A Dislikable Person

After leaving Qian Renxue's room, Su Cheng rubbed his fingers together, still feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

Although the time and place are not suitable or convenient for doing much else, it's still okay to simply satisfy our cravings.

After dealing with Qian Renxue's matter regarding the Angel Set, he prepared to leave the Elder Hall and head to the Pope's Palace.

If nothing unexpected happens, Zhu Zhuqing and Bibi Dong should be waiting over there right now.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a slender figure dressed in Blue-Gold Palace Dress walked gracefully towards them.

The jade belt around her waist was also engraved with intricate gold patterns, which tightened her slender waist and perfectly highlighted her graceful figure.

She was extremely beautiful, especially her eyes, which looked exceptionally clear and pure, giving her a unique, otherworldly quality.

Su Cheng glanced at Ah Yin, but didn't seem to care too much.

This wasn't the first time they had met.

Although the other party did not have the status of an elder, they had been living in the Elder Hall for more than a year, seemingly with the special permission of Pope Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu's side did not express any objection.

However, given her current qualifications, there's nothing wrong with this arrangement.

It wasn't originally necessary for elders to reside in the Elder Hall.

Moreover, her foundation is extraordinary. She has already reached the level of Soul Saint at such a young age, so it is almost a certainty that she will become Titled Douluo in the future.

Wait, cultivation level...

"Huh?"

Su Cheng suddenly stopped, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes as he looked at the other person. "Soul Douluo?"

It has only been a little over a year.

After Ah Yin was reborn and reshaped, she directly returned to the Soul Saint level and condensed her Seventh Soul Ring, but it was only at the early stage of Soul Saint.

After her rebirth, although her talent was extraordinary, there was no reason for her to reach level 80 in such a short time.

Moreover, where did she get her Soul Ring from?

This aura...

"Have you been to the Blue Silver Grass Forest?" Su Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly, stopped, and asked.

In fact, this was the first time Su Cheng had spoken to Ah Yin since she joined the Spirit Hall. Before this, he had basically ignored her completely.

However, he didn't seem unfamiliar with it, and it wasn't much different from usual.

Or rather, he treats all strangers this way, except for those close to him.

After a long time, when Su Cheng took the initiative to speak to her again, Ah Yin felt flattered and a little nervous.

He then nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I went there a while ago."

"Was your Eighth Soul Ring also formed there?"

"Yes."

"You do have some understanding," Su Cheng thought, increasingly surprised.

Logically speaking, transformed Soul Beast can only generate Soul Ring on their own before reaching level 70.

Once they advance to level 70 and enter maturity, they will need to condense Soul Ring by killing Soul Beast, just like human Soul Master.

Ah Yin's level 70 Soul Ring was directly formed with the help of the Blue Silver King and countless Blue Silver Grass at that time.

However, such an opportunity can only exist once.

The Blue Silver King's strength is limited, and he absolutely cannot help Ah Yin, who is the Blue Silver Emperor, to further tap into her bloodline potential.

He hadn't expected that the other party would do this so quietly.

Besides having personally witnessed and experienced the scene of condensing one's own Soul Ring, there must be other reasons.

If that's the case...

A flash of golden light appeared in Su Cheng's eyes.

As expected, in True Vision, Ah Yin's foundation was exceptionally pure, and her understanding of the Innate Skill Second Scroll was even deeper than that of everyone else, including Qian Renxue.

If her soul were not strong enough, she would not be able to deeply activate the power of her bloodline.

That's not all; she is also quite adept at using the Soul Power.

The reason for this situation may be her unique life form, her long-term existence as Spirit Body, or her exceptionally pure physical constitution—a combination of factors.

However, it seems that Ah Yin's potential has indeed exceeded his initial expectations.

After thinking for a moment, Su Cheng took out two manuscripts from his Soul Tool and handed them over, saying, "This is for you."

"What is this?" Ah Yin looked at him, her expression somewhat strange.

"The complete Innate Skill First Scroll, and the cultivation method for the Innate Skill Third Scroll," Su Cheng said calmly.

"Besides the two volumes of cultivation techniques that I published, there are some bloodline purification techniques in the first volume that I haven't fully taught you. This part may or may not be useful to you, but you can give it a try."

