Su Chen didn't hesitate.
He raised his right hand and took Bibi Dong's hand.
Her fingers were cold.
Su Chen's palm was warm.
Bibi Dong led Su Chen down from the high platform.
Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo immediately followed.
They guarded him on either side.
Cardinal Sino and the surrounding knights remained kneeling.
No one dared raise their head and look directly at them.
A luxurious, private carriage waited at the edge of the plaza.
Four white unicorns with Hundred-Year Soul Beast bloodlines were harnessed to it.
Bibi Dong took Su Chen into the carriage.
It set off.
The wheels rolled over the smooth stone road.
The carriage headed steadily toward the Pope Palace.
The carriage was spacious inside.
Bibi Dong leaned against the cushions.
She kept studying Su Chen across from her.
"You're an orphan. How do you know that power has no inherent good or evil?"
Bibi Dong asked.
"When bandits attacked my village, they were armed with ordinary farm tools. The villagers were massacred without a chance to fight back."
Su Chen recounted calmly.
"If someone had used the evil Dark Martial Soul you spoke of to kill all the bandits, then to the villagers, he would have been absolute justice."
A flicker of approval crossed Bibi Dong's eyes.
Spirit Hall didn't lack sheltered flowers.
What it lacked were wolves who understood the rules of survival.
Su Chen's mind was far beyond that of an ordinary six-year-old.
Bibi Dong was very pleased.
"You're right. Only those who survive have the right to define justice."
Bibi Dong spoke.
The carriage passed through streets lined with guards.
Half an hour later, it stopped at the foot of the Pope Palace steps.
Bibi Dong led Su Chen out.
They climbed the white jade stairs.
They entered the magnificent Pope Palace.
Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo stayed outside.
The heavy doors slowly closed.
Only Bibi Dong and Su Chen remained in the great hall.
Bibi Dong walked to the Pope Throne atop the dais.
She turned and looked down at Su Chen.
"Kneel."
Bibi Dong's voice echoed through the vast hall.
Su Chen dropped to both knees.
He met Bibi Dong's gaze.
Then he bowed forward.
He solemnly kowtowed three times.
"Your disciple, Su Chen, pays his respects to his teacher."
Su Chen spoke.
Bibi Dong accepted the three kowtows.
She descended from the dais.
She helped Su Chen to his feet with both hands.
"From this moment on, you are my one and only direct disciple."
Bibi Dong spoke solemnly.
"All of Spirit Hall's resources and all the authority of the Pope Palace will be at your disposal in the future."
Su Chen rose to his feet.
He didn't show any wild joy.
He simply dipped his head in thanks.
Bibi Dong was even more pleased with Su Chen's composure.
"Release your Twin Martial Souls. I need to examine your physical condition."
Bibi Dong gave the order.
Cultivating Twin Martial Souls was extremely dangerous.
Two entirely different powers could easily clash within the body.
At best, the meridians would be destroyed.
At worst, the body would explode.
And Su Chen had awakened two powers with opposing extreme attributes.
Su Chen raised his hands as instructed.
Golden light gathered in his right palm.
The Judgment Holy Sword appeared.
Black mist roiled in his left palm.
The God-Slaying Magic Spear took shape.
The air in the great hall instantly grew oppressive.
Bibi Dong extended her right hand.
She placed it on Su Chen's shoulder.
A stream of pure purple Soul Power flowed from her palm into Su Chen's body.
At that very instant,
Su Chen issued a command in his mind.
System, claim the reward from option three. Fuse the Million-Year Head Soul Bone and activate the materialization of spiritual power.
Ding. Reward distribution initiated.
An enormous energy, beyond words, appeared directly in Su Chen's Sea of Consciousness.
It bypassed every meridian.
It acted directly on his brain.
Su Chen's eyes instantly turned two different colors, one gold and one black.
Bibi Dong's purple Soul Power had only just entered Su Chen's meridians.
Before she could investigate the origins of his two Martial Souls,
a terrifying surge of spiritual power burst from Su Chen's brain.
It formed a tangible barrier.
The barrier forced Bibi Dong's Soul Power out of his body.
Bibi Dong was caught off guard.
She was forced to take half a step back.
She jerked her head up.
Her face was full of shock as she stared at Su Chen.
"Materialized spiritual power!"
Bibi Dong cried out.
She was a Peak Douluo herself.
Her spiritual power was formidable.
Yet even she could only release it to probe her surroundings.
She couldn't form a tangible physical barrier like Su Chen had.
Spiritual power of this level
was usually only possible for experts who had reached the Titled Douluo realm.
Yet Su Chen was only a six-year-old child who had just awakened his Martial Souls.
He didn't even have a single Soul Ring.
"What is that power in your mind?"
Bibi Dong stared intently at Su Chen.
Su Chen withdrew the Martial Souls from his hands.
The unusual colors in his eyes gradually faded.
They returned to their normal black and white.
"I don't know."
