Qian Renxue's Shock, Bibi Dong's Strange Behavior

The newcomer was a young girl.

She was tall and slender, her skin white as snow. She wore an elegant white dress, and her golden hair shimmered like silk beneath the morning light. Her delicate features bore some resemblance to Bibi Dong's, lacking some of her seductive charm but possessing the unique innocence and purity of a young girl.

Su Chen recognized her not only from that familiar fragrance, but also from the gaze that was almost identical to Bibi Dong's.

Qian Renxue's golden eyes were filled with indifference.

It was the kind of coldness that seemed unconcerned with everything, even more so than His Holiness the Pope.

Her personality was much the same.

If Bibi Dong had been a pure, naive sweetheart before her fall into darkness and only became cruel afterward, then Qian Renxue had been naturally aloof from the very beginning.

After all, she was someone who had infiltrated the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace at the age of nine to replace the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe, and poisoned the second prince of Heaven Dou Empire to death at fourteen.

Her talent was unprecedented and unparalleled. She possessed Innate Full Soul Power at level twenty and had absorbed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone at the age of nine.

In that regard alone, even Su Chen could not help but admire her.

Yet someone who had been decisive in killing, calm, rational, and exceptionally gifted since childhood still became a love-struck fool after meeting Tang God King. If there was nothing fishy about that, Su Chen would never believe it.

Qian Renxue was like this, and so was Bibi Dong.

Their defeats had been utterly inexplicable.

Whether the inheritances of the Angel God and Rakshasa God were blessings or shackles planned long ago was difficult to say.

In any case, Su Chen felt that if those two had cultivated on their own, becoming gods would not have been that difficult.

However, it was not wise to involve himself with the Divine Realm's schemes at this stage. He still needed to be cautious.

Su Chen suppressed his thoughts. His gaze lingered for a moment on the girl's exquisite face before he stepped aside and made way for her.

A fragrant breeze swept past him as the two brushed shoulders in the young man's thoughts.

Just as they fully passed each other, Su Chen vaguely sensed those golden eyes suddenly turn toward him.

Fortunately, that feeling of being watched disappeared moments later.

Shaking his head, Su Chen suddenly grew curious.

At this point in time, Qian Renxue should have been in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace. Since she had returned early, she was probably here to report to Bibi Dong, wasn't she?

That was what he thought.

When he had the chance, he should probe Bibi Dong for information. After all, he had plans for Heaven Dou Empire as well.

If Qian Renxue's position in Heaven Dou was secure, she could certainly play a crucial role.

In his view, usurping a nation by killing off the royal family was both foolish and time-consuming.

No wonder they had failed in the end.

With that status and that amount of time, whether through monopolies or controlling resources, they could seize control of the country without bloodshed and without a sound.

Twenty years would be enough to replace every key political position with their own people, seize control of the economic lifelines and military forces, and secretly guide public opinion. By then, they would not even need to make a move; the royal family would naturally perish.

Of course, in the end, strength was still the most important thing. As long as one had strength, everything else was negotiable.

"Forget it. I should get some proper rest today. Once I have a laboratory, I can naturally bring out some ninjutsu that can be used at this stage."

The young man stretched as he thought this.

There was one ninjutsu he had coveted for a long time.

After all, it was Su Chen's signature ninjutsu.

In the Pope's private garden.

Bibi Dong sat quietly in the garden, resting her cheek against her jade-like arm. Her beautiful eyes stared at the flower in the vase that served as Su Chen's substitute, her mind filled with countless thoughts.

After the filter had shattered and collapsed, many things she had never understood suddenly became clear.

For example, why had Yu Xiaogang been able to rise to fame in the Spirit Master World? Wasn't the greatest reason because of her?

The greatest beneficiary of the ten great theories had been the Saintess of Spirit Hall.

What could have caused a greater sensation than that?

And then there was the fact that Yu Xiaogang had clearly moved seamlessly on to someone else, yet she had still believed that he loved her?

