"Your Holiness! What are you..." The Red Cardinal was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, his face ashen.
"Go back and tell Golden Crocodile."
Bibi Dong's voice was cold as ice, echoing throughout the entire tent:
"Right now, this is a battlefield! I am the commander of the three armies! I am the only Pope of Spirit Hall!"
"I decide how this war is fought and when it ends!"
"He has no right to dictate orders from behind the lines!"
"You..." Demon Bear Douluo took a deep breath and said gravely, "Even if you are the Pope, you can't defy the Elder Hall's decision! Those are Spirit Hall's rules! If you insist on going your own way, then when you return..."
"Then we'll talk about it when we get back!" Bibi Dong sneered.
"Right now, this is a battlefield!"
"On the battlefield, there are only military orders. There are no rules!"
Boom!!!
Before the words had even faded, a terrifying aura erupted from Bibi Dong without the slightest restraint!
Her pale-white Divine Slaughter's Domain swept across the entire tent like a tangible force, and the temperature inside plunged to freezing in an instant.
Hum!
A blood-red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring rose from beneath her feet. The violent aura of an ancient Ferocious Beast pressed down on the four Titled Douluo elders, leaving them momentarily unable to breathe.
"I am the Pope!!"
Bibi Dong's gaze swept across the four faces like a blade, her voice filled with a murderous intent that chilled them to the bone:
"I command this war!"
"If anyone dares to bring up retreat now, if anyone dares to disobey orders on their own..."
Bibi Dong clenched her hand in the air. Behind her, the phantom of the Death Spider Emperor let out a silent roar:
"Do you think that just because Qian Daoliu can kill you, I can't?!"
"Disobeying orders at the front lines is grounds for execution. I can put you to death right here and now!"
"Want to try me?!"
The four Titled Douluo elders were all deathly pale, drenched in cold sweat.
They exchanged glances and saw the fear in one another's eyes.
She was insane.
That woman had gone completely insane.
Not only had she dared to tear up the Second Worship's order, she had openly threatened to kill the elders!
But...
Did they dare to gamble?
No!
When Bibi Dong had faced several Clear Sky Sect elders earlier, she had used that strange move to shatter the Clear Sky Battle Formation in a single strike, then casually killed two peak Soul Douluos. If they truly enraged her, she really would kill someone to make an example of them!
Besides, they were at the front lines, on a battlefield.
Disobeying orders before the enemy was a capital offense to begin with.
If Bibi Dong really killed them and invoked the authority of the Pope, would Golden Crocodile Douluo really turn against the Pope over a few dead men?
Besides, Bibi Dong's demands weren't unreasonable.
She was only asking them to launch a feint, to hold back. She wasn't sending them to their deaths.
Was it worth risking their lives over such a trivial matter by picking a fight with a Level 97 madwoman who could snap at any moment?
It wasn't!
"Your subordinate... accepts your orders!"
Snake Lance Douluo, the quickest to read the room, was the first to drop to one knee. His voice trembled as he said, "I will obey the Pope's decree!"
With one man taking the lead, the remaining three's mental defenses crumbled in an instant.
"Your subordinate... accepts your orders!"
"Your subordinate... accepts your orders!"
"Your subordinate... awaits your command!"
Watching the elders kneel before her, Bibi Dong slowly drew in her aura.
"That's more like it."
"Remember, on the battlefield, there can only be one voice."
"The Pope's voice! My voice!!"
"Move out!"
"Understood!!!"
Spirit City, the Worship Hall.
"She... she tore it up?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo stared at the Red Cardinal kneeling before him, trembling as he reported the news. He was so furious that even his whiskers quivered.
"Bibi Dong... how dare she?!"
"Has she gone mad?! Did that one victory go to her head?!"
"Has she forgotten who put her on the Papal throne? Has she forgotten that the Elder Hall has the power to remove the Pope? Has she forgotten who truly rules Spirit Hall?!"
"She tore up the Worship Hall's decree and threatened to kill elders at the front lines... This is treason! She's defying heaven itself!!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo couldn't make sense of it.
Bibi Dong had always been aloof, but she had at least been clever enough to endure beneath the shadow of the Worship Hall.
But this time... she was like an entirely different person—wild, domineering, and utterly unreasonable!
"What's wrong, Golden Crocodile?"
A calm voice rang through the hall.
Qian Daoliu walked out. Seeing Golden Crocodile seething with rage, he furrowed his brow. "What's happened to make you so agitated?"
"Grand Pontiff!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo hurriedly saluted, then bitterly recounted everything that had happened at the front lines, including Bibi Dong tearing up the decree and ordering an attack on the Clear Sky Sect against his command.
After hearing the report, a flicker of surprise crossed Qian Daoliu's usually calm face.
"She didn't withdraw?"
