Spirit City, Bibi Dong and Yan Chixia

"Fengzhi, do you really believe what they said about Spirit Hall having approached them as well?" After leaving Yunman Inn, Sword Douluo asked Ning Fengzhi on the road.

"No." Shi Jian had rejected Salas's invitation on the spot, clearly showing no favorable impression of Spirit Hall. Now, he had even accepted Xue Qinghe's invitation and become a Guest Elder of the Heaven Dou Royal Family. Under such circumstances, how could Spirit Hall possibly still discuss cooperation with him?

"Then why did you agree? One million Gold Soul Coins isn't a small sum, not to mention we still have to provide the materials ourselves." Sword Douluo asked in confusion.

"Because He Shen was right about one thing. There are many forces in this world that want their Thunder Fire Talismans. Uncle Sword, we're the ones who want to buy their goods; they aren't begging us to buy them. Since they named that price and refused to budge, all we can do is agree."

"This is letting them off too easily." Sword Douluo was somewhat dissatisfied.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter. Any problem that can be solved with money is no real problem. With those eight hundred Thunder Fire Talismans, the defensive strength of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will greatly increase. And the three Soul Emperor-level Thunder Fire Talismans they gave us as extras can be used by Rongrong for self-defense in the future." Ning Fengzhi took it rather calmly.

As the wealthiest sect on the entire continent, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had businesses spread throughout both empires. Their ability to make money was extraordinary. He had spent over a million here, but he would find a way to earn it back elsewhere!

"Mm, you're right. But since they can make Thunder Fire Talismans comparable to a Soul Emperor's attack, why did they refuse to sell us talismans of that level no matter what?"

"The difficulty of making them must be immense. Thinking about it, how could weapons with that kind of power be easy to produce? No sect would readily agree to sell such rare items."

Sword Douluo nodded. That made sense.

"Let's go, Uncle Sword. We need to pick up Rongrong."

"Mm."

Spirit City, Pope's Palace.

A woman sat at the head of the hall, holding a scepter. She wore a dazzling golden gown, possessed a perfect figure, and had beauty beyond compare.

Her expression was imposing, and a terrifying aura radiated from her body.

Below the steps stood three men side by side, dressed in the robes of Spirit Hall Elders.

They were Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, Ghost Douluo Ghostly, and... Sword Saint Douluo Yan Chixia!

"News has come from Heaven Dou City. A mysterious Titled Douluo appeared there, claiming to be from Maoshan. Without even summoning his martial soul, he easily suppressed Dugu Bo. His Soul Power should be around Level 95. Salas invited him to Spirit City to receive his title, but he refused. He was also invited to join Spirit Hall, and he refused that as well. What do you think we should do?" Bibi Dong coldly asked the three Elders.

"Maoshan? I've never heard of that place. Old Ghost, have you?" Chrysanthemum Douluo stroked his chin and turned to Ghost Douluo beside him.

Ghost Douluo shook his head.

"Old Yan, what about you?" Chrysanthemum Douluo then asked Yan Chixia.

When Yan Chixia had first arrived in Spirit City, he had headed straight for the Worship Hall and declared that he wanted to join it.

In response, the Great Enshrined had sent Falling Devil Douluo to test him. They had assumed Falling Devil Douluo, whose Soul Power was Level 96 and whose martial soul was the Coiling Dragon Staff, would win. Yet unexpectedly, this man possessed nine black Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, and his martial soul was incredibly powerful, not at all inferior to Chen Xin's Seven Kill Sword. In the end, after exchanging more than a hundred moves, Falling Devil Douluo was defeated.

Yes, Falling Devil Douluo had lost, but no one blamed him, because...

Black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black. What the hell kind of Soul Ring configuration was that? He started with Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings?

When Chrysanthemum Douluo had received the news and rushed over to watch the battle, he had been completely dumbfounded.

Fortunately, Yan Chixia's Soul Power was not that high—only Level 94. If he had been Level 96 as well, Falling Devil Douluo probably would not have lasted ten moves against him.

After defeating Falling Devil Douluo, the Great Enshrined had personally received Yan Chixia and brought him into Spirit Hall. However, the Great Enshrined said that letting him enter the Worship Hall immediately after joining would make the other enshrineds dissatisfied, so he needed to earn some merit first. Thus, Yan Chixia was temporarily assigned to the Elder Hall, becoming colleagues with Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghostly.

Later, when the news from Heaven Dou City arrived, they learned that Yan Chixia was an oddity rarely seen in ten thousand years. He had only awakened his martial soul after turning fifty, yet the moment it awakened, he possessed Level 92 Innate Soul Power. Tell them, wasn't he strange?

At first, they had suspected that Yan Chixia might have Twin Martial Souls and that his supposed Level 92 Innate Soul Power was a lie. But after repeated tests, they confirmed that Yan Chixia had only one martial soul.

The Great Enshrined had also examined him and said that Yan Chixia did not carry the aura of a God, proving that he was not one chosen by a God either.

So... how else could they explain it?

They could only say that he was a once-in-ten-thousand-years rarity!

Afterward, the Worship Hall convened a meeting and decided to use Yan Chixia as an example, announcing him to the entire continent to demonstrate Spirit Hall's strength.

