You Idiot

After a long while, a powerful aura burst from Bibi Dong.

She officially advanced to Titled Douluo, and her Soul Power Level reached rank 91.

She was not far from rank 92.

Then she dug two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones out of the Death Spider Emperor's corpse.

The left arm bone of a Hundred Thousand Year Death Spider Emperor, and the right arm bone of a Hundred Thousand Year Death Spider Emperor.

Bibi Dong had to be considered a protagonist. Her luck was even better than Tang San's. Unlike Tang San, who seemed to have had everything forced into his hands.

They said that hunting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast guaranteed a Soul Bone. Who would have thought Bibi Dong would get two at once?

This left Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo green with envy.

If that half-baked Grandmaster had been here, he would surely have pulled out his little notebook and written down that hunting a Soul Beast matching one's Martial Soul could get you two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.

Bibi Dong spent several more hours absorbing the two Soul Bones.

"Just as expected of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Dong'er. As long as you listen to your teacher, I'll keep finding Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts for you," said Qian Xunji.

"Then I thank you, Teacher." Bibi Dong continued to flatter him on the surface, though heaven knew how viciously she was cursing him under her breath.

"Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts? You think they're cabbages? Keep looking for another nine, and unless you're actually bold enough to charge into the core region of the Star Dou Forest..." Li Pu thought that Xiao Wu probably hadn't taken human form yet at this point. She was still a rabbit.

But there were only four Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the open: Sky Azure Bull Python, Titan Giant Ape, and two Hundred-Thousand-Year chunks of meat.

As for the ones hiding beneath the Lake of Life, there were naturally other Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts as well. They were simply difficult to find.

Finding this Hundred-Thousand-Year Death Spider Emperor in an abyss outside the Star Dou Forest had been no easy feat. It showed just how hard it was to find Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

"Our Spirit Hall has plenty of people. We can find high-level Spirit Masters, and we have all the time in the world to search!" Qian Xunji declared confidently.

"Do we have any information on the second one?" Li Pu asked.

"Of course. There's a genius with a screw loose who takes his Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast wife everywhere with him. I really don't know what he thinks he's doing," Qian Xunji said with a laugh.

"Before that, we tried to force him to hand her over to Spirit Hall. Not only did he refuse, he even smashed a Titled Douluo's leg to pieces."

Li Pu calculated the timeline.

Going by Qian Renxue infiltrating the Heaven Dou Empire at age nine, she was seven now. That meant there were still two years before the protagonist, Tang San, was born.

Right now, Spirit Hall was relentlessly pressuring the Clear Sky Sect over that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Blue Silver Emperor. Yet even though the Clear Sky Sect was still the greatest sect under heaven, it was no longer what it had been after losing Tang Chen's leadership. The forces beneath the sect were starting to stir, and the sect was struggling at every turn, timid and wary. It was no longer the bold, high-spirited sect of old.

Qian Xunji continued, "I denounced the Clear Sky Sect in my capacity as the Pope. I never expected Sect Master Tang Tian to be angered to death. I wonder if he regretted having a son like that."

Li Pu shook his head. "I don't know whether he regretted it, but the way you, the Pope, handle things is downright stupid. You don't think things through. You think you're intimidating the world, but all you're doing is bringing infamy on Spirit Hall."

"What did you say?!" Qian Xunji was instantly furious.

"How dare you insult His Holiness the Pope!" Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo, the two lackeys, were furious too.

Bibi Dong hurriedly stepped in front of Li Pu. She was delighted that he had insulted Qian Xunji right to his face, but did he really have to do it right in front of him?

"Teacher, don't misunderstand. He didn't mean it that way!"

"He didn't mean it that way, or did I hear wrong?" Qian Xunji stared daggers at Li Pu.

"You heard me right. Was I wrong?" Li Pu chuckled, utterly unhurried.

"Xiao Pu!" Bibi Dong was getting anxious.

"Don't worry." Li Pu raised a hand in a calming gesture.

"I'd like to hear why you think my actions were foolish. If you can't give me a proper explanation, don't blame me for what happens next." Qian Xunji glared at Li Pu.

Li Pu calmly explained, "You know what the situation on the continent is like. In everyone's eyes, Spirit Hall is overbearing and ambitious to unite the world. It won't tolerate any voice outside its own. That's been true ever since Tang Chen, a Limit Douluo, disappeared. With no Tang Chen to keep it in check, Spirit Hall has gradually returned to its old ways of rooting out dissent. All the forces across the continent are wary of Spirit Hall. And what are you, the Pope, doing about it?"

After a mocking scoff, he continued, "If you have ambitions to unite the continent, you should know what you ought to do and what you shouldn't. If you're denouncing the Clear Sky Sect, then make sure you have a legitimate reason. What's one mere Titled Douluo? You should have said outright that a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had bewitched the Clear Sky Sect's most talented disciple and was plotting to overthrow human rule!"

"Instead, you went straight to bullying them with brute force. What do you think the other powers will make of that?"

For a moment, Qian Xunji, Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo, and Bibi Dong all felt as if a fog had lifted from their minds.

Qian Xunji gritted his teeth, still unwilling to admit defeat. "You know that's a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. If all the other powers get involved, who will that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast end up with?"

"You're an idiot, plain and simple. What does one Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast matter? You can't see that this is a golden opportunity to wipe out the Clear Sky Sect, and instead you choose the idiotic course of smearing Spirit Hall's name. You even go out of your way every year to awaken Martial Souls for free and hand out subsidies to everyone. You might as well stop doing that too. The local Spirit Hall bishops are probably currying favor with you to your face while poisoning the people behind your back, and you don't even know it. You're a complete failure as Pope."

He was practically pointing at Qian Xunji's nose and cursing him.

"Fuck you!"

When in his life had anyone ever insulted him like this? His eyes blazed with fury, and he was about to attack, but Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo hurriedly held him back.

"Hey, hey, hey, His Holiness the Pope, Elder Li Pu makes a good point."

"That's right. Elder Li Pu is right. We could have used this to get the Clear Sky Sect under our thumb from the start, then branded them as colluding with Soul Beasts and wiped them out in one stroke."

"Which side are you on?!"

Qian Xunji was beside himself with rage, but he had to admit that this approach was undoubtedly more clever. No matter how wary the other powers were of Spirit Hall, they would have no choice but to side with him.

"I admit your plan is indeed clever. Can we still do it now...?"

"So when you get back to Spirit Hall, you shouldn't need a mere young boy like me to tell you what to do, right?" Li Pu wore a scornful, contemptuous smile.

His contempt was absolute. Qian Xunji was furious but didn't dare say a word; if he really attacked Li Pu, it would be unbecoming of his position.

Especially with Bibi Dong standing right there. It made it even harder to act.

"Fine, fine, fine. I know what to do!"

Qian Xunji forced each word through clenched teeth.

Once they got back, he would take his anger out on the Clear Sky Sect!