The next morning.
The Library Pavilion.
Sunlight streamed through the broken window, casting a few bright patches across the floor.
Su Chen opened his eyes on the bamboo chair and let out a long breath.
In his Sea of Divine Consciousness, the Light Screen for the Eye of Omniscience popped up automatically.
The display showed that after Liu Erlong had smashed in half a treasury last night, the Spirit Hall had treated her as its highest-class guest and put her up at a manor outside the city.
The red dot on the screen sat as steady as a mountain. That Mother Tyrant Dragon had no intention of leaving.
"Creak~"
Su Chen was halfway through a stretch when the wooden door was shoved open.
Bibi Dong walked in.
Today, she wasn't wearing her imposing papal robes. Instead, she had changed into a practical outfit in deep purple.
The most eye-catching thing was the redwood food box with gold trim in her hand. It was a size bigger than usual.
Su Chen glanced at it.
On the Eye of Omniscience, Bibi Dong's [Sense of Crisis] had already hit 70%.
Liu Erlong's brazen "test" last night had clearly struck a nerve with the Pope.
"Eat."
Bibi Dong's voice was stiff as a board. She set the food box down heavily on the tea table.
The moment she opened the layers, an intoxicating aroma burst out. Crystal Steamed Dumplings, Snow Clam Bird's Nest, Eight Treasures Golden Chicken... Every dish was a top-tier medicinal meal that could replenish one's life force.
She was being so attentive that she'd clearly gone overboard.
Su Chen understood at once.
He hunched his shoulders, instantly slipping into acting mode. His eyes filled with abject humility and gratitude.
His hands trembling, he picked up a bowl. Forgetting all about table manners, he wolfed down the delicacies, shoveling them into his mouth as if his life depended on it.
Only after seeing him scarf down the food like a starving ghost did the chill in Bibi Dong's eyes begin to fade.
[ Ding! Bibi Dong's affection increased by 2. Current affection: 64%. ]
The corner of Bibi Dong's mouth lifted in an almost imperceptible smile. Satisfied, she packed up the empty food box and left.
Su Chen let out a burp, happily accepted the system's tenfold Soul Power bonus, and prepared to lie low again.
But his good days were over before noon.
[Beep—beep—beep!]
The Eye of Omniscience's radar flashed red, and Subject 002, Qian Renxue's profile popped up.
[Forced Bond Mission triggered: As the Crown Prince, deliver a meal of Heaven Dou Empire Royal Cuisine to Su Chen and dine with him for ten minutes.]
Su Chen's eyelid twitched wildly.
It was barely half a cup of tea later when the wooden door opened again.
Qian Renxue, disguised as an attendant, strode in with a cold expression. Behind her, two attendants tremblingly carried three extravagantly ornate food boxes.
"Set them out," Qian Renxue ordered, her voice icy.
The attendants moved quickly, covering the tea table in an instant. Rare birds and beasts, dishes carved into dragons and phoenixes—a proper feast of Heaven Dou Court Dishes.
The display made it clear: she was going head-to-head with the Pope Palace.
Once the attendants had left, Qian Renxue forced down her humiliation.
She was the exalted young mistress of the Spirit Hall and the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou, yet here she was, dining with a good-for-nothing!
But the system's mission reward and its threat of elimination hung over her head.
She took a deep breath, pulled out the chair opposite Su Chen, and sat down, swallowing her pride.
The countdown began.
Right then—
"Click, click, click."
Outside the door came the familiar sound of military boots with high heels. The measured steps were slow and steady, but carried an aura of murderous force that could destroy heaven and earth.
Qian Renxue's back stiffened instantly.
"Bang!"
The door flew open.
Bibi Dong had returned, still carrying a freshly stewed bowl of Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup. She froze on the threshold.
In the span of a single breath, the temperature throughout the Library Pavilion plunged to freezing!
Bibi Dong fixed her gaze on Qian Renxue, then swept it across the tableful of ostentatious Heaven Dou Court Dishes. Her phoenix eyes reddened on the spot.
"What are you doing?"
Bibi Dong's voice could freeze a person to death. Purple-black Rakshasa Death Qi coiled around her fingertips like venomous snakes as the pressure of a Limit Douluo crashed down!
Qian Renxue's scalp prickled, but the system's countdown was still ticking. She couldn't back down!
"Have you forgotten, Mother?" She sprang to her feet and secretly unleashed her Angel Divine Power to hold back the Death Qi. "Last night, I said that he would be raised jointly by you and the Holy Son."
She pointed at the feast, refusing to yield an inch. "If he's the foundation of our sect, he can't live on plain food every day. I'm providing the Holy Son with some material support. Your Holiness, why are you angry?"
Two god-level mental powers collided furiously in the air!
The very air seemed to crack like glass! The cups and plates on the tea table shook violently, on the verge of exploding!
[Warning! Bibi Dong's killing intent has surged to 89%!]
[Warning! Qian Renxue's hostility has surged to 85%!]
On the Light Screen, the two women's emotional readings shot up like rockets.
