First Meeting with the God of Light

"What? The Pope? Your teacher is the Pope of Spirit Hall?"

"Xiao Xi, sit down. Keep your voice down," Bibi Dong said, unable to suppress a laugh as she quickly pulled him back into his seat.

Ling Yuan also walked in and refilled Bibi Xi's cup with hot tea.

Bibi Xi took a huge gulp of tea to calm himself. Looking at the breathtakingly beautiful woman before him, whose noble air was tempered by warmth and kindness, he still felt as if he were dreaming.

"Big Sister... your experiences were just too... legendary."

"It's all in the past."

"What matters is that we're both safe and well."

"Xiao Xi, stay in Spirit City for the next few days. Let Ling Yuan arrange a place for you to stay."

"In a little while, I'll take you out for something delicious and buy you a few new outfits."

"In a couple of days, once I've handled what I need to, I'll go back to Anping Village with you to see Father and Mother. Is that all right?"

"Of course!" Bibi Xi immediately nodded, a happy smile appearing on his face. "If Father and Mother find out you're alive, and that you've even become the Saintess, they'll be overjoyed."

"They must miss you terribly. And now you're so beautiful and so powerful, Big Sister. They'll be proud beyond words!"

Bibi Dong felt a little embarrassed by her younger brother's straightforward praise, but her heart was sweet with happiness, as though she had returned to the days of her childhood, when he had followed her around in admiration.

Ling Yuan chimed in from the side. "Honestly, it really was fate that I ran into your brother."

"It was all thanks to how accurately I kicked him back then."

"A kick?" Bibi Dong looked at Ling Yuan in confusion, then at Bibi Xi, who suddenly seemed awkward and turned his face away with a dry cough. "What kick?"

"Ah? Nothing, nothing!"

Ling Yuan and Bibi Xi spoke in unison, then glared at each other.

Ling Yuan chuckled and swiftly changed the subject. "I mean, I just happen to be hungry now. Fate has brought us together, so it's time to eat."

"Saintess, your brother must be hungry after traveling all this way too. Shall we eat first?"

Though Bibi Dong found the two of them somewhat strange, she did not press the matter. Smiling, she rose to her feet. "All right, let's go eat."

"I know a restaurant with excellent food."

She linked one arm through Ling Yuan's and took the still somewhat reserved Bibi Xi's hand with the other.

"Come on. Your sister's treating."

The moment his sister's warm, soft hand clasped his, Bibi Xi froze for a moment, then felt his nose sting.

"Mhm!"

Meanwhile, within the Domain of the God of Light.

For Qian Xunji, these three days had been nothing short of brutal.

He had launched more than thirty assaults on that Light Core.

Each time, the terrifying heat and blinding radiance had knocked him back into the sea of clouds. Each time, he felt as though he were about to be roasted from the inside out, his skin burning with pain and his Soul Power utterly depleted.

Yet after every brief rest, he would grit his teeth, gather his strength once more, and charge upward again.

Such repeated, almost self-destructive tempering produced astonishing results.

Through destruction and regeneration, his body gradually began adapting to this extreme environment of blazing light.

The Angel Martial Soul's natural affinity for light and fire was stimulated to the utmost, and it even began passively absorbing the pure, scattered light energy around him.

While resisting the all-pervasive scorching invasion, his control over Soul Power was forcibly refined to an unprecedented degree.

The thirty-third assault.

Golden Soul Power flames burned around Qian Xunji, resisting and melding with the blazing radiance outside.

He no longer tried to completely isolate the heat. Instead, he attempted to guide it, divert it, and even use the searing heat to stimulate the circulation of his Soul Power.

This might not have been his fastest attempt, but it was his most stable and enduring one.

The heat remained terrifying, and the intense light was still blinding, but he held on.

Bracing himself against the heatwave that seemed capable of melting the soul itself, he slowly forced his way closer to the Light Core.

The final ten meters!

Five meters!

One meter!

The instant his fingertips touched the core's surface, a powerful suction force pulled his entire body inside.

"Buzz!"

The excruciating pain he had imagined never came. In its place was a feeling of warmth and fullness.

It was as if his entire body had been immersed in a spring of life. The severely burned skin on his body began to recover, and his depleted Soul Power was instantly restored to full.

Ahead of him stood a majestic phantom formed from light, though its features could not be seen clearly.

"Descendant of the Angel..."

"Why have you abandoned the Angel God Divine Position inherited through your bloodline and come to seek my light?"

Qian Xunji steadied himself, respectfully bowed to the phantom, and answered frankly, "I pay my respects to the God of Light."

"The inheritance of the Angel God Divine Position requires the sacrifice of one's closest kin as its catalyst. My father, Qian Daoliu, is the foremost consecrator of this age."

"As his son, I do not wish to see him burn away his life for the sake of my path."

"Light and Angels both belong to the sacred lineage. My heart is drawn to light, and I am willing to inherit Your Excellency's divine power to protect and create, rather than pay for it with the sacrifice of my closest family."

After a moment of silence, the phantom said, "You value love and righteousness, do not blindly follow bloodline, and your heart is drawn to the essence of light."

Then, the phantom raised one finger and gently touched Qian Xunji's forehead.

"Urgh!"

The next second, domineering Divine Light Power instantly imprinted itself between his brows.

The intense burning pain made Qian Xunji grunt. His body shuddered violently, and he instinctively covered his forehead, feeling as though his very soul were about to ignite.

The pain came quickly, and it faded just as quickly.

After a few breaths, the burning sensation receded.

"The Heart of the God of Light has granted its preliminary recognition and bestowed upon you its mark."

"After half a year, use this mark to communicate and begin the second trial—Light Dissolving Evil Miasma."

As the words fell, Qian Xunji's figure turned ethereal before vanishing from this golden sea of light.

After he had completely departed, the phantom of the God of Light spoke again.

"Finally, a worthy inheritor. If that prideful woman, the Angel God, finds out that her direct descendant came to inherit my Divine Position instead, would she be furious enough to stomp her feet?"

"I really want to see that expression of hers with my own eyes... Heh heh."