Qian Daoliu furrowed his brows. "The Clear Sky Sect has already sealed off its mountain, and Tang Hao has been expelled. By all accounts, we've already achieved our strategic objective. Continuing the attack would be unjustified and only waste more resources. What is she trying to do?"
"Not only did she refuse to withdraw, she even said she'd flatten the Clear Sky Sect!" Golden Crocodile Douluo gritted his teeth. "She's even sent Demon Bear and the other three to attack Clear Sky Peak!"
"Absurd!!" Qian Daoliu's expression changed abruptly.
"Does she have any idea what she's doing?! If the Clear Sky Sect is truly destroyed... who will bear the consequences?!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo was stunned, confused. "Grand Pontiff, although the Clear Sky Sect has sealed off its mountain, if we really could take the opportunity to destroy them, then..."
"We must not destroy them!"
Qian Daoliu turned sharply and gazed north, a deep wariness flickering in his eyes:
"You and I both know that the Clear Sky Sect's true foundation has never been Tang Xiao, the Clear Sky Battle Formation, or the Great Sumeru Hammer."
"It is... Tang Chen!"
At the name, Golden Crocodile Douluo's pupils contracted sharply.
"Before Tang Chen disappeared to pursue the path to godhood, I once fought him atop Clear Sky Peak."
Qian Daoliu's voice held a hint of bitterness and remembrance:
"In that battle... I was slightly inferior."
"It was then that I made him a promise: no one under my command in Spirit Hall would ever set foot on Clear Sky Peak until I defeated him."
Qian Daoliu took a deep breath, his tone turning grave:
"If anyone in this world could reach the divine realm beyond the mortal world through their own power, Tang Chen... would be the most likely."
"People call me invincible in the sky, but that is thanks to the glory of the Angel God. Tang Chen, on the other hand, is powerful through and through!"
"Although he has been unheard from for so many years, no one can guarantee that he's dead."
"What if..."
A deep wariness flickered in Qian Daoliu's eyes:
"What if he really returns as a god and discovers that we've wiped out the Clear Sky Sect and flattened Clear Sky Peak?"
"Do you think Spirit Hall... could still survive?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo broke into a cold sweat.
Godhood!
To people at their level, that word was both a temptation and a source of absolute terror.
If Tang Chen really returned as a god, it would be a disaster for Spirit Hall!
"That's the real reason I ordered you to withdraw as soon as I heard Bibi Dong had won a great victory."
Qian Daoliu said gravely, "As long as Tang Chen's death remains unconfirmed, Spirit Hall must never destroy the Clear Sky Sect. We can suppress them, but wiping them out... is absolutely forbidden!"
"Grand Pontiff! Then I'll go at once!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo promptly volunteered. "I'll go to the front lines and capture that woman who doesn't know her place! I'll withdraw the army while I'm at it!"
"You?"
Qian Daoliu glanced at Golden Crocodile and shook his head.
"You can't do it."
"I can't?" Golden Crocodile Douluo was taken aback, unconvinced. "Grand Pontiff, even if Bibi Dong has grown stronger, I'm still Level 98..."
"You've seen the battle report."
Qian Daoliu cut him off. "Bibi Dong defeated the Clear Sky Battle Formation formed by Tang Xiao and seven elders on her own. She killed two on the spot and forced another to his death."
"Most importantly, she emerged completely unharmed."
"Golden Crocodile, if you were in her position, could you have done the same?"
"..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo fell silent.
The Clear Sky Battle Formation was both offensive and defensive, and its coordination was flawless. It was difficult to guard against. Once caught in it, even someone at his level would be severely suppressed and unable to bring his full strength to bear.
He was confident he could suppress Tang Xiao and escape the Clear Sky Battle Formation unharmed.
But to break the formation with a single strike and kill two men, like Bibi Dong...
He couldn't do it.
Unless he was willing to trade wounds for lives and force his way through.
But Bibi Dong hadn't been injured. That was what he found most impossible to understand!
"Bibi Dong's strength is probably no longer inferior to yours. She may even have touched the threshold of my realm."
Qian Daoliu sighed, a complex look flickering in his eyes.
"And time is running out."
"Bibi Dong issued the order for a full assault yesterday, but we only received word today. Spirit Hall's army has probably already reached the Clear Sky Sect's gates."
"You're not fast enough."
"By the time you get there, Bibi Dong may already have stormed Clear Sky Peak, and the Clear Sky Sect may be drenched in blood."
As he spoke, golden light blazed from Qian Daoliu. His Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul possessed him, and a sacred, powerful aura burst through the hall's dome.
"Golden Crocodile, hold down Spirit City."
"This matter..."
Qian Daoliu flashed away, transforming into a golden meteor that shot into the sky and sped north:
"Only I can stop her!"