Ability Trumps Everything

"How did you decide that coming to me would keep you alive?" Bibi Dong asked with an amused smile.

"I'm no match for the Grand Priest. If he insists on punishing you, I won't be able to stop him."

"And besides, I've only just taken office. If you come to me and provoke the Grand Priest's hostility, how am I supposed to remain Pope?"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei looked deeply troubled.

They knew this wasn't the best time to pick a side, but they had no other choice. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come crawling to her like this.

They'd risked their lives to bring Qian Xunji back to Spirit City, then aimed straight for Elder Hall, all so everyone there could see just how badly they'd been hurt. It wasn't that they hadn't done their best!

They'd been falling apart themselves!

But even so, when the Grand Priest saw Qian Xunji's condition, he still unleashed that terrifying killing intent at them. If there hadn't been so many Titled Douluo present, the Grand Priest would never have let them go!

They'd served in Spirit Hall for over fifty years, joining back when Qian Daoliu was still the Adjudicator Elder. They knew the old man's temperament better than anyone.

He cared about saving face!

Qian Daoliu didn't care whether they'd done their best. He only cared about the result!

So what if they'd given it their all? Qian Xunji was gravely injured, and three of Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo, along with a group of Soul Saints, had been beaten to a pulp by one Tang Hao. That was the only thing that mattered!

They'd trampled Spirit Hall's reputation into the dirt in that one battle!

The Pope, the face of Spirit Hall, had been beaten into that sorry state.

That alone would have been bad enough, but the worst part was that they hadn't saved Qian Xunji!

If Qian Xunji had survived, Yue Guan and Gui Mei would have earned credit for protecting him. With their injuries on top of that, their standing in Elder Hall would only have risen.

But Qian Xunji was dead!

No one cared how hard they'd fought anymore!

What was the point of risking their lives? Qian Xunji was dead, so it made no difference whether they'd fought or not.

Now, everyone in Elder Hall was afraid of them. They all kept their distance, terrified of getting caught in the fallout.

If they didn't come to Pope Hall, where all eyes were on them while the attention was still at its peak, no one would even know if they died in some corner of Elder Hall once the commotion died down!

And it wasn't as if they were only seriously injured now. Even if they were in perfect health, it wouldn't be hard for the Grand Priest to make them disappear without a trace!

Once the Grand Priest had them in his sights, there was no way they could escape!

Their only chance of survival now was Bibi Dong!

"Should we keep them?" Bibi Dong looked at Nan Feng, who was lying on the desk reading.

"Hm?" Nan Feng looked up.

"Of course. Why wouldn't we keep two Titled Douluo?"

"But what if Qian Daoliu makes a move?" Bibi Dong asked.

If she refused them, their lives had nothing to do with her. But if she took them in and Qian Daoliu killed them, Elder Hall would definitely unite against her as Pope.

"Then let him. Wouldn't that be perfect?" Nan Feng stretched.

"Two Titled Douluo elders risked their lives for his son. They may not have earned merit, but they certainly put in the effort. And now he wants them dead just because his son died? That's hilarious. Who'd dare work for him after that?"

"Do a good job and it's only what you're expected to do. Make a mistake and you're dead. No clear rewards or punishments, just whatever he feels like. Spirit Hall would have to be cursed to survive under that."

Qian Daoliu wouldn't make a move. In the original story, these two survived.

Still, if Bibi Dong refused to accept Yue Guan and Gui Mei, that might not hold true.

At this point in the original story, Bibi Dong had been isolated and without support. Even if there was a risk, she would have accepted the allegiance of two veteran Titled Douluo.

But now, with him here—and after all the chaos he'd caused—Bibi Dong wasn't all that ambitious. She was the sort who thought it would be great if things went well, but didn't really care if they didn't. Naturally, she wasn't too concerned about whether these people took her side.

They could always fight it out.

At least she wouldn't be the one disgraced. If the Grand Priest bullied the young Pope, people would only laugh at Spirit Hall.

"Your Holiness?" Yue Guan and Gui Mei nervously scanned the meeting hall.

There was no one else there, just Bibi Dong and the two of them.

And that cat on the desk!

Was that cat the one who'd just spoken?

Could cats talk?

"Elders, please rise," Bibi Dong said.

"You've both served Spirit Hall for a long time—over fifty years by now. You've worked hard and earned plenty of merit. The Grand Priest won't blame you too harshly over this."

Yue Guan and Gui Mei stiffened.

Won't blame them?

He absolutely would!

It was precisely because they'd served Spirit Hall for over fifty years that they knew what kind of person the Grand Priest was!

Qian Daoliu didn't care about his subordinates' attitudes or how hard they tried. He only cared about ability!

As long as you accomplished what he assigned you, you were a hero!

