Three-Way Meeting

Outside the Library Pavilion.

Crimson Fire Dragon Soul Power surged wildly, like boiling magma.

The Seven-Ring Soul Sage's unbridled, violent pressure made the very air shriek as it scorched.

A dozen Judgment Knights were sent reeling, their formation shattered by the reckless, scorching heatwave.

"BEEP!"

Piercing alarm whistles tore through the night of Martial Soul City one after another.

High above, a figure descended from the sky, slamming into the ground with a thunderous crash!

"BOOM!"

The floor tiles shattered into pieces.

Cardinal Angela blocked Liu Erlong's path, her heavy sword unsheathing with a sharp clang, the tip pointed directly at Liu Erlong's throat.

"Trespassing in a Level One restricted area is a capital offense!" Angela barked, her soul power surging.

Liu Erlong didn't even glance at the sharp blade. With a flick of her left hand, she tossed a Ceremony Invitation stamped with the Pope's seal into the air.

Immediately after, she exerted force with her right hand, ripped the Dark Gold Storage Ring from her thumb, and—without even looking—hurled it at Angela's face as if it were trash!

"Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Liu Erlong, brings half the sect's foundation to discuss a partnership."

Liu Erlong's voice was cold and hard, devoid of any pleasantries: "Take me to see the Pope!"

Angela instinctively reached out to catch the ring, her spiritual power sweeping inside.

It was just that one glance.

Angela's pupils contracted violently, and her sword-wielding wrist trembled uncontrollably.

The space inside the ring was absurdly large! Hundreds of top-grade spirit grasses were piled up like weeds, and dozens of Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, radiating terrifying fluctuations, were scattered carelessly among them.

This was supposed to be a partnership negotiation?

This was emptying half the coffers of an Upper Three Sect and slapping it right in the face of Martial Soul Hall!

This scale of wealth was far beyond what a mere Cardinal could handle!

Angela took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves in her heart.

She suddenly raised her hand and pressed down, shouting: "Everyone, lower your halberds!"

The Judgment Knights looked at each other, confused, but quickly sheathed their weapons and retreated to the sides.

Angela turned to Liu Erlong, her eyes filled with extreme gravity and scrutiny, and gestured with one hand: "Elder Liu, please, to the Pope Palace."

The posture had shifted from escorting a prisoner to a mix of invitation and guarded protection.

At the same time, inside the Library Pavilion.

The stiff expression on Su Chen's face had completely relaxed.

He leaned lazily against a bamboo chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest.

On the light screen before him, every scene outside was laid bare.

On the map of Martial Soul City, three distinct light points were staging a fine show.

One was the Mother Tyrant Dragon, reckless and single-mindedly focused on her career.

One was the Mad Pope, guarding her territory with a madness that killed anyone who touched it.

And the last was the White-cut-black Young Master, fearing nothing but chaos and ready to fan the flames at any moment.

Su Chen adjusted his cushion, shifting into a more comfortable position.

Tsk, these three together—this was a Royal Flush.

Pope Palace, Main Hall.

The hall doors were tightly shut, the air as cold as a blade. Bibi Dong sat enthroned, purple-black Rakshasa Death Qi swirling slowly within an inch of her body, chilling to the bone.

The heavy doors were pushed open.

Liu Erlong strode in. Facing the terrifying pressure of a Ninety-ninth Level Limit Douluo above, she held her back as straight as a spear, not even bothering to bow.

She walked straight to the white jade pillar ten steps from the throne and raised her right hand.

"SNAP!"

She slammed the storage ring onto the jade base with a sharp crack.

"Yu Xiaogang is a piece of trash, and the Blue Lightning Clan is not worth me staying!" Liu Erlong looked up, staring directly into Bibi Dong's dead, silent eyes, and got straight to the point: "I am using half our treasury as a stepping stone to discuss a deep partnership with Martial Soul Hall!"

Bibi Dong's eyelids lifted slightly, and a strand of razor-sharp spiritual power instantly pierced into the storage ring.

On both sides of the hall, Angela and the elite knights felt their breathing stop, their backs already soaked in cold sweat.

The moment she probed the interior of the ring, even for Bibi Dong, a flicker of almost imperceptible fluctuation appeared in her eyes.

She hated the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and she looked down even more upon that spineless coward, Yu Xiaogang.

But, she was the Pope now.

The interests of Martial Soul Hall were above all else.

This strategic resource, vast enough to immediately arm three heavy cavalry regiments, sat right before her eyes in tangible form. No matter how much she loathed the other party's background, she could not find a single word to refuse.

Bibi Dong withdrew her spiritual power, leaned forward slightly, and spoke in a voice wrapped in shards of ice: "Martial Soul Hall does not keep idlers. To hand over assets of this caliber, what is your condition?"

Liu Erlong met that bone-chilling gaze without a hint of fear, her red lips curling into a wild arc.

"I, Liu Erlong, only recognize strength."

She spoke loudly, every word clear and distinct, "I have heard that Martial Soul Hall has appointed a new Holy Son of peerless talent. I demand to tour the core facilities of Martial Soul Hall, specifically the Library Pavilion, to witness the training grounds of this new Holy Son!"

"Library Pavilion," "Holy Son."

The moment these words landed, the air in the entire great hall seemed to be drained away.

Bibi Dong's pupils shrank instantly into the most dangerous of needle points!

"Boom!"

Without warning, purple-black Rakshasa Death Qi exploded on the spot! A terrifying, extreme shockwave surged down from the throne, slamming fiercely into Liu Erlong and forcing her back half a step!

