The quiet courtyard had long since lost the fragrance of tea, leaving only a faint chill in the air.
Ye Qing sat on a stone stool, his little face tilted slightly upward as he looked at the Spirit Hall's Saintess seated opposite him. She had purple hair and violet eyes, peerless beauty, and an aura as cold as frost.
He truly hadn't expected Bibi Dong to seek him out alone at this time.
As far as he knew, Bibi Dong was now the Saintess, a disciple and heir to Pope Qian Xunji, but her situation was actually rather delicate.
Qian Xunji seemed to value her, but had never let down his guard or loosened his control over her.
As Grand Pontiff, Qian Daoliu represented the will of the Angel God. His attitude toward Bibi Dong, a Saintess from outside the Qian Family, was probably rather complicated as well.
It could be said that the Qian family kept a close watch on her every move.
So the question was: why had this woman chosen to seek him out when Qian Xunji wasn't in Spirit Hall?
Ye Qing's thoughts raced, but he kept the same harmlessly puzzled expression on his face.
In response to Ye Qing's question, Bibi Dong's beautiful, serene face remained free of any unnecessary expression.
She merely gazed at him with those deep, pale violet eyes, still as a lake and seemingly capable of absorbing all light.
Her gaze wasn't sharp, yet it held a strange penetrating quality, as if she were assessing the value of an object.
After a brief silence, she finally spoke. Her voice was clear and cool, with no hint of emotion:
"I wonder, God Child... what are your thoughts on the next Pope of Spirit Hall? Or perhaps... are you interested?"
"The next Pope?"
Hearing those words, Ye Qing furrowed his brow and looked puzzled. He asked softly:
"What do you mean by that, Saintess?"
He seemed not to have understood the unspoken implication in Bibi Dong's words, or perhaps he was simply confirming something.
Bibi Dong didn't answer directly. She merely continued to watch him with those calm, unruffled eyes.
It was as if she were waiting for him to understand on his own, or observing his first reaction to the question.
Ye Qing met her gaze for two seconds, then suddenly chuckled.
His laugh was soft and clear, like a child's, yet somehow carried a nonchalance at odds with his age.
He picked up the cup of tea in front of him, long since gone cold, and took an unconcerned sip. Only then did he speak in a leisurely, detached tone, as if the matter had nothing to do with him:
"I'm afraid you've asked the wrong person, Saintess."
He set down the teacup, his little face wearing an expression that said, What does this have to do with me?
"I'm from Sea God Island, not the mainland, and certainly not one of your Spirit Hall's people. Who becomes the next Pope of Spirit Hall doesn't matter to an outsider like me."
He paused, his tone growing even more casual, almost childishly frank:
"Because no matter who ends up in that seat, I doubt I'll have much to do with Spirit Hall. After all, I'm going back to Sea God Island."
He spoke candidly, and it was truly what he thought.
Unless one day in the future Qian Renxue really married him and their families became in-laws,
there would be no deep personal or vested-interest ties between him and Spirit Hall.
And without such ties, there was naturally no reason for him to care much about its internal struggles over who held power.
By the same token, Spirit Hall had no interest in the shifts in power on Sea God Island.
After all, they were forces from two different places.
Besides, the people of Sea God Island rarely ever came to the mainland.
Yet the moment Ye Qing finished speaking, he keenly caught an extremely subtle flicker of light deep in Bibi Dong's previously placid eyes.
It was faint and gone in an instant, so quick that anyone might have thought it an illusion.
But Ye Qing was sure he hadn't imagined it.
It was the sort of reaction that suggested she had confirmed something.
Or perhaps seen a glimmer of hope.
Sure enough, Bibi Dong's slender, jade-like fingers tapped lightly against the edge of the stone table.
She spoke again, her voice still cool.
But Ye Qing could sense that some of the formulaic detachment had vanished, replaced by a seriousness he couldn't quite describe.
"Since the God Child has no interest in the position of Pope itself..."
She leaned forward slightly.
The movement softened her noble, aloof air and gave her a touch of a negotiator's bearing.
Her voice lowered as well, making sure only the two of them could hear:
"Then perhaps we could... make a deal. What do you think?"
"A deal?"
Ye Qing looked puzzled. His little face was full of curiosity as he pressed her, "What kind of deal? Why don't you tell me, Saintess?"
He knew they had reached the heart of the matter.
After circling around it for so long, Bibi Dong was finally about to reveal her true purpose.
Bibi Dong didn't immediately lay out her terms. Instead, she first explained what she needed—or rather, the predicament she was in.
Her voice dropped even lower, her analysis calm to the point of cruelty:
"Although I'm currently Spirit Hall's Saintess and, in name, its next Pope, you should know perfectly well that I won't be the one to take that seat."
"Because Qian Renxue has already been born. She's of the Qian Family's direct line, was born with full twentieth-level Soul Power, and possesses the purest Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. And Qian Xunji... he's still young. He has plenty of time to raise her into the ideal heir."
At this, a trace of barely perceptible derision entered her voice as she explained, "So even if Qian Xunji honors our teacher-disciple bond and is willing to pass the position of Pope on to me someday, the Grand Pontiff stationed in the Worship Hall... would never agree."
Her tone was firm, carrying the chill of someone who had seen through to the heart of the matter:
"Since ancient times, the positions of Pope of Spirit Hall and Grand Pontiff of the Worship Hall have always been firmly held by the Qian family. They are part of the Angel God's line of succession, a prize they will never allow outsiders to touch."
"Though I'm Spirit Hall's Saintess, born outside the Qian Family, I'm nothing but a stopgap, a tool for a special time."
As she said these things, her voice was terrifyingly calm, as if she were talking about someone else.
But Ye Qing could sense the profound resentment, unwillingness, and nearly despairing clarity hidden beneath that calm.
So that was it.
Ye Qing understood.
Bibi Dong had already foreseen her fate.
She would pave the way for Qian Renxue, then be cast aside when the time came—or perhaps suffer an even worse end.
So she was unwilling to accept it. She wanted to fight back, to take control of her own fate.
And the first step toward controlling her fate was to claim the position of Pope and gain real power, free from the Qian family's control!
And she had come to him because she thought... he, or perhaps Sea God Island, might be able to help her resist the Qian family?
"Since you've already said that the positions of Pope and Grand Pontiff have been the Qian family's exclusive domain since ancient times..."
Ye Qing chuckled and spread his little hands, making a helpless expression:
"What can I do to help you? Surely you don't think that as the Sea God's heir, I have much of a say in your Spirit Hall... do you?"
He shook his head, his tone suggesting that she couldn't be serious:
"On Sea God Island, my words might carry some weight. But this is Spirit Hall, the Angel God's territory. With my status, interfering in your Spirit Hall's choice of heir? Saintess, do you really think that would be... appropriate?"