"Let me see—have you lost weight? You were roughing it in the forest, so you must not have eaten well."
Bibi Dong wasn't wearing her heavy papal robes today. Instead, she had on a pale purple silk nightgown.
Her gorgeous legs, wrapped in black stockings, were crossed, their alluring sheen shimmering beneath the lights.
The concern in Bibi Dong's eyes was genuine. The affection that came from the bottom of her heart warmed Lin Qiu.
In this world, only the woman before him truly treated him as the most important person in her life.
"I'm fine. I'm doing great. I gained a lot from this trip."
Lin Qiu leaned against Bibi Dong's legs as he had when he was a child.
Bibi Dong gently stroked his hair, her gaze a little distant.
"That's true. You gained a lot. You even scared off the Titan Giant Ape. The whole Elder Hall is talking about you now."
Her voice held pride, along with a hint of complicated emotion.
"In the blink of an eye, that little tyke who barely reached my knee has grown into a man who can stand on his own."
"Sometimes, I wish you'd never grow up, so you could stay by my side forever."
Lin Qiu looked up into Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes and said earnestly:
"No matter how much I grow, I'll always stay by your side, Auntie. No one can ever separate us."
At his words, it was as if he'd struck the softest place in Bibi Dong's heart.
She bent down and pressed her forehead to Lin Qiu's. Their breaths mingled, and the atmosphere turned warm and tender.
"You said it. If you dare lie to me, I'll lock you up and never let you go anywhere."
In the days that followed, Spirit Hall paid Lin Qiu unprecedented attention.
The several pontiffs took turns guiding his cultivation. Golden Crocodile Douluo taught him defense, while Azure Luan Douluo instructed him in aerial combat.
But the old fellows soon discovered, to their dismay, that they had little to teach him.
Lin Qiu's comprehension was nothing short of monstrous. More often than not, they'd barely begun explaining something when he'd already grasped it. He could even extrapolate from it and offer insights that ran deeper than their own.
In the end, it was less a matter of them guiding him than of Lin Qiu showing them what "the Dao" meant.
Time passed.
Half a month later.
Inside the secret chamber of the Holy Son Palace in Spirit Hall.
Lin Qiu, seated cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes.
Boom!
Two golden beams shot from his eyes, piercing straight through the stone wall before him.
The Supreme Bone in his chest had finally finished fusing!
An indescribably terrifying aura surged up from Lin Qiu in an instant, blasting the chamber's roof away and shooting straight into the clouds.
The sky above all of Spirit City changed in an instant.
Golden light blazed in every direction, and auspicious clouds filled the heavens.
Within the golden radiance, it was as if gods and demons chanted scripture, while True Dragons circled overhead.
Every Soul Master in Spirit City, from Soul Elders to Titled Douluo, felt a shudder deep in their souls.
They looked up in terror, staring toward the source.
"What is this...?"
Inside the Pope Palace, Bibi Dong shot to her feet. Her gaze pierced through space toward the Holy Son Palace, her eyes full of shock.
Several elders exchanged looks. The aura was vast and noble, with an overbearing force that struck the heavens above and suppressed the depths below. It didn't feel like Soul Power at all, but some higher law roaring into life.
"This aura... It's coming from the Holy Son Palace!"
Gui Mei flashed into motion, turning into a plume of black smoke as he rushed out of the hall.
Bibi Dong could no longer hold back. She struck the floor heavily with her scepter, and her figure vanished from the spot like a streak of purple lightning.
Her heart was full of anxiety.
What had happened?!
At the same time.
At the highest point in Spirit City stood the Douluo Worship Hall, a place that symbolized Angel Glory.
An old man had been meditating before a towering Angel God Statue, his eyes closed. Now he suddenly opened them.
Qian Daoliu.
One of the three Peerless Douluo of the age, renowned as "Sky Invincible." At that moment, his eyes held a rare, grave expression.
"What domineering pressure. It even stirred a response from the Angel God Statue?"
"Simply unbelievable..."
Qian Daoliu slowly rose, his gaze piercing through the thick walls of the hall to look straight toward the Holy Son Palace.
There, golden light soared into the sky. Amid it, he could just make out a swaying Green Lotus and a roaring giant beast.
"Is it that child?"
Qian Daoliu knew of the boy named Lin Qiu whom Bibi Dong had adopted.
He had always kept out of worldly affairs, dedicating himself solely to protecting the Angel Lineage. He'd paid little attention to an adopted son with a different surname.
But today's disturbance was simply too astonishing.
"If this child is not a great good, then he is a great evil. If he cannot be controlled, he will bring disaster upon Spirit Hall and the entire continent."
"..."
Qian Daoliu's thoughts raced.
Whatever the case, he had to see for himself.
If the child truly possessed power that reached through heaven and earth, perhaps...
Three pairs of pure white wings burst open behind the old man. He became a streak of light, moving even faster than Bibi Dong.
Above the Holy Son Palace.
The sturdy dome had already been reduced to dust beneath the golden light.
Lin Qiu hovered in midair, his long black hair whipping wildly and his robes snapping in the wind.
The Supreme Bone in his chest shone like a miniature sun, radiating scorching light. Golden blood flowed through his veins, and every heartbeat boomed like a war drum, sending ripples through the surrounding space.
Behind him, both Martial Souls manifested at once.
On his left, the Chaos Green Lotus swayed gently. It had only three leaves, yet seemed to bear the myriad worlds.
Every wisp of aura that drifted from it weighed as heavy as a mountain, radiating the most primordial energies of life and Fortune.
On his right, the Nine-Nether Ao roared at the sky. Its nine hideous heads loomed above a body as vast as a mountain, while black-purple mist swirled around it—the purest essence of destruction and slaughter.
More astonishing still, as the Supreme Bone finished fusing, wisps of purple energy—
That was the "Primordial Purple Qi" mentioned by the system. In truth, it was the rarest source of heaven and earth in this world, now coiling around both Martial Souls.
The Green Lotus grew even more lush and verdant, while the Nine-Nether Ao's scales darkened to an even deeper shade.
The two Martial Souls were using the Supreme Bone's power to undergo some kind of transformation and elevation.
Qian Daoliu's figure appeared out of nowhere, a hundred meters away.
He looked at the scene before him. In his weathered old eyes, only sheer shock remained.
"This... These are his Martial Souls?"
Even from a great distance, Qian Daoliu could clearly feel the terrifying potential contained within the two Martial Souls.
Even his pride and joy, the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, seemed faintly suppressed before these two colossal beings.
It was an absolute crushing superiority in quality.
"Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable..."
Qian Daoliu murmured to himself, his fingers trembling slightly.
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