Bibi Dong's Thoughts and Decision

In the Rose Courtyard, Hu Liena's timid reply sent faint ripples through the air.

The inquiry in Lu Jing's eyes instantly settled—aside from the future leader of the Golden Generation, there truly should not have been a second candidate at this moment.

He swiftly put on just the right amount of surprise, raising his voice slightly as he asked, "Who are your parents?"

Hu Liena shook her head and replied softly, "My teacher brought me here."

"Teacher? Who is your teacher?" Wang Dong'er asked, pretending not to understand.

"Your Majesty the Pope!" Hu Liena lifted her head, her childish face brimming with pride and gratitude.

"Your Majesty the Pope's disciple?!"

Wang Dong'er covered her lips at just the right moment, her Powder Blue eyes widening. "Oh my... We actually ran into someone so important?"

The exaggerated exclamation successfully made Hu Liena's ears turn red.

The future enchantress was now nervously twisting the hem of her skirt, explaining in a small voice, "I-I'm just a commoner... Teacher took pity on me..."

Before she could finish, a cold, delicate fragrance suddenly spread through the courtyard.

Purple Shadow Descended Upon the Steps

Bibi Dong, who had been watching from the shadows, finally stepped out.

A pale purple court Long Skirt wrapped around her breathtaking curves. Her hair was piled high, with loose strands framing a face as exquisite and cold as carved jade.

Her pale purple eyes swept over Hu Liena's slightly reddened ears, then passed over Lu Jing's deliberately innocent face before finally stopping on Wang Dong'er's performative shock, which she had not yet had time to conceal.

She had intended to use this chance encounter to obtain some answers she wanted. It would have been one thing if she got nothing, but she had nearly been tricked into making Hu Liena bare everything. In the end, she had no choice but to come out of hiding.

"Teacher!" Hu Liena bowed as though granted a reprieve, the tension in her shoulders abruptly easing.

Lu Jing and Wang Dong'er bowed in unison, their movements smooth as if they had practiced them a thousand times. "Greetings, Your Majesty the Pope."

Logically speaking, given Wang Dong'er's status, Bibi Dong should have been the one bowing to her. But they were currently on Spirit Hall territory.

As the saying went, one had to bow one's head under another's roof.

"No need for formalities."

Bibi Dong raised her fingertips slightly, while her skirt remained perfectly still.

Her gaze pierced Lu Jing like a probe as she asked softly, "When did the Worship Hall take in such a gifted child? I had heard nothing of it."

Her words sounded concerned, but they were in truth an interrogation.

The jade steps before the hall clearly led to the private grounds of the Worship Hall. Outsiders could hardly set foot there.

Lu Jing lowered his head and answered respectfully, "We only returned with the Great Enshrined a few days ago. It is only natural that Your Majesty the Pope would not know."

He deliberately glossed over their encounter in the Star Dou Forest, then steered the conversation toward Qian Daoliu's authority. "As for how we came to know each other... without the Great Enshrined's permission, this junior would not dare speak recklessly."

The air suddenly froze.

A cold glint flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes—this child was actually using Qian Daoliu as a shield!

Yet her lips curved into a graceful smile. "Since you are people valued by the Great Enshrined, I naturally will not make things difficult for you."

Her tone abruptly shifted, and her purple eyes locked onto the location of Lu Jing's Spirit Bone. "However, since you have entered Spirit Hall, your martial souls must be registered according to protocol. It would not be too much to ask for the two of you to show them, would it?"

Martial Soul Confrontation

Wang Dong'er glanced at Lu Jing from the corner of her eye. Seeing him give an almost imperceptible nod, she felt slightly relieved.

Pale blue radiance suddenly bloomed. Enormous Butterfly Wings spread from behind her, and the sacred glow of the Light Goddess Butterfly made every rose in the courtyard pale by comparison.

One yellow and one purple Soul Ring floated beneath her feet, faint lightning patterns flickering within their rotations.

"A Thousand-Year second ring?" Bibi Dong's pupils contracted slightly at the sight, and her expression changed. She clearly had not expected this.

