Rakshasa Demonic Thought

Shang An felt his power of the mind touch upon a certain place, and instantly, a deep-rooted demonic thought appeared within Bibi Dong's mind.

"Rakshasa Demonic Thought!"

Shang An sensed a black mist, evil yet carrying a trace of lofty aura, emerging within Bibi Dong's heart.

Could it be that the Rakshasa God was deliberately influencing Bibi Dong's mind?

Perhaps this inheritance of the Rakshasa God was also a trap.

Thinking about it carefully, it made sense; the inheritances of the Sea God and the Asura God were like cheat codes, not only increasing spirit ring age limits but also providing benefits like God-bestowed spirit rings and tidal body refinement, with the Asura God even allowing one to skip the first eight trials directly.

And the Rakshasa inheritance? Not only did it require Bibi Dong to spend decades slowly completing the divine trials, but aside from the Rakshasa Demon Scythe, there were no rewards, and the Rakshasa inheritance even restricted her strength later on.

No god would ever sabotage their own successor like this.

Moreover, Bibi Dong could be said to be the first to start the divine trials, yet she was the last to become a god, and it happened precisely after Tang San had already ascended.

Furthermore, the later version of Bibi Dong clearly suffered from a severe drop in intelligence, making a series of irrational decisions. One must know that beneath her soft and beautiful exterior lay a proud heart that would not allow anyone to stand above her.

She was not someone who indulged her emotions; in the original story, she was adept at enduring, whether it was having her body taken by her teacher Qian Xunji, or being suppressed by Tang Hao despite possessing ninety-nine-level peak spirit power due to the restrictions of the Rakshasa divine trials—she remained unmoved, waiting only to settle the score later.

To ensure her second martial soul's spirit ring configuration reached its limit, she was able to hide its existence until she inherited the position of Pope and could access the most resources, only then revealing the secret.

Bibi Dong would kill subordinates who failed her tasks if she followed her temper, but she prioritized the big picture over her impulses, suppressing her murderous intent when the plan required it.

Yet, such an enduring, intelligent empress with a grand perspective was repeatedly "dumbed down" when facing Tang San and his group, leading to many erroneous judgments.

If this were just a melodramatic novel, one could blame the author for forced stupidity, but now that he was in a real world, he did not believe there were no other influencing factors at play.

Shang An even felt that the Angel God worshipped by Spirit Hall might have also suffered a disaster; Qian Renxue's divine trials were actually broadcasted, and she fell in love with her enemy Tang San because of the trials, showing mercy time and again—when put that way, it was truly chilling.

Bibi Dong might just be a scapegoat, venting for the Asura God and paving the way for the Asura God's successor, and the Rakshasa Demonic Thought clearly had a severe impact on her will.

The reason she thought of Yu Xiaogang instead of her own daughter before she died was likely because Bibi Dong was deeply influenced by the Rakshasa Demonic Thought, making Yu Xiaogang her only light.

It seemed those conspiracy theories from his past life were very likely true!

Tang San was very likely the successor prepared by Asura, and Tang San's transmigration might also be related to the Asura God; after all, how could the appearance and names of herbs in two different worlds be exactly the same?

Shang An had never heard of any immortal herbs in his past life.

Looking at it this way, this Douluo Continent was a massive game of chess.

If one entered the game without knowing anything, they wouldn't just lose everything they owned; they would lose their very soul.

He had to be more cautious from now on; before he grew strong enough, Shang An did not have the confidence to go head-to-head with the Asura God.

"It seems I have no choice but to proactively plant the Seed of Heart."

Shang An could not remove the Rakshasa Demonic Thought for the time being; after all, as long as there was Rakshasa divine power in Bibi Dong's body, the Rakshasa Demonic Thought, which relied on that power, would continue to affect her.

Given his current relationship with Bibi Dong, even if he tried to persuade her to give up the Rakshasa godhood, she might not listen and might even view him as someone with ulterior motives.

But he could not let the Rakshasa Demonic Thought influence Bibi Dong and let her walk down that old path.

However, it was not impossible to suppress it. Shang An's Way of the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon was rooted in the heart, and the Seed of Heart it produced had an influence far beyond that of the Rakshasa Demonic Thought, so it could naturally suppress this demonic influence.

Shang An began to exert his power of the mind to its fullest, constantly caressing Bibi Dong's mind, carefully bypassing her mental defenses, probing continuously, and finally reaching a secret place within her heart.

The Seed of Heart was actually intangible and formless; it did not belong to the material world, nor even to the spiritual realm, and could not be observed by any means.

To be precise, from the moment of its birth, it was a part of the living being's own heart; even Shang An could only sense and condense the Seed of Heart through the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord.

If it were a passive condensation, it wouldn't be this troublesome, but Shang An's active condensation required extreme caution, for fear of accidentally triggering a mental backlash from Bibi Dong.

After a long while...

After finishing everything, Shang An let out a long sigh of relief. The gap in cultivation between Bibi Dong and him was simply too vast; doing this was still quite a strain for him, but fortunately, it was done.

His eyelids fluttered, and as soon as Shang An relaxed, he fell into a deep sleep.

Sunlight filtered through the curtains.

Bibi Dong slowly opened her eyes.

She felt a sense of lightness throughout her body, as if a massive boulder that had been pressing down on her had been quietly moved away.

