Welcome, Holy Pope!

After finding a decent hotel in the city and settling Jiang Nannan's mother there, Bibi Dong took Chen Doudou by one hand and Jiang Nannan by the other and headed straight for the Pope Palace.

A hundred meters from the square in front of the Pope Palace, a squad of Temple Knights clad in heavy armor blocked their way.

"Halt!"

The Temple Knight captain raised his halberd. His voice rang out, stern and forbidding. "The Pope Palace ahead is sacred ground. No one may enter without a summons! Leave at once!"

Bibi Dong stopped and gave a soft laugh.

"Good security."

She nodded slightly, seeming satisfied with the strict defenses. "But I'm hardly a stranger."

As soon as she finished speaking, an indescribably terrifying aura erupted from her.

The bright, sunny sky instantly darkened.

Then a gigantic purple-black phantom slowly appeared behind Bibi Dong.

It was her Second Martial Soul, the Soul-Eater Spider Emperor!

"Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red!"

Nine rays of light rose one after another from beneath Bibi Dong's feet, like nine blazing suns, and hung in midair.

Every one of them was a suffocating blood-red!

Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings!

Nine of them!

The terrifying pressure crashed outward like a tangible mountain.

The stone tiles across the square cracked one after another. The warhorses beneath the Temple Knights whinnied in terror and reared up, throwing their riders straight off their backs.

"N-nine... nine Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings!!!"

The Temple Knight captain's eyes were bloodshot. He trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind.

He had lived most of his life, and the strongest person he had ever seen possessed only one Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Nine Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings—this was a configuration fit for a legendary deity!

At the same moment, that world-shattering pressure swept across Spirit City almost instantly.

In the distance, Zhang Peng had just left the Pope Palace with Ye Guyi when he stopped abruptly, his face changing.

"Guyi, something may have happened at the Pope Palace. I have to go take a look. Stay right here and don't wander off!"

Zhang Peng spoke urgently. Soul Power surged around him as he prepared to streak away.

"Grandpa Peng, I want to go too. Whatever happens to my teacher concerns me, too."

Ye Guyi quickly grabbed Zhang Peng's arm, her voice anxious.

She had also been shaken by that pressure, and her unease only grew.

Because she possessed the Holy Angel Martial Soul, she had been driven from place to place since childhood. Her parents had died at the hands of Evil Soul Masters while protecting her. It was her teacher, Wang Xian'er, who had taken her in, sheltered her, and taught her to cultivate.

In Ye Guyi's heart, Wang Xian'er was long more than a teacher. She was like a mother to her.

"All right. But when we get there, you stay behind us no matter what. Don't you dare try to be a hero!"

Zhang Peng considered it carefully. Seeing the determination in Ye Guyi's eyes, he could only grit his teeth and warn her.

"Grandpa Peng, I'll listen to you." Ye Guyi nodded again and again.

Zhang Peng's face tense with worry, he then took Ye Guyi with him and shot toward the Pope Palace in a streak of light, his heart filled with dread.

He had no idea whether this sudden powerhouse was friend or foe... but no matter what, he, Zhang Peng, would protect the Pope.

Back when he was still weak and Mu En had branded him an Evil Soul Master, Wang Xian'er had braved the pressure of the whole continent and cleared his name in the name of Spirit Hall.

That was how Zhang Peng had become Elder Peng of Spirit Hall.

The foremost member of the Worship Hall.

A level 96 Super Douluo, with a breakthrough to level 97 all but certain in the future.

That debt of gratitude weighed as heavy as a mountain.

Inside the Pope Palace.

A Temple Knight stumbled in and shouted in a panic, "This is bad, Your Holiness! We're under attack! Someone has broken into Spirit Hall!"

"Evil Soul Masters again?"

Wang Xian'er had been sitting on her throne, reviewing memorials. At the words, she flew into a rage. The quill in her hand snapped, and she ground her teeth. "These people have become utterly lawless. Do they really think no one can stop them? Now they even dare to invade Spirit City!"

"No, it's not..."

The knight panted, his face pale as paper. "She... she calls herself Bibi Dong."

"Boom!"

Wang Xian'er's mind roared as though something had exploded inside it.

She shot to her feet, not even caring about her decorum. In a flash, she was right in front of the knight, gripping his hand tightly. Her voice trembled. "Are you sure she really called herself Bibi Dong? Did you see clearly?"

"Absolutely, Your Holiness! I couldn't have mistaken her!"

The Temple Knight had no idea why the Pope had lost her composure. He hurriedly nodded again, terrified. "And... and she has nine Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings. Nine, Your Holiness!"

"Her aura was enough to crush the sky!"

Wang Xian'er's pupils contracted. First came shock, then joy surged through her.

She was almost certain.

The Holy Pope... had truly returned!

Ten thousand years had passed. Only a handful of Spirit Hall's upper ranks still studied the records of the Holy Pope. Most people had long forgotten them.

So it was only natural that these Temple Knights did not recognize her, but Wang Xian'er would never forget!

She hadn't even had time to change her shoes or care about her appearance. Lifting her skirt, she hurried outside in a panic. There was not a trace of the Pope's usual dignity in her disheveled appearance—only a child rushing to meet her family.

When Wang Xian'er rushed out of the hall,

and saw the purple-haired, peerlessly elegant figure in the square,

her tears burst forth in an instant.

That was the person in the portrait.

The ancestor she had revered and admired since childhood, the one she had even taken as her faith.

"A-ancestor... it really is you!"

Wang Xian'er staggered forward a few steps, her knees buckling as she fell heavily to the ground.

With that single kneel, it was as though she had finally cast off the thousand-pound burden she had carried for over a century.

She had been forced into this position, shouldering Spirit Hall's battered ship as it tossed in the storm for far too long.

The Sun Moon Empire's threats, the great sects' suppression, Shrek's exclusion... She had endured torment every single day, terrified that Spirit Hall