Douluo: Spiritual Sword-Chapter 564 - 563: Tianlin and Qian Renxue

"Sorry, Senior, I can't save you," Tianlin said apologetically.
"It's alright. Judging by your sword, you must be Jun Tianlin. You coming here with the Grand Worship means the final victors are your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. It's such a pity. Our Spirit Hall has developed for centuries, reached its peak in this generation, but in the end, we still lost to you, who came out of nowhere." The Third Worship was very dejected; these Worships were quite different from the Elders.
Spirit Hall Elders didn't really care about the Hall's fate; they were just working for fame and fortune. But these Worships, like the Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, saw Spirit Hall as their home.
"No, Senior, you misunderstood. It was your Spirit Hall who won. I came here on behalf of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to surrender. The Spirit Empire will definitely unify the continent in the future. You can rest assured." Tianlin said softly.
"Really?" Hearing this, the Third Worship looked to Qian Daoliu for confirmation.
Qian Daoliu gratefully glanced at Tianlin and nodded, "Of course it's true, Old Three. I acted personally; how could we lose?"
"Haha, that's great! Now I can die without regrets." The Third Worship was elated, his spirits lifted as if he was experiencing a final burst of energy.
"Old Three, don't get too excited yet. Tell me, what happened? Who hurt you all like this? Was it Bibi Dong?" Qian Daoliu urgently wanted to know the truth.
"It was," the Third Worship admitted. "Bibi Dong went mad. She suddenly returned to Spirit City yesterday, saying she wanted to destroy Spirit Hall herself and avenge her grudge from years ago. The Fourth, Fifth, and I fought her with all we had. Although her power was far beyond ours, she seemed severely injured and was only using a fraction of her strength. That's the only reason we held on until Xue'er arrived."
"Xue'er's timely return slightly improved our situation, but just as we were about to drive her back, another Bibi Dong appeared—also seriously injured, but just as powerful, if not more so. The two of them together gravely injured all four of us in one strike. Then the Fourth and Fifth were drained to death. When the other Bibi Dong was about to attack Xue'er, the real Bibi Dong seemed to regain a bit of humanity and forcibly stopped her before leaving."
The Third Worship recounted what happened, confirming Tianlin's suspicions: it was indeed Bibi Dong, with her hatred against Spirit Hall triggered again by the Evil Spirit Pearl, who attacked. The other Bibi Dong was surely the Evil Sword Immortal in disguise, who had taken control of Bibi Dong's mind. However, Bibi Dong was still a peerless powerhouse and could retain some of her own will. No matter what, she would never harm Qian Renxue and even withdrew the power of the Evil Spirit Pearl herself—otherwise Tianlin wouldn't have been able to heal Qian Renxue.
"Jun Tianlin, as the loser, you must take good care of Xue'er from now on. She's the little princess loved most by all of us in the Worship Hall. Don't let her suffer in the slightest." With his last breath, the Third Worship finished his final words and passed away with a smile.
Qian Daoliu gently set him down, "Rest in peace, Old Three. I'll come to find you soon. By then, we'll be brothers again. Xue'er, who will become a god, will avenge you and kill that other Bibi Dong."
"And Jun Tianlin, thank you for admitting defeat on your own initiative so Old Three could die without regret."
"A small kind lie, a bit of face lost, is worth it if it lets a senior pass away without regrets." Tianlin smiled, picked up Qian Renxue, and said, "Senior Qian Daoliu, I'm taking Sister Xue to rest. Her injuries just healed and she needs peace. Please gather everyone in the city—severely or lightly injured—who's still alive, in this square. I'll heal them all with Extreme Curse Reversal. Too many have already died; let me save as many as I can."
"Alright, thank you." Qian Daoliu didn't hesitate and immediately directed the surviving Spirit Hall guards to rescue and gather people. After working all night, most survivors were assembled.
Spirit City was destroyed, with over 100,000 civilians dead and 200,000 wounded. Such a huge debt could never be repaid by Bibi Dong in her lifetime.
Fortunately, with Tianlin's divine healing, all the injured were saved, preventing further casualties. However, healing so many at once exhausted Tianlin.
Originally, he should have been the one taking care of Qian Renxue; instead, it was the recovered Qian Renxue and Ning Rongrong who took care of him.
Though these two girls hadn't met many times, each meeting was wordless—this was the first time they got along so harmoniously.
…
As night fell, Tianlin woke from his rest and walked to the balcony. Qian Renxue was standing there alone, looking troubled.
"Sister Xue, what's wrong?" Tianlin asked as he approached.
"Xiao Tian, you're awake!" Qian Renxue turned around. "It's nothing. I already know what happened. I just can't believe you and Ning Fengzhi set up such a grand scheme, turning my mother's frontline army into an isolated force, forcing her and Grandpa to fight you and Chen Xin, determining the outcome in one move. I didn't even have a chance to join the battlefield."
"This was the fastest way I could think of to end the war. I just didn't expect the battle to drive Bibi Dong to such extremes and make her fall under someone's scheme, becoming a puppet of the Evil Spirit Pearl," Tianlin said helplessly.
Qian Renxue looked at Tianlin. "Do you regret it?"
Tianlin answered without hesitation, "No. If I had another chance, I'd still use this tactic, and I'd do it even better, never giving the Evil Sword Immortal a chance. If he comes, I'll see that he and Bibi Dong die together."
"Then why did you come to Spirit City—just to show off your victory?" Qian Renxue was a little upset. She had thought Tianlin would apologize, maybe say he spared her mother for her sake.
But instead, Tianlin remained resolute—if anything, even more determined.
"Sister Xue, are you angry? Honestly, I don't feel guilty toward you. I'm Rongrong's husband, my parents' son, my master's disciple—they're my family. On my scale, nothing can be more important than them, not even you. Through seas of blood or treacherous paths, as long as I can lead my family to peace, I'll go through anything—no hesitation, no regrets, no guilt."
"Sister Xue, the reason I came here isn't out of guilt or regret for what I did to you or Spirit Hall. It's because, in my heart, you may never be more important than my family, but you'll always be more important than myself."
Qian Renxue blushed. "Wha—who talks like you do! Annoying!"
Tianlin smiled slightly, thinking, "There are people who talk like this—Long Ming, for example, flirted with his sister-in-law in the same way and made her fall for him completely."
At this moment, Tianlin's feelings were similar, sincere, though not as smooth as Long Ming's. Though Long Ming's sister-in-law suffered a tragic fate, at least Long Ming only loved her all his life.
Judging by Qian Renxue's reaction, this "confession" style worthy of a demon king's disciple was quite effective.