Final Assessment

"Greetings, Your Holiness! May our Pope live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!" Li Qing immediately followed behind Lin Qianxin and bowed to Bibi Dong.

The moment he finished speaking, everyone in the hall turned to look at him with strange expressions in their eyes.

"Hm?" Bibi Dong furrowed her delicate brows and heavily tapped her scepter against the floor, producing a crisp sound. Her red lips parted as she coldly said, "Are you saying I'm old?"

"No, no, no!" Li Qing hurriedly waved his hands. "Your Holiness, you misunderstand. Your peerless beauty is unmatched beneath the heavens, and your youthful grace remains undiminished. Time has not left the slightest mark upon you. How could you possibly be called old?"

"I merely meant to wish Your Holiness eternal youth for ten thousand years!"

"Oh, so I misunderstood." The corners of Bibi Dong's lips lifted slightly into a teasing smile.

"No, no, no. I simply didn't explain myself clearly!" Li Qing casually wiped the sweat beading on his forehead and said with a smile.

It had to be said that, as the Pope of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong's aura was simply too overpowering. It pressed down on Li Qing so heavily that even his nose felt stuffed.

Moreover, ever since entering the hall, he had noticed that the Pope was not in a particularly good mood. Then he recalled something from the original story: Pope Bibi Dong greatly valued and cared for Hu Liena.

Even Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong's biological daughter, had never received such concern and affection from her. Some had even later said that Hu Liena was more like Bibi Dong's daughter, while Qian Renxue was not.

Li Qing also understood why Bibi Dong had summoned him. It was nothing more than Hu Liena and Xie Yue being unable to use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill anymore!

That made it easy to understand why Bibi Dong's expression had been so grim and why she had summoned him here.

She was here to "hold him accountable."

That was why Li Qing had deliberately played a little trick earlier and praised Bibi Dong. No, it was not exactly deliberate. Li Qing could only say that he had spoken what was truly in his heart.

Wasn't Bibi Dong beautiful?

Didn't Bibi Dong look young?

Everyone loved beauty.

Everyone ought to praise it.

"Hehe!"

After hearing Li Qing's explanation, Bibi Dong could not help but laugh.

The instant Li Qing saw that faint smile on Bibi Dong's breathtakingly beautiful face, it was like a ray of warm sunlight in the depths of winter, shining upon the tip of his heart.

This feeling was rather nice!

Bibi Dong looked at the dazed figure before her and could not help shaking her head.

Li Qing's guess had actually been correct. She had summoned him here precisely to "hold him accountable," intending to use the opportunity to give him a warning. That was why her expression had been cold from the very beginning.

But who could have expected this boy to be so slick? He had actually called her "may you live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years," and said things like "eternal youth" and "peerless beauty." Seeing how serious he looked, Bibi Dong could no longer keep a straight face.

"Li Qing, you really are... sigh..."

Bibi Dong spoke helplessly.

"I understand, Your Holiness!" Li Qing patted his chest and confidently declared, "You mean I'm such an honest person, always saying nothing but the truth, right?"

Hu Liena: "..."

Xie Yue: "..."

Lin Qianxin thought, This brat... how can his skin be so thick?

Bibi Dong grinned. "Enough. I summoned you here to solve a problem. Stop sweet-talking me!"

"Yes, Your Holiness!"

Li Qing wiped the playful grin from his face and turned serious.

"The two of them." Bibi Dong pointed at Hu Liena and Xie Yue beside her. "They can no longer unleash their Martial Soul Fusion Skill."

"What?"

Li Qing wore the expression of a confused man staring at a question mark.

It was just a tiny cut. How could they no longer use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill? Was the Judgment attribute really this domineering?

"You two, demonstrate it!" Bibi Dong ordered.

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Immediately, Hu Liena and Xie Yue walked to the center of the hall and demonstrated it for Li Qing.

Sure enough, only that layer of red light appeared, but the two of them did not fuse together.

"Tell him what you feel!" Bibi Dong's clear, cold voice rang out.

