After hearing this, Qian Xun'an furrowed his brow slightly. "Why did he leave Spirit Hall?"
The Soul Douluo looked at Qian Xun'an. "To be precise, he was driven out of Spirit Hall by the former Pope."
At that, Qian Xun'an turned to the Soul Douluo. "Tell me exactly what happened."
The Soul Douluo looked at Qian Xun'an, then began recounting what had happened back then.
"Back then, I was just an ordinary disciple of Spirit Hall. I only heard about most of this, so I don't know the exact details.
"All I know is that, supposedly, there was a romantic affair between Yu Xiaogang and Pope Bibi Dong..."
The Soul Douluo began telling Qian Xun'an the story.
"Back then, Bibi Dong was Pope Qian Xunji's disciple. The Pope wasn't much older than her. He chose Bibi Dong to become the Saintess, making her the object of everyone's admiration.
"Everyone in Spirit Hall could see that the Pope was interested in Bibi Dong. He confessed his feelings to her several times, but she rejected him every time.
"Then someone appeared. His name was Yu Xiaogang.
"Yu Xiaogang came to Spirit Hall, saying he wanted to use our Library.
"But how could an outsider be allowed to consult Spirit Hall's Library? Still, for some reason, this man named Yu Xiaogang managed to get close to the current Pope, Bibi Dong.
"Later, I heard that Bibi Dong agreed to become Pope Qian Xunji's fiancée.
"And Yu Xiaogang became an elder of Spirit Hall.
"When Yu Xiaogang became one of the twelve elders of Spirit Hall, many people were unhappy about it."
Qian Xun'an listened, then asked, "Why were they unhappy?"
The Soul Douluo continued, "Because Yu Xiaogang was a good-for-nothing!"
"A good-for-nothing? Just how useless was he?" Qian Xun'an asked.
"He was from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but his Martial Soul mutated at birth, leaving him unable to break through level thirty for the rest of his life!" the Soul Douluo replied.
At that, Qian Xun'an recalled a line from Yu Xiaogang's book:
"There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters."
By his own theory, Yu Xiaogang himself was the perfect counterexample.
"Could someone like that really be worthy of becoming an elder of Spirit Hall?" Qian Xun'an scoffed.
The Soul Douluo looked at Qian Xun'an and continued, "At the time, His Holiness the Pope said Yu Xiaogang had the greatest theories, so he made an exception and appointed him the twelfth elder."
"But hardly anyone in Spirit Hall believed that. Everyone speculated about the real reason, and eventually came to a conclusion."
"Go on," Qian Xun'an said.
"Saintess Bibi Dong seemed to have fallen in love with that good-for-nothing. To get him appointed as an elder, she went to Pope Qian Xunji and agreed to marry him.
"The condition was... that Yu Xiaogang, that good-for-nothing, become an elder of Spirit Hall."
At that, Qian Xun'an narrowed his eyes.
This was more or less what he had suspected. What surprised him was that although Bibi Dong was a stupid woman, he hadn't expected her taste to be so terrible, too.
He had never met Yu Xiaogang, but just hearing about him made him sound utterly useless.
How could Bibi Dong have fallen for someone like him?
Still, this made everything fit together.
Qian Xun'an looked at the Soul Douluo. "Keep going."
The Soul Douluo continued his account. "After that, Yu Xiaogang started freeloading at Spirit Hall and going in and out of our Library. He used our knowledge to write this book, Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul.
"Later, word got out that the Pope and Saintess Bibi Dong were going to marry.
"But the Saintess seemed unwilling. She wanted to secretly run away with Yu Xiaogang, so the two of them slipped away from Spirit Hall.
"In the end, Pope Qian Xunji caught them. The Pope had originally intended to kill Yu Xiaogang.
"But at Saintess Bibi Dong's pleading, the Pope merely drove Yu Xiaogang away."
Qian Xun'an was deeply shaken. He asked, "So Bibi Dong agreed to my eldest brother's proposal, but then tried to abandon him and run away with a good-for-nothing?"
