Inside the Library Pavilion, the night was as clear and still as water.
Su Chen lounged comfortably in a bamboo chair.
He had just finished smoothing out the rampaging Soul Power from his breakthrough to level 50 and becoming a Soul King. On the Eye of Omniscience's Light Screen, the blood-red dot representing Qian Renxue was hurtling toward the heart of the inner city like a bolt of lightning.
At this speed, is she racing to her own funeral? Su Chen chuckled to himself.
Without hesitation, he willed the World Tree's branches in his Sea of Divine Consciousness to draw in their divine light.
That vast, godlike aura of life was instantly locked deep within his consciousness, without the slightest ripple escaping.
In the space of a breath, his shoulders hunched, his breathing grew shallow, and his complexion returned to its usual pallor, as though he had spent years without seeing the sun.
The sickly, frail posture of a lowly servant, stooped and weak, was back in perfect form.
Su Chen closed his eyes and waited for the storm to descend.
The inner city of Spirit City.
Dressed in the white-and-gold uniform of the young master, Qian Renxue strode forward with a sharp, commanding air. Ignoring the patrol knights' dumbfounded stares, she headed straight up the long flight of towering white jade steps to the Pope Palace.
Deep inside the Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong had just hurriedly "escaped" back from the Library Pavilion, her chest still heaving.
The scorching beat of Su Chen's heart as she held him, and the emotions that had slipped out of her control, still surged through every limb, leaving an unnatural flush on her face.
Suddenly, the barrier around the Pope Palace was smashed open by a sacred Angel aura—one she instinctively loathed, yet knew all too well!
The panic in Bibi Dong's eyes froze in an instant.
The next moment, every trace of weakness and discomposure was sealed beneath a layer of utter cold.
Qian Renxue? She had come back at a time like this!
Boom!
The bronze doors of the Pope Palace's main hall were shoved open by a domineering burst of light-attribute Soul Power.
Qian Renxue strode inside without even lifting her eyelids, using her Soul Power to drive back the attendants on either side who tried to stop her.
"Get out."
Her cool voice echoed through the empty hall. In the blink of an eye, only the estranged mother and daughter remained in the vast chamber.
There was no unnecessary small talk, no hypocritical greetings.
Qian Renxue lifted her chin and stared at Bibi Dong on the throne, her tone as stiff as an official proclamation. "The young master has returned to the city to report on her duties. Under Spirit Hall law, I have the right to inspect every facility within the hall."
"That includes the Library Pavilion, recently designated a top-level restricted area. I'm taking charge of it now and will personally investigate the unusual activity inside."
Straight to the point, with Su Chen in her sights!
Seated high on the throne, Bibi Dong's gaze was as sharp as a blade. It was as if the woman who had fled the Library Pavilion in disarray moments earlier had never been her.
"Presumptuous."
Bibi Dong's voice was not loud, but it carried the Pope's authority, crushing all opposition.
She rejected Qian Renxue's demand without mercy. "The Library Pavilion is a top-level restricted area protected by a Pope's Decree I personally issued. It concerns the hundred-year foundation of Spirit Hall."
"Not even you can enter. Even if Qian Daoliu came in person, he wouldn't get one step past that door."
The temperature in the hall plummeted.
The sacred, imposing Soul Power of the Six-Winged Angel clashed violently with the cold, frenzied Rakshasa Death Qi!
The air seemed to crack with a grating "k-k-k" as the two forces met head-on, neither yielding an inch.
Outside the tightly shut doors.
Angela and a group of red-robed bodyguards stood guard at the foot of the stairs.
They could clearly feel the pressure inside the hall congeal, along with the surging power of two top-tier Soul Masters, ready to erupt at any moment.
Their backs went cold, and sweat streamed from beneath their helmets.
No one had imagined that Qian Renxue, after years undercover in Heaven Dou, would return to the city and immediately go after the Pope's most sensitive, most dangerous sore spot—before she had even caught her breath!
Fear spread silently among the guards. Every one of them was holding their breath, terrified that the two revered women would tear the hall apart in a fight.
Faced with Bibi Dong's hardline stance and murderous intent, Qian Renxue didn't retreat. Instead, she gave a cold laugh.
She walked slowly toward the throne, the crisp clack of her heeled military boots sounding against the jade floor.
"Hundred-year foundation?" A trace of deep mockery flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes. She hurled the secret the Dark Web had risked everything to uncover straight at Bibi Dong.
"Then how did I hear that His Holiness the Pope personally washed her hands and cooked late at night for this so-called 'hundred-year foundation,' and even cut her precious hand because her knife skills were poor?"
Qian Renxue paused, fixing her eyes on Bibi Dong's face, watching for the slightest crack in her expression.
"There are also rumors that Your Holiness dismissed everyone and personally helped that Soul Power-less servant change clothes, tying the sash for him... Such consideration for a subordinate truly moved all of Spirit Hall."
