Holy Son

On the high platform, Rakshasa Death Qi and Angel Golden Light tore into each other in a furious struggle.

Space ripped apart by the extreme Soul Power let out a piercing crackling sound, the only thing to be heard across the entire square.

Below the platform, dozens of Cardinals kept their eyes squeezed shut and waited through gritted teeth for the critical moment when the Pope would fully defect and a bloody battle would erupt within Spirit Hall.

It all happened in the span of a single breath.

In the deathly silence, Bibi Dong released the armrests of her throne. Ten deep gouges remained in the wood, and her fingertips were so pale they held not a trace of blood.

There was no desperate order to open the secret passage.

The next second, she forcibly reversed the monstrous tide of purple-black energy and dragged it back into her body!

The Soul Power storm that had engulfed the entire square vanished.

The deathly pressure bearing down on thousands of people abruptly dispersed.

"Haah... haah..."

Gasps and ragged breaths rose and fell throughout the square.

The knights in the front row went weak in the knees and collapsed to the ground. Sweat pattered down, soaking a wide patch in an instant.

The Cardinals raised their sleeves and frantically wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.

Across from the seat of honor, the corner of Qian Daoliu's eye twitched. He didn't even bother to hide the disappointment in his gaze.

He hadn't managed to push her into complete loss of control.

Qian Daoliu raised his right arm. His withered hand held aloft the Holy Judgment Token, and brilliant golden light once more shrouded the high platform, bearing down on the throne.

"You've stopped?" He advanced step by step, his voice cold with the highest authority of the law. "Then abide by the ironclad rules. Pope, explain at once why you secretly established a forbidden zone and hid a servant without a shred of Soul Power there!"

All eyes were fixed on her.

Bibi Dong slowly rose from her throne and leisurely straightened her slightly disheveled papal robes.

Her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. Her gaze swept over the dark mass of people below before finally settling on Qian Daoliu's aged face.

"A servant?"

Bibi Dong gave a cold snort. She offered no explanation and made no attempt to argue.

Her cool voice, wrapped in Soul Power, rang through every corner of the square.

"Qian Daoliu, you can shut down your intelligence network."

She paused for half a second, then spoke eight words.

"Su Chen is my personally chosen candidate for Holy Son."

Boom!

Those words exploded above everyone's heads like a thunderclap.

The thousands below froze on the spot. Even their breathing stopped.

After a second of silence came an uncontrollable uproar and a chorus of sharp gasps. The noise was so loud it nearly toppled the banners around the square.

Holy Son!

He was an existence second only to the Pope and the Young Master, with command over the two great knight orders!

Once the position was established, the entire balance of power within Spirit Hall would collapse by a piece!

"Bullshit!"

A thunderous crash came from the left side of the seat of honor. Golden Crocodile Douluo, the Second Worship, crushed the tiles beneath his foot and sprang to his feet.

Pei Yuan, the law-enforcement elder, leaped out after him and pointed at the throne, unleashing a stream of abuse.

"Your Holiness the Pope, do you take us all for blind?" Pei Yuan released all his Soul Power and roared so his voice carried across the square. "Su Chen's records for the past sixteen years are perfectly clear. He's a good-for-nothing without even a single Ten-Year Soul Ring!"

Pei Yuan's courage swelled. He raised his head and shouted furiously, "For your own selfish desires, you're protecting some wild man, and now you dare fabricate rules in front of everyone to make him the Holy Son? You're treating us like fools!"

A flash of killing intent flickered in Bibi Dong's eyes. Rakshasa pressure surged straight at Pei Yuan, forcing him back three steps as the taste of blood welled in his throat.

"Internal Court records? Those scraps of worthless paper aren't fit to judge someone of mine."

Looking down at everyone from above, Bibi Dong invoked the ancient history of the hall to silence the crowd. "A thousand years ago, Spirit Hall established a secret tradition: only on the eve of an epic war would it resume the special selection of a Holy Son. Great Worship, have you grown senile?"

She swept her sleeve aside, her words so righteous and assured that no one could find the slightest reason to doubt her.

"Su Chen possesses a rare constitution, one in ten thousand. I settled him in the Library Pavilion and sealed off the surrounding three miles precisely to keep out the noise from you people in the Worship Hall!"

"A Holy Son concerns the future of the sect. Naturally, I, the Pope, must personally take charge and train him in secret!"

The moment she finished speaking, the square erupted.

Among the Cardinals, several senior members immediately wore expressions of sudden realization and nodded furiously.

With that one deft maneuver, she'd made the whole story add up!

Bringing him food in the middle of the night? That was to replenish the energy his special constitution needed!