"So Bibi Dong was the one who betrayed my eldest brother first... Those two shameless traitors!" Fury flashed in Qian Xun'an's eyes.
Then he left Judgment Hall and flew toward Worship Hall.
Qian Xun'an was incredibly fast. In an instant, he reached Worship Hall.
He went straight to see his father, Qian Daoliu.
"Xun'an, you're here!"
Qian Daoliu sat beside a desk and asked calmly.
Qian Xun'an slammed Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul onto Qian Daoliu's desk, then asked, "Father, you recognize this, don't you?"
Qian Daoliu glanced at it. "I've heard of it."
"Then you must know about what happened between Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang, too, right?" Qian Xun'an demanded, looking at his father.
Qian Daoliu lifted his eyes to Qian Xun'an. "Xun'an, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Qian Xun'an sneered. "Hmph. Father, you keep saying my eldest brother wronged Bibi Dong. Why won't you admit that she was the one who betrayed him first?"
"I looked into Bibi Dong. She was an orphan from childhood, taken in by Spirit Hall. Everything she had came from Spirit Hall.
"If it hadn't been for my eldest brother, the wild dogs on the mountain would have eaten her long ago. Who could have known that the girl he took in would grow up to be an ungrateful wretch?
"If she didn't love my eldest brother, she could have simply refused his proposal.
"But she agreed to marry him for the sake of a good-for-nothing. If she'd already agreed, why betray him and try to elope with that good-for-nothing?
"After all the life-saving grace, care, and instruction my eldest brother gave her, how could she treat him like that?"
Qian Xun'an looked at Qian Daoliu and continued, "Besides, she and my eldest brother were already engaged, and she had agreed to it herself.
"Even if my eldest brother had forced himself on her, that would have been a matter between husband and wife.
"Tell me, what did my eldest brother do wrong? How did he wrong Bibi Dong?
"Spirit Hall took her in, provided her with resources to cultivate, made her the Saintess and even the Pope. So how exactly did Spirit Hall wrong her?"
Qian Daoliu looked at Qian Xun'an and remained silent.
After a long time, he finally spoke. "Xun'an, I know what you're trying to say. But at this point, for Xiao Xue and for Spirit Hall, bringing this up again would only destabilize Spirit Hall."
"Stability?" Qian Xun'an looked at Qian Daoliu. "If preserving Spirit Hall's stability means sacrificing the truth, then I'd rather do without it!"
Qian Xun'an continued, "Father, I looked into it. All the reports about my eldest brother's injuries from back then have disappeared.
"I don't know who's trying to stop me from getting to the bottom of this, but I'll uncover the truth and give my eldest brother justice.
"No one will stop me!"
After saying that, Qian Xun'an stormed out.
Spirit City.
In front of Pope Hall.
"Stop." Two guards in silver armor blocked the path of a man in plain clothes. A hundred guards raised their longswords in unison. "This is a restricted area. Take one more step, and you'll be killed without mercy."
Facing a hundred guards who were clearly stronger than him, the man remained as indifferent as ever. He raised his hand and showed them his token.
The leading guard hurried over. The moment he saw the six symbols on the token, a shiver ran through him.
With a thud, he dropped to one knee.
"Greetings, Elder."
The hundred guards performed the same motion in perfect unison.
"Take me to the Pope," the man said simply.
The meeting hall of Pope Hall.
The man sat quietly, sipping fine tea as he waited.
The enormous meeting hall, spanning over a thousand square meters, was otherwise empty.
The man was none other than Bibi Dong's old lover, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang kept his gaze fixed on the tea in his hand. He barely glanced at the gilded splendor around him, quietly waiting.
The three-meter-tall arched doors opened, and a gentle voice sounded from outside. "Wait outside. No one is to disturb us without my order."
"Yes."
Grandmaster finally lifted his eyes from the tea and looked toward the doors of the meeting hall.
The doors opened, and a woman walked in.
Before you continue