Allegiance

"Yes, Your Highness the Holy Son."

Yan looked at Shang An with burning eyes. His teacher stood to the side, looking somewhat anxious but not daring to step forward for fear of offending the Holy Son. In a sense, the status of the Holy Son even surpassed that of the Elders, and he was merely a Platinum Bishop.

While communicating with his teacher, Yan had already learned that Shang An had been conferred the title of Holy Son and that he had defeated a Spirit King. Yet, he still wanted to challenge Shang An—not to win, but out of a deep-seated obsession.

"Please, Your Highness the Holy Son, you must grant my request, regardless of the outcome."

Since things had reached this point, Shang An naturally would not refuse.

"If that is the case, I shall grant you a defeat."

This statement was incredibly arrogant, perhaps even too conceited, but coming from Shang An, no one felt it was out of place. Hu Liena's eyes even began to sparkle.

Even Yan did not find anything wrong with it; instead, he looked at Shang An with a sense of reverence.

"Please, Holy Son, enlighten me."

The two walked to an open area, and the surrounding crowd automatically cleared a path.

Shang An did not waste any more words. He hadn't seen the little fox in three years, and he still had to catch up with her later.

He unleashed his first spirit skill, and as purple light surged, the Taiyi Staff appeared in his hand.

Stepping with the Tiangang Bagua Steps, he vanished in a flash.

Yan only felt danger approaching. Relying on the instincts honed through three years of day-and-night combat, he immediately activated his second spirit skill, 'Granite Rock', and blocked his right arm behind him.

Sure enough, a mysterious and magnificent staff struck from the rear right, slamming heavily into Yan's right arm. Even with his spirit skill active, Yan was forced back seven or eight steps, his right hand trembling uncontrollably. What immense strength, what incredible speed!

"Oh? You've improved a little."

Shang An did not give Yan time to react. He pressed forward, channeling his mana and unleashing the 'Qin King Whips the Stones' from the Demon Subduing Staff Technique, the force behind the staff increasing by more than a notch.

Yan had no choice but to raise his left arm to block. Unfortunately, Shang An did not want to tangle with him for long. With one strike, Yan was sent flying dozens of meters away, his left arm bleeding profusely, leaving him with no strength left to fight.

A healing-type spirit master rushed forward to use their spirit skill, stabilizing Yan's injuries and allowing him to barely regain his ability to move. After all, this was just a sparring match, and since Yan was a member of Spirit Hall, Shang An had been very measured in his strikes.

If it had been a certain "Third Brother," it would have been different; he would have gone straight for destroying the opponent's potential, causing the geniuses of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation to gradually fall behind their peers.

Supported by his teacher, Yan stood up. Under his teacher's worried gaze, he walked laboriously toward Shang An.

Shang An looked at him with some confusion. Was this... defiance?

Yan placed his right hand over his left chest.

Then, with a thud, he knelt on one knee and lowered his head. This was a grand gesture usually reserved only for the Pope.

"Your Highness the Holy Son, I, Yan, swear here to be loyal to you until death. I will honor your will, uphold your majesty, and fight for you for the rest of my life."

Loyalty?

Shang An had not expected Yan to be so decisive, pledging his allegiance on the spot. Moreover, he could feel Yan spontaneously condensing a Seed of Heart, meaning this was a genuine submission.

Could it be that he also possessed a protagonist's halo? He had only beaten Yan twice, and the man was already kowtowing and volunteering to be his lackey?

Shaking off these wandering thoughts, he looked at the kneeling Yan and reached out to help him up.

"Rise, Yan. I accept your loyalty."

After all, Yan was a genius. With the resources of Spirit Hall, becoming a Titled Douluo would be no problem. Shang An naturally would not refuse such a subordinate.

Surrounded by the crowd, the group returned to Spirit City.

In a side hall of the Pope Palace, Bibi Dong, Shang An, and Hu Liena were sitting around a small table.

"Come, Xiao An, eat more."

Bibi Dong placed another piece of spirit beast meat into Shang An's bowl.

Looking at the pile of food in Shang An's bowl and then at Bibi Dong, who was still busy serving him, Hu Liena suddenly felt like a failure in life. Who exactly was the welcome party for today?!

"Hmph, Teacher is biased."

Hu Liena muttered, expressing her dissatisfaction.

Seeing Hu Liena's expression, Shang An felt a sudden sense of amusement.

"Here, Senior Sister, you eat too."

As he spoke, Shang An picked up a piece of steamed bear paw and placed it in Hu Liena's bowl, then placed another in Bibi Dong's bowl.

"Teacher, you eat too. You don't always have to serve me."

"Xiao An is still the best. Nana, you should learn from him. Besides, you are the senior sister; you should know how to yield to your junior brother, right?"

Bibi Dong said with a beaming smile.

"I know."

Hu Liena replied reluctantly, her face full of resentment. Her stiff expression caused the other two to burst into laughter.

After they had eaten their fill, Bibi Dong began to discuss serious matters.