"The key is the third volume, which contains a cultivation method for condensing all the different kinds of energy in the body. I call this power Innate Power, and you may be able to cultivate it successfully."

As he spoke, a layer of transparent flames emanated from his body.

At the same time, a terrifying and intense pressure emanated from the area.

This is the pressure brought about by the difference in power levels, just like the absolute suppression of ordinary energy by divine power.

Even if it were Soul Power, even if it were wielded by Titled Douluo, it wouldn't produce this effect.

Since there are no battles on ordinary days, Su Cheng certainly wouldn't take such power around to show off.

In fact, only a few people in the Spirit Hall knew about his special power.

Ah Yin stared in surprise at the layer of transparent energy, then took the two scrolls of manuscripts.

"You... you trust me that much?" She gently stroked the cover pages with her slender fingers, her eyelids slightly lowered as she spoke softly, concealing the look of surprise in her eyes.

That power was extraordinary; the other party had only publicly revealed the cultivation method of using Soul Power to nourish the physical body and soul within the Spirit Hall.

"I don't believe it," Su Cheng said bluntly. "I just don't care."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ah Yin's slowly sliding fingers stopped abruptly, and she lowered her head without saying a word.

The words I wanted to say are now impossible to utter.

"Practice diligently, for your own sake."

Su Cheng glanced at her, then strode away from the Elder Hall.

He genuinely didn't care.

These volumes of the Innate Skill will eventually be made public. The reason we haven't done so yet is because these techniques have too great an impact, and the process of implementing them requires careful consideration.

However, truly cultivating Innate Power is by no means easy.

Even if they possessed all the techniques, the number of cultivators in the world who could truly achieve something, including people like them, would probably not exceed ten.

Achieving this is extremely difficult, requiring talent, opportunity, comprehension, and the accumulation of a solid foundation in the early stages.

At least Tang Hao and Tang San had no chance of succeeding.

Because they obtained the Divine Slaughter's Domain.

The path of spiritual practice is like this: every step and every choice is crucial and will determine the final destination.

Often, the future is already determined from the very first step.

Of course, even if the father and son did indeed cultivate Innate Power, Su Cheng would not be worried; on the contrary, he would be happy about it.

Each additional person who successfully cultivates Innate Power is a further step in his progress.

Besides receiving worldly rewards, learning from the reasons for these people's success is also very helpful for his research on spiritual practices.

"A Yin, are you free right now? Would you like to come with me to the Back Mountain Flower Garden?"

Just as Su Cheng left and Ah Yin was still feeling somewhat annoyed, a slightly effeminate and sharp voice suddenly came from behind.

She snapped out of her daze, looked at Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan had appeared at the entrance of the Elder Hall, nodded and replied softly, "Okay, I'll be there later."

Even she herself did not expect that since joining the Spirit Hall more than a year ago, the person closest to her would be Chrysanthemum Douluo, her former mortal enemy.

When Qian Xunji came to capture her when she was still a transformed Soul Beast, he was accompanied by two elders, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo. It is said that Qian Xunji was seriously injured in that battle and eventually died.

Although when she joined the Spirit Hall, she was already prepared to let go of that hatred and start a new life.

But when Chrysanthemum Douluo first came to my door, I still felt a little awkward.

On the contrary, Chrysanthemum Douluo, who was on the losing side at the time, showed no resentment and even took the initiative to ask her for advice on various plant care and cultivation knowledge.

After spending time together, she understood why the other person behaved that way.

For Chrysanthemum Elder, there were only two things that mattered most in life.

One is his longtime partner in life and death Ghost Douluo; the other is growing flowers.

Apart from these two, everything else seems to come second.

"Okay, I'll head over now. That old poisoner is still waiting for me."

"..."

After Chrysanthemum Douluo left, the door to Qian Renxue's room upstairs in the Elder Hall slammed open with a loud "bang".

A woman in white with blonde hair appeared in the third-floor corridor. Her cold, sharp gaze swept across the Elder Hall below, finally settling on the figure in Blue-Gold Palace Dress, holding two manuscripts.

"Hey, what are you holding in your hand?" she said coldly.

"..." Ah Yin looked up at the top of the building upon hearing the sound.

He then regained his composure, turned and left without a word, completely ignoring the matter.

