Return to Spirit City, Temporarily Restoring Emotions and Desires

In a lavish room within the Worship Hall of Spirit City, Zhao Xiaotian lay unconscious on a soft bed. At that moment, Qian Daoliu entered with a young-looking man dressed in Qingluan attire.

"Azure Luan, are you certain you can help Xiaotian recover part of it?"

Qingluan Douluo nodded. "That's right! But I can't restore everything. Before this, I examined Xiaotian's old wound between his brows.

"That wound completely severed his Emotion Root. In other words, he currently has none of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires that normal people possess."

Qian Daoliu said solemnly, "No matter what, his Seven Emotions and Six Desires must be restored. Reconnect his Emotion Root, whatever the cost."

"Alright! Since that's the case, I'll begin!"

As he spoke, a short dagger appeared in Qingluan Douluo's hand. He slowly approached Zhao Xiaotian, his trembling hand carefully slicing open the old wound between Zhao Xiaotian's brows.

Blood slowly flowed out. Qian Daoliu immediately used Soul Power to stop the bleeding. Seeing this, Qingluan Douluo swiftly channeled his Soul Power, injecting a gentle stream of it into Zhao Xiaotian's brow.

Qingluan Douluo closed his eyes and carefully sensed the movement of his Soul Power within Zhao Xiaotian's brow. He needed to locate the distribution of Zhao Xiaotian's Emotion Root.

But what he saw shocked him. Zhao Xiaotian's Emotion Root had already been completely split into seven sections, while the Six Roots of Desire had not fully broken apart and still hung within Zhao Xiaotian's Sea of Consciousness.

One could imagine what Zhao Xiaotian would become if the Six Roots of Desire were severed as well. Either an emotionless machine, a fool, or dead.

Qingluan Douluo no longer hesitated. His expression hardened as he mobilized all his Soul Power to help Zhao Xiaotian reconnect the Seven Roots of Emotion. Meanwhile, Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo paced anxiously outside the door.

Within the Papal Palace, Bibi Dong had long known of Zhao Xiaotian's return. Eager to see her adopted son, she handed all her duties over to Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo. After arranging everything, she summoned her martial soul and headed for the Worship Hall.

Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo could only bitterly accept Bibi Dong's arrangements. They already had matters of their own to handle, yet Bibi Dong's lingering authority forced them to come help her deal with official business.

As Chrysanthemum Douluo worked, visions of the flowers and plants in his room withering constantly surfaced in his mind. With every task he completed, he grew a little more dejected, leaving Ghost Charm beside him to repeatedly rub his forehead in speechless exasperation.

Compared to Yue Guan's worries, Ghost Charm was far more relaxed. He had nothing to fret over. He had originally planned to visit the intelligence office, but Bibi Dong had summoned him to handle official business instead.

So Ghost Charm had people bring the important intelligence reports from the intelligence office to the Papal Palace, handling them alongside the work Bibi Dong had assigned him. Yue Guan ignored Ghost Charm and kept thinking about his beloved flowers and plants.

By this time, an hour had passed in the Worship Hall. Qingluan Douluo was drenched in sweat inside Zhao Xiaotian's room, while Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo stood behind him, transmitting Soul Power to support him.

If the Azure Luan Clan had not been the only one in the Worship Hall skilled in medicine, Qian Daoliu would not have entrusted everything to Qingluan Douluo. At that moment, Qingluan Douluo said with difficulty, "Only the last two roots remain. Big Brother, Second Brother, give me a little more Soul Power!"

At his words, powerful Soul Power fluctuations erupted behind Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo. After placing their hands on Qingluan Douluo's shoulders, they poured a massive supply of Soul Power into his body.

Qingluan Douluo used all of that Soul Power to successfully reconnect the Familial Love Root. All that remained was the hardest root to reconnect. Qingluan Douluo focused all his Spiritual Power on the severed Romantic Love Root.

