Chapter 282: The Missing Person Finally Appears, Qian Renxue's Troubles
Liu Erlong's gaze casually swept across the entire field, but the corner of her vision was firmly fixed on the chat group interface in front of her.
It had already been a full seven days since Lin Qingmo set off for the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for his fifth soul ring.
During these seven days, there had been no news from him in the chat group; not even a single punctuation mark had appeared.
Even though she knew that a Titled Douluo was protecting him the entire time,
Liu Erlong's heart still felt as if it had been burned by raging flames day and night. The lingering worry blocked her chest and made her feel suffocated.
During these seven days, she had sent dozens of messages in the group, but every single one disappeared like a stone sinking into the sea, without even a read receipt.
The others in the chat group were the same.
Everyone took turns flooding the screen with questions, yet they received no response.
At this moment, the chat group suddenly buzzed, as if electrified.
"!!!"
Liu Erlong's pupils suddenly contracted, and she opened the chat group interface almost instantly.
The first message to enter her sight was from Lin Qingmo, who had disappeared for seven days.
[Dad Douluo]: [Picture]
The stagnant silence that had lasted seven days in the group was instantly blown into a storm by this picture.
Inside the picture Lin Qingmo sent was an extremely mystical plant.
Its golden trunk stood straight, while its blue-silver leaves stretched out like feathers. Their edges glowed with a gentle flowing light, and within the patterns of the leaf veins, tiny purple lightning marks were intertwined.
Just by looking at the picture, one could feel the overwhelming vitality rushing toward them.
[Little Witch]: Ah Qing, you finally appeared!
[Little Witch]: What does the picture you sent mean? What kind of rare treasure is this? A golden tree trunk, blue-silver leaves with flowing light, and lightning patterns inside the veins. I've never seen this kind of plant before.
[A Rogue Rabbit]: Could it be a new immortal herb Ah Qing found?
[Yanzi]: Other than a top-tier immortal herb, I really can't think of any plant that could look like this. Just looking at it, you can tell it isn't ordinary!
Liu Erlong looked at the messages flooding the screen, and the heart that had been hanging in suspense for seven days finally relaxed by more than half.
He was fine and could still send messages. That was enough.
But immediately afterward, a strong sense of doubt surged into her heart again.
This brat disappeared for seven days, and after finally showing up, he only sent a picture of a plant? Even keeping people in suspense shouldn't be done like this, right?
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: Ah Qing, you didn't send a single message for seven days. Do you know how worried we were?!
[Bingbing]: Why are you sending a picture of some broken tree for no reason? Are you that bored? You disappeared for seven days, and the moment you returned, you started acting mysterious?
The Ice Empress's message carried a strong sense of disdain.
She had no interest in things like immortal herbs.
Compared to those, it would be better if he revealed some information about the whereabouts of that fat silkworm.
She and Snow Empress had searched the Extreme North for a long time but still had not found the Tianmeng Iceworm.
The messages in the chat group kept refreshing.
Just as everyone was asking questions one after another, Lin Qingmo's second message finally came out leisurely.
[Dad Douluo]: This isn't some rare treasure or exotic plant. It's my martial soul.
The moment these words appeared, the chat group that had been refreshing crazily instantly fell into dead silence.
The messages that had been jumping wildly just a second ago froze in place.
After a full three seconds of absolute silence, question marks and exclamations instantly filled the entire interface.
[A Rogue Rabbit]: ???
[Big-Chested Kitty]: Martial soul?
[Little Witch]: Huh? Ah Qing, wasn't your martial soul Blue Silver Grass? How did it turn into a tree? The difference is way too big!
[Yanzi]: Blue Silver Grass is herbaceous, but this is woody. How can they be the same?
[Mother Tyrant Dragon]: Ah Qing! How did your martial soul become like this? What exactly happened?
...
Heaven Dou Royal Palace, outside Zichen Hall.
The gold and jade-inlaid palace doors slowly closed with a "creak," completely isolating the sounds of cups and conversation inside.
Qian Renxue, currently using the identity of Xue Qinghe, stood silently on the white jade steps outside the hall.
The evening wind lifted her crown prince's robes, while the aura around her was as cold as three-foot-thick ice in the depths of winter.
Her face still maintained the gentle and modest expression that the Heaven Dou Crown Prince should have. Her smile was so perfect that not even the slightest flaw could be found.
But the hand hanging by her side was clenched extremely tightly.
Deep within her eyes, uncontrollable hostility and anger surged.
Inside the hall, Emperor Xue Ye was sitting opposite the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's clan leader, Yu Yuanzhen.
Amid the exchange of cups, the matter they were discussing made her feel as if she were sitting on needles.
Yu Tianheng, the direct young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the former captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Fighting Team, had officially withdrawn from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and several core members of the Heaven Dou Royal Fighting Team had also left with him.
This matter was brought directly to Emperor Xue Ye's imperial desk.
In Emperor Xue Ye's eyes, whether Yu Tianheng stayed or left was never a simple matter of a student transferring schools.
It symbolized the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's attitude toward the Heaven Dou Royal Family.
The Upper Three Sects were connected by the same breath and relied on each other.
The movements of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan directly affected the positions of the Clear Sky Sect and Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect toward the Royal Family.
From inside the hall, Yu Yuanzhen's deep and steady voice sounded.
"Your Majesty, my grandson's choice was purely his personal wish and has nothing to do with the position of my Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
He was very troubled by his grandson's sudden, willful decision.
What made him even more speechless was that after investigating, he found it was related to his 'trash' son, Yu Xiaogang, who had been expelled from the clan.
Although Yu Xiaogang was considered trash, he was still his son.
Back then, he expelled him from the family due to clan pressure.
But that did not mean he didn't worry about his own son.
Now, he could only personally come to Emperor Xue Ye to explain the matter.
Emperor Xue Ye did not refute him. He merely tapped the table lightly.
The sound of his knuckles striking the red sandalwood was especially clear inside the quiet hall.
The displeasure on his face was difficult to hide.
The dissatisfaction in his heart was almost overflowing.
Not only because of the attitude problem of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but more importantly, because of the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament a year later.
That was the grandest competition in the entire Douluo Continent, watched by countless people.
It was also the crucial battle where Emperor Xue Ye had placed great expectations and gambled the reputation of the Heaven Dou Empire.
As one of the hosts, the Heaven Dou Empire needed to produce outstanding results.
The best outcome would be to surpass Spirit Hall and the Star Luo Empire in one move, allowing them to finally hold their heads high.
But with Yu Tianheng leaving the team, the original Heaven Dou Royal Fighting Team had fallen apart, and their ace combat strength was halved.
Emperor Xue Ye immediately placed the entire burden of reorganizing the team and evaluating its strength on Xue Qinghe.
What gave Qian Renxue an even greater headache was—
Emperor Xue Ye had already issued a strict order: within ten days, he wanted to see the full strength of the newly formed Heaven Dou Royal Fighting Team.
If she could not produce a satisfactory result, the trust she had built over the years in front of Emperor Xue Ye would be greatly diminished.
Qian Renxue stood outside the hall, feeling utterly exhausted.
No one understood better than her.
The greatest variable of this new team was never Yu Tianheng, who had left.
It was Lin Qingmo, who had disappeared without a trace for seven days.
End of Chapter