When she had been at her most helpless, he had probably been having a wonderful time with her cousin, hadn't he?

How laughable.

His Holiness the Pope's lashes trembled, and a glimmer of moisture flashed past.

But fortunately, she had the little one. Otherwise, how much longer would she have grieved over that ignorant, incompetent, pitiful, pathetic man?

The moment she thought of the helpless expression on the silver-haired boy's face whenever she got too close to him, Bibi Dong's mood improved considerably.

"Mm, it seems I should have the little one examine my body."

This was not an excuse to tease him. His Holiness the Pope had realized that most of her soul rings had also been absorbed according to Yu Xiaogang's so-called theories.

Although she had sensed that something was wrong at the time, because she liked Yu Xiaogang, she had subconsciously ignored it.

Now that she thought about it, those soul rings might not truly suit her. If there was any problem, it would be best to resolve it early.

Of course, if she could see the little one's flustered expression, that would be even better.

Thinking of this, His Holiness the Pope curled her lips into a rather pleased smile.

"His Holiness the Pope... You..."

Just as Bibi Dong imagined how she would tease Su Chen when the time came, an incredulous voice suddenly came from the entrance.

Bibi Dong looked up in slight panic, only to see a golden-haired girl standing at the garden entrance at some unknown time, her pretty face full of shock as she stared at her.

At that moment, Qian Renxue felt as if her entire worldview were collapsing.

Since birth, she had never seen even the faintest smile on the face of this woman who was called her mother but was actually her enemy. There had only ever been disgust, hatred, and endless gloom and despair.

For that, Qian Renxue had once made many attempts, but it was not until her father's death that she completely understood.

The two of them could never have a normal mother-daughter relationship. A mutually exploitative superior-subordinate relationship was already the limit.

And now—

What had she seen?

Bibi Dong, His Holiness the Pope of Spirit Hall, had actually revealed such a gentle, beautiful smile?

It was a breathtaking sight she had never seen, one her dead father had never seen, and one her grandfather had never seen.

Her overwhelming charm radiated without restraint, her beauty beyond compare.

Even with Qian Renxue's naturally cold temperament, her pretty face flushed slightly and her heart pounded wildly.

"You know you cannot leave Heaven Dou City whenever you please, don't you?"

Yet the incomparably cold voice immediately pulled the girl back to reality. When she looked again, Bibi Dong had already returned to that indifferent expression.

As if everything that had appeared just now had been nothing more than the girl's beautiful illusion.

Qian Renxue felt as though she could barely breathe.

But moments later, she adjusted herself and resumed the same indifferent expression as the person before her.

"The second prince of Heaven Dou Empire will disappear within three years. Who is the next target?"

Qian Renxue spoke without the slightest emotional fluctuation. With just a few casual words, the fate of one of the most noble figures in an empire had been decided: death.

"If you came here over something like this alone, then I am very disappointed in you."

Her wine-red eyes stared coldly at the golden-haired girl before her. "The third prince, the fourth prince—do not spare anyone who might threaten your claim to that position. Also, you can use poison at most one more time."

"Mm, understood."

"Enough. You may leave. Remember, do not let the Heaven Dou royal family notice anything amiss. Otherwise, if the plan is affected, you know the consequences yourself."

His Holiness the Pope waved her hand and no longer looked at her, instead focusing on that ordinary flower.

A gentle smile appeared at the corner of her lips once more.

Qian Renxue had intended to turn and leave, but upon seeing this scene, her steps came to an abrupt halt.

The heart she had forcibly calmed instantly rippled, then surged into towering waves.

There was shock, disbelief, and even a trace of jealousy she herself failed to notice.

For some reason, the silver-haired boy she had just encountered suddenly surfaced in her mind.

His aura had been incredibly powerful, and his attitude upon seeing her had been so indifferent. He had not seemed like a child at all, which was why she had given him a second glance.

Now that she thought about it, it seemed he had come out from here.

Could Bibi Dong's strange state have something to do with him?