the young master of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, one of the continent's few top-tier "second generation" heirs.
And Ning Fengzhi wasn't a good-for-nothing—he was an auxiliary-type soul master, and while his Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda martial soul limited his soul power ceiling, his innate soul power was a full eight levels.
As the saying goes, "When marrying a wife, marry a virtuous one." Ning Fengzhi had looks, talent, and background. His officially married wife—setting aside concubines—naturally couldn't be an ordinary woman.
She might lack background or beauty, but her cultivation talent absolutely couldn't be lacking.
Otherwise, even if Ning Fengzhi personally favored her, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect would never allow an ordinary woman to become the future sect's mistress.
Undoubtedly, Ning Rongrong's mother had been exceptional—innate level 9 soul power, absolutely qualified to become a Titled Douluo. With the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's full support, she might even have reached Level 95, becoming one of the pillars ensuring the sect's position among the continent's top three sects.
Unfortunately, handsome men invite jealousy. Talented soul masters naturally drew assassinations from enemy factions.
Shortly after Ning Rongrong's birth, Ning Fengzhi's wife fell victim to an assassination.
When the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's experts arrived at the scene, they found only a body lying in a pool of blood, along with minor battle traces and the soul power aura left by an unknown Titled Douluo.
Ninth-ring Titled Douluos weren't common—due to the uniqueness of martial souls, if the attacker had been a known Titled Douluo in the continent's soul master world, the battle traces and residual soul power aura at the scene would have made identification relatively easy.
Since they couldn't identify the attacker's origin, this meant the assailant wasn't an active Titled Douluo in the continent's soul master world.
And if we consider all powers in the soul master world—who besides the Spirit Hall could produce Titled Douluos who had never made a name for themselves in the soul master world?
Unfortunately, the Spirit Hall was too powerful for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect to confront directly.
Without conclusive evidence—even knowing the assassin was likely from the Spirit Hall—the sect couldn't pursue the matter openly. They could only retaliate in the same covert manner.
'Ah Heng... what should I do?'
Head lowered, Ning Fengzhi murmured softly.
At this moment, his mind was filled with images of his gentle, deceased wife.
Suddenly, footsteps approached from afar, reaching the distracted Ning Fengzhi's ears.
Looking up, Ning Fengzhi saw Chu Chengzhou return, walking back into the hall from outside.
Seeing Ning Fengzhi's red-rimmed eyes, Chu Chengzhou inwardly confirmed his suspicions and asked: "Can you tell me about it?"
He had sensed something was wrong earlier. Otherwise, with Ning Fengzhi's rationality—given Qian Renxue's sincere apology, the lack of major conflicts, and her guarantee of the sect's interests—he would likely have accepted the situation.
Since he hadn't accepted it, there must be some hidden truth he didn't know.
This was precisely why Chu Chengzhou had let Qian Renxue leave first and returned to inquire about the situation.
Glancing at Chu Chengzhou, Ning Fengzhi shook his head without speaking.
People... can't only look backward. More importantly, they must look forward.
His nearly seventy years of life experience told him that the past couldn't be changed. Reopening this old wound would only create another layer of estrangement.
"A son-in-law is half a son—what can't you tell me?"
Chu Chengzhou sat beside Ning Fengzhi and said again.
"Do you really want to know?"
After a moment of silence, Ning Fengzhi asked.
Chu Chengzhou nodded.
"In the past, Rongrong always asked me where her mother had gone. I told her her mother had gone to the Star Dou Forest to hunt soul rings and never returned."
"The Spirit Hall's doing?"
"The one who struck was an unknown Titled Douluo."
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou fell silent.
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