Final Departure

Before leaving, there was one last matter.

It was to comprehend the passive skill granted by his Fourth Spirit Ring—All Spirits Affinity.

Just as Lin Hai had expected, this was another highly promising passive ability that could be transformed into a Secret Method.

Moreover, its implications ran far deeper than they appeared on the surface.

Its core effects were threefold:

First, it enhanced Elemental Affinity. The "elements" here did not refer narrowly to water, fire, wind, or lightning, but to the fundamental energies that constituted all things between heaven and earth.

Increasing his affinity with them meant Lin Hai could use his Soul Power more efficiently, naturally making his attacks more powerful.

At the same time, it granted stronger resistance to Elemental attributes. Though it fell far short of the water-and-fire immunity from legends of his previous life, its effects were certainly not to be underestimated.

Second, it generated the aura of all things. When this effect acted upon himself, it took effect passively.

Yet in Lin Hai's eyes, this was precisely the perfect entry point for modifying it into a Secret Method—it contained the possibility of altering, imitating, or even completely transforming one's own aura, perhaps even one's form!

Third, it could greatly multiply the favorability of those who already held goodwill toward him; even those harboring ill intent would have their hostility imperceptibly weakened.

"Hmm..." Lin Hai held his chin and sank into thought.

The first two effects—elemental affinity and aura imitation—were practically tailor-made foundations for Secret Methods. Their value was immense, and he had to carefully consider how to convert and make use of them.

As for the third... increasing affinity, weakening hostility...

Hu Liena's radiant smile flashed through Lin Hai's mind, followed immediately by Yan's stubborn, almost obstinate face.

This ability... was better left out of the Secret Method.

If Nana mastered a Secret Method that indiscriminately radiated affinity, then Yan... would probably become even more devoted and cling to her without end.

The next day, the sky had only just begun to brighten, and dawn had yet to fully disperse the night's thin veil.

After staying up all night, Lin Hai wore a trace of fatigue between his brows, but his eyes gleamed with joy.

The Secret Method, All Spirits Affinity Technique, had finally been deduced. It was divided into upper and lower volumes.

The upper volume covered "Elemental Affinity," while the lower volume covered "Aura and Form Imitation."

When creating Secret Methods in the past, he merely copied the Soul Power circulation paths of divine artifact passive skills, then added annotations for meridians and acupoints. It took very little time.

This time, however, he had to extract the cores of "elemental affinity" and "aura and form imitation" from the All Spirits Affinity principle of the Floating and Sinking Pearls.

Constructing Soul Power circuits separately made the process far more complicated and difficult.

Fortunately, he had completed it before leaving.

He carefully placed the scroll recording the Secret Method into an ancient wooden box, bathed and changed, then put on a brand-new outfit.

Today, Lin Hai wore a fitted dark-purple robe that seemed to shimmer with specks of starlight. His silver hair fell like a waterfall, unbound and gently dancing in the wind.

A jade pendant in the shape of an ice phoenix, presented by a Spirit Hall Main Hall at the beginning of the year, hung from his black belt. It was made of Profound Ice Jade, lustrous and translucent, with chilliness concealed within.

Standing there, he appeared ethereal and detached from the world. His aura even seemed to faintly blend with the Saintess Hall, built in layers of light and dark purple, harmonious and natural.

Bibi Dong loved purple. From the luxurious clothes she wore daily to the curtains and bedding in her chambers, even every decoration within the Saintess Hall, everything came in shades of purple.

Over the past two years, the robes tailored for Lin Hai had quietly taken on this "Dong-style" touch as well.

Hu Liena's orange-gold short hair simply did not go well with purple. Bibi Dong would shake her head whenever she saw it, sparing Hu Liena from this fate.

At first, Lin Hai had fiercely resisted this flamboyant color scheme.

Yet under Your Holiness the Pope's "gentle" martial persuasion, he reluctantly tried it on once.

To his surprise, he found that his silver hair and cool temperament, set off by the deep and noble purple, gave him an especially striking air of ethereal detachment...

From then on, he embarked upon the point-of-no-return path of it really did look good.

Today's outfit was particularly special. Its fabric was woven from ten-thousand-year Star Silkworm silk.

