Forced to Become His Disciple, Bibi Dong's Second Disciple

Lin Yue had already withdrawn.

After giving a concise report on everything that had happened in the Star Dou Great Forest,

the steady, composed director of instruction bowed and left the great hall.

That left Ye Xuan alone to face the imposing Pope.

"Ye Xuan."

Bibi Dong spoke.

Her voice was not stern.

In fact, it was quite pleasant to the ear.

But the authority it carried made Ye Xuan's heart clench.

"Your Holiness the Pope."

Ye Xuan lowered his head in salute,

doing his best to keep his voice steady.

"Director Lin Yue told me that your Martial Soul captured a little girl in an extremely unusual way."

Bibi Dong slowly rose from her throne.

Her tall, slender figure seemed even more imposing beneath her robe.

"Moreover, he suspects that girl... is a transformed Soul Beast."

She descended the steps.

Each step was light and graceful.

Yet Ye Xuan felt an invisible pressure growing stronger with every step she took toward him.

"Release her."

Bibi Dong's voice was calm.

"I want to see her with my own eyes."

Ye Xuan took a deep breath.

He knew he had no choice.

He channeled the Soul Power within him.

His palm grew slightly warm.

The red-and-white Pokeball appeared once more.

It hovered quietly above Ye Xuan's palm.

As Ye Xuan infused it with Soul Power,

the light on the Pokeball's surface began to alternate between bright and dim.

A gentle beam shot out from the sphere,

landing on the floor of the great hall.

Within the beam,

a petite figure gradually took shape.

Xiao Wu reappeared beside him.

She was still wearing that pink dress.

Her scorpion braid was a little messy.

The red mark on her forehead, left by the Pokeball striking her, had faded considerably.

As soon as she landed,

she instinctively backed up against Ye Xuan's side.

Her eyes warily swept across her surroundings.

Then her gaze fell on Bibi Dong standing before her.

Her breathing seemed to stop in that instant.

Xiao Wu's pupils contracted sharply.

Her petite body began to tremble uncontrollably.

It wasn't fear. It was rage.

A flurry of images flashed through her mind.

Her mother's gentle smile.

The peaceful home deep in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Then blood—blood everywhere—and the cold purple eyes of the woman before her...

It was her!

Xiao Wu's lips trembled slightly.

She wanted to rush forward and tear apart the murderer who had killed her mother.

At the same time, Bibi Dong was watching Xiao Wu.

When Xiao Wu's figure fully materialized,

Bibi Dong's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

An inexplicable sense of familiarity passed through her heart.

It wasn't that Xiao Wu's face looked familiar.

She was certain she had never seen this little girl before.

Bibi Dong closed her eyes.

Her formidable spiritual power extended like invisible feelers,

gently and carefully probing every inch of Xiao Wu's being.

An immense vitality.

And the faint aura unique to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast.

That aura was simply too faint, however.

Unless her cultivation had reached a sufficiently high level,

she would have struggled to detect Xiao Wu's true condition at that moment.

"So she really is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast..."

Bibi Dong opened her eyes.

A complicated emotion flashed through her purple gaze.

And the moment she reached that conclusion,

Xiao Wu could no longer suppress the hatred in her heart.

She glared at Bibi Dong.

Her large, usually lively eyes were now bloodshot.

"You... you killed... my mother..."

Her words were like a pebble tossed into a still lake,

stirring subtle ripples through the great hall.

Bibi Dong's body,

however, stiffened almost imperceptibly.

She had killed her mother?

Bibi Dong suddenly recalled what had happened a few years ago.

Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit.

Ah Rou.

"I see. You're her daughter. No wonder you seemed familiar."

Bibi Dong walked slowly up to Xiao Wu and lifted her chin between her fingers.

Her gaze rested on the familiar outline of Xiao Wu's face.

"Yes, I should have realized it sooner. You had already transformed back then, so of course you would enter the human world."

"What I didn't expect was that I would meet you again under these circumstances."

Hearing Bibi Dong's words, Xiao Wu raised her eyes, brimming with hatred.

"Since you've already become the Soul Ring of a prodigy from my Spirit Hall, I won't do anything to you."

At that, Bibi Dong lifted her gaze toward Ye Xuan.

"Ye Xuan, your Martial Soul is extremely unusual. But to test your potential, I'll have to ask you to endure a little in a moment."

There was a strange note in Bibi Dong's words.

Ye Xuan had no idea what she intended to do.

But he soon understood how she planned to test his potential.

An invisible pressure of Soul Power instantly descended upon Xiao Wu.

"Pfft—"

Xiao Wu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The terrifying pressure slammed her petite body against the floor.

The agony made her vision go black.

Just as her body was about to reach its limit,

the Pokeball Martial Soul within Ye Xuan reacted on its own.

It sensed that Xiao Wu was about to suffer fatal harm.

A red beam shot out from the Pokeball,

enveloping Xiao Wu precisely.

Her figure began to blur in midair.

It turned transparent.

Then she became a streak of light,

forcibly recalled into the space inside the Pokeball.

At that very moment,

Ye Xuan could feel the Soul Power within him rapidly draining away.

He could sense his Pokeball Martial Soul quickly healing Xiao Wu's injuries.

Before long,

silence returned to the great hall.

Perhaps because Xiao Wu's injuries had been too severe,

the Soul Power within him drained away rapidly,

and his face grew rather pale.

But after just a few seconds,

he could feel that Xiao Wu's injuries had completely healed.

In exchange, he had spent nearly all his Soul Power.

Bibi Dong slowly reined in the Soul Power she had released.

She looked at the Pokeball trembling slightly in Ye Xuan's hand,

lost in thought.

"Interesting..."

she murmured.

"Even under a fatal threat, she doesn't die. Instead, she's forcibly recalled, and your Soul Power is used to heal her injuries... That means even if I killed her now, I still wouldn't obtain a Soul Ring or a Soul Bone."

Her gaze shifted to Ye Xuan,

turning gentle again, though still full of scrutiny.

"Ye Xuan, your Martial Soul is very unusual. But I still want to know how long this little girl will need to recuperate inside it."

Hearing Bibi Dong's words, Ye Xuan felt like cursing her out.

People said Bibi Dong was a madwoman, and now he could see they hadn't been wrong at all.

But he needed to prove his worth right now.

So he didn't hold back.

He simply took out the Pokeball

and summoned Xiao Wu once more.

This time, however, he kept his guard up.

If Bibi Dong attacked again,

he would recall Xiao Wu at once.

As Xiao Wu appeared before them once more, perfectly unharmed,

a hint of surprise showed in Bibi Dong's pale purple eyes.

"Not bad."