The Pope Has Final Say

The noon sun was a little dazzling. As soon as class ended, Hu Liena appeared promptly at the entrance to the Elite Class.

Seeing Xuan Hao surrounded by a group of young girls, expressionless yet clearly enjoying all the attention, Hu Liena helplessly shook her head. She walked over and yanked him out of the sea of perfume and powder.

"Come on, let's eat."

The two walked down the Tree-lined Path toward the Canteen. Watching Xuan Hao's relaxed, carefree expression, Hu Liena could not help but pour cold water on his mood.

"Looks like you've adapted pretty well? Do you think everyone's friendly and the teachers are kind?"

"It is pretty nice." Xuan Hao clasped his hands behind his head, a Foxtail Grass stalk somehow plucked from who-knows-where dangling from his mouth. "The teachers explain things well, the students speak nicely, and everyone here is talented. I really love this place."

"Heh, naive." Hu Liena stopped and turned to face him, her expression becoming especially serious. "Junior Martial Brother, don't blame your Senior Martial Sister for not warning you. The world of Soul Masters is ruled by the strong, and Spirit Academy is a miniature Douluo Continent."

"Most students here come from extraordinary backgrounds and think highly of themselves. Competition between students is normal—sometimes even tolerated and encouraged by the academy. So long as no one dies or is crippled, the teachers will not interfere. They might even stand aside and grade the fight like they're watching a show."

Xuan Hao blinked. "So? What does that have to do with me? I don't want to be the School Bully."

"If you don't go looking for trouble, trouble will come looking for you." Hu Liena sighed and lowered her voice. "Do you think being the Pope's disciple is some kind of immunity token? Wrong! It's a shining sign hanging around your neck, mocking everyone!"

Xuan Hao froze. "Huh? I'm the Pope's disciple. Shouldn't they treat me politely and bow their heads in submission?"

"In your dreams." Hu Liena rolled her eyes. "His Holiness the Pope is indeed revered by countless people, but that doesn't mean her disciples will be loved by association. On the contrary, because you are the Pope's disciple, everyone will assume that your talent and strength must be among the very best. Otherwise, you have no right to hold that position—you'd even be disgracing our teacher!"

"This is practically a Spirit Academy tradition—defeating the Pope's disciple proves that you're stronger than the person chosen by the Pope. What greater honor is there?"

As she said this, a cold glint of memory flashed through Hu Liena's eyes.

"Two years ago, when our teacher first brought me back to enroll here, I was harassed for an entire year. Students from my grade and upperclassmen alike blocked the classroom door, the Canteen entrance, even the dormitory entrance every day, challenging me in the name of sparring."

"To put it bluntly, they were picking fights. They wanted to use me as a stepping stone."

Xuan Hao was left stunned. "Then... didn't our teacher do anything?"

"Do what? Interfere with children fighting?" Hu Liena rolled her eyes. "Why did they dare bully you? Because you were weak! If you can't even suppress people your own age, what right do you have to be the Pope's disciple?"

"If they bully you, fight back yourself! Beat them until they fear you, until they submit!"

Hu Liena waved her little fist and said proudly, "Fortunately, I'm a Spirit Control System Soul Master. Among those at the same level, as long as their Spiritual Power is lower than mine, they can barely fight back against me. I earned my current peace and quiet through an entire year of undefeated sparring."

After saying that, Hu Liena looked at Xuan Hao with concern. "You've only just enrolled. You may be a first-year, but your reputation is too great. Over the next while, people who want to make a name for themselves, as well as those who feel disgruntled, will probably set their sights on you."

"After all, if they defeat the Pope's Personal Disciple, they'll gain fame. They might catch the attention of Bishops, the academy's Education Committee, or even Elders. If they are accepted as a disciple, they'll rise to the heavens in a single step."

Xuan Hao's mouth twitched, and his whole mood soured.

"No... yesterday, she swore to me that as long as I entered Spirit Hall, no one would dare bully me and I'd receive the best treatment. How did that change the moment I turned around? Isn't this like luring a dog in just to slaughter it?"

"Pfft—"

Hu Liena laughed at his description and poked his forehead. "What are you thinking? When our teacher said no one would dare bully you, she meant high-level Soul Masters, like the teachers at the academy or adult Soul Masters in their thirties or forties."

"With our teacher's reputation there to protect you, those people naturally wouldn't dare lay a hand on you."