Ever since receiving the Rakshasa God's inheritance, she had learned that Soul Ring configurations in this world could be enhanced. But that required the help of Divine Power. Even Qian Daoliu was no exception.

Just as Bibi Dong was stunned, black flames rose soundlessly.

The World-Destroying Black Lotus manifested above Lu Jing's head. Its black-jade lotus platform devoured the surrounding light, and its utterly dark aura made Hu Liena instinctively retreat half a step.

Then, when that strange purple ring appeared, Bibi Dong's Knuckles abruptly clenched around the edge of her sleeve—

A Thousand-Year Soul Ring?! And it was his first Soul Ring!

Her pupils sharply contracted.

How could a six-year-old child possibly bear a Thousand-Year Soul Ring? Even more terrifying was the Black Lotus itself—the surging darkness actually made the Rakshasa Divine Power Inside the Body tremble slightly, as though it were afraid!

How was that possible? This was the Rakshasa God, capable of contending with the Angel God!

At that thought, Bibi Dong let out a quiet breath. Biting her lip lightly, she spoke in a voice like wind brushing over ice. "What an overbearing martial soul."

She forcibly suppressed the turmoil in her heart. When she turned toward Wang Dong'er, the Light Goddess Butterfly's radiance seemed dimmer by thirty percent—not because it had weakened, but because it had been eclipsed by the Black Lotus's absolute darkness.

"Your Majesty the Pope?" Lu Jing reminded her softly as the Black Lotus quietly withdrew.

Bibi Dong gave him a deep look. "From today onward, you may move freely through the outer courtyard of the Pope Palace."

Then she said to Hu Liena, "Since you have become acquainted, take your new friends around. Remember, do not overstep your bounds."

Purple Shadow drifted away, and the pressure in the courtyard vanished at once.

Hu Liena let out a long breath, never noticing the stormy waves surging in her teacher's eyes the instant she turned away.

Within the Rose Courtyard, Hu Liena watched Bibi Dong's purple figure recede and timidly breathed a sigh of relief.

She turned to Lu Jing and Wang Dong'er, a sweet smile returning to her fair little face. "Teacher is gone. Shall we continue looking around?"

Wang Donger's Powder Blue eyes glanced toward the Purple Shadow that had vanished beyond the arched gate, her fingers unconsciously tightening around her skirt.

She clearly remembered Bibi Dong's fate, so she tested the waters in a low voice. "This Pope... appeared so suddenly, then left in such a hurry..."

"The History Book from Ten Thousand Years Later says she was deeply calculating."

Lu Jing's response was almost inaudible in the wind. His gaze swept over Hu Liena's innocent Golden Short Hair before his tone shifted. "But the weather is lovely today. There is no harm in walking around a little longer."

The three wandered half a circuit around the Martial Arts Arena before losing interest.

When the noon bell echoed through Spirit City, Lu Jing was the first to stop. "Time to go back."

Hu Liena nodded obediently. After watching the two head toward the Worship Hall, she hugged her books and skipped toward a side hall of the Pope Palace.

Inside the Pope Palace's Rakshasa Secret Chamber.

The dark chamber had no windows. Only the Purple Phosphorus Stones embedded in the walls emitted an Eerie Light, casting Bibi Dong, who stood at the center, in a ghostly glow.

Her pale purple court dress billowed amid the surging black mist, while the formation beneath her feet rose with a filthy aura as thick and tangible as sludge.

"This martial soul... can actually suppress even the Rakshasa Divine Power..." Her fingertips brushed over the lingering image in the crystal ball. The darkness swirling amid the Petals seemed capable of devouring even the light of the projection.

Qian Daoliu had brought this child back yet kept it secret. Clearly, he intended to keep this variable under his control!

Crash—

The formation suddenly boiled! The black mist condensed into a ferocious spider-shaped shadow that pounced into the void.

The last trace of hesitation in Bibi Dong's eyes was completely extinguished, turning into poison-like obsession. Her low murmur echoed through the secret chamber. "If such an anomaly cannot be held in my palm..."

Killing Intent froze in her purple eyes like a Cold Pool.

"Then it can only be... completely erased!"