The Six-Year Pact

Yue Guan froze, blood dripping from his cheek onto the ground.

He had never imagined Su Yan would be that Cheng Yaojin.

Ci Xue also froze, looking at Yue Guan in slight bewilderment.

Yue Guan spat out a mouthful of blood, clutching his chest as he shouted, "Holy Maiden, don't worry about me. Take Su Yan and leave first—I'll hold them off!"

Ci Xue caught the hint, leaping up and throwing a punch at Yue Guan, though the force of the blow was all aimed at Su Yan.

"Stop!" Bibi Dong's body was covered in black scale armor as she stretched out both palms, vowing to use the power of a Soul Saint to withstand the might of a Titled Douluo.

In the blink of an eye, Ci Xue suddenly pulled back, even dismissing his Martial Soul's possession, taking Bibi Dong's two palms with his bare body. He was sent flying hundreds of meters back, a mouthful of old blood spraying out.

The smell of blood immediately filled the air.

Bibi Dong's eyes flickered. She turned her head to glare at Yue Guan, dipped her finger in the "blood" on his body, brought it to her nose, and sniffed coldly. "Yue Guan, tell me. What's really going on?"

Yue Guan fell to his knees with a thud. "Pope, it was the Pope who forbade you from taking disciples..."

"Father, why won't you let Sister take disciples?"

In the Main Martial Soul Hall, Qian Renxue stood in the corridor, blocking the Pope's path.

"Xue'er, you know about Dong'er's Bi's Training Method. Ordinary people can't endure it." The Pope raised a hand, and the attendants around him dispersed.

"Since you know the problem, why has no one ever taught Sister how to be a good teacher? Instead, you directly strip her of the right to be one. That seems a bit excessive."

Seeing that only father and daughter remained, the Pope took out a tortoise shell and handed it to Qian Renxue. "This is the divination of Dong'er's fate. See for yourself."

Qian Renxue took the tortoise shell, her pupils gradually widening, and her arm began to tremble involuntarily. "How can this be... Fate Falls Lonely, Shallow Fortune. If she has children, Ten Deaths No Life!"

"You're saying that Master calculated my fate, that I would have no disciples in this life, and that any disciple I take would surely die?" Bibi Dong's mind conjured the image of a young boy lying in a pool of blood, and her body went ice cold.

Before her, Ci Xue and Yue Guan both knelt on the ground, all their arrogance gone, like children who had done wrong, not daring to lift their heads.

"That's what the Pope said, so..." Yue Guan replied, then turned his head and shot Su Yan a harsh glare. "We were all trying to save you, and you repay kindness with enmity! You don't know what's good for you!"

Alarms blared in Su Yan's heart. So this was indeed related to Qian Xunji.

"Don't blame me. I believe in science..." Su Yan felt the words burn on his tongue, as if he could hear the roar of a dump truck in his ears.

"That was then. Now, I believe man can conquer fate." He quickly changed his tune. "Even so, you could have just told me directly, instead of putting on an act and deceiving my master."

"It was all that ugly bastard's idea." Yue Guan immediately pointed at Ci Xue. "I was just following orders."

"Don't slander me! It was clearly your sissy idea, you pansy!" Ci Xue roared.

The two immediately started brawling.

"Enough! All of you, shut up!" Bibi Dong was holding back a belly full of anger with nowhere to vent. Such an important matter, and no one had ever told her about it.

The two Titled Douluos both let out a cold snort and turned away in opposite directions.

Su Yan couldn't help but laugh at the two old fools, earning him a glare of shared resentment from both of them.

Not far away, Tang Chi slowly poked his head out. Seeing that things had calmed down, he came over as well.

Su Yan pointed at Ci Xue and asked, "Master, are you really going to marry him?"

"Fake." Bibi Dong's answer was crisp and decisive. "Ci Xue's father once saved my master's life. They had a similar agreement, but it was canceled not long after."

"Why?" Su Yan's eyes narrowed. Could there be Qian Xunji's hand in this too?

Ci Xue, standing nearby, seemed to recall something unpleasant, his face turning deathly pale.

Yue Guan let out a faint, sly laugh. "I know. Ci Xue once got his hand pinched by a crab, so he's afraid of spiders."

"Get lost, get lost!" Ci Xue was furious. "Yue Guan talks like a sissy, so he was assigned to the women's dorm, and he even got..."

"You're full of shit!" Yue Guan pointed his index finger at Ci Xue, though the way his pinky curled up was a bit odd.

The two of them flailed their arms and started fighting again like a pair of little animals.

Bibi Dong, used to this, fixed her beautiful eyes on Su Yan. "Xiao Yan, I think..."