The surface of the White Jade Pillar was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

Bibi Dong stood up abruptly, killing intent boiling in her phoenix eyes.

Her instinct to protect her own was completely ignited by those few words!

"Cooperation between sects can be discussed." Bibi Dong looked down from above, her tone a dead silence of extreme dominance, "But the Library Pavilion is an absolute forbidden zone of Martial Soul Hall. Those who dare to spy on the Holy Son... shall be executed without mercy!"

She flicked her sleeve violently, and death qi detonated in mid-air.

"Change your condition, or take your trash and get out of Martial Soul City!"

Liu Erlong furrowed her brows, her temper flaring as well.

What did she care about the majesty of the Pope? Crimson Fire Dragon Soul Power instantly boiled across her skin.

She had emptied her family's coffers to come here just to release her martial soul in the Library Pavilion, and you want her to change her conditions? Dream on!

Just as Liu Erlong prepared to strike.

"Creak."

The heavy side door of the Pope Palace was pushed open from the outside.

Qian Renxue, dressed in platinum casual attire, walked in slowly.

She had just been suffering from a headache over that damned system mission, and hearing the commotion in the main hall, she used it as an excuse to escape her predicament.

Qian Renxue's cold gaze swept across the tense hall, paused for a moment on Liu Erlong, and finally landed precisely on that dark gold storage ring.

She turned to face Bibi Dong on the high platform, a cold sneer of someone watching a show playing on her lips.

"Mother, why be so hot-tempered?"

Qian Renxue's voice echoed through the hall, wearing a mask of compassionate magnanimity, "Elder Liu has come to defect with half of her family's wealth; this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen our Martial Soul Hall."

"If we refuse even a request to take a look at the training grounds, wouldn't it become a laughingstock that we lack the capacity to tolerate others?"

She paused, a trace of extremely subtle calculation flashing in the depths of her eyes.

"In my opinion, letting Elder Liu take a tour would be fine."

The moment these words fell, the temperature in the hall dropped to freezing.

Bibi Dong stared fixedly at Qian Renxue below the steps, her nails digging almost into her own flesh.

She knew exactly what this hypocritical daughter was planning!

What sect assets? She was using a borrowed knife to kill!

She wanted to use Liu Erlong, this uncontrollable powder keg, to forcibly tear open the defenses of the Library Pavilion and sow discord within her circle of absolute protection for Su Chen!

Rakshasa Death Qi and the Angel Divine Power secretly urged within Qian Renxue's body engaged in an invisible, explosive clash in mid-air.

Extreme protective instinct collided with twisted hostility.

Angela and the others below were pressed so hard their legs went weak; they couldn't even catch their breath and dared not lift their heads.

Caught in the center of the storm, Liu Erlong keenly sensed the nauseating calculation and gunpowder between this mother and daughter.

But she didn't care at all.

Who wanted to seize power, who wanted to protect their own—what did that have to do with her?

She only wanted to get close to her target, complete that hellish mission, and get the reward that belonged to her.

Liu Erlong crossed her arms, striking a defiant pose of someone who had nothing left to lose.

She looked at Bibi Dong on the throne and sneered, adding fuel to the fire: "The Young Master is right. I brought the goods, and my sincerity is right here."

"If a dignified Pope doesn't even have this much courage, and lacks the guts to let someone take a look at the perimeter, then I, Liu Erlong, am leaving now!"

She reached out, making a show of going to grab the ring.

"I shall consider this resource as having been fed to a dog!"

This sentence acted like a fuse, instantly igniting the powder keg.

On one side was the heavy accusation Qian Renxue had pinned on her, and on the other was a massive amount of strategic resources that were absolutely impossible to refuse.

Bibi Dong's chest heaved violently.

If she were to cast away these massive resources in public today just because of an unverified "snooping" claim, Qian Renxue could take this matter to those old fogies in the Worship Hall and make a huge fuss about it tomorrow!

Weighing the pros and cons, her mind raced amidst the surging flames of her fury.

Bibi Dong gritted her teeth, staring at Liu Erlong, her voice squeezed out word by word from between her teeth.

"Angela!"

Angela shuddered all over and immediately cupped her fists: "Present!"

Bibi Dong enunciated each word, setting an absolute red line:

"Take her there!"

"She is only permitted to stay in the outer perimeter three hundred paces from the Library Pavilion, with a time limit of half an incense stick! If she dares to step even half a pace into the forbidden formation patterns, execute her on the spot—no need to report back!"

The extreme tug-of-war between the three factions was pushed to a suffocating critical point at this very moment.

The undercurrents within the hall temporarily subsided following this order of compromise.

Qian Renxue lowered her eyes, the cold glint of a successful scheme flashing across the corner of her mouth.

It was done. She had torn a gap in the ironclad defenses of the Library Pavilion.

Bibi Dong sat upright on her throne, the purple-black death energy behind her baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.

In the depths of her eyes, a violent rage ready to descend and kill at any moment churned, and her entire spiritual power had already locked firmly onto the direction of the Library Pavilion.

If Liu Erlong dared to make even the slightest suspicious move, she would personally blast her into dust!

Meanwhile, Liu Erlong, who had let out a heavy cold snort on the surface to feign dissatisfaction, was already blooming with joy on the inside.

Three hundred paces?

She had been frantically calling up her system panel in her mind just a moment ago; this distance perfectly covered the judgment range for her mission! She didn't need to go inside at all!

Objective, achieved!

Liu Erlong turned around decisively.

Under Angela's extremely vigilant watch and guidance, she strode out of the Pope Palace and headed straight for the outer perimeter of the Library Pavilion in the northeast corner of Martial Soul City.