Look, even such an extraordinary figure had joined Spirit Hall.

Other geniuses, other experts, what were you still waiting for?

Join already!

Hearing Chrysanthemum Douluo's question, Yan Chixia shook his head. "Never heard of it. But that man saw Dugu Bo using his strength to bully the weak and stepped forward to stop him. That shows he is a righteous man. We should not make things difficult for someone like that."

As he spoke the latter half of those words, Yan Chixia looked toward Bibi Dong atop the steps. Clearly, he was saying them to her.

"A man with justice in his heart yet unwilling to join Spirit Hall? Elder Yan, could it be that in your eyes, Spirit Hall is an evil organization?" Bibi Dong looked at Yan Chixia and coldly asked.

"Spirit Hall isn't evil, but you are!" Yan Chixia shouted, showing Bibi Dong no respect whatsoever.

The expressions of Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo shifted slightly. They hurriedly lowered their heads, pretending not to have heard anything.

This was not Yan Chixia's first time defying Bibi Dong. This fellow had absolutely no respect for the Pope. At the slightest provocation, he called her a treacherous villain, a bandit, and an evil person. Once, he had even pointed at Bibi Dong's nose and cursed, "You're the worst person on the entire continent! Just wait, sooner or later, I'll take you down!"

Bibi Dong had been so enraged that if she had been absolutely certain of victory, she would have killed him long ago.

"Elder Yan, you are being insolent!"

"I am being insolent. What can you do about it?"

"You..."

"You what? I said this long ago: if you want to kill Soul Masters who commit evil deeds, I can't stop you. But if you kill even one good person, I will definitely get rid of you! Your Twin Martial Souls may be formidable, but my Xuanyuan Sword is no less sharp!" Yan Chixia roared.

He knew that Bibi Dong would become a God in the future, but so what? You weren't a God yet. Besides, he had the Diamond Sutra protecting him. Even Black Mountain Old Demon was someone he dared to oppose. Did this Evil God really think she could handle him?

"Huff... huff..." Bibi Dong clenched her scepter, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then another deep breath, and tried her best to suppress the anger in her heart.

She suspected that Qian Daoliu had deliberately arranged for Yan Chixia to assist her in handling affairs. With this fellow by her side, she would be angered ten times in three days and probably lose years off her life.

Damn Qian Daoliu!

"Old Yan, calm down. His Holiness the Pope is only asking how we should handle this. She never said we had to take action against that man, did she?" Seeing the atmosphere in the hall becoming increasingly tense, Ghost Douluo raised his head and could not help quietly advising Yan Chixia.

"Hmph, isn't that what she means? If he won't join, then beat him up? What kind of Pope is that? She's practically a bandit."

Bibi Dong's breathing grew heavier as she continued to endure.

"In my opinion, we should handle this coldly. We have no grievances with him, so why offend him for no reason? Since he refuses to come to Spirit City to receive his title, we can send someone to grant it to him. What was his martial soul called again?"

"Thunder Fiend Corpse King." Chrysanthemum Douluo also raised his head and answered.

"Then give him the title 'Thunder Fiend.' Call him Thunder Fiend Douluo." Yan Chixia waved his hand and decided.

"But what if he joins the Heaven Dou Empire or defects to another sect?" Ghost Douluo asked.

"Then let him defect. If you can kill him now, then even if he joins those forces, you can still kill him someday. But if you can't kill him and offend him, then he will definitely join another force. Not only that, he'll oppose you to the bitter end." Yan Chixia said bluntly.

Though those words were rather blunt, upon careful thought, they seemed to make some sense.

"Since Elder Yan says so, why don't you represent Spirit Hall and go to Heaven Dou City to grant him the title 'Thunder Fiend'?" Bibi Dong opened her eyes from the main seat and looked at Yan Chixia.

Their gazes met. Yan Chixia snorted. "Hmph, I'll go if I have to go, but I'm taking Yue Guan with me."

"Why take me along?" Before Bibi Dong could speak, Chrysanthemum Douluo asked in surprise.

"What if I leave and she sends you and Old Ghost to do evil? She might even send the two of you to ambush and kill me. Two Polarity Stillness Domain, right? Do you think I don't know about it? I'm keeping you by my side. If she dares do anything reckless, I'll cut you down first!" Yan Chixia said.

"I..." Chrysanthemum Douluo was so angry he wanted to curse. What did he mean, if she dared act recklessly, he would cut him down first? If he wanted to cut someone down, he should cut her down! Besides, Yan Chixia was also an Elder of Spirit Hall and had been arranged by the Great Enshrined. Even if the Pope gave the order, Ghost Douluo and he could not possibly ambush him. What kind of nonsense was that?

"Then the three of you can go together. If that man not only holds no favorable impression of Spirit Hall but even harbors hostility toward us and wishes to become our enemy, Ghostly, Yue Guan, kill him. Elder Yan, you have no objections to that, do you?" Bibi Dong said.

"No objections." Yan Chixia waved his hand and loudly replied, his tone arrogant and utterly disrespectful.

Bibi Dong's grip on her scepter tightened again. I'll endure it. Just wait.