Seeing her attitude again, Qian Renxue's eyes turned somewhat gloomy.

"What an annoying guy..."

Ah Yin returned to her room, gently opened the manuscript, and began to carefully peruse it.

She saw other possibilities in this set of techniques.

Although theoretically speaking, the content in the first volume of the Innate Skill about purifying bloodlines and granting cultivation aptitude to ordinary people who would otherwise be unable to become cultivators is by no means a good thing for the Soul Beast Clan.

After all, the more people who can become Soul Master, the more people will hunt Soul Beast to absorb Soul Ring, which will further squeeze the already limited living space of Soul Beast.

But Ah Yin had followed Su Cheng for a long time and knew quite a lot about him.

She knew the other party had many other ideas and didn't like this method of using Soul Beast energy to enhance their abilities.

These techniques are merely pathways to the ultimate goal; there is certainly room for further improvement in the future.

Even she herself learned from Su Cheng's methods, which helped her successfully advance to become Soul Douluo without hunting Soul Beast.

As she watched, she unconsciously drifted off into her own thoughts.

In fact, Ah Yin couldn't understand why she should continue to live in Spirit City.

Apart from Chrysanthemum Douluo, the greatest tolerance others showed her was simply to ignore her.

Even this attitude was perhaps out of consideration for Su Cheng, or for Pope Bibi Dong.

Someone with a special status like Qian Renxue, who is also unscrupulous, obviously wouldn't give her that kind of face.

However, Ah Yin had long since gotten used to it.

Perhaps they wanted to see just how far Su Cheng could go, or perhaps there was some other reason.

Although she was not happy there, she ultimately did not leave.

And I don't plan to leave in the future.

After a long while, Ah Yin's somewhat unfocused gaze refocused, and then she stretched gently.

The sleeves of her long palace dress slipped down, revealing her delicate, fair wrists and equally slender, white arms hidden beneath.

Her arms were raised high, forming a perfect curve with the prominent bust line below her long neck and her outstretched waist.

Like a fully drawn, supple longbow, she was bathed in golden light from the sunlight streaming in through the window, exuding a stunning allure unlike anything she had ever shown before.

He then got up and looked out the window.

The dazzling sunlight was a little blinding, causing her to subconsciously squint her eyes slightly and use her long eyelashes to shield them.

"The weather is nice. Today we can make better use of our domain power to help those children get through their vulnerable early childhood as quickly as possible..."

Ah Yin turned and walked out the door.

Thinking of the precious plants that Dugu Bo had recently transplanted, her steps became lighter again.

On the other side, after leaving the Elder Hall, Su Cheng went directly to the Pope's Palace, which was not far away.

Just as they reached a short distance from the Council Hall, they saw Zhu Zhuqing walking out of it, her face flushed.

Su Cheng was immediately puzzled.

He immediately and discreetly blocked her path.

To his surprise, the other person walked straight towards him as if they were completely unaware.

She didn't react until the two were about to collide, and in a startled moment, she leaped back several meters away.

Upon seeing who it was, the person immediately bristled like a cat with its fur standing on end, shouting, "Are you blind? Why are you blocking my way?!"

Su Cheng raised an eyebrow, puzzled, and asked, "Have you taken the wrong medicine? Why are you so angry?"

Zhu Zhuqing was too lazy to say anything more, and even less likely to explain to him what she had just talked about with Bibi Dong. She snorted coldly and was about to walk around him and leave.

"Hey, wait a minute." Seeing this, Su Cheng quickly reached out and pressed his hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

Judging from her expression, she doesn't seem to be targeted by Bibi Dong, and besides, Bibi Dong has no reason to target Zhu Zhuqing.

There was no conflict between the two of them, and they had just become master and disciple. On their way back to Spirit City, they displayed a deep and sincere master-disciple relationship.

So you're angry with yourself?

Because I just went to the Elder Hall?

"What's it to you?"

Before he could even ponder the problem, Zhu Zhuqing impatiently shook off his arm, but still refused to look him in the eye.

He simply said firmly, "Don't waste your time here. Hurry up and go inside. Your teacher is waiting for you."

After saying that, he quickly walked away.

"Why--"

Su Cheng called out, but seeing that the other party ignored him, he felt somewhat helpless.

