Reporting the Saintess's Elopement

At a quiet lakeside in Spirit City on the Douluo Continent, a perfectly matched couple held hands and faced the lake, whispering to each other.

"Xiao Gang, I've already prepared everything. Tomorrow, I'll leave Spirit City with you!"

"I've also written to my father, asking him to send people to receive us. Once we reach the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, even if your teacher objects, she won't be able to do anything to us."

The two whispering lovers did not know that a paper cup hung from a large tree beside them, with a nearly invisible thread extending straight for a hundred meters.

Their voices were faint, but fortunately, there was no wind today. The vibrations of their voices traveled through the thread to a point a hundred meters away.

Three people were hidden in a small copse a hundred meters away—two men and one woman. One of them wore a black robe that concealed her entire body. Even her head was mostly hidden beneath a large hood, leaving only her chin exposed.

Although her face was concealed, anyone could still sense that she was in a terrible mood and seething with anger.

"Pope, please calm down. This matter should be handled with careful consideration. The Saintess is still only a girl, and her mind isn't mature enough. It's perfectly normal for her to be deceived.

"Everyone has to experience certain things in life. Rather than letting her get deceived at some unknown time and place in the future, it would be better to let her be deceived once now, while everything remains under our control.

"As long as she survives this ordeal, her mind will surely mature greatly. She won't be so easily deceived in the future, and she'll devote more energy to cultivation, allowing her to become a Titled Douluo faster and better."

Seeing that Qian Xunji's rage was about to erupt, Deacon Tian Hao hurriedly offered his advice.

With Bibi Dong's personality and that brain of hers, she would experience something like this sooner or later. Even without Yu Xiaogang, there would be a Wang Xiaogang, San Xiaogang, Gong Xiaogang, or someone similar. Experiencing it once now and learning her lesson would make her less likely to be deceived in the future.

Just look at those Big Sisters from his previous life who had suffered emotional wounds. In the end, every one of them had become more shrewd than the last.

"What you wrote in your letter is right. Not only must Dong'er's person remain in Spirit Hall, but her heart must remain here as well. We'll proceed according to your plan.

"Bishop Ling Yuan, cooperate with Deacon Tian Hao to handle this matter. Later, someone will come examine that fool's memories."

Suppressing his anger, Qian Xunji gave his orders before turning and leaving.

Though he was furious, he knew that the Most Important thing now was to keep that Wicked Disciple's body and heart in Spirit Hall and make her recognize that fool's true nature.

He had received a report earlier that the disciple had been getting quite close to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's clan leader's son. He had initially thought that she wanted to use him to scheme against the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, so he had not paid it much attention and had allowed Bibi Dong to do as she pleased.

After all, Bibi Dong's talent was peerless. She was a rare wielder of Twin Martial Souls, and both were Top Level Martial Souls. In the future, she could reach Level 99 Peak Douluo through her own efforts alone, and might even become a god.

At that point, Spirit Hall would surely unify the continent, with no one capable of stopping it.

Bibi Dong would inevitably become a person in power, perhaps even the Pope and a female emperor. Making some plans in advance could serve as practice for her.

But who would have thought that this would be the result? Before she had even made any schemes against the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, she had gotten herself involved instead.

If Ling Yuan had not come to report it, he would not have known that the disciple actually intended to leave Spirit Hall and elope with someone.

Fortunately, the letter he had submitted earlier contained a corresponding solution. Otherwise, given his temper, he would have already captured that Wicked Disciple and locked her up.

"Congratulations on finally becoming a deacon!"

After respectfully acknowledging the order, Ling Yuan only congratulated Tian Hao after Qian Xunji had left, though a hint of disdain colored her expression.

Getting promoted through this sort of method was truly rather despicable.

"You think I did something wrong?"

Seeing Ling Yuan's disdain, Tian Hao asked her in return.

"At least as a woman, I don't approve of what you did."

Ling Yuan genuinely disliked it. Though she had never been in love, as a woman, she still held a beautiful longing for it.

Tian Hao did not take it to heart. Instead, he asked, "What do you think would have happened if I hadn't reported it in advance?

"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's clan leader's son abducted our Spirit Hall Saintess and eloped with her. The Pope would certainly send people—or even lead them personally—to pursue them. If Yu Xiaogang died during the pursuit, Spirit Hall and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan might well go to war. Many people would die then, and you might be one of them.

"And the Saintess certainly wouldn't fare well after being captured and brought back. Imprisonment would be unavoidable. If she still refused to yield, given the Pope's domineering nature, she might resort to extreme methods. By then, she would be practically ruined.

"Do you want to see such an ending?

"Even if they escaped into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, do you think the Pope would give up because of how much she values the Saintess?

"Spirit Hall can afford to lose a wielder of Twin Martial Souls, but we absolutely cannot tolerate the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan gaining another wielder of Twin Martial Souls.

"Besides, would the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan really be willing to go to war with Spirit Hall for the sake of one Uncertain factor?

"So their ending was destined to be a tragedy. The only one to blame is that stupid Yu Xiaogang. The Saintess could be ignorant—women tend to favor emotional thinking, while men tend to favor rational thinking—but Yu Xiaogang was a man. There was no excusing his ignorance.