"Understood, Your Holiness." Hu Liena faced Li Qing, her eyes filled with deep resentment. She looked exactly like a little wife who had suffered some grievance.

"When my brother and I use our Martial Soul Fusion Skill, just as we are about to merge together, we can no longer find the point where our minds connect. It feels as though... as though a blade has forcefully severed the connection between my brother and me!"

As Hu Liena spoke, the resentment in her eyes deepened further, making Li Qing's heart tremble.

The blade Hu Liena was referring to was obviously an indirect jab at his Scythe of Judgment.

"Li Qing, what do you think?"

Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes fixed upon Li Qing, as though they could see right through him.

"Well... well... perhaps it'll be fine after trying a few more times..."

Li Qing kept rubbing his hands together, stammering slightly.

To be honest, he did not seem to know how to solve this either. This was his first time encountering something like this! Was he supposed to do as those other novels described and have the Scythe of Judgment cut them again, releasing the lingering power of Judgment?

Don't joke around. Another cut?

Maybe something that could originally be healed would become permanently incurable this time.

"Ding—"

Bibi Dong struck the floor with her scepter again. "That will not do. This matter is inseparable from you. I order you to completely resolve this issue within three days. Otherwise... hmph hmph..."

When she said "otherwise," a wicked smile hung at the corner of Bibi Dong's lips. That faintly seductive smile scared him into hurriedly replying.

"I will! I will! I'll definitely do everything in my power!"

"Fine. You may all leave now." Bibi Dong waved her hand, signaling for them to withdraw.

"Yes!"

Thus, the group retreated one after another.

Only after Li Qing and the others had disappeared beyond the hall did the smile on Bibi Dong's face vanish.

"Elder Chrysanthemum, where is the information I asked you to investigate last time?"

The moment her words fell, an orange-yellow figure suddenly emerged from the darkness of the hall.

Elder Chrysanthemum held up an orchid-like finger and said, "Reporting to Your Holiness, I have already sent people to investigate. They should have the results soon."

"Mm."

Two days later, after Li Qing had killed countless brain cells, tried N different methods, and left Hu Liena and Xie Yue covered in cuts, he finally found a way to control the power of Judgment.

He dissolved the power of Judgment within their bodies.

Since the Scythe of Judgment's effect within other people's bodies was a force rather than an attribute, Li Qing felt it was more appropriate to call it the power of Judgment.

Meanwhile, within Pope's Hall.

"Your Holiness, this is his information."

Elder Chrysanthemum held an envelope containing Li Qing's records.

As long as a soul master had registered with Spirit Hall, the corresponding branch hall would record information related to that soul master.

Li Qing had once registered as a soul master at the Spirit Hall branch in Nuoding City and collected the soul master subsidy. Although he had stopped going after obtaining his second soul ring, there were still quite a few records from before that.

However, records from the Spirit Hall branch concerning Li Qing's martial soul and Soul Power alone were clearly insufficient. The envelope also contained other materials.

"Present it."

"Yes!"

Elder Chrysanthemum respectfully handed it over.

Bibi Dong opened the envelope. Inside were two sets of documents. One was a record of Li Qing's changes in Soul Power, while the other had been personally written by someone Elder Chrysanthemum had assigned.

There was nothing worth analyzing in the first set of documents from Spirit Hall, so Bibi Dong began reading the second.

However...

"How could this be..."

Bibi Dong's delicate body trembled. Her expression froze, her beautiful eyes widened, and several traces of pain appeared in her gaze.

"So... he is that man's disciple..."

As a Titled Douluo, Elder Chrysanthemum naturally had keen eyesight. He sharply noticed the change in Bibi Dong's expression. He had not looked through the contents of the envelope beforehand, since a mere Soul Elder could not possibly arouse his interest.

But at this moment, an urge suddenly arose in his heart to see what was inside the envelope.

"Your Holiness, is there something wrong with this Li Qing?" Elder Chrysanthemum asked.

Elder Chrysanthemum's voice interrupted Bibi Dong's memories. Is there something wrong? The scene of Li Qing wishing her "ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years" suddenly surfaced in Bibi Dong's mind, along with the silly smile on his face.

