The Widening Rift

Bibi Dong's expression was solemn. Her red lips parted and closed as she delivered her first address after being crowned Pope.

Her voice was cool, pleasant, noble, sacred, and solemn. Bolstered by profound Soul Power, it spread far into the distance and echoed continuously through the air.

She did not give a lengthy speech, only a brief declaration of succession.

It did not matter.

Because in everyone's eyes,

Bibi Dong was breathtakingly beautiful, noble, elegant, and serene. It seemed every beautiful word could be used to describe her.

Although she was no longer young, the passage of time seemed not to have left a trace upon her.

Especially the intangible nobility and sanctity she exuded—it made people instinctively want to bow down in worship.

The moment Bibi Dong finished speaking,

the two Hall Elders were the first to kneel on one knee. They were followed by Spirit Hall's guardian knights and all the other Spirit Masters affiliated with Spirit Hall, who all knelt in salute.

The next moment, thunderous cheers erupted in unison.

"Long live His Holiness the Pope! Long live! Long, long live!"

Every Spirit Master belonging to Spirit Hall had fanaticism in their eyes.

On the balcony, Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes shifted. This was also the first time she had experienced such a magnificent sight.

"This is the authority bestowed by the Pope."

As Bibi Dong's emotions became complicated, her heart could not help but surge with passion, giving rise to a sense of sacred solemnity.

What other woman in this world could reach my position?

I must hold tightly to it and keep Spirit Hall under my control.

When the time comes, the Qian Family, Qian Daoliu...

Heh. You will never control me again.

Only I can decide my own fate.

Her thoughts raced. Bibi Dong gripped the Pope Scepter in her jade-like hand a little tighter.

After the Pope's coronation ceremony ended,

Bibi Dong returned to the Pope Palace.

Everything within the Pope Palace's Council Hall, which covered more than a thousand square meters, appeared exceedingly spacious.

Upon the raised platform at the head of the hall, the former Pope Throne—a splendid golden seat carved with Angel Reliefs—had been replaced with an elegant, luxurious pale-purple couch.

After all, it was a throne representing the Pope's authority and status.

It could not possibly be plain or vulgar. Magnificence and nobility were necessities.

Bibi Dong disliked gold, and anything Qian Xunji had sat on infuriated her just to look at. She did not even want to touch it.

The fact that she had not turned it into dust with a palm strike from afar already showed remarkable restraint.

Ignoring the Elder Hall's objections, she simply had it replaced.

Thus, the Angel Relief Throne, which had existed for countless millennia and been occupied by generation after generation of Popes, was waved into storage by Bibi Dong's jade-like hand. There it would gather dust, forever swept into the ashes of history.

Bibi Dong slumped sideways upon the soft couch of the newly replaced throne, her voluptuous body relaxed. Her slender jade-like legs were crossed and raised, one hand supporting her smooth chin while the other gently pinched the space between her brows.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and her willow-leaf brows were faintly furrowed, as though something was causing her discomfort.

Just then,

the massive doors of the Pope Palace's Council Hall, more than ten meters high, opened.

A small golden figure walked inside.

The visitor was a young girl around nine years old and roughly one and a half meters tall.

She wore a one-piece princess dress woven with golden threads. It lacked excessive decorative patterns, and its style was ancient yet elegant.

A golden stand-up collar protected her snowy-white, slender neck.

Her long golden hair was casually draped down her back, without having been carefully combed.

She was precisely Spirit Hall's Young Master, Qian Renxue.

Because she had awakened a God-level Martial Soul, the Six-Winged Angel, with innate level-twenty Soul Power, her talent was unprecedented.

Her grandfather and father had announced to the outside world that she had died young due to unforeseen circumstances, concealing her away to protect her.

As a result, few people in Spirit Hall knew of her existence.

Only elders at the Title Douluo level or above knew the truth.

Qian Renxue had been very well protected and almost never appeared in crowded settings.

Today was the day her mother was crowned Pope, and Qian Renxue was truly happy for her.

But she could only remain in the Worship Hall and could not attend the coronation ceremony.

Qian Renxue had specially made an exquisite Red Sandalwood Jade Comb, delicately engraved with two tiny names and portraits—hers and her mother Bibi Dong's.

It was placed inside a beautiful pinkish-purple gift box.

She knew her mother liked purple.

Moreover, Qian Renxue especially liked her mother's soft pinkish-purple hair and had once envied it greatly.

Though her own golden hair was also beautiful,

she still wished to possess the same hair color as her mother.

Qian Renxue dearly wished to personally give her mother the carefully crafted gift.

She had struggled with it for a long time.

In the end, she still made up her mind to congratulate her mother—to give herself, and her mother as well, one chance: a chance to mend the strained relationship between them.

Qian Renxue held the gift box in her hands.

When she entered the Pope Palace's Council Hall, her expression made it easy to see that she was nervous.

Soon, she arrived before the raised platform of the Pope Throne.

She stood there gracefully, her sapphire-blue eyes clear as gemstones, fixed upon the beautiful figure seated on the throne—a woman who embodied nobility, elegance, serenity, and sanctity.

At last, she was seeing her mother again.

In her memory, ever since she had become aware of things, the number of times she had seen her mother could be counted on one hand.

The most recent time had already been three years ago.

But that meeting had not ended well. She had nearly died, so she felt somewhat uneasy now, afraid that her mother would attack her once more.

Qian Renxue looked at Bibi Dong's figure.

Mother was still so beautiful. No, she was even more beautiful than before.

The unease in Qian Renxue's heart gradually faded, and the joy on her face overflowed. An indescribable familial affection filled her heart, and mist rose in her sapphire-blue eyes, instantly wetting her eye sockets.

She stood there blankly.

She began imagining how, after reconciling with her mother, she would nestle affectionately in her embrace and freely enjoy her mother's love.

Yet reality gave her another brutal blow.

A cold question came from above, dragging her out of her fantasy.

"What are you doing here?!"

Bibi Dong, seated upon the throne, abruptly opened her eyes. Her tone was as cold as ice.

Her pale-purple eyes looked down at the stunned Qian Renxue, and a trace of complexity flashed through Bibi Dong's gaze.

But it was quickly replaced by extreme disgust.

She sensed an aura unique to the Angel Martial Soul. It instantly plunged her mood to freezing point, and even the surrounding air became much colder.

Sensing the shift in atmosphere and hearing her mother Bibi Dong's cold question, Qian Renxue felt an immense distance between them.

Her heart tightened, and she panicked slightly. Her tightly pressed, moist lips parted, and with a trace of tears in her voice, she called out, "Mother!"

"Get out!"

Upon hearing those words, Bibi Dong's emotions exploded completely. She shot to her feet, fury on her beautiful face, and spat out a single icy word.

"I..." Qian Renxue's body swayed twice. She took half a step back, her pretty face deathly pale, unable to believe it for a moment.

She did not even notice the gift box falling from her hand to the floor.

She had not done anything. She had not said anything. Yet she was treated with such coldness.

"Why? Why are you treating me like this?!"

Qian Renxue truly could not understand.

"Get out! Go back to your Worship Hall! Don't let me see you again!"

Bibi Dong did not answer Qian Renxue. After throwing out several cold words, she turned away.

At last, Qian Renxue could no longer hold herself together. She burst into loud sobs, tears flooding uncontrollably from her eyes like a river breaking through its banks.

Crying loudly, she ran out.

With her head lowered, she ran in one direction, heedless of everything, without stopping.