Xue Qinghe!
The current Crown Prince of Heaven Dou Royal Family, and the next in line for the succession of the imperial throne.
If nothing unexpected happens, that is.
Compared to his younger brother Xue Beng, who is infamous as a dandy prince with all sorts of negative deeds to his name.
Xue Qinghe has quite a positive reputation among both civilians and nobles. He also has a great amount of political support from the nobles, who are investing on him as the next emperor.
In fact, with the current not-so-good health condition of Emperor Xue Ye, Xue Qinghe could've ascended to the throne, especially when he has the direct support of one of the three great sects, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
But because of the opposition from a large number of nobles led by Xue Xing, and also some vague suspicions from Emperor Xue Ye as well,
The promotion from the position of Crown Prince to the Emperor, seems to be quite distant for Xue Qinghe.
Xue Qinghe, with an elegant and amiable smile on his face, spoke to Rayne in a soft voice, seemingly like a gentle and caring older brother.
"Brother Rayne, I have heard a lot about you from my sister!"
"I am Xue Qinghe. If you don't mind, you can call me brother Xue."
Xue Qinghe spoke with an elegant and polite demeanor, making others subconsciously have a good impression of this Crown Prince.
Of course, all of this is just what seems to be on surface.
As someone, Rayne is all so closely familiar with, this Xue Qinghe has a more hidden identity.
Even while covered with the special black glasses, Rayne's Six Eyes saw through the disguise of Xue Qinghe, right from the moment he appeared in his sight.
What appeared before his eyes was a incredibly beautiful young woman, with long golden blond hair reaching down to her buttocks, with a stunning facial appearance and golden phoenix-like beautiful eyes.
With a slender waist, bountiful curves, arrogant and elegant temperament, she looked like the most perfect beautiful goddess.
Qian Renxue!
A woman that Rayne knows very well, and had a deeper relationship in his previous life.
Because of Rayne's existence, Qian Renxue's origins are a bit different from the original work.
Qian Renxue, the daughter of the previous Supreme Pontiff Qian Xunji and an unknown woman, and also the granddaughter of the Great Priest of Spirit Hall, Qian Daoliu.
Originally, she should've lived like a princess, with almost everything in the world available to her.
Excluding the monstrosity of Rayne, Qian Renxue's talent is, without a doubt, the highest in the current era of Douluo Continent.
Awakening a God-level martial soul with innate soul power of level 20... This alone guarantees the careful and dedicated nurturing from Spirit Hall. Not to mention her identity as the granddaughter of Qian Daoliu.
Even after her father Qian Xunji died, she should've had no problems unlike in the original work, and should've focused on maximizing her talent and training.
It is unknown what led to this. Was it an arrangement from Qian Xunji or Qian Daoliu, or was is some sort of provocation or conspiracy from Bibi Dong, or some kind of plot correction?
Maybe it might also be Qian Renxue's own initiative?
Either way, Qian Renxue assassinated the Original Xue Qinghe, and had replaced him with the help of the disguise ability, brought to her by the Head Soul Bone of Angel God Soul Bone Suit.
Almost exactly like how it happened in the original work.
Seeing her like this, Rayne felt a bit irritated.
He is the kind of person that dislikes seeing others waste the talent they are given.
People have a freedom of choice. So, even if you have a certain talent, but your interests lie in something else... Then it can't be helped.
But, when they take pride in possessing that said talent. Then it's a different story.
As someone Rayne is very familiar with, he knows what kind of person Qian Renxue is, and just how proud she is, of her so-called strongest talent of innate soul power of level 20.
Although there was a bit of conflict between them in the past life, Qian Renxue was still his one of his lovers, whom he would've eventually married, if he wasn't suddenly off'ed by his system.
[Ding! A Fate Quest has been generated!]
[Qian Renxue, one of your wives in your past life, with great talents is wasting her time and effort on something that is destined to be in vain.
As a qualified harem king, how can you allow this mistake from your harem candidate remain uncorrected.
Quest: Make it so that Qian Renxue quits her role as an undercover and return to Spirit Hall. Change her original destiny.