The words struck like a thunderbolt, landing squarely on Bibi Dong's most vulnerable, most shameful nerve!
Bibi Dong's pupils shrank to pinpoints!
The intensely private, humiliating details she had been forced to complete by the system had been exposed to her face, word for word, by Qian Renxue!
Beneath her wide sleeves, her hands clenched tight. Her sharp nails pierced the scabbed wounds in her palms once more, and blood seeped out.
Hum!
A wisp of utterly uncontrolled purple-black Rakshasa Death Qi spread like a venomous snake from beneath her feet, corroding a wide swath of the jade floor in an instant.
Outside, the guards felt the Pope's terrifying aura, laced with unbearable humiliation and a rage capable of destroying the heavens and earth. Their legs gave way, and they dropped to their knees with a series of thuds.
Everyone was even more horrified, their scalps prickling.
What kind of terrifying magic did that servant in the Library Pavilion possess, to make the usually unreadable Pope lose control like this?!
Qian Renxue keenly caught Bibi Dong's momentary stiffness and the panic that flashed across her eyes.
The intelligence was true!
That cold-blooded Pope had actually fallen for a worthless nobody!
Qian Renxue suddenly stepped forward, her aura climbing to its peak as she delivered the deadly blow she had been building toward:
"Mother, you care so much about a waste without even a Soul Ring, lowering yourself for him and even falling out completely with the Worship Hall..."
Qian Renxue lowered her voice. There was a hint of disbelief in her tone, sharpened by biting mockery.
"Could it be... that you've taken a fancy to him?"
"You're asking for death!"
The words were like a poison-coated blade, driven into her heart and twisting every last shred of her disguise to pieces!
The killing intent in Bibi Dong's Sea of Divine Consciousness surged to 95% in an instant!
A purple-black Demon Spider phantom flickered behind her, on the verge of going berserk. It wanted to kill the daughter who had dared expose her secret right there and then!
But at the last moment, to hide the humiliation of the More Children More Blessings System's tasks, and the strange feelings for Su Chen deep within her that she would not even admit to herself, she clenched her teeth.
With immense effort, she forced the world-shattering pressure back into her body, leaving herself utterly disheveled.
Meanwhile, inside the Library Pavilion.
Su Chen reclined in comfort on the bamboo chair, watching two panels of extreme emotions flash wildly across the Eye of Omniscience's Light Screen.
[ Bibi Dong: Shame off the charts / Killing intent 95% / Frantically hiding her panic ]
[ Qian Renxue: Probe successful / Worldview continuing to shatter / Pressing forward relentlessly ]
A knowing, amused smile tugged at Su Chen's lips.
"Tsk, that's more like it. Fight. The harder, the better. Otherwise, how will they see how precious a variable like me, 'too weak to even look after myself,' really is?"
Inside the Pope Palace, Qian Renxue knew when to stop.
She knew exactly where Bibi Dong's limit lay. If she pushed her too far and Bibi Dong attacked, then her system task—[Comb Su Chen's hair ten times]—would be ruined.
She quickly reined in her sharpness and changed tack, playing a card Bibi Dong couldn't easily refuse.
"It was only a joke. There's no need for Your Holiness to get angry."
Qian Renxue's expression returned to the icy formality of official business. "I'm not taking your authority, but I must go inside."
"The year-end sacrificial rites are approaching. Under the longstanding rules of Spirit Hall, I have to enter the Library Pavilion and check the archives of past ceremonies. That's a legitimate enough reason, isn't it?"
Bibi Dong drew a deep breath, and the violent rise and fall of her chest gradually eased.
She weighed the situation at lightning speed.
Qian Renxue's argument had the weight of principle behind it. Now that she had returned to the city, rejecting her again by force would give their opponents a pretext and invite an even harsher, more legitimate counterattack from the Worship Hall.
That would only make things worse.
But she absolutely could not let Qian Renxue meet Su Chen alone!
"Fine." Bibi Dong's voice was cold enough to freeze. She laid down her conditions, one word at a time. "The young master may check the archives. I grant permission. But the Library Pavilion is of great importance, so I must personally accompany you the entire time."
"Agreed." Qian Renxue answered without the slightest hesitation.
All she wanted was to see Su Chen and complete her task. She didn't care whether Bibi Dong was there or not.
In the empty hall, mother and daughter reached a strange, delicate compromise.
Bibi Dong wanted to protect her secret feelings and the system secrets she could not reveal; Qian Renxue wanted to complete the mission whose death countdown hung over her head.
Each carrying a countdown to a system task concerning the same man, they stepped away from their deadlocked confrontation.
They turned.
Black and white, the two peerless women who held Spirit Hall's highest authority left the throne side by side. In the dead silence, they walked slowly toward the Library Pavilion.
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