My Name Is Bibi Dong, and I've Been Reborn...

Several days later,

Spirit City, Pope Hall.

After returning to the base, Qian Daoliu arranged for the Immortal Herbs to be distributed, then immediately announced that he was going into seclusion.

He plunged into a secret chamber deep in the Elder Hall to work on Soul Tool arrays.

Who would've thought the old man was such a techie?

Meanwhile, Qian Xunji lounged comfortably in the Pope's broad, cushioned chair.

He had changed into the Pope's dark-gold formal robes. His white hair fell loosely over his shoulders, and he exuded an air of languid danger.

If someone wanted to learn, let him. For one thing, Soul Tools were too low-level for Qian Xunji to use.

For another, he'd much rather use something ready-made.

"Reporting—"

The great bronze doors of the hall swung open. A red-robed cardinal in charge of grassroots intelligence hurried inside and dropped to one knee, his expression alight with excitement.

"Your Holiness the Pope, this year's Martial Soul Awakening ceremonies in all the affiliated villages have concluded.

"We've just received an urgent report from a local branch. In a remote town, we discovered an exceptionally rare genius!"

Qian Xunji raised an eyelid slightly and nonchalantly turned the white jade ring on his thumb. "Rare? How rare? Innate Full Soul Power?"

"Not only does she have Innate Full Soul Power!"

The cardinal swallowed, struggling to suppress the tremor in his voice.

"The girl is a Twin Martial Soul wielder, the kind seen only once in a century on Douluo Continent! And according to the local branch leader's preliminary assessment,

"both her Martial Souls are exceptionally powerful Beast Martial Souls.

"They are... the Death Spider Emperor and the Soul-Eater Spider Emperor!"

Click.

Qian Xunji's fingers stopped turning the ring.

Twin Martial Souls?

Spiders?

Spider Emperors, no less?

The air pressure in the Pope Hall, vast and silent moments before, seemed to plunge all at once.

The red-robed cardinal kneeling on the floor felt a chill creep down his spine. He didn't dare even breathe too loudly.

He thought His Holiness had been stunned by the girl's heaven-defying talent.

But he didn't know that Qian Xunji, seated high on the throne, was frantically replaying the original story in his mind.

Bibi Dong...

The name seemed to carry the weight of fate itself...

She was one of the central madwomen in the original Douluo Continent story, and the spark that would ultimately set Spirit Hall on the path to ruin.

Most importantly, to the original owner of this body, Qian Xunji, this woman was a death warrant through and through.

She was the reason he'd earned the title Secret Chamber Douluo, and she was also the reason he'd eventually been torn apart alive.

According to the original timeline,

Qian Xunji had taken an interest in her talent, accepted her as his personal disciple, and painstakingly trained her.

But in the end, he'd raised an ungrateful wretch, bringing about a tragedy that was both grotesque and twisted.

"Heh."

A low chuckle came from the throne.

Qian Xunji slowly rose to his feet. He showed not the slightest fear, nor any anxious urge to snuff out a threat before it could grow.

On the contrary, his eyes gleamed with something called excitement.

He wasn't the original Qian Xunji anymore...

"Your Holiness?" The red-robed cardinal cautiously raised his head and ventured a call.

Qian Xunji looked down at him, the corner of his mouth curling into a wicked smile. His dark-purple eyes brimmed with anticipation.

"Go. Deliver my decree: prepare the grandest possible carriage and escort."

"I will personally go to that town and bring this genius back to Spirit Hall."

My name is Bibi Dong.

I've been reborn.

I've returned to one second before my death at Jialing Pass in my previous life...

The icy touch of the Asura Demon Sword piercing my chest still seemed to linger deep in my heart.

That domineering, unreasonable Asura Divine Power had crushed every last trace of life within me.

In the final instant before my consciousness sank into endless darkness, I saw Xue'er crying out in anguish. I saw Yu Xiaogang's face, touched by a trace of relief.

And I saw Tang San's repulsive expression as he looked down from on high, as if passing judgment on every evil in the world.

I hated them.

I hated fate's injustice. I hated Tang San's hypocrisy. More than anything, I hated the man who had ruined my life—Qian Xunji!

If not for that lightless secret chamber, if not for that bowl of drugged soup,

I should have been Spirit Hall's most sacred Holy Maiden, with the brightest, most glorious life ahead of me.

My whole life, I'd been forced down a dark path, until I became a loathsome Rakshasa and ended up abandoned by everyone.

"Little girl, y-you... put your hand on it and test your Soul Power again."

A voice, full of shock and stammering, yanked me back from the abyss of hatred.

I slowly opened my eyes. My vision gradually cleared.

There was no blood-soaked Jialing Pass, no Asura Demon Sword.

Before me was the battered, drafty ceiling of a wooden shack, the pungent smell of cheap calming incense,

and a middle-aged man in the lowest-ranking Spirit Hall deacon's robes, trembling as he held out a crystal ball.

I lowered my eyes to look at my hands. They were the hands of a six-year-old child: tender, pale, with faint purple-black spiderweb patterns showing on the backs.

Twin Martial Souls.

The Death Spider Emperor. The Soul-Eater Spider Emperor.

Innate Full Soul Power.

I had returned to the day my Martial Souls awakened.

After a brief moment of shock, wild joy and icy resolve intertwined in my heart.

At last, the heavens had opened their eyes and given me a chance to start over.

I was no longer the lofty empress of the Spirit Hall Empire, abandoned by all.

I was only a six-year-old girl who had just awakened her Martial Souls.

And according to the path I'd followed in my previous life, the lofty Pope of Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, would soon receive the report and deign to come to this remote town in person, to take me back to that gilded cage.

"Qian Xunji..." I silently savored the name, a bloodthirsty sneer curling my lips.

In my previous life, I'd been grateful for his recognition and revered him as a father. In return, he'd put me through hellish torment.

This time, since I'd returned with all my memories from my previous life and my understanding of Rakshasa Divine Power, I would never let the tragedy play out again.

I would pretend to be an innocent, ignorant prodigy and obediently follow him back to Spirit Hall. I'd use the resources he gave me to cultivate like mad.

Once I'd grown strong enough, I would break his bones one by one, drain his Soul Power, and make him taste what it meant to wish for death and fall into the abyss!

Then who could stop me from being with Xiao Gang...

"Uncle, is my Martial Soul strange? Am I a monster?"

I deftly concealed the hatred and venom in my eyes, hunched my shoulders a little, then looked up at the deacon with wide, glistening eyes full of helplessness.

The deacon's face flushed with excitement as he waved both hands.

"No, no, child, you're not a monster. You're a true genius! Wait here and be good. I've already reported this to the local branch. A very important person will come for you soon!"

I obediently nodded and retreated into the shadowed corner, like a young spider with its fangs tucked away, silently waiting for its prey to draw near.

Come, Qian Xunji.

I'm waiting for you here.