Then she thought again. Zhu Zhuqing's temperament has always been like this. However, she is calm and rational, so she wouldn't do anything. She should ask her later.

Shaking his head, he turned and continued walking towards the hall...

Council Hall, Bibi Dong stared blankly at Zhu Zhuqing's departing figure, her mind somewhat muddled.

Sharp fingernails had already pierced into the flesh of her palms, blood trickling down her finger bones and dripping to the ground, but she was completely unaware.

At this moment, Su Cheng pushed open the door and walked in. His nostrils twitched slightly as he smelled a very faint scent of blood. He asked in surprise, "You're injured?"

"Huh? No." Bibi Dong was startled upon hearing this, only then realizing her lapse in composure.

He quickly loosened his fist, and the wound healed rapidly.

Su Cheng's expression was somewhat strange. She frowned, realizing that something seemed wrong. Why were these two acting so strangely?

He then tentatively asked, "I just ran into Zhu Zhuqing outside, and she seemed to be in a bad mood?"

Hearing this, Bibi Dong felt a little displeased, but her face remained unchanged. She simply chuckled and said, "What, are you afraid I'll bully her?"

"No, that's not it." Su Cheng said somewhat awkwardly, explaining, "It seems like she came for me."

"Oh, I don't know then. You should think more about what you've done."

"..." He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Bibi Dong's words seemed to carry a hint of sarcasm and mockery.

Su Cheng coughed lightly, not wanting to say more about this matter.

He quickly changed the subject, saying, "Your His Holiness the Pope, the Rakshasa Divine Power within you should no longer be able to have a significant impact on your soul. You can try cultivating the Innate Skill Third Scroll."

"Whether it succeeds or not, it will make it easier for me to find the problem and find a way to resolve it in time."

As he brought up the matter, their eyes darted away for a moment, and the scene fell silent.

The scenes that unfolded in the Lotus Pond deep within my sea of consciousness are still vivid in my mind to this day.

After a long pause, Bibi Dong nodded and broke the silence by speaking first.

"I will. I can cultivate on my own for the time being. When I encounter a bottleneck that I can't break through, you can find a way to help me solve it."

"Alright." Su Cheng was taken aback for a moment, but for some reason, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, this was a decision that Bibi Dong made after thinking about it for a long time since she left Hell Road.

She genuinely wanted to spend some time alone first.

She still had many things to do: the concept of the Spirit Hall Empire, her own cultivation, and the arrangements for Qian Renxue and Zhu Zhuqing.

At times like these, it's even more important to stay calm, observe more, and think more deeply in order to make clearer judgments and plans for the future.

In contrast, Su Cheng's idea was much simpler.

One issue is that getting along with Bibi Dong is somewhat awkward right now, and if you add the relationship with Qian Renxue to that, it will be even more difficult to handle.

On the other hand, Bibi Dong does need to settle down and reflect for a while.

Whether it's the Lotus Pond deep within her soul or the remnants of her Rakshasa Divine Power, both need time to nurture and resolve.

If any problems arise during this period, it will be easier to find solutions in a timely manner.

Even if one wanted to use her "Water Soul" for cultivation, now would not be the time.

That place is newly built, and there are still many hidden dangers that have not been eliminated.

Bibi Dong's obsession runs too deep; she is afflicted with all three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance, and her spiritual foundation is far inferior to that of myself.

If they were to start developing it now, it would be tantamount to destroying its foundation. Su Cheng would definitely not do something so short-sighted as to drain the pond to catch all the fish.

"By the way, Your His Holiness the Pope. We need to go to the Slaughter City again in a while. Besides picking up Xie Yue and the others, we mainly need to meet the Slaughter King."

"Why would you want to see him?" Bibi Dong asked, somewhat puzzled.

She had no objection to receiving those young Soul Master from the Spirit Hall, but she figured Su Cheng probably wouldn't care too much about them, so he was probably mainly after the "Slaughter King" he mentioned.

"That Slaughter King has a close relationship with the Rakshasa God. We must deal with him first, otherwise he will be a hidden danger."

"He has connections with the Rakshasa God?!" Bibi Dong was shocked upon hearing this.

As the chosen successor of the Rakshasa God, she knew nothing about this matter.