Closing the door and spending time alone with him? The Pope was secretly imparting her power!

Ignoring warnings and crushing the Elder Token? She'd done it to shield the Holy Son from outside interference!

Every one of her earlier actions, all of them wildly unusual and seemingly possessive, now had the most legitimate and noble explanation.

The Pope was laboring heart and soul for Spirit Hall's future!

The suspicion on the Cardinals' faces instantly faded, replaced by admiration for the Pope's far-reaching vision.

The Worship Hall's accusations of "protecting a traitor" and "keeping a male lover" had lost all their support in an instant.

The attempt to force her out had been stymied.

Listening to the mood of the crowd turn against him, Qian Daoliu's face turned livid.

His carefully arranged deadly trap of force had been undone by Bibi Dong's barrage of political doublespeak.

"Good, what a silver tongue." Qian Daoliu laughed in fury.

He stopped wasting words and unleashed the full Soul Power of a Limit Douluo. The Holy Judgment Token's golden light blazed brighter, while the might of the Angel God made every Soul Master in the square buckle at the knees.

"If he has a special constitution, then you can't be the only one who decides that." Qian Daoliu raised the token and issued his final ultimatum. "I demand that he be brought into the hall at once! Let him prove himself before the senior members of the entire hall!"

He fixed Bibi Dong with a hard stare. "If he can't demonstrate any special constitution, neither I nor the Worship Hall will accept it!"

Golden light shone across Bibi Dong's face, leaving it cold and expressionless.

She showed no hint of retreat, coolly returning his stare. "Do I need to explain my actions to you?"

Her domineering aura stood firm against the divine light, but under the ironclad authority of the Holy Judgment Token, she seized the opportunity to go along with his demand.

Bibi Dong's red lips parted. A voice transmission carried by Soul Power shot out with pinpoint accuracy.

"Angela, go to the Library Pavilion and bring him here."

Half a cup of tea later.

Steady footsteps sounded from the white jade steps at the far end of the square.

With one hand resting on her sword, Angela led sixteen elite knights forward in two orderly lines.

At the center of the formation, Su Chen climbed the steps in a coarse servant's uniform washed pale with wear.

He wore no ornaments and showed no trace of Soul Power, yet the rhythm of his footsteps was precise to an almost pathological degree.

The moment he entered the square, thousands of astonished, scrutinizing, and malicious gazes pinned him in place like searchlights.

Was this the man?

Was this the so-called special Holy Son?

He looked so ordinary.

Su Chen stopped in the middle of the red carpet and lowered his eyes slightly, taking in all the malice around him. Last night, he'd used retreat as a way to advance and drawn out Bibi Dong's political maneuvering. Now, the real stage was set.

On the left side of the high platform, Qian Daoliu stood with his hands behind his back, undisguised mockery in his eyes.

The outcome was already decided. As soon as they searched his soul, this mortal body would be exposed for what it was in front of everyone.

"So this is your candidate for Holy Son?" Qian Daoliu gave a furious command, his voice laced with killing intent as it bore down on Su Chen. "Get up here! Show us your Martial Soul at once! If there's nothing unusual about you, this place will be your grave!"

At that very moment, when the air was thick with murderous intent—

On the right side of the high platform, at the Young Master's seat—

Qian Renxue, who had been sitting there, abruptly tensed, her back rigid.

From the moment Su Chen entered, her gaze had stayed fixed on him.

The gulf between the abyss-like presence he'd exuded last night and the filthy servant's appearance before her was far too jarring.

Suddenly—

Deep in her Sea of Divine Consciousness, the system that had lain dormant blared a piercing alarm!

[Ding!]

The mechanical voice exploded in her mind.

[Special quest generated: Social Death Bond!]

[Quest requirement: Immediately descend from the high platform and walk toward the target, Su Chen. In front of thousands of people from the entire hall, interlock fingers with him and forcibly hold his hand for one minute!]

[Quest countdown: 60 seconds!]

[Failure condition: If the countdown reaches zero, your soul will be erased immediately!]

A blood-red panel forcibly appeared before her eyes. Its crimson glow stung her retinas.

Qian Renxue's breath caught, and her heart clenched violently.

Is there something wrong with you, system?!

Walk down there in front of everyone? In front of all the senior members of Spirit Hall, the Worship Hall elders watching like tigers ready to pounce, and her mother, the Pope, so possessive she'd gone mad...

To hold a servant's hand?!

Qian Renxue dug her hands into the fabric over her thighs. Her knuckles turned deathly white.

The countdown to the erasure warning had already begun its fatal descent across her retinas.

[59]

[58]