"If he had any self-awareness, he should never have accepted this love. It would only harm both himself and others.

"Or perhaps he knew the risks involved but took a chance out of wishful thinking, gambling on that sliver of possibility without considering what kind of negative consequences or danger he might bring to the Saintess."

Ling Yuan was rendered speechless. After thinking it over carefully, she realized that things really might have turned out that way.

And once Spirit Hall and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan went to war, as a bishop-level member of Spirit Hall, she would very likely be sent to the Frontline.

She had no advantage against Soul Masters from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

"Then what do we do now?"

Looking at the two people holding hands a hundred meters away, Ling Yuan could not think of a good solution for the moment.

Although she was nearly forty, she had never experienced a relationship and genuinely had no idea how to deal with this sort of matter.

"After the Saintess leaves, just take the Recording Soul Tool over there and secretly film them. Be careful not to let him notice you.

"Oh, and remember to put on this Mask."

As Tian Hao spoke, he took a Mask from his pocket and handed it to Ling Yuan. He would probably have to fight that Grandmaster later, so this was an essential prop.

"Clang!"

He gently drew the sword at his waist and made his final preparations.

He had begun forging this sword after following his parents to Spirit City. He spent three hours every day for three years repeatedly tempering a piece of Special Metal, Tungsten Steel, until it reached the Thousand Refined level and all impurities had been removed.

Unfortunately, it had not triggered the Spiritual Light Burst from Douluo III, but it had still greatly increased the Tungsten Steel's density, making it even harder.

He then spent another year forging it into the Thousand Refined Tungsten Steel Sword he wielded now. From hilt to blade, it had been made from a single piece of Tungsten Steel.

The blade had the Eight-Sided Han Sword design from his previous life, though it was considerably larger—four fingers wide and weighing ten pounds.

It was also his strongest weapon at this stage. As for his Martial Soul, it was actually very powerful in a certain sense, comparable to Huo Gua's ten-thousand-years-later Martial Soul. It simply could not be used in combat. It was a support-type Martial Soul, so he had practiced Swordsmanship over the years, especially the One Move of drawing his sword. He could be considered quite fast now.

"I'm clearly your direct superior, so why am I the one listening to you? Even the Pope listened to the plan you wrote in your letter."

Ling Yuan muttered in confusion. As a Soul Saint, she was the direct superior of this youngster and was several ranks above him, yet she now had to listen to him instead.

What made her most curious was the Pope's attitude. Why would he listen to this boy's advice?

She always felt that the two of them had known each other for a long time, and there were also some unreasonable aspects to this boy.

"The Pope is wise and mighty. How could he refuse to listen to other people's advice? As long as it's reasonable, His Excellency will naturally consider it."

After finishing his final inspection, Tian Hao replied casually and looked toward the two people by the lake.

"They don't even know to change locations for their trysts. They come here every time. Good thing I set up arrangements in so many places. And don't you know that showing off your affection only gets you killed faster?"

Tian Hao complained inwardly. He had been keeping an eye on Yu Xiaogang for a long time, having started watching him the moment he learned that Yu Xiaogang had come to Spirit City.

As a transmigrator, he naturally knew how much trouble Yu Xiaogang would bring to Spirit Hall. Not only had Yu Xiaogang ruined Spirit Hall's current Saintess and future Female Pope, but the disciples he taught would later ruin both Saintesses and turn them into idiots.

He was one of the chief culprits behind Spirit Hall's and the future Spirit Hall Empire's failure. As someone already bound to Spirit Hall, Tian Hao naturally had to consider matters from Spirit Hall's standpoint and in its interests.

If not for obtaining evidence of the affair and carrying out some of his own plans, he would never have waited until now. He would have reported Yu Xiaogang to the Pope long ago.

"How did you think of making such an interesting thing? It isn't a Soul Tool, yet it can transmit voices from so far away?"

Ling Yuan pressed her ear against the paper cup, unable to understand the principle behind it.

If it had been a Soul Tool, she could have understood. But this thing had an incredibly simple structure: just two paper cups and a thread. It was simple beyond belief.

Even a Mental-Type Soul Master with spiritual perception would not have been able to detect it, because it gave off no energy fluctuations whatsoever.

"It was an accidental discovery."

After explaining casually, Tian Hao continued staring at the two people over there.

His listening device was the String Telephone from his previous life. The thread he had chosen was also quite special, coming from a type of Soul Beast resembling a silkworm. It was not only slender, but also transmitted sound vibrations perfectly, with almost no loss.

As long as there was no wind interference, it could even be used to make a String Telephone spanning several hundred meters.

"The Fallen Soul Master we captured last month has already been sentenced. All the victims' families have been notified, and the execution will take place in a few days. Are you going to attend?"

Ling Yuan suddenly asked. The department she worked in was not specifically responsible for executing Fallen Soul Masters, but this subordinate of hers had a side job handling executions. She had no idea how he had obtained that side job.

"Of course I'm going. I, Tian Hao, am irreconcilable with evil!"

Tian Hao put on a solemn, righteous expression. Executing those Fallen Soul Masters was connected to a future opportunity, so he had to accumulate as much merit as possible.