Star Silkworms were an extremely rare kind of soul beast, and their silk was exceptionally tough.

The threads of ten-thousand-year Star Silkworms contained specks of starlight. Once woven into clothing, they made it seem as though the wearer was draped in a flowing galaxy as they walked, incomparably luxurious.

Spirit Hall kept only a small number of Star Silkworms. Ordinarily, only the Pope and the Seven Great Enshrined Ones were entitled to an allotment of ten-thousand-year silkworm silk.

The two sets of ten-thousand-year Star Silkworm silk robes in Lin Hai's possession, along with an eighty-thousand-year Golden Sculpture Torso Spirit Bone, were rewards bestowed by the Worship Hall after he had presented the improved Meditation Method.

Spirit Bones were no more than passing clouds to him. Though he had never tried absorbing one, he was certain it would melt away the instant it entered his body.

After all, that boss was awfully proud...

Its attributes did not suit Hu Liena either, so he ultimately gave it to his teacher, Bibi Dong.

Amid the astonished and envious gazes of Soul Masters who thought, One should take disciples like Lin Hai, he arrived outside the Pope's Palace.

To countless believers, this building was sacred and inviolable, imposing as the dwelling place of a God. Yet to Lin Hai, it held only the familiarity and warmth of home.

After all, who would find their own home particularly solemn?

Outside the palace gates stood the carriage Bibi Dong had ridden back when she was still a saintess. The coachman had long been waiting stiffly by its side, like a statue.

Lin Hai did not even need to inspect it. The carriage must already have been stocked with clothes for every season and all necessities for the journey, meticulous and comprehensive, just like the considerate care beneath his teacher's seemingly cold exterior.

He subconsciously raised his left hand, and a wisp of breeze silently brushed toward the tightly shut palace doors.

For a moment, he nearly wanted to repeat yesterday's trick and slip inside unnoticed.

But the thought was suppressed as soon as it arose.

The embrace and conversation last night had been just right, their lingering warmth still unspent. Meeting again now would only create awkwardness.

He turned and handed the wooden box in his hands to the palace guard standing respectfully nearby, his voice calm.

"Please present this to Your Holiness the Pope."

"By your command!" The guard bowed in acknowledgment, his posture exceedingly respectful.

Those qualified to stand guard here were all elite among elites, beyond question in both loyalty and capability.

Besides, before the Pope's Palace, who knew how many pairs of eyes were watching everything, openly and in secret.

Lin Hai said no more. With a slight sway of his body, he drifted into the ornate carriage like a wisp of smoke.

"Set off."

At that moment, two figures stood against the cool morning wind atop the towering dome of the Pope's Palace.

Bibi Dong wore a simple purple outfit, her gaze still as water as it followed the carriage that carried her complicated emotions.

Only when it became a tiny dot at the edge of her vision and vanished at the far end of the long street leading out of the city did she look away.

Her figure appeared solitary and cold beneath the morning light.

Beside her, Hu Liena hugged her arms, shivering slightly from the cold, her teeth unable to stop lightly chattering.

"Tea... Teacher, aren't you cold? The wind is so strong up here..."

Hearing this, Bibi Dong shot her an irritated glance, her tone carrying a trace of nearly imperceptible melancholy and restrained anger.

"Your junior brother has left, and his return date is unknown. Who knows when we will see him again? As his senior sister, how can you be so heartless?"

Upon hearing that, Hu Liena immediately lifted her delicate little face, a hint of smugness appearing as her orange-gold hair fluttered in the wind.

"I'm not like you, Teacher, too busy with countless affairs to get away. Whenever I miss Xiao Hai, I can go find him!"

"He even said that as long as I miss him, if I write him a letter, he'll come back to see me right away!"

The more she spoke, the happier she became. A sweet blush spread across her cheeks, and she even sounded somewhat boastful. "He even gave me a token of love..."

Immersed in sweetness, the Little Fox's eyes curved into crescents. Half shy and half proud, she completely overlooked her teacher's face darkening abruptly beside her.

Bibi Dong's previously faintly furrowed brows knitted together completely, and the pressure around her plummeted. Her peerlessly beautiful face was now dark as an approaching storm.

It was as though a heavy backdrop had already been laid for Hu Liena's future "Destiny" over the coming years.