Looking at Shang An in his sleep, Bibi Dong stroked his face, her expression gentle, and there was even a hint of doting in her eyes.

"This kid sleeps so soundly."

Suddenly, she leaned her head in close.

A long time later, Shang An woke up, looking at the bright sun outside the window; it was clearly already noon.

"It seems it was a success, though the consumption was indeed quite high."

At the very least, Shang An still felt his head splitting; this was the result of overdrawing his power of the mind.

He arrived at the back hall of the Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong was inside, handling official business.

Seeing Shang An arrive, Bibi Dong revealed a smile and waved at him.

"Xiao An, come over and sit."

Shang An did not stand on ceremony and sat directly beside Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong looked somewhat dissatisfied, pulling Shang An onto her lap.

"Xiao An, while cultivation requires diligent practice, you must also remember to balance work and rest."

It seemed Bibi Dong assumed he had been overdoing his meditative cultivation, but that was fine; it saved him from having to make up an excuse.

"Yes, Teacher, I understand."

Watching Shang An's well-behaved appearance, Bibi Dong couldn't help but pinch his cheeks.

"You! You are just too self-disciplined."

"You don't need to go to the academy today. I've already asked for leave on your behalf; stay here and have a meal with me."

"Alright, I wanted to have a meal with you too, Teacher."

Shang An did not object; his current state was not suitable for attending classes anyway.

The two enjoyed a lovely lunch inside the Pope Palace.

During the meal, Bibi Dong kept feeding Shang An, until he felt a bit stuffed.

Afterward, Bibi Dong held Shang An while she handled official business. Looking at the complex administrative tasks, Shang An used knowledge from his past life to offer timely suggestions.

This left Bibi Dong both surprised and delighted, and she squeezed Shang An's face hard to express her affection.

Shang An checked the status of the Seed of Heart and was surprised to find that Bibi Dong's Seed of Heart was growing rapidly.

Shang An had once tried to quantify favorability; through the Seed of Heart, he could derive specific values for affection or loyalty.

0-20 Friend/Belief

21-40 Good Friend/Trust

41-50 Close Friend/Conviction

51-60 Intimate/Respect

61-70 True Love/Loyalty

71-80 Unwavering/Diehard Loyalty

81-90 Love or loyalty that transcends everything

91-99 Love and loyalty that persists through reincarnation. Even after rebirth, it remains difficult to erase. (The higher the value, the harder it is to erase.)

100 Imprinted on the true soul, an indelible love and loyalty. At this point, it can be said that no matter how many lifetimes pass or what is experienced, nothing can change it.

When someone's favorability toward Shang An reached over forty, a Seed of Heart would slowly condense on its own.

In reality, the favorability between most couples is likely only around forty or fifty.

Even for the inseparable love between Tang San and Xiao Wu, given Xiao Wu's nature of abandoning everything for love, it would at most be around eighty.

The loyalty of many righteous men and loyal ministers throughout history could hardly reach ninety.

In the romantic stories of history, the feelings of the protagonists rarely exceeded seventy or eighty.

As for those reaching ninety, there might be a few, but they were rare; the higher the value, the harder it was to increase.

Shang An's Seed of Heart acted as a favorability amplifier and a limiter remover, allowing others' affection for him to rise steadily until it reached one hundred.

At this moment, Shang An detected that Bibi Dong's favorability toward him had reached over sixty—it could be called true love.

Even Hu Liena, that simple child who had condensed a Seed of Heart on her own, was only in the low sixties; Bibi Dong had surpassed her in an instant.

After carefully sensing the changes in Bibi Dong's heart, Shang An gave a bitter smile internally.

He hadn't expected Bibi Dong to treat him as a substitute for Qian Renxue and Yu Xiaogang, projecting both maternal love and romantic affection onto him.

However, this was fine; it would allow him to increase Bibi Dong's favorability quickly.

At dinnertime, Hu Liena also arrived, claiming she was there to visit her teacher.

But looking at her big eyes, which kept darting toward Shang An, it was clear what her true purpose was.

She leaned into Shang An's ear and whispered, "Junior brother, were you punished by Teacher?"

"Why have you stayed in the Pope Palace all day instead of coming to class?"

"Teacher is just too strict."

"No, I just wasn't feeling well; I must have been cultivating for too long."

Shang An replied, while giving her a glare to warn her to be careful—Bibi Dong was listening.

Don't let the fact that Hu Liena's voice was soft fool you; to a Title Douluo like Bibi Dong, it was no different than shouting through a megaphone.

Bibi Dong pretended not to hear the two youngsters' conversation; she was their teacher and should be magnanimous.

Hmm, Nana was pestering Xiao An all day, which not only affected Xiao An but also delayed her own cultivation. It seemed she needed to be sent to the Devil Training Camp for some tempering.

Bibi Dong had long planned for the Devil Training Camp, inspired by the Capital of Slaughter. Hu Liena and several other geniuses from the Spirit Hall Academy were to participate to select the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall.

Since Hu Liena was so idle, she might as well start the plan a bit earlier; her current cultivation was sufficient, she just lacked experience.

Of course, Xiao An wouldn't need to go; he was naturally gifted and diligent enough in his cultivation. It was better for him to stay in Spirit Hall and keep her company.

Hu Liena was still happily chatting with Shang An, completely unaware that she had already been neatly arranged by a petty-minded teacher.