Qian Renxue Weeps! Bibi Dong Is Stunned!

But at this moment, aside from shame and indignation, what filled Qian Renxue's heart was an inexplicable sense of relief.

Thank goodness.

Thank goodness this Lu Ming was a vulgar man greedy for wealth and lust.

As long as he had weaknesses, he could be controlled, he could be used by her.

"Jixia Academy... Lu Ming... the Supreme Existence..."

Qian Renxue murmured these words under her breath, her gaze gradually turning resolute and icy.

To change that tragic fate, to prevent her mother and grandfather from dying horribly, she would sacrifice her body, her fortune—anything, without hesitation!

The carriage traveled south, passing through layers of checkpoints, and finally stopped at a hidden stronghold.

Qian Renxue changed back into her original women's clothing, donned a veil, and returned to that city she both loved and hated—Martial Soul City.

The Pope's Palace.

The towering hall stood solemn and majestic, a massive angel statue overlooking the masses.

Deep within the hall, on the throne symbolizing supreme authority, sat a figure of breathtaking beauty.

Bibi Dong.

She held a scepter, clad in a resplendent golden gown that radiated unparalleled luxury. Time seemed to have left no trace on her face, instead settling into a suffocating nobility and majesty.

Just sitting there, the air around her seemed to freeze, oppressive enough to steal one's breath.

"What are you doing back here?"

Seeing Qian Renxue enter the hall, Bibi Dong didn't even lift her eyes, her voice as cold as millennia-old ice.

"If you're not lying low in the Heaven Dou Empire and come running back, exposing your identity and ruining years of planning, can you bear that responsibility?"

Faced with her mother's cold, almost disgusted interrogation, Qian Renxue's steps faltered slightly.

In the past, she would have felt her heart twist in pain, then retorted with an even harder attitude.

Mother and daughter were like two hedgehogs, longing to get close but always wounding each other.

But this time, Qian Renxue didn't.

She stood in the center of the hall, quietly watching the woman on the high platform.

In the scenes from the "Life Simulator," she saw this woman take the fatal blow from the Sea God Tang San to save her.

She saw this mother, who always treated her coldly, reveal the deep love and regret hidden in her eyes at the last moment of her life.

"Xue'er... I'm sorry..."

That dying confession struck like a heavy hammer, shattering all the resentment and estrangement in Qian Renxue's heart.

So she had always loved me.

So we were both wrong.

At this moment, looking at her still-living mother, Qian Renxue's eyes instantly reddened.

She took a deep breath and stepped up the stairs one by one.

Bibi Dong finally sensed something was wrong.

She frowned, watching the unusual Qian Renxue, her fingers tightening around the scepter.

"Qian Renxue, I'm asking you a question!"

Qian Renxue didn't answer. She walked up to Bibi Dong, and under her mother's stunned gaze, slowly crouched down.

Then, she reached out her hands, gently wrapped them around Bibi Dong's waist, and buried her head in her mother's knees.

"Mom."

That call came trembling, choked with sobs, carrying the weight of time and longing.

Bibi Dong's body instantly stiffened like iron.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the daughter resting on her lap.

This... how was this possible?

Since Qian Xunji's death, there had been only hatred and coldness between mother and daughter.

When had Qian Renxue ever called her that? When had she ever been this close?

"You..."

Bibi Dong instinctively wanted to push her away, to scold her for weakness, to hide her own panic with venomous words.

But when her hand touched Qian Renxue's trembling shoulder, she couldn't bring herself to push.

"No matter what happened before."

Qian Renxue's voice came out muffled, but it was firm.

"No matter how you see me, or what grudges the previous generation held."

"You are still my mother."

"You and Grandfather are the only family I have left."

Having experienced the pain of separation and loss in the simulated life, Qian Renxue finally understood how pale and hollow power and godhood were in the face of family bonds.

She only wanted to cherish the present.

To hold tightly to this hard-won warmth before all tragedies could unfold.

Bibi Dong's hand hung in midair, trembling slightly.

She watched Qian Renxue's gently shaking shoulders, that dazzling golden hair, and it was as if a long-sealed chord in her heart had been violently plucked.

That was her daughter.

The flesh and blood she had carried for ten months and brought into this world.

Even if she was the spawn of that beast, even if she was the proof of a lifetime's shame.

But the child was innocent.

All these years, in her quest for revenge and that mad plan, she had treated this child as a tool, a pawn in her vendetta, never giving her even a shred of maternal love.

Perhaps...

Had I truly been wrong?

A trace of thaw appeared in the ice of Bibi Dong's eyes. The always taut, cold lines of her face unconsciously softened in that moment.

But she was, after all, Bibi Dong.

The ruthless, deeply calculating Pope.

This moment of tenderness lasted only a few seconds.

Bibi Dong closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, all emotion had been reined in.

"Get up."

Her voice remained cold, but if one listened closely, there was a faint, barely perceptible tremor.

"As the Young Master of Martial Soul Hall, crying and sniveling—what kind of behavior is that?"

Qian Renxue wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and stood up.

She knew that ice three feet thick was not formed in a single day; her mother could not accept her all at once.

But at least, this was a good start.

Qian Renxue composed herself, returning to the image of the shrewd and capable Young Master.

"This time I came back, aside from wanting to see you, there's another matter."

She looked straight into Bibi Dong's eyes and said in a low voice, "I need seven million Gold Soul Coins."

Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow.

Seven million?

That was no small sum.

"What do you need so much money for?"

"For a plan."

Qian Renxue did not reveal the full truth about the Life Simulator or Lu Ming—those things were too bizarre and troublesome to explain.

"I discovered a force in Heaven Dou City called the Jixia Academy. Its strength is unfathomable. I intend to win them over as an ally for our future uprising."

"This seven million is for greasing the wheels and securing the alliance."

Bibi Dong gave Qian Renxue a long, deep look.

She could sense that the Qian Renxue who had returned this time had changed.

She had become more mature, more steady, and far harder to read.

"Jixia Academy..."

Bibi Dong silently repeated the name in her mind.

"Fine."

Unexpectedly, Bibi Dong asked no further questions. She directly retrieved a golden card from the storage Soul Tool on her hand and tossed it to Qian Renxue.