Tasks: (1). Qian Renxue must abandon the role of acting as the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou Empire. (2). Qian Renxue must return to Spirit Hall. (3). Qian Renxue must resume her training and start the divine tests ahead of time.
Rewards: Seraphim Divine Blood Essence (5 Drops), Blood Essence of Light Dragon King (1 Drop), A Divine Core of a Random Peak First Class God.]
'Oh? A fate quest! The rewards are kind of meh, except for the divine core! Well, I was going to do it even without the quest anyway. Even without the events of the original novel, the things I've set up is bound to ruin all of Qian Renxue's plans, although it isn't really my intention.'
Although he thought nothing of the rewards from a personal point of view, it is without a doubt that these are some extremely high level rewards.
But then again, this is a fate quest. Which means that, the completion of this quest would affect the original destiny of this world in some ways.
Especially, if Qian Renxue were to become a God a few years early, or the fact that she doesn't waste so much time and effort on a vain mission. The destiny would indeed change a lot.
Rayne shook off the thoughts going through his mind and nodded to Xue Qinghe in response.
Seeing the confident smirk on her face hidden by the disguise, Rayne felt a bit adventurous.
He took a step forward and put his arm around Xue Qinghe's shoulder, as if he was putting his arm over the shoulder of a close friend.
"I'm Rayne Ashburn. You can call me by my first name or last name, as long as you don't give me any weird nicknames."
Xue Qinghe trembled for a moment, her body became stiff. But her years of undercover, as well as her honed acting skills came into act, as she regained her posture.
She looked as if everything was normal, except for her tightly clenched and slightly trembling hands.
"!!"
Tang Yuehua and Xue Ke were stunned by Rayne's casual attitude toward Heaven Dou Empire's Crown Prince.
Xue Ke, in particular, was shocked and worried.
In her mind, there has been no one who would be so casual towards her older brother.
She cautiously glanced at Xue Qinghe's face. Seeing no signs of anger or displeasure on his face, Xue Ke sighed in relief.
'Thankfully my brother isn't angry! If it was fourth brother, he'd made a big fuss of already! Muu~ This guy Rayne is too casual towards our Royal Family! I can't let him meet Royal Father! Who knows how this disrespectful handsome man will behave!'
Xue Ke thought flabbergasted.
At the same time, she kept sneaking glances at Rayne's face and kept blushing.
On the other hand, while Tang Yuehua was also surprised, it didn't come as unexpected to her.
'This boy... From the first day I met him, I felt a kind of temperament from him, that I've never felt from anyone else.'
'The naturally flowing aura of arrogance and confidence that is emanating from his whole body. That natural posture and hidden eyes that seems to be looking down on everything in the world."
'He possess a kind of arrogance and confidence that I've never seen on anyone else. Even my second brother. Such traits should be incompatible with an elegant and excellent temperament as a person.'
'Yet, every action, every movement of his seems to have an attractive charm that I can't resist. The sense of nobility and pride I felt from him is something I've never seen on anyone.'
'Yet, despite all these extreme traits, I have never felt any sense of rejection from him towards anything or anyone. Regardless of the status of the other person, be it a poor civilian or a rich noble. They seem to be equal in his eyes.'
'However, although he sees others as equals without any discrimination, he never sees anyone as equal to himself. As if, he alone is the one at the highest level.'
'He seems to be full of contradictions, yet is full of simplicity.'
'Rayne... This boy, just how and where did he develop this sort of mindset and temperament?'
Tang Yuehua's mind was full of complicated thoughts, as she looked at Rayne with a bit of amazement in her expression.
As a very well known etiquette teacher, as well as the owner of a special martial soul with its own innate domain, Tang Yuehua has exceptional observation capabilities.
She had been observing him for about three years now, as she has always been interested in him because of the unique temperament she felt from him.
Because, she had felt some changes occurring to her martial soul, the more she observes Rayne.
Unlike the duo of Tang Yuehua and Xue Ke, Sylvia didn't have much of a reaction.
In her opinion, having Rayne make such a close gesture is a honor for a Crown Prince of a mere mortal Empire.