"Pretty terrifying, right?" Su Cheng glanced at her. "This Rakshasa God is truly a strange character who thrives on chaos. To be honest, I think it's more accurate to say that she treats you as an interesting toy rather than a successor."

"..." Bibi Dong's eyes immediately darkened.

"You don't need to be so angry," Su Cheng said calmly.

"In the end, the so-called gods of this world are nothing more than more powerful beings."

"Their way of thinking isn't necessarily that different from ordinary people. The strong naturally have privileges; that has always been a truth."

"Once you become stronger than them, your roles will be reversed."

Bibi Dong nodded silently upon hearing this, but a hint of malice flashed in her eyes.

"Tsk tsk, the way you look at me..." Su Cheng clicked his tongue, somewhat speechless.

It seems that Rakshasa God did not choose the wrong person.

Even though she had just undergone a spiritual baptism, her nature remained quite cruel.

However, it was perhaps precisely because of the effect of that "starlight" that her inherent desires were amplified.

However, while amplifying her abilities, it also helped her temper her character and the foundation of her soul.

Beneath the beautiful, pure white Lotus Pond, with its fragrant aroma, the layers of silt used for rooting have always been an indispensable part.

"..." However, Bibi Dong, upon hearing his remark, quickly composed herself, completely concealing the dangerous aura that had unconsciously surfaced, and regained her previous calm demeanor.

Su Cheng didn't say much, but instead said, "At that time, you can try to bring that Slaughter City directly under the command of the Spirit Hall. But don't be too direct, that place is involved with more than one god, so we can't directly intervene."

"That's a good idea. The Slaughter City is a suitable place to serve as a subordinate institution of the Spirit Hall," Bibi Dong said thoughtfully.

"There's something else," Su Cheng said thoughtfully, "Do you have some designs on the Two Empires?"

"There are indeed some arrangements," Bibi Dong admitted frankly, her eyes flickering slightly. "You're interested in this kind of thing too?"

Su Cheng nodded slightly. "Interested. If you can accomplish the unification, I can also benefit from it."

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes, and she murmured softly, "I knew it..."

"What?" Her voice was somewhat muffled, and Su Cheng did not hear the specific content clearly.

"It's nothing." Bibi Dong shook her head. "Before we talk about this, I have a suggestion. See if you're interested."

"What?"

"What do you think about letting Zhu Zhuqing accompany you on a training trip?"

"This... this is acceptable." Su Cheng's eyes flickered, and he said hesitantly.

He had originally planned to give Zhu Zhuqing some pointers, as she had a great chance of cultivating Innate Power.

However, considering Qian Renxue's attitude, he was originally planning to carefully consider what specific methods he should use to achieve this goal.

But he never expected that Bibi Dong would be so understanding and willing to take the blame, so of course he wouldn't refuse.

"You seem a little hesitant? Then forget it, I'll personally instruct this apprentice."

"What? Wait, that's not what I meant. I think what you said makes a lot of sense."

"Heh." Bibi Dong chuckled. "Su Cheng, I've never seen anyone who can pretend better than you."

"I think you might have some misunderstanding about me," Su Cheng said dryly.

He was just trying to achieve the best of both worlds so as not to hurt the people around him. How can you say he was faking it?

Let me briefly discuss the issue of Soul Power, because some readers seemed to have some questions about the Lotus Pond in Bibi Dong's soul.

The original novel briefly touched on the issue of Soul Power; this is an extension of that setting, not something I made up. In the original story, during the Spirit Master Competition, Tang San and his friends used the Shrek Seven Monsters' Fusion Technique against the Godwind Academy, which caused Tang San to unleash the Clear Sky True Body. At that time, a large amount of Tang San's Soul Power was drained. Even Soul Saint need Soul Power to unleash their Martial Soul Avatar.

Furthermore, as foreshadowed earlier in this article, the Soul Master in the Douluo World don't have in-depth research on the soul, and there are no related books. The protagonist is in the third Simulation, starting his research from scratch, so progress is slow and far less efficient than research on bloodlines and the physical body.

The catalyst for researching Soul Power was Xiao Xue's soul mutation, followed by her third Simulation through self-study.

I was going to talk about this yesterday, but I forgot.