The scene was about to explode, and Su Chen was about to get caught in the blast and cooked. He immediately activated Master of Balancing mode!
"Th-thank you, Your Holiness! Thank you, Your Highness!"
Su Chen suddenly stammered out his thanks, his voice shaking so badly it cracked.
His whole body trembled like a sieve, yet both hands moved in a blur!
Left hand: soup!
He didn't even bother with a spoon. He tipped up the scalding bowl of Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup that Bibi Dong had brought and gulped down a huge mouthful!
Right hand: meat!
He snatched up a slice of Snowflake Meat that Qian Renxue had brought and stuffed it into his mouth!
"It's so... so delicious! I've never eaten anything this good in my life!"
The soup scalded tears from Su Chen's eyes, and his cheeks puffed up like a hamster's. He chewed furiously, mumbling praise with his mouth full.
"Your Holiness's soup... is incredible! It's the warmest soup I've ever had!"
"Your Highness's dishes... are unbeatable! My life belongs to the Spirit Hall!"
He alternated between soup and meat, eating with such wild, frenzied gusto that he managed to use one mouth to plug up two volcanoes on the verge of eruption!
Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue stared at him in a daze.
The Soul Power that had risen to both their throats was forced back down by Su Chen's ridiculous display of gratitude and ravenous eating.
Before long, Su Chen had polished off everything both women had brought.
[Ding! Ten-minute dining countdown finished. Mission complete.] A notification sounded in Qian Renxue's mind.
"Hmph." Bibi Dong was the first to withdraw her killing intent. She shot Qian Renxue a cold glance. "Don't overstep. Remember your place."
With that, she turned and swept away.
Qian Renxue stared at the empty plates, her expression complicated, yet tinged with an intensely twisted need to win.
She shot Su Chen a fierce glare, too. "A hearty appetite is a blessing. Don't choke on it."
With that, she left, trailing a cold fragrance.
Outside the door, Cardinal Angela stared at Su Chen, whose mouth was slick with grease. Her entire worldview felt as though it had been ground into the dirt over and over.
Under the crushing auras of those two heavyweights, that good-for-nothing... could still keep eating?
Angela had only two words for it: Unbelievable!
At dusk.
Su Chen sprawled on the bamboo chair, feeling like a dried salted fish.
He rubbed his round belly, certain the medicinal food was practically lodged in his throat.
"I finally made it through today..."
Before he could finish, the red dot representing Liu Erlong on the Eye of Omniscience began flashing like a strobe.
[Subject 003 Bond Mission triggered: Share a wild-game dinner with the target!]
[Current resistance: 0!]
[Enthusiasm for eating: 100%!]
Su Chen's face turned deathly pale.
"Bang!"
The poor wooden door of the Library Pavilion was kicked apart by a flame-wrapped leg, scattering splinters everywhere!
Liu Erlong stormed through the smoke and dust.
She wore a practical black outfit. Worst of all, she had a still-dripping, half-cooked Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Cloud Sable slung over her shoulder!
The thing was bigger than a calf!
"Eat!"
Liu Erlong didn't even look at Su Chen's horrified, twisted face.
She freed one hand, tore off a charred hind leg thicker than Su Chen's thigh with brutal force, and shoved it right up to his mouth, trailing a savage, fiery aura!
The violent blood and qi of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast, mixed with the smell of burnt grease, rushed straight to his head!
"Eat a big mouthful of meat! What kind of man hesitates like that?" Liu Erlong's eyes shone, her face practically shouting, "Just do it!"
The double assault on his eyes and stomach left Su Chen's brain completely frozen.
He knew all too well that if he refused to eat in front of this Mother Tyrant Dragon, she'd grind him into the ground with her Fire Dragon Soul Power!
Su Chen opened his mouth. With two hot tears in his eyes and the tragic resolve of someone facing certain death, he bit down hard.
"That's more like it!" Liu Erlong said with satisfaction, slapping him on the back. She nearly brought up his dinner from the night before.
Night fell.
The Library Pavilion was a complete mess.
Leftover Heaven Dou Imperial Kitchen dishes, splashes of Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup, and the heavy smell of burnt Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Cloud Sable still hung in the air.
Outside the door, Angela squeezed her eyes shut like a stone statue, repeating to herself frantically: I'm blind. Today, I'm blind.
With his round belly sticking out, Su Chen stared at the ceiling, utterly bereft.
Just then, a blood-red pop-up on the Eye of Omniscience's Light Screen arrogantly filled his entire field of vision:
[Warning! Severe conflict detected between the task frequencies of three Bond Subjects!]
[System adaptation assessment underway...]
[Ding! A stage-based competition mission has been issued simultaneously to Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue, and Liu Erlong: Within seven days, the one who achieves the highest satisfaction from the target will receive double rewards! The one who places last will lose a portion of her Soul Power!]
Su Chen stared blankly at the Light Screen.
On the profile panels for the three women, their already absurdly high competitiveness and possessiveness surged under the stimulus of those four words, "double rewards." Like flames doused in hot oil, they erupted with a blinding, crimson battle lust!
Before you continue