"But..." Hu Liena abruptly changed her tone, her smile carrying a touch of gloating, "as long as the age gap is no more than six years, Soul Masters consider each other peers. Competition between peers is healthy—it promotes growth. Why would our teacher interfere in children fighting?"

"If you can't even beat people your own age and run crying back to complain to our teacher..."

Hu Liena gave him a look that said, Figure it out yourself. "Do you think our teacher would stand up for you, or toss you into the Spirit Fighting Arena first and train you half to death?"

Xuan Hao: "..."

So Bibi Dong's words, "No one will dare bully you," had an invisible explanatory clause attached:

(Note: This applies only to adults and Force Majeure. Fights between peers must be settled on your own. The Pope has final say.)

"You can do that?!"

Xuan Hao's mouth twitched. He felt as though his tender young heart had just taken a savage beating from society. "Isn't this throwing me into a wolf den to raise poison?"

Hu Liena patted his shoulder and comforted him earnestly.

"It's fine. Senior Martial Sister believes in you. After all, you're the one who pinned me to the ground... Ahem, anyway, even I can't beat you, so those little brats shouldn't be your opponents."

"As long as you hurt them enough and scare them enough, they'll naturally behave themselves."

Xuan Hao looked at his Senior Martial Sister, who was smiling like a little fox, then thought of Bibi Dong's expression of I'm doing this for your own good. He sighed helplessly.

No wonder Bibi Dong had inexplicably told him to be careful during dinner last night, while Hu Liena had been holding back laughter beside them. So this was what they had been waiting for.

Just as Xuan Hao was still processing this cruel reality and inwardly cursing Bibi Dong as a "huge liar,"

several figures suddenly appeared on the only path leading to the Canteen ahead.

They were three boys who looked eight or nine years old, each a head taller than Xuan Hao. The chubby boy in the lead stood with his arms folded, his face full of fat, sizing Xuan Hao up and down with an extremely critical, disdainful gaze.

"Yo, Senior Hu Liena."

The chubby boy gave Hu Liena a perfunctory greeting. Though there was some wariness in his eyes, he clearly was not particularly afraid of her. Then, his gaze locked directly onto Xuan Hao.

"So this is the new disciple His Holiness the Pope supposedly took in?"

The chubby boy sneered and pointed at Xuan Hao's beautiful silver hair. "He looks like a girl, with those skinny arms and legs. He can be the Pope's disciple? I'd say he's just some pretty boy living off others."

"Hey, newbie."

The chubby boy stepped forward and blocked their path. A heavy wave of earth-yellow Soul Power faintly radiated from his body.

"My name is Tuoba Xiao, from the Sacred Dragon Sect. I heard you're pretty strong. How about we head to the Soul Fighting Platform and spar? Let me see whether you're qualified to be His Holiness the Pope's disciple."

Hu Liena took a step back and folded her arms, shooting Xuan Hao a look that said, "See? Didn't I tell you?" Then she assumed the posture of someone watching a good show.

Xuan Hao looked at the self-introduced "experience pack" before him, then at his Senior Martial Sister watching from the side, and sighed helplessly.

"Pre-meal exercise..."

He rolled his neck, producing a crisp crack of bone. His originally sky-blue pupils narrowed slightly, turning into dangerous crimson-gold vertical pupils.

"Fine. Since it's tradition, I'll do as the locals do."

Under the gaze of those crimson-gold vertical pupils, the fat on Tuoba Xiao's face suddenly stiffened. His lofty arrogance instantly crumbled, replaced by a terror rising from the depths of his soul.

"Th-this is..."

Tuoba Xiao's pupils contracted violently. His face turned deathly pale in an instant, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

His pride and joy—the White Armored Earth Dragon, a top-tier sub-dragon Martial Soul famed for its defense and strength among those of the same rank—was trembling wildly inside him beyond his control!

This fear even surpassed the gap in Soul Power, striking directly at the depths of his bloodline.

The two lackeys standing behind Tuoba Xiao fared even worse. They too were from the Sacred Dragon Sect, and their Martial Souls were also sub-dragon types. At this moment, the invisible Dragon Might had them trembling so hard that they could barely stand, with a faint urge to urinate rising in their crotches.

"W-wait!"

Seeing the silver-haired youth already crouched and poised to strike, the Fighting Spirit in Tuoba Xiao's heart instantly collapsed. He instinctively raised a hand and shouted in panic, "I won't fight—"

"Receive my Lion's Fang!"