"Nana, you have just come out of the Devil Training Camp, and your mental state is somewhat unstable. For the next two months, you will stay in the library and finish the thirty advanced books on spirit master theory that I have assigned."

"Ah! Teacher~"

Hu Liena's face was instantly filled with horror, revealing the struggle of a poor student.

"No refusing. Two months from now, I will personally test your knowledge of spirit master theory."

Bibi Dong was very firm, giving Hu Liena no chance to decline.

"Becoming a powerful spirit master requires not just strength, but also a wealth of theoretical knowledge."

Seeing that Bibi Dong would not give her a chance to refuse, Hu Liena turned her head and looked at Shang An with teary eyes.

"Junior Brother~"

Clearly, she wanted to take a roundabout route, a strategy to save herself by seeking help from Shang An to persuade Bibi Dong.

If Shang An were to intercede, Bibi Dong would certainly listen, but this was truly for Hu Liena's own good. Even though the little fox looked pitiful with her teary eyes, he would not let his emotions cloud his judgment.

"Nana, Teacher has already made her decision, and this will be helpful for you as well."

Shang An shook his head, then patted Hu Liena on the head.

"If there is anything you don't understand, you can come and ask me."

Seeing that pleading was useless and Shang An refused to help, Hu Liena had no choice but to accept the reality.

In truth, Hu Liena knew this was for her own good, but she was simply a failure when it came to theory. Although her cultivation talent was outstanding, she had absolutely no feeling for theoretical knowledge.

Now that she was required to read thirty dry theoretical books in two months, she would rather go back to the Devil Training Camp for another two months.

Suddenly, Shang An stepped forward and took hold of Hu Liena's soft, slender hand.

"Senior Sister, I happen to have a difficult problem recently that requires me to look up information in the library. I will study with you for these two months."

Being held by the hand and gazed at "affectionately" by Shang An in front of their teacher, Hu Liena's face turned red instantly.

"I, I am willing!"

"Then, I look forward to your guidance over the next two months, Senior Sister."

Only then did Hu Liena realize that Shang An was talking about reading. She had been too excited to hear clearly just now and thought Shang An was about to confess his feelings to her in front of their teacher. Thinking of this, Hu Liena's face turned even redder, like a ripe apple.

Bibi Dong and Shang An did not expose her, and the matter was settled.

The little fox was slightly disappointed, but thinking that she would be studying in the library with her Junior Brother, these two months didn't seem so unbearable after all.

Afterward, Bibi Dong chatted a bit about cultivation, mainly regarding Hu Liena. Shang An had unique ideas about his own cultivation, so she, as his teacher, only offered some suggestions.

Hu Liena was already at level 39, just one step away from level 40. As long as she obtained her fourth spirit ring within three months, she would become the youngest Spirit Ancestor of the younger generation in Spirit Hall, excluding Shang An.

Xie Yue and Yan had already reached level 40, but they were both a year older than Hu Liena and had already broken through.

The two of them, plus Hu Liena, were the top three in the Devil Training Camp, also known as the Golden Generation.

Don't look at how the Golden Generation became background characters in the original story; in reality, their talent was absolutely top-tier on the continent.

Take Tang Hao, who was once hailed as the youngest Title Douluo on the Douluo Continent; he achieved the Title Douluo realm at the age of 44.

Hu Liena became a level 50 Spirit King at the age of 19. According to her cultivation speed, she even had the hope of becoming a Title Douluo before the age of 30.

Xie Yue was also a candidate for a Super Douluo, but he was sabotaged by Tang San during the Spirit Master Tournament, his potential damaged by the poison of the Eight Spider Spears, and he was even surpassed by Feng Xiaotian later on.

But in fact, without immortal herbs, the talent of the Shrek Seven Devils, aside from Tang San and Oscar, was far inferior to the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall.

Bibi Dong encouraged Hu Liena a few more times before sending her away.

Having this disciple here was a distraction.

"Xiao An, your Saint Son Token has been crafted."

As she spoke, Bibi Dong took an exquisite small purple box out of her storage spirit tool.

Shang An took the box, which contained three silver tokens about half the size of a palm, similar in style to the Pope Token.

One side featured the six emblems of Spirit Hall—the chrysanthemum, ghost, sword, dragon, hammer, and crown—while the other side bore the icon of a Taiyi Bead, with the character "Shang" engraved below it, representing the owner of the token.

Shang An played with it in his hand. The token wasn't heavy, roughly the weight of a mobile phone, but the texture was extremely hard. He didn't know what metal it was made of; he had just tried, and even with his current physical strength, he couldn't deform the token.

Seeing Shang An's interested expression, Bibi Dong continued:

"This token is cast from Qingling Dark Iron, and wearing it on your person has the effect of clearing the mind and calming the spirit."

However, thinking of Shang An's miraculous cultivation methods, Bibi Dong added:

"It has a certain auxiliary effect on cultivation for those below the Spirit Saint realm, though it probably won't be of much use to you."