"Master, you don't need to say more. A teacher for a day is a father for life." Su Yan interrupted her. "Before, I believed in science. Now, I still believe it about half the time."

"But Master's divination has never been wrong."

Su Yan lifted his gaze, meeting Bibi Dong's uncertain eyes. "If something really happens to me, won't Master come to save me?"

"I will. I definitely will!" Bibi Dong clenched her fists and nodded.

Just then, a thunderous roar split the sky, and a golden dragon made a dazzling entrance.

"Hall Master, it's the Hall Master," Ci Xue said.

The golden light descended, and a robust man with sword-like brows and starry eyes slowly walked out from within, radiating a brilliant glow.

He pointed at Su Yan, and his first words were, "Holy Maiden, to prepare for the Martial Soul Hall Junior Soul Master Competition, I need him to join my team."

Before Bibi Dong could speak, Su Yan shouted, "I refuse!"

He stood half a step in front of Bibi Dong, tilting his head up just to see the man's face. "Are you the Hall Master, Yu Xiaogang?"

"It is I." Yu Xiaogang looked down at the child, his tone brimming with arrogance. "What must I do for you to agree?"

"No matter what, I won't agree. I have only one master, and that is Bibi Dong." Su Yan extended his index finger, pointing at Yu Xiaogang. "You stole my master's two disciples. The master can endure it, but the disciple cannot. I challenge you!"

For a moment, the silence was so deep you could hear a pin drop.

Yue Guan looked as if he'd seen a ghost. "This kid, spouting wild nonsense!"

Ci Xue sneered, "The Hall Master is the youngest Titled Douluo!"

"Xiao Yan, you...?" Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes trembled slightly, a strange feeling stirring in her heart.

"Since you say you're preparing for the Martial Soul Hall Junior Soul Master Competition, then let's settle it on that stage." Su Yan's momentum was fierce, as if he possessed the courage of ten thousand men. "If you win, I'll acknowledge you as my master. If you lose, I want you to shout three times, right there on the spot: 'I am inferior to Bibi Dong!'"

Yu Xiaogang let out a derisive laugh. "Fine. Six years from now, at the Martial Soul Hall Junior Soul Master Competition, I, Yu Xiaogang, will be waiting."

With that, he transformed into a dragon and tore through the sky, vanishing.

Yue Guan looked Su Yan up and down as if he were some kind of monster. "I say, little fellow, you've got some guts."

"That's right." Ci Xue curled his lip. "Looking far off, the current Holy Son is the Hall Master's chief disciple. Looking close, the third Twin Martial Soul in history was just taken as a disciple. What do you have to compete with?"

Bibi Dong didn't say a single word. Her heart pounded wildly, and in her eyes, Su Yan's small figure seemed as towering as a green mountain.

"Master, Tang Chi, let's go." Su Yan ignored the sarcasm of the two Titled Douluo and walked toward the Notting City Martial Soul Hall without looking back.

Bibi Dong hurried after him. "I'm the master!"

"What are you calling me for? I'm heading to the Main Martial Soul Hall." Tang Chi said, glancing at the two kneeling Titled Douluo, then trotted to catch up. "Wait for me!"

The three walked far away. Ci Xue and Yue Guan both stood up, exchanged a glance, then snorted and turned away from each other, departing separately.

Deep within the Main Martial Soul Hall, in the Worship Hall, a small wooden hut had been built, surrounded by clear springs and flowing water, with birds singing and flowers fragrant.

Qian Xunji, dressed in luxurious robes, walked up to the small wooden hut and knelt before a white-haired elder. "Father, I can no longer see through Dong'er's fate."

That elder, wearing simple white robes and holding a watering can, carefully tended to the flowers and plants before him. "Ji'er, since the will of heaven cannot be defied, go with the flow and adapt as things come."

"I know." Qian Xunji rose and took out a tortoise shell. "Father, the fortune of the Martial Soul Hall has also changed."

The elder's movement paused.

But only for a moment.

"Ji'er, rise and fall, prosperity and decline all have their own ordained course. Hold fast to your original heart, act with a clear conscience, go with the flow, and adapt as things come."

"I know, Father." Qian Xunji took out another appointment document. "I intend to pass the position of Pope to Xue'er."

The elder said nothing more. Qian Xunji knelt once again, then silently departed.

The water in the watering can soon ran dry. The elder carried a pot of tea and sat down beneath a gourd vine.

"Grandfather, Grandfather."

The colorful gourds swayed in the wind. The elder, for once, managed to curl his lips into a faint smile and replied, "Yes?"