Suddenly, large beads of sweat appeared on Qingluan Douluo's forehead, and the veins on his face bulged sharply. Just as the Romantic Love Root was about to be fully reconnected, the supply of Soul Power vanished.

This meant that although Zhao Xiaotian's Romantic Love Root had temporarily been reconnected, it could still break apart again in the future. Just as Qingluan Douluo was about to complain about why the Soul Power supply had stopped—

Qian Daoliu said, "We have very little Soul Power left. If we gave all of it to you, how would Golden Crocodile and I defend the Worship Hall?"

Qingluan Douluo nodded. "Mm." The instant he withdrew his Soul Power, his head spun and he nearly collapsed. Golden Crocodile Douluo hurriedly caught him.

At that moment, Bibi Dong pushed open the door and asked anxiously, "Where is Xiaotian? Where is my Xiaotian?"

Qian Daoliu did not stop her. Instead, he pointed at Zhao Xiaotian, who still had traces of blood on his forehead. Heart aching at the sight, Bibi Dong stepped forward, took out a handkerchief, and gently wiped the blood from Zhao Xiaotian's brow.

Qian Daoliu slowly said, "Xiaotian's Seven Emotions and Six Desires have now been restored, but his Romantic Love Root still has some flaws. It may break again in the future."

"I understand!"

After hearing Qian Daoliu's words, Bibi Dong left behind that single response, picked up her son, and returned to the Papal Palace. Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo could only feel helpless. She had failed to keep watch over her adopted son and allowed him to wander outside for three years, yet now she was blaming them.

After returning to the Papal Palace, Zhao Xiaotian slowly woke from his coma. The wound between his brows was horrifying to look at, and Bibi Dong held back her grief as she comforted him. "Xiaotian, you're awake."

Zhao Xiaotian nodded in Bibi Dong's embrace and smiled. "Yes, Mother!"

"Mo! Ther!"

Bibi Dong had waited a long time to hear those two words. Even when Qian Renxue called her Mother, it had never stirred such intense emotions in her. Overjoyed, Bibi Dong hugged Zhao Xiaotian tightly.

Before long, the sky gradually darkened. Bibi Dong settled Zhao Xiaotian back into his former room, then went to take over the work Yue Guan and Ghost Charm had been handling.

Although Bibi Dong was the highest administrator of Spirit City, the Elder Council and Worship Hall stood behind her like two great mountains. As long as either the Worship Hall or Hall of Elders became dissatisfied with her, they could remove her from the position of Pope at any time.

In the room he had been away from for three years, Zhao Xiaotian looked around to the left and right, always feeling as though something was missing. At that moment, a maid knocked on the door before pushing it open and entering. She said respectfully, "Young Master, it is time to wash up and sleep."

Zhao Xiaotian nodded. "I understand."

He stood beside the bed, and the maid stepped forward to help him change. After changing him into comfortable sleepwear, she washed his face and placed a cup of warm milk by the bedside.

Zhao Xiaotian sat on the bed, picked up the milk, and drank it in one gulp. After placing the cup on the bedside table, he picked up a book and began reading.

Zhao Xiaotian knew full well that he had not obtained the soul rings his mother and the others had mentioned during the past three years. Therefore, over the next few days, he needed to choose suitable options for his first and second soul rings.

The main reason was that Zhao Xiaotian had spent this period cultivating the Tai Chi Art, yet his cultivation in the Tai Chi Art had remained stuck at the level he had reached when he first awakened his martial soul.

He had originally believed that he could advance without absorbing soul rings, but to his surprise, after three years of cultivation, he had brought the first level of the Tai Chi Art, the Transformation Realm, to its peak.

Yet Zhao Xiaotian was still unable to break through into the next realm, making him suspect that his failure to absorb soul rings was what had prevented him from advancing.

Thus, he intended to choose his first two soul rings over the next few days, so he could see whether this world's rules were controlling the progress of his Tai Chi Art cultivation.