Su Chen answered with the explanation he had prepared beforehand.
"When I awakened my Martial Souls, a cool power suddenly appeared in my mind. It seems I can control it with my thoughts."
Bibi Dong drew a deep breath.
She forced down her shock.
She didn't doubt Su Chen.
Divine-level Martial Souls already defied common sense.
It wasn't impossible for one to come with powerful spiritual energy.
Now, only fervor remained in Bibi Dong's eyes.
The greatest hidden danger of Twin Martial Souls was not having enough spiritual power to suppress the conflict between them.
She had suffered greatly trying to overcome this problem.
She had even nearly gone into cultivation deviation.
Now Su Chen possessed materialized spiritual power from birth.
That meant the greatest obstacle to cultivating Twin Martial Souls didn't exist for him at all.
He could add the highest-quality Soul Rings to both Martial Souls without any reservations.
"Innate Soul Power at level twenty, supreme Twin Martial Souls, and materialized spiritual power..."
Bibi Dong murmured.
"Qian Daoliu, you must be blind to have handed me a seed of a god like this."
Bibi Dong returned to the dais.
She took a token from a hidden compartment at the side.
It was purple and gold throughout.
Its material was hard.
Images of six supreme Martial Souls were engraved on it.
It was the Pope Token.
A symbol of Spirit Hall's authority.
Bibi Dong walked back to Su Chen.
She handed him the Pope Token.
"This is the Pope Token. Seeing it is the same as seeing me."
Bibi Dong spoke.
"Throughout Spirit Hall, you may go anywhere with this token, except for the inner regions of the Worship Hall and the Elder Hall. You may directly command anyone below the rank of Cardinal."
Su Chen took the Pope Token in both hands.
The token felt heavy.
It carried a hint of warmth.
"Thank you, teacher."
Su Chen spoke.
"Your top priority now is to adapt to the Soul Power in your body."
Bibi Dong looked at Su Chen.
"Although your Innate Soul Power is at level twenty, before you obtain a Soul Ring, you can't turn that power into real combat strength. You'll cultivate in seclusion here in the Pope Palace for the next two days. Don't go anywhere."
"Yes."
"In three days, I'll convene a meeting of Spirit Hall's senior officials and announce to the whole continent that I've taken you as my direct disciple."
A sharp glint flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes.
"At the same time, I'll propose that you be directly appointed the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son."
Su Chen's heart stirred.
The Holy Son held an extremely high position.
He was effectively the Pope's designated successor.
Bibi Dong intended to settle everything in one stroke.
She would irrevocably bind his identity to the Pope Palace's chariot.
That way, she could put an end to Qian Daoliu's plans to snatch him away in the future.
Bibi Dong turned and walked toward the side entrance of the Main Hall.
She summoned one of her personal maids.
"Take him to Cloud Condensing Pavilion in the side hall. From now on, that will be his private residence. Arrange for twenty high-ranking Soul Masters to guard him in shifts around the clock. Anyone who approaches without my personal order—kill without mercy."
Bibi Dong issued her command.
"Yes, Your Holiness the Pope."
The maid bowed respectfully.
She walked over to Su Chen.
Then she gestured for him to follow.
"Young Master Su Chen, please come with me."
Su Chen bowed to Bibi Dong.
He turned and followed the maid out of the Main Hall of the Pope Palace.
They walked down a long corridor.
At last, they arrived before a palace standing on its own.
Cloud Condensing Pavilion.
It was one of the finest residences in the Pope Palace.
It stood less than a hundred meters from Bibi Dong's bedroom.
The maid pushed open the carved wooden door.
The room inside was exceedingly spacious.
Soft Soul Beast pelts covered the floor.
Night-Shining Pearls set into the walls lit the room.
The faint fragrance of Soul-Calming Incense lingered in the air.
The artificial environment here was exceptionally suited to meditation and cultivation.
"Young Master, your clothes and daily necessities have all been prepared. If you need anything, just ring the bell by your bed. We'll be waiting outside."
After saying this,
the maid left the room.
The door closed.
Su Chen walked to the center of the room.
He let out a long breath.
The first step of his plan had gone perfectly.
He had successfully become Bibi Dong's disciple.
He had obtained the Pope Token.
And he was about to become the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son.
Compared to that hard wooden bed in the Orphanage,
this place was practically heaven.
Su Chen walked over to the broad bed and sat down.
He closed his eyes.
He began carefully sensing the system reward that had just fused with his body.
The Million-Year Head Soul Bone fit his brain perfectly.
His Sea of Consciousness had expanded countless times over.
His perception could now cover more than half of Spirit City.
The innate twenty levels of Soul Power within him were circulating through his meridians on their own.
The flow was perfectly smooth.
All he lacked now were Soul Rings and practical experience.
Just as he was about to try circulating his Soul Power and enter Deep Meditation for the first time,
the system's mechanical voice, silent until now, rang out in his mind again.
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