Afterward, Elder Chen and Tang Yuan chatted briefly and got to know each other. Once Jiang Lin had put down his bowl and chopsticks, he discussed their next plan with them.
Jiang Lin planned to head to Heaven Dou City as soon as he had more or less recovered.
More precisely, he was going to Sunset Forest, about a hundred miles east of Heaven Dou City.
It would be best if they ran into Dugu Bo along the way. If they didn't, that was fine too.
At first, Jiang Lin had planned to find Dugu Bo before anything else, because he was afraid the man might suddenly appear while he was absorbing an Immortal Herb.
Elder Chen was there to protect him, but the aftermath of a fight would inevitably affect him.
Now, he no longer had to worry about that.
With Tang Yuan, a level 98 Titled Douluo, around, even if Dugu Bo suddenly showed up, Tang Yuan could send him flying with a single hammer blow.
Of course, he might even smash him to death with that one swing.
Over the next two days, Jiang Lin recovered from his injuries in peace with the help of a healing-type Soul Master.
On the third day, the three of them checked out and set off.
Once they were outside the town, Tang Yuan carried Jiang Lin on his back while Elder Chen followed behind. They flew straight toward Heaven Dou City.
Why didn't Jiang Lin fly by himself?
Naturally, it was because he couldn't fly as fast as Tang Yuan.
Though his Martial Soul was the Clear Sky Hammer and he wasn't suited for speed, with the boost of his level 98 cultivation, even so, his speed was beyond what an ordinary Titled Douluo could match.
In Spirit City, inside the Pope Palace.
"Teacher, I'm back."
Hu Liena came before Bibi Dong and spoke somewhat cautiously.
Bibi Dong wasn't the least bit surprised to hear her disciple's voice.
She set down the files in her hands, revealing her breathtakingly beautiful face. A hint of displeasure flickered in her violet eyes, almost too subtle to notice.
"Nana, Bishop Riels already reported your experiences to me in advance. To be honest..."
Bibi Dong paused, then looked at the disciple before her. "I'm very dissatisfied."
"But, Teacher..."
Hu Liena tried to explain, but Bibi Dong raised a hand and stopped her.
"This Wolf Bandit incident was a good opportunity for you to earn merit. The Soul Masters who took part should remember that, under your leadership, they wiped out the Wolf Bandits who were terrorizing the region."
"But unfortunately, when it was all over, everyone remembered only one figure—and that person wasn't you."
"I'm sorry. I've disappointed you."
Hu Liena lowered her head, not daring to meet Bibi Dong's gaze.
"Forget it."
Bibi Dong looked at her disciple's dejected expression and shook her head helplessly.
"Tell me about that unknown Titled Douluo."
Only then did Hu Liena raise her head.
"I never saw that senior with my own eyes, but from what the others described, his Martial Soul was a Fire Leopard with three eyes."
"A mutated Fire Leopard... Could he be connected to the Fire Leopard Sect?"
Bibi Dong pondered for a moment, then asked another question:
"Do you know his level?"
"This... I don't, Teacher."
Hu Liena shook her head with some difficulty. The strongest person present at the time had only been a level 85 Soul Douluo.
There was no way they could have sensed the exact cultivation level of a Titled Douluo.
Bibi Dong nodded, not particularly concerned by the lack of an answer.
In her view, that unknown Titled Douluo could be no higher than level 95.
"By the way, what did you encounter in that cave? How much do you know about the young man who went in with you?"
At that question, Hu Liena's tense little face flushed at once. She stammered:
"Teacher... I encountered a strange Plant-type Soul Beast that was probably ten thousand years old."
"A ten-thousand-year Plant-type Soul Beast?"
Bibi Dong watched her disciple's strange reaction, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Yes. That thing was definitely stronger than a Soul Ancestor. I wasn't its match... Later, just when I thought I was about to die there, someone wearing a Ghost Face Mask saved me. I don't know what happened after that."
Hearing this, Bibi Dong shifted position and reclined sideways on the papal throne, her right hand tapping unconsciously against the armrest.
Thump, thump, thump...
"A Ghost Face Mask... What level do you think he was?"
Hu Liena thought for a moment, then answered:
"He should have been level 50."
"Why?"
"When my brother and the others came to look for me, the traces around us showed that the ten-thousand-year Plant-type Soul Beast had already died.
"But the Soul Ring couldn't have dissipated in such a short time, so it was very likely that he had absorbed it as his fifth Soul Ring."
As soon as Bibi Dong heard this explanation, she immediately spotted the flaw in it.
"So he absorbed a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring in a very short time?"
"This..."
Hu Liena opened her mouth, but in the end, she couldn't come up with a more reasonable explanation.
It wasn't as though the Soul Beast could have died without dropping a Soul Ring, was it?
How could that be possible?
She would rather believe he had absorbed the Soul Ring quickly than think that a Soul Beast had died without dropping one.
"Ah..."
A hint of disappointment crept into Bibi Dong's eyes as she looked at Hu Liena.
"Nana, you have to understand that becoming the Spirit Hall's Saintess isn't just a matter of having sufficient cultivation."
"I understand, Teacher. I've betrayed your trust."
At Bibi Dong's sigh, Hu Liena quickly dropped to one knee.
"Forget it. Go and cultivate. Remember this lesson. And if you run into them again, see if you can draw them closer to the Pope Palace."
"Yes, Teacher."
As if granted a reprieve, Hu Liena rose and left the Pope Palace without pausing.
As she watched Hu Liena leave, a hint of scarlet crept into Bibi Dong's eyes.
"The papal throne must never fall back into the hands of that damned Qian Family."
Once she was well clear of the Pope Palace, Hu Liena couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Whew..."
Then, quite without meaning to, she recalled her earlier experiences and what her teacher, Bibi Dong, had said.
She took a piece of silvery-gray cloth from her Storage Soul Tool.
There were still a few stains of blood on it.
Looking at the cloth, Hu Liena couldn't help blushing again.
After waking up, she had peeled it off her own chest with her own hands.
And beneath the cloth, apart from a few medicinal herbs, there had been nothing.
She didn't need to guess to know what the person who had used that piece of cloth to bandage her had seen.
"Who... are you, really?"
On the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
After a full day of travel, the three of them had arrived.
Looking at the lush, verdant forest beneath the night sky, Jiang Lin felt his blood stir.
Once he got the Immortal Herb, he'd truly soar to new heights. He'd never again have to miss out on good things just because he didn't have enough points.
"Let's rest for a bit and recover our Soul Power. Then we'll go find the Immortal Herb!"
Before you continue