Then she gently shook her head. "There is nothing wrong."

Yet Bibi Dong's self-questioning and self-answering seemed more like psychological reassurance for herself.

Elder Chrysanthemum, as an observer, naturally did not believe it. But he could not directly voice the question in his heart. He could just ask his subordinate later.

Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. The semester was nearing its end, and the final assessment naturally arrived with it.

"Hey, Brother Qing, what do you think our final assessment will be this semester? A few times before, it was students fighting teachers!" Yan came over to Li Qing and asked.

Over the past two months, Li Qing had truly treated Yan to good food and drink. Yan had completely "fallen" into becoming Li Qing's lackey, following behind him every day.

"I don't know either..." Li Qing smiled and shook his head. He was not some prophet. How could he know everything?

Not long after, Yu Shaofei entered the classroom.

Oh...

It was worth mentioning that ever since the incident involving Hu Liena and Xie Yue two months ago, whenever the class held sparring sessions, Yu Shaofei would send Li Qing and Yan away to cultivate in the Mimicry Cultivation environment, refusing to let them spar with the other students.

Yu Shaofei was truly afraid. He understood that with Li Qing's current strength, even in a one-against-two match, other pairs in the class would find it difficult to stand a chance.

And ever since Yan began following Li Qing, his strength had soared as though he had swallowed gunpowder. Of course, this did not merely refer to his Soul Power Level; more importantly, it was his combat ability.

Aside from a few particularly formidable pairs, Yan could almost fight two opponents by himself. More importantly, every time Yan defeated the opposing team, he would always put on an especially smug act and say:

"Who else?"

To prevent certain students from someday being ambushed and beaten by a group of people with sacks over their heads, Yu Shaofei simply had Yan accompany Li Qing to the Mimicry Cultivation environment, letting the two of them do their own thing.

Yu Shaofei stood on the podium and adjusted his black-framed glasses.

"Students, time passes so quickly. I didn't expect another semester to be ending already. According to the academy division's requirements, this year's final assessment for the intermediate soul master division will be..."

At this point, Yu Shaofei's gaze fell on Li Qing, and...

A malicious smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"The final assessment is this: within three days, obtain twenty victories at the Spirit City Douluo Arena! Ten will be solo matches, and ten will be two-person matches! Form your own teams for the two-person matches!"

The moment he finished speaking, the classroom erupted.

"What? Twenty victories? And within three days? How is that possible?!"

"Exactly! Three days? With the Douluo Arena's operating hours included, that's way too little time!"

"That's right. If our luck is bad and we keep running into powerful soul masters, how are we supposed to win?"

"Twenty victories?"

Li Qing was naturally confident that he could achieve twenty victories, but he immediately remembered that strange smile on Yu Shaofei's lips. He felt that things would not be so simple.

Still, he could not figure out what the academy intended to do to target him.

The final assessment would begin two days later. Those two days were specifically left for the students to prepare. They could find teammates and practice working together.

The assessment was aimed at the entire intermediate soul master division, so teammates did not necessarily have to be from the same class. They could also be from other classes.

This time, Yan did not team up with Li Qing. According to Yan, he wanted another chance to compete with Li Qing. If they were not on the same two-person team, would that not increase the chance of them facing each other?

However, in Li Qing's view, the girl teaming up with Yan was actually quite cute...

Without Yan as a teammate, Li Qing was not in a hurry to find someone. However, a familiar classmate came looking for him.

Who was it?

It was Xu Yu from Li Qing's class. His martial soul was that exceptionally flashy Brilliant Gold Scepter, a powerful support-type martial soul with its own lighting effects.

Li Qing also wanted to try what it felt like to fight with support buffs, so he did not refuse Xu Yu's request and agreed to team up with him.

Teaming up with Li Qing was actually very beneficial for Xu Yu.

As a support-type soul master, Xu Yu naturally had a very low chance of winning in one-on-one soul fights. By teaming up with Li Qing, he would at least spend far less time on the two-person matches, leaving him more time for one-on-one soul fights.

That way, perhaps he might just manage to meet the requirement of twenty victories.