"That's enough."
Bibi Dong slowly reined in the Soul Power surging around her.
"Heading back already?" Nan Feng asked.
"Ten Thousand Snake Cave is just ahead. There are two more seven-thousand-year Medusa Snake Emperors inside. If we kill them too, your Soul-Eater Spider Emperor Soul Ring Configuration could advance another tier. It might even push you straight to Level 98."
"Too much of a good thing can be harmful." Bibi Dong coldly refused. "Rising four levels in half a month is already the absolute limit. If I don't take the time to stabilize my foundation, this suddenly surging power will be a castle in the air."
"Besides... I don't want to fill the remaining Soul Ring slots with whatever few-thousand-year Soul Beasts we can find. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it to the utmost."
"Fine. Your Soul Rings, your call."
Nan Feng didn't insist. He simply controlled the Spider Emperor Avatar and sprawled, bored, atop a massive boulder.
The avatar, bearing Bibi Dong's stunning face, was now slouched against the rock wall without a shred of decorum. Her long legs were crossed, one knee bouncing lazily, while one hand propped up her chin and the other grasped at something in midair. She looked like a street thug.
Bibi Dong had just turned around when she saw the scene.
The vein at her temple instantly throbbed.
"Nan Feng! Get up!"
Bibi Dong gritted her teeth and growled, "That's my face! My body! Even if it's only an avatar, you can't strike this... this shameless pose!"
It was too strange! Far too strange!
Even if this was only an avatar condensed by a Soul Skill!
"Tsk, nobody's watching. What's wrong with relaxing a little?"
Though Nan Feng grumbled, he still made the avatar sit up. Her posture remained somewhat sloppy. "Your human body isn't as steady as my original eight legs, but I have to admit, this soft, squishy frame is pretty comfortable to lounge around in."
"Shut up! Sit properly!"
Bibi Dong snapped at him. Then, as if she'd suddenly remembered something, a strange flush spread across her usually cold, beautiful face. It wasn't embarrassment, though—it was indignation.
She stared hard at Nan Feng, her eyes even colder than before.
"And another thing. Don't think I don't know what you were doing while I absorbed my Soul Rings!"
Nan Feng looked utterly baffled. "Huh? What did I do? Wasn't I just guarding you?"
"Guarding me?"
Bibi Dong drew a deep breath, seeming to struggle to get the words out. In the end, she forced them through gritted teeth. "Did guarding me... require you to touch my body?!"
Throughout these past two weeks of hunting and absorption, whenever she entered a state of Deep Meditation, she could always feel a pair of "hands" roaming over her body.
He hadn't done anything too outrageous, but those hands had lingered at her sensitive waist and abdomen, her back, and even her thighs.
Given the horrific experiences Bibi Dong had endured, any touch without her permission was an untouchable taboo!
If she'd been injured in battle, that would be one thing. But this was plainly harassment while she was vulnerable!
At the sight of Bibi Dong looking ready to devour him, Nan Feng froze for a full three seconds before he realized what she meant.
"You mean... I touched you?"
Nan Feng's eyes widened. He pointed at himself, looking incredulous. "Lady, aren't you being a little full of yourself?"
"What did you say?!" Bibi Dong was incensed.
"I was checking the flow of your meridians and the fusion of your Soul Bones!" Nan Feng rolled his eyes and explained with a look of disdain. "You were absorbing Soul Rings too quickly. Your Soul Power was rampaging through your meridians. What if something had gone wrong?"
"As for touching you..."
Nan Feng spread his hands. "Come on, I'm the noble Death Spider Emperor! In my eyes, only female spiders with sharp pincers, hard shells, and bodies covered in barbs are peerless beauties."
"You?" Nan Feng looked Bibi Dong up and down. "You're smooth all over. You don't even have a decent bristle on you. Your skin is so soft it'd split at the slightest poke. Only humans, with your strange standards of beauty, would think you look good."
"To me, touching you is no different from touching a slab of pork belly. Apart from using this body as a vessel, I have not the slightest worldly desire for it."
"..."
Bibi Dong was stunned.
Pork belly?
Smooth all over?
Strange standards of beauty?
Nan Feng's explanation was not only utterly outrageous, it was also a severe personal insult. She'd never suffered such an insult to her looks before.
But...
After hearing him out, the weight that had been hanging over Bibi Dong's heart miraculously lifted.
Right. This guy was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, essentially a giant spider.
Just as humans wouldn't be attracted to a female monkey, it seemed... perfectly reasonable that this old spider had no interest in human women.
"Phew..."
Bibi Dong let out a long breath. Her tense body finally relaxed, and the murderous look in her eyes softened as well.
Being compared to pork belly was infuriating, but as long as he hadn't meant it that way, she could accept it.
After all, as long as his interest wasn't the disgusting kind, she could tolerate other offenses.