She is one of the very few people who knows about Rayne's true identity and potential.
Ignoring the reactions of the two women, Rayne cheekily smiled at Xue Qinghe, while repeatedly nudging her shoulders.
"Brother Xue, you seem to have a rather frail and slender physique~. You need to eat a lot and built up some muscle~. How about I give you some tips?"
Rayne said in a playful tone, then started patting Xue Qinghe's chest repeatedly, as if reprimanding her.
"..." Tang Yuehua and Xue Ke.
Although Xue Qinghe seems to be smiling on the surface, she was seething in anger inside. Her body was trembling in rage.
She grit her pearly white teeth in frustration.
She was obviously being taken advantage of, so blatantly at that. Even if it is because she is disguised as a man, it is still unacceptable to her.
In fact, it was not just her that was infuriated. Even the two titled douluo guards secretly protecting her, Snake Lance Douluo She Long and Porcupinefish Douluo Ci Xue, were also very angry.
"That cocky brat! How dare he take advantage of our young master like that?! He deserves to be skinned alive!"
Porcupinefish Douluo Ci Xue said in a ruthless tone.
Although Snake Lance Douluo She Long didn't say anything, his eyes had a glint of cruelty when looking at Rayne.
While the two secret guards were feeling extremely upset and having murderous intent, Rayne suddenly turned his gaze towards where they were staying hidden.
At this moment, the entire area seemed to be frighteningly quiet.
She Long and Ci Xue who were being stared at by Rayne, felt as if they were being stared at by an extremely ancient ferocious beast! It felt like something was tightly gripping their hearts, grasping their very soul.
They couldn't even breathe. Cold sweat covered their backs and foreheads. Their whole body, right from their very core, was screaming danger.
They instinctively felt the unsurpassable difference in life level between them and Rayne.
Vaguely, they seem to see a enormous silver-white Dragon staring at them with a pair of cold vibrant blue eyes.
She Long and Ci Xue involuntarily knelt down, not daring to look at Rayne anymore. They were frightened beyond belief.
They felt their bodies out of their control. Their body was dominated by fear.
No, they couldn't even think about anything. Their mind was completely blank at the moment. Why? Because they lost consciousness due to a moment of extreme fear!
"Hmph!" Rayne snorted in disdain as he turned his gaze away.
"Small fries! Couldn't even handle my gaze, even though I'm wearing a fricking sun glasses! And they still have the nerve to claim that they'll skin me alive! Ha! What a joke!"
Rayne muttered to himself in a tone full of disdain.
He didn't like these two guys very much, even in his past life.
After thinking about how stubborn Qian Renxue can be, his approach to completing the fate quest, was a straightforward one.
He raised his foot and lightly tapped the toe-end of his show on the ground.
Silently, a ripple like flow spread from the area the Rayne tapped, without alerting anyone.
On the other hand.
Xue Qinghe, or rather, Qian Renxue didn't realize that her disguise had been undone at some point.
Hearing Rayne's words of mockery, as well as the stunned and kneeling duo of She Long and Ci Xue, Qian Renxue was shocked to say the least.
Soon, she came to her senses.
'Not good! Uncle She and Uncle Ci have been exposed! This guy... Although there were all sorts of claims that he was the strongest genius of this golden era, I never imagined it would be to this extent! They are genuine Titled Douluo, you know!'
Saying that she was just shocked, would be an understatement.
Qian Renxue thought with a bit of disbelief, before composing herself and putting on an expression befitting of the situation.
Then, she turned to the three ladies present, intending to put on a show of concern, to showcase her role as a kind and gentle Crown Prince.
But, as soon as she turned around, what appeared in her sight was the frozen expressions of the two women of Tang Yuehua and Xue Ke.
In fact, after carefully looking around, she found that, except for herself and Rayne... Everything else seems to be frighteningly still and quiet.
Even the previously kneeling Titled Douluo guardians of hers, seem to be in the same situation.
It's almost as if...
"It's like... the time has stopped..." Qian Renxue muttered with a bit of disbelief.
.......
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