Ninth Elder

After several minutes of staring at each other, Xu Yu took the initiative to break the silence.

"Greetings, Teacher. I am Xu Yu. With the Pope's permission, I have come specifically to study under you!"

After saying that, Xu Yu still felt somewhat uneasy. If the Ninth Elder kicked him out right away, he would be utterly humiliated in Spirit City from then on.

"Mm. I happened to be in need of a student. Come in. I started applying to Your Excellency the Pope for a student years ago, yet I never expected it would take until now for one to be sent over."

Damn. Bibi Dong really knew how to handle people.

She had even said this was compensation for him. Was she just compensating him by neatly combining both sides' needs? She had gotten far too good a deal.

Still, this elder seemed fairly easy to talk to. Though he was angry, Xu Yu felt it was manageable. If this Ninth Elder treated him well, perhaps he could stop her from joining the future battle against the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Titled Douluo all had their own private residences, with beautiful scenery and complete facilities. There was no need to worry about daily life at all. Yet the Ninth Elder's courtyard was utterly quiet, with only her living there.

It differed greatly from the neighboring courtyards, where beautiful maidservants came and went constantly.

Filled with anticipation, the young man stepped into the private courtyard. Before his smile could fade, a fist carrying the sound of tearing air slammed into his lower abdomen.

Clutching his stomach, Xu Yu curled up on the ground like a cooked shrimp. He struggled to lift his head, staring in disbelief at the Ninth Elder, who was rubbing her clenched pink fist.

Why had she hit him?

There was no one else in this courtyard. Had she killed them all? No wonder. Did Bibi Dong know about this? She definitely did. Did she want to silence him? As far as he knew, he had never offended her. Hadn't he handed over all three soul bones?

At that moment, in this unfamiliar world, Xu Yu felt fear spreading through him. This did not seem like some hot-blooded anime. This was another world filled with bloodshed and slaughter, where death could come at any time.

Was he about to die? His thoughts had not even caught up. He had not yet enjoyed the charms of this other world, and now he was going to leave again just like that.

It was impossible not to regret it. He could only blame himself for being too slow-witted, for actually believing this was a society ruled by law.

He threw back his head and laughed madly. Several cracking sounds rang out, and two waves of piercing pain surged into his mind. Xu Yu nearly lost the will to live as he glared furiously at the woman who had almost crushed his arms. The Ninth Elder's heroic, valiant face now looked utterly hateful in his eyes.

The cracking continued for who knew how long. His entire body had been ravaged, and Xu Yu was already numb. After trampling him thoroughly, the Ninth Elder tossed him into a medicine vat filled with medicinal liquid and even put the lid on it. Was she treating him as a medicine man and directly refining him into a drug?

Dazed, Xu Yu felt as though a long time had passed before he slowly woke up. When he opened his eyes, everything was pitch-black. Seemingly noticing that he was awake, the person above lifted the lid, revealing a heroic face that Xu Yu found utterly hateful.

"What are you trying to do?" The Ninth Elder reached out and felt and squeezed his body as though inspecting whether some medicine was up to standard. Xu Yu angrily demanded.

He was going to die anyway, so he might as well get some satisfaction out of his mouth.

That was right, he had to get some verbal satisfaction. He filled his mouth with saliva and spat it straight onto the Ninth Elder's fair, clean face.

Damn... The Ninth Elder had clearly not expected Xu Yu to do that, and for a moment, her face was covered in spit. Wiping the moisture from her face, she unleashed a sweeping kick. Her long, straight leg sent both the vat and Xu Yu flying into the courtyard wall.

Coughing, Xu Yu rolled up from the ground and realized that his body seemed to have fully recovered. Before he could think further, he instantly summoned the Brilliant Gold Scepter.

Healing.

Recovery.

Light of Assistance, all attributes increased by thirty percent.

Divine Decree of Light, localized time acceleration.

Accelerated by the Divine Decree of Light, the entire sequence was completed in one fluid motion. Four buffs were applied in an instant. It was the first time the Ninth Elder had encountered this style of fighting. As a faint look of surprise appeared on her face, four negative buffs were simultaneously inflicted upon her.