"See that you mean it."
Bibi Dong gave a cold snort, returning to her usual aloofness. "If I find even a trace of ill intent in you, I'll make you pay, even if my Soul Power turns on me."
"Yeah, yeah, got it. You're so naggy."
Nan Feng waved a hand. With a thought, the Spider Emperor Avatar instantly dissolved into countless specks of light, and his consciousness returned to Bibi Dong's Sea of Consciousness.
"Let's get moving. I'm sick of this dump. Take me to see this Spirit Hall of yours."
Spirit City, the city that symbolized the highest glory of the Soul Master World, was now shrouded in an oppressive gloom.
The moment Bibi Dong stepped through the city gates, the rumors that had already spread far and wide reached her ears.
In pursuit of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor, a transformed Soul Beast, Qian Xunji had led Chrysanthemum and Ghost, two Titled Douluo, as well as several elite Soul Saints. They'd gone out in full force, only to face the desperate counterattack of the Clear Sky Sect prodigy, Tang Hao.
With the strength of a newly advanced Titled Douluo, Tang Hao had smashed the Pope's entire force, grievously wounded Qian Xunji, and then left without looking back!
If the two Titled Douluo, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, hadn't fought desperately to protect him, Qian Xunji might well have fallen on the spot.
"Good! Good for Tang Hao!"
As she walked along the jade steps leading to Pope Palace, Bibi Dong wore a grave expression, as though consumed with worry. Deep down, though, she was laughing wildly.
If the situation hadn't been so inappropriate, she would've wanted to set up a memorial tablet for Tang Hao right then and there!
Bibi Dong had still been wondering how she could find an opportunity. After all, Qian Xunji was a Level 95 Titled Douluo. Even if she were Level 98 instead of Level 96, she'd have little chance of killing him in Spirit City.
After all, the two Titled Douluo, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, were right beside him. Then there were Qian Daoliu on the mountain and that whole group of Worships. If she acted by force, even if she reached Level 99, she'd probably be stuck here.
She'd endured all these years for a reason. It wasn't so she could die alongside Qian Xunji.
But now Qian Xunji was gravely injured. This was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity!
Pope's Bedchamber.
Bibi Dong stood before the heavy nanmu doors and took a deep breath, adjusting her expression.
The corners of her mouth, which had been lifting uncontrollably at the good news, instantly settled into an expression of shock and concern.
She had to admit, all those years living under Qian Xunji's watchful eye had honed her into an exceptional actress.
Bibi Dong pushed open the door. A strong medicinal smell, mixed with a sacred aura of light, washed over her.
On the wide bed, Qian Xunji's face was as pale as paper. Bandages wrapped his entire body, and his breathing was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.
At his bedside stood two imposing figures, one on either side.
The man on the left looked to be only in his thirties. He wore a simple gray robe, yet gave the impression of being one with heaven and earth. He was the Grand Pontiff, Qian Daoliu.
The man on the right was powerfully built and clad in golden armor. He radiated an oppressive force like an ancient beast. He was Second Worship, Golden Crocodile Douluo.
When Bibi Dong entered, Golden Crocodile Douluo furrowed his brow. Qian Daoliu slowly turned around and said calmly, "Bibi Dong? Where have you been this past year?"
"The Pope is gravely injured, and the hearts of those in Spirit Hall are in turmoil, yet you vanished without a trace despite being the Holy Maiden."
He didn't directly rebuke her, but an overwhelming pressure instantly locked onto Bibi Dong.
In the past, Bibi Dong might have broken into a cold sweat beneath that pressure.
But now, transformed from head to toe, she only bowed slightly and gave a perfectly proper disciple's salute. Just the right amount of guilt and worry showed on her face.
"Reporting to the Grand Pontiff, this disciple knew that her cultivation had reached a bottleneck and was difficult to advance. To avoid disappointing my teacher, I went alone to train in Death Canyon this past year, seeking an opportunity to break through."
"Just as I emerged from seclusion, I heard that my teacher had suffered a disaster. I was frantic with worry, so I hurried back at once."
"Death Canyon?" A flicker of surprise crossed Qian Daoliu's eyes.
That place was known as a forbidden zone for Soul Masters. Even he was unwilling to venture into its depths lightly.
"You broke through?" Qian Daoliu looked Bibi Dong up and down.
Bibi Dong didn't answer. She simply released a trace of her aura.
A massive wave of Soul Power belonging to a Titled Douluo flashed and vanished. Though she deliberately suppressed her cultivation, showing only the strength of someone newly at Level 91, and used the Death Spider Emperor's aura to mask her true power, it was enough to move the two elders present.
"A Titled Douluo?!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's eyes widened. "You... you really made it this far?!"
A Titled Douluo who wasn't even thirty! This was unprecedented!