Taking a Disciple, the Pope Covets the Sacred Cloth

With his hands held in a defensive iaido-style posture against his chest, the aura surrounding Lin Beiya shifted instantly from scholarly elegance to fierce aggression, while the faint sound of a bull snorting echoed from behind him.

With his power fully gathered, Lin Beiya thrust his hands outward, unleashing the shockwave toward Bibi Dong.

"Great Horn!"

A massive Golden Bull charged toward the woman before him with the momentum of a crushing army. This domineering attack caught Bibi Dong by surprise, as the energy contained within it was certainly not something a Soul Grand Master should be capable of producing.

She formed a soul power barrier in front of her just as the bull collided with it.

As the Golden Bull dissolved into starlight within the reception hall, Bibi Dong offered a candid assessment after sensing the lingering energy.

"The power of a top-tier assault-type Soul Ancestor. Lin Beiya, you truly surprise me."

"Not at all, not at all. It is Your Holiness the Pope who is truly unfathomable."

Although it lacked the power that had shocked her when she saw the Aries Gold Cloth, it was already quite remarkable for someone at Lin Beiya's cultivation level to unleash such an attack.

After a moment of contemplation, she had formed a rough hypothesis regarding the mysteries of Lin Beiya's martial soul.

Currently, Lin Beiya was at the second-ring Soul Grand Master stage, and the two sets of Gold Cloths she had seen happened to correspond perfectly with his soul rings.

"Does this mean that for every soul ring you attach, you gain another set of this miraculous armor?"

"Furthermore, your armor seems capable of being worn by others, allowing them to inherit those miraculous soul skills, with the potency determined by the wearer's own soul power cultivation."

At this, a flash of golden light crossed Bibi Dong's eyes. The image of the poisoned Qian Xunji easily reflecting her lethal attack with a Crystal Wall was still fresh in her mind, and she was filled with curiosity about Lin Beiya's Cloth.

Lin Beiya had no intention of hiding anything and nodded to confirm Bibi Dong's speculation.

Though this woman was a white-eyed wolf with a penchant for toxic romance, she had managed to become a Saintess and eventually the Pope; in other aspects, she was truly top-tier, and this analytical ability was just a glimpse of that.

"Your Holiness is correct. I currently only possess two sets of this Cloth, and they can indeed be worn by others."

"May I try it?"

With her theory confirmed, the interest in Bibi Dong's eyes remained undiminished as she reached out her hand to request the Cloth.

"Uh... I suppose you can, but don't you think this Cloth is a bit..."

Lin Beiya pointed to the helmet of the Taurus Gold Cloth; he found it hard to imagine the Pope wearing a helmet with horns.

Following his finger, Bibi Dong looked the Cloth over from top to bottom to judge its appearance.

"Hmm, it is indeed a bit ugly."

Well, the case was closed; Qian Renxue's theory that beauty is power clearly originated from her mother.

Although her first reaction was that it was ugly, Bibi Dong still wanted to test the wonders of the Cloth.

"It matters not. I only wish to test the power of the Cloth; I shall not be wearing it out to parade through the streets."

"Very well."

Since she had said as much, Lin Beiya did not intend to refuse. The Taurus Gold Cloth transformed into a golden card and floated gently into his palm.

Bibi Dong lowered her head to look at it, then swept a questioning gaze toward Lin Beiya.

"Simply inject your soul power into it."

"I see."

Following his instructions, Bibi Dong injected her soul power into the card in her palm. Accompanied by the roar of a bull, a female-styled, dress-like version of the Taurus Gold Cloth quietly enveloped the Pope's delicate frame.

With curiosity in her eyes, Bibi Dong paced back and forth, then looked herself over.

"It can actually change the appearance of the armor based on the wearer's gender. Not bad."

After speaking, Bibi Dong closed her eyes to sense the soul skills provided by the Cloth. As the sound of the bull's snorting filled the room, a golden bull, countless times larger than the one Lin Beiya had summoned, charged toward the doors of the reception hall.