Compared to that, this should be enough time for him to escape, right? Xu Yu was overjoyed. He had never expected a Titled Douluo to stand still and let him stack negative buffs on her.

So, before the Ninth Elder could react, he bolted outside at full speed. As he ran, he wailed like a ghost and howled that the Ninth Elder of Spirit Hall was a pervert who wanted to kill him to silence him.

Sure enough, several strands of spiritual power swept over. Filled with suspicion and curiosity, they turned toward the courtyard Xu Yu was fleeing from. The Ninth Elder instantly destroyed the negative buffs, but from those meaningful strands of spiritual power and Xu Yu's shrieking as he fled, she understood what had happened. She immediately flew into a rage from embarrassment, caught up to Xu Yu in an instant, and dragged the terrified youth back into the courtyard.

She sealed the courtyard, and the two faced each other. Xu Yu was terrified. By then, the Ninth Elder knew he had misunderstood her. She was speechless that he could misunderstand things this badly. She had spent a long time gathering those body-tempering materials, and as for beating him up, it had been entirely to help him absorb the medicinal liquid better.

Her good intentions had been misunderstood. Any other elder would not only have chopped Xu Yu into eighteen pieces but would certainly never accept him as a disciple again. Yet Xu Yu's martial soul was quite similar to hers. Even after being spat on, the Ninth Elder still had no intention of giving up on this disciple. Instead, she coldly explained the entire situation.

"I know your name is Xu Yu. Many elders in our Spirit Hall wanted the seven of you. Of course, compared to the other six, very few wanted you. After all, auxiliary-system soul masters who can cultivate to Titled Douluo are exceedingly rare. As for why Your Excellency the Pope assigned you to me, it is probably because you resemble my deceased younger brother. If you do not mind, you may call me Sister in the future. That might make me very happy."

"Oh, then Sister, may I ask how old you are this year?"

The word "Sister" had originally made the Ninth Elder beam with delight, but the question that followed did not sound nearly as adorable.

The Ninth Elder fixed the young man before her with a death stare. Xu Yu truly wanted to slap himself. She had cultivated to Titled Douluo, so she was definitely some old spinster. Why had he asked such a stupid question? She was probably old enough to be his mother, maybe even his grandmother.

Without replying, the Ninth Elder stood and rubbed Xu Yu's head. Xu Yu was terrified that, in a fit of anger, she would crush his skull. He hurriedly found an excuse to slip away first.

"Ahem, Mom... no, no, Sister, Your Excellency the Pope has business with me. I'll be going first, haha."

"Going?" She grabbed the youth who had run to the entrance, locked him against her with one arm, and narrowed her eyes. "Mom, was it? Should I break your legs and make you my son?"

"Sister, don't joke like that. The two of us look so much like siblings standing together. That kind of joke is not funny at all." Though he was held tightly against her, with his face sunk into the Ninth Elder's soft body in a rather comfortable way, Xu Yu could not be happy amid the suffocating feeling and the sinister tone in her voice. He hurriedly defended and explained himself.

The Ninth Elder snorted coldly. Feeling somewhat guilty, she released him. When she reached the door, she stopped, turned back, and said calmly, "There is no need for you to go see the Pope."

"Why?"

"Because you slept in that medicine vat for three days. On the day you overslept, the Pope lost her temper after waiting for you too long. You had best leave Spirit City for a while and wait for the Pope's anger to subside before returning. Otherwise, you might be chopped up in Pope's Palace, and I will not be able to plead your case."

Fuck. Xu Yu's expression changed. Damn it.

Wasn't it because you beat me up for no reason? But the Ninth Elder had already vanished without a trace. Xu Yu was on the verge of tears as he quietly slipped out of Spirit City to lie low.

However, on the way, he heard that the Clear Sky Douluo had actually stormed Spirit Hall and taken Tang San away. Xu Yu was so shocked that his mouth hung open. As expected of Tang Hao, a role model for the rest of us.

But when he heard that Tang Hao had been forced to flee north with Tang San, Xu Yu began to entertain some wicked thoughts. He knew where Tang Hao had hidden that hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Empress right leg soul bone. Should he...

Do it. He had figured it out as well. Douluo Continent was fraught with danger. Improving his ability to stay alive came first.