But if you failed, it didn't matter how hard you'd worked. You could give it everything you had, even die on the job, and the Grand Priest still wouldn't spare you a second glance!

Spirit Hall had no use for dead weight!

That was something they'd understood on their very first day in Spirit Hall!

Why did Spirit Hall attract more Soul Masters than the Two Great Empires or the Seven Great Sects? Because its path to advancement was simple and straightforward. As long as you had strength, it didn't matter who you were—Spirit Hall would accept you.

Even Soul Masters with terrible reputations could find work there. Spirit Hall had special fixers just for that!

Gui Mei had even handled that side of things himself before!

In Spirit Hall, ability trumped everything! Attitude didn't matter!

Effort? Loyalty? What good were those?

Dead weight was dead weight!

"Your Holiness, if you save us this once, we swear to serve you until death," Yue Guan and Gui Mei said solemnly.

They truly didn't dare gamble on the Grand Priest having a sudden change of heart!

Qian Xunji was dead, and he was Qian Daoliu's son!

The old man was over a hundred, and he'd lost his son. The fact that Qian Daoliu hadn't simply crushed them both to death in Elder Hall already showed remarkable restraint!

"Serve me until death?" Bibi Dong's expression turned curious.

"Very well. You're both welcome to stay. As for the Grand Priest, I hope I still have some influence."

There was something wrong with the way Qian Daoliu looked at her. He hid it well, but that suppressed anger, hatred, and killing intent were all too familiar to her!

That was how she used to look!

In other words, Qian Daoliu probably knew she'd killed Qian Xunji. He simply feared the Rakshasa God Inheritance she carried and didn't dare take the risk. And since the truth couldn't come out, the old man wasn't even willing to call her out.

Caution was one of Qian Daoliu's strengths, but taken too far, it made him seem a little cowardly.

Still, she didn't dare provoke the old man any further.

Even a rabbit would bite when cornered, and Qian Daoliu was no rabbit.

If she really pushed him too far, she wouldn't come out of it unscathed either.

"Thank you, Your Holiness!"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei let out a sigh of relief.

They'd been on edge for so long! At last, they could relax a little!

Ever since they'd woken up gravely injured, they hadn't even dared to close their eyes!

They were afraid the old man Qian Daoliu might sneak up and kill them both!

"But your injuries still look quite serious," Bibi Dong said.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei had brought Qian Xunji back, but while they were in Elder Hall, all the Healing-type Soul Masters in Spirit City had been sent by Qian Daoliu to save Qian Xunji. Yue Guan and Gui Mei had been left completely unattended.

If the Titled Douluo present hadn't worked with the two of them for so many years and stepped in to stabilize their injuries, the old pair might have died in Elder Hall from their wounds on the very day they made it back to Spirit City.

They'd been recovering for nearly half a month, but their injuries were still severe. That was why they hadn't even considered going on the run and had come straight to Pope Hall to seek her protection.

"Xiao Feng." Bibi Dong tapped the little cat's head on the desk.

"Yes, yes, always ordering me around." Nan Feng leaped up, changed back into human form in midair, and landed on the floor.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei were both dumbfounded.

What kind of Martial Soul was that?

"You'd better not forget how much I'm doing for you today!" Nan Feng said gravely, looking at Yue Guan and Gui Mei.

"If I need anything from you two in the future, you'd better step up!"

As he spoke, Nan Feng draped an arm around each of their shoulders.

The Horse Talisman activated, and a healing power so terrifying it was almost inconceivable surged into their bodies. In just a few breaths, it had completely repaired their battered bodies. Even the hidden injuries they'd accumulated over the years vanished without a trace!

A miracle doctor!

Yue Guan and Gui Mei stared at him in shock.

If he'd been there when Qian Xunji was injured, surely Qian Xunji wouldn't have died from his wounds?

"Hey, you two had better not tell anyone about this," Nan Feng warned them.

The healing cost of his Horse Talisman was strange. Even now, he still hadn't figured out exactly how it worked.

But in his presence, there was no such thing as "too severely injured" or "vital organs."

A hole in someone's hand and a hole in their heart took the same amount of effort to heal.

Internal and external injuries were also the same to him. For Healing-type Soul Masters, repairing damage on the surface of the body wasn't too difficult. But repairing internal meridians and vital organs was much harder. After all, they had to guide their own Soul Power to "rebuild" the damaged areas, and the more delicate the part, the harder it was to repair.

But to him, an injury was just an injury. There was no such thing as a serious or minor one, only more or fewer injuries. He only cared about the "quantity," not the "quality."

The more places were injured, the greater the healing cost.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei had indeed been badly hurt, but most of their injuries were internal. Healing those injuries cost him less than healing the Fallen Ones he'd treated in Slaughter City, whose bodies had been covered in blood and whose blade wounds had gone down to the bone.