In the Spirit Hall, as soon as Qian Renxue returned home, she hurried straight to the Worship Hall.
At this moment, Qian Daoliu was inside the hall, using the power of the Angel God to heal his injuries and dispel the sword energy in his body. The power of Chen Xin's final sword was simply too overwhelming; at that time, his entire body was ravaged by sword energy. If it hadn't been for the Angel God's protection, he would likely have died under Chen Xin's sword.
"What a sword path, Chen Xin. Besides Tang Chen and Bo Saixi, you are the third person to defeat me, but even the first two never injured me so badly. In terms of attack power, you truly are unparalleled in the world," Qian Daoliu sighed.
"Grandfather!" At this moment, Qian Renxue suddenly rushed in in a panic.
Qian Daoliu rarely saw his normally calm granddaughter in such a state and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "What's wrong, Xue'er?"
"Grandfather, I want to ask you something about my father and mother. My father didn't actually die at the hands of Tang Hao, but was actually killed by my mother herself, isn't that right?" Qian Renxue asked directly, without beating around the bush.
Qian Daoliu's expression changed drastically. "Xue'er, who told you about this?"
"So, it's true." Although Qian Daoliu didn't answer directly, from his expression and tone, Qian Renxue was already sure that Tian Lin hadn't lied to her. Otherwise, he would have immediately denied it instead of asking where she heard it from.
"So, my father forcibly took my mother by disgraceful means back then, and that's also true? Otherwise, given your character, grandfather, if our Qian family hadn't wronged her first, how could you have let her become the Pope of Spirit Hall?"
"Xue'er, listen to me. Things were complicated back then—it's not as simple as you think. Qian Xunji was also forced by circumstances," Qian Daoliu tried to explain. The reason he never told Qian Renxue the truth was because he feared breaking her heart—the loving father figure she had always believed in would collapse in an instant.
That would be too cruel to Qian Renxue.
"Forced by circumstances?" Qian Renxue sneered. "What a good excuse. Xiao Tian was right. Since everything my mother had was given to her by Spirit Hall, if she planned to betray us, it would be natural for my father to kill or cripple her. But the one thing he shouldn't have done was destroy her purity. The Light of the Angel always shines with compassion and justice—my father, he isn't worthy of that light!"
"You mean Jun Tianlin? He told you this? How could he know about it?" Qian Daoliu was very puzzled.
Within the entire Spirit Hall, only three people knew about this: himself, Bibi Dong, and Golden Crocodile Douluo. Besides Golden Crocodile, he hadn't told anyone, and Bibi Dong would never reveal it herself.
So it could only have been Golden Crocodile Douluo. But he never suspected Golden Crocodile of betrayal. However, Golden Crocodile had been captured by Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for many days, and during the last battle, he noticed Tianlin's hidden spiritual power was even stronger than his own, which allowed him to remain unscathed under his Angel's Roar.
It was only due to his current cultivation that much of his power couldn't yet be used.
"With such powerful spirit power, perhaps this guy has mastered some secret art of memory scanning. Did he read Golden Crocodile's soul too? Truly a formidable enemy for Spirit Hall!"
Qian Daoliu thought to himself, but he was completely wrong. Still, Tianlin did have a soul-reading ability, and from his perspective, that was the most likely explanation.
After all, who would randomly suspect that Tianlin was a transmigrator?
But for Qian Daoliu now, whether Tianlin knew about it wasn't the main issue. What mattered was calming his granddaughter, to prevent her from completely collapsing.
"Xue'er, don't fall for Jun Tianlin's tricks. He told you this on purpose, to disturb your state of mind and slow your progress to godhood. It's despicable. You—huh?" Qian Daoliu lectured at length, only to realize that while Qian Renxue was disappointed, she was not in utter despair; her state of mind was extremely calm.
"Grandfather, please don't think that way about Xiao Tian. He's not that kind of person. When I first heard the news, I nearly broke down, but he told me that I am the only one in this world qualified to apologize to my mother on my father's behalf, and the only one who can pull my mother out of darkness. If even I despair, who will save her?" Qian Renxue smiled. "He also said that the past is already over. My mother killed my father, and the great enmity has been avenged. No one else should be hurt because of what happened back then."
"Our Spirit Hall's goal is to unify the continent, but if my mother continues down this path, she may destroy the continent. By then, the source of this disaster would be our Angel Clan, the Qian family. I will never let that happen."
Qian Renxue's expression was filled with relief and resolve. Qian Daoliu understood he had misjudged Tianlin—Tianlin revealed this secret not to destroy Qian Renxue, but to dissolve the conflict between mother and daughter.
"What an interesting young man. He should be a mortal enemy, yet he helps you like this. I was wrong this time—next time, I'll apologize to him," Qian Daoliu shook his head in resignation, admitting his mistake.
As the Grand Worship, he had the magnanimity to do so.
After confirming the truth, Qian Renxue left the Worship Hall and went to the main hall of the Pope Hall.
Bibi Dong preferred solitude, so unless there was urgent business, she always stayed alone in the Pope Hall, almost as if isolated from the world.
Qian Renxue used to think this was because Bibi Dong was antisocial and indifferent to everything, but now, returning here, she realized it was actually loneliness—a kind of isolation born from having no one to trust or confide in.
For the first time, Qian Renxue felt pity for Bibi Dong.
She pushed open the door and went inside.
Bibi Dong was resting her hand on the Pope's seat, eyes closed in meditation. Hearing footsteps, she opened her beautiful eyes and saw Qian Renxue.
"You're back. Judging by your look, I guess your plan to persuade Jun Tianlin to nominally join Spirit Hall failed again, right?"
"Yes. His vision isn't just for his own generation, but for future descendants as well. He worries that if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect joins Spirit Hall even in name, over time, the nominal will become real. That's why he refuses so firmly. I'm sorry, Mother, I failed!" Qian Renxue answered truthfully.
Crack—the armrest on Bibi Dong's seat suddenly snapped, not because Qian Renxue's plan failed, but because of how she addressed her.
"What did you just call me?"
"I called you Mother! That's our true relationship, isn't it?" Qian Renxue looked at Bibi Dong with hope.
Bibi Dong stood up in anger. "Shut up! I told you, I have no daughter, only disciples. Nana is like a daughter to me—you have nothing to do with me!"