"BOOM!"

With Lin Beiya's mouth twitching and his eyes wide in shock, the entire eastern wall of the reception hall shattered upon impact. The Golden Bull, its momentum undiminished, carved a trench hundreds of meters long outside the hall before slowly dissipating into the air.

"What is happening?"

"It's the Pope Hall! Quickly, go protect the Pope!"

"Enemy attack!"

The sound of chaos filled the air, while Bibi Dong calmly retracted the Cloth back into a card in her palm.

As the guards burst into the reception hall, everyone stared in shock at the wall that had been more than half-destroyed, as well as the trench in the ground leading straight to the Pope Hall, unable to find words for a long time.

Looking at her own handiwork, Bibi Dong felt a bit embarrassed; she hadn't expected a spur-of-the-moment test to cause such a commotion.

"Cough... cough... Beiya, the power of the move is good, but remember to test your moves in the training grounds in the future. I shall overlook your mistake this time."

"????"

When I put out question marks, it's not because I have a problem, but because I think you have a problem.

Lin Beiya leaned back tactically, looking at Bibi Dong, who was back in her regular robes, with question marks practically floating above his head in physical form.

But meeting Bibi Dong's slightly threatening gaze, Lin Beiya very "sensibly" submitted to the Pope's overbearing authority.

"Yes, Beiya knows he was wrong. I will be careful next time."

The arriving guards heard the conversation between the master and disciple and instantly understood what had happened. As they looked at Lin Beiya again, their eyes were filled with terror.

That a child with such a youthful face could erupt with such terrifying energy was simply shocking; he was truly worthy of being the Pope's disciple.

Waving the guards away, Bibi Dong looked at Lin Beiya with satisfaction.

"The power is quite impressive, and it can directly amplify all physical attributes, as well as cultivation speed and recovery ability. Your talent is even more astonishing than I imagined."

"Your Excellency the Pope is too kind; Beiya still needs to work harder."

Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow, then said with a hint of dissatisfaction:

"Although I do need your talent to suppress your contemporaries and solidify my position, my desire to take you as a disciple is sincere. From now on, you may come to me with any questions regarding your cultivation. You may address me as Teacher."

"Yes, Teacher."

Since you're old enough to be my mother anyway, calling you Teacher isn't a loss, Lin Beiya thought, changing his address for Bibi Dong with great compliance.

Seeing this, Bibi Dong nodded in satisfaction. In truth, she had other motives for taking Lin Beiya as her disciple, and testing the power of the Sacred Cloth just now was for that very reason.

Her two Martial Souls were too hideous, to the point that most who had seen them had already met their end. Bibi Dong rarely exposed her Martial Souls in front of outsiders. Now that she had found a way to maintain combat effectiveness without releasing her Martial Souls, relying solely on soul power, how could she not be tempted?

Although there were only two sets of Sacred Cloths currently, and one was highly likely in the hands of her daughter, with Lin Beiya's talent, it wouldn't take long for him to cultivate to Soul Elder, or even Soul Ancestor or Soul King. By then, wouldn't there always be a suitable set permanently in her possession?

"You may go now; I still have to find someone to clean up your mess."

Bibi Dong issued the order to leave, waving her hand to summon a maid to take him to his arranged quarters.

Hearing this, Lin Beiya revealed an awkward yet polite smile.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're the boss, whatever you say is right. This entire mess is my doing. If I can erupt with Title Douluo-level combat power as a mere Soul Grand Master, once I cultivate to Soul King, I'll go tear apart the Sea God and stomp on the Asura God. Let's see what that God King Tang has left to inherit.

"Then this disciple will take his leave, and I apologize for troubling Teacher to handle the aftermath."

"Mm, go."

Bibi Dong wore an expression of "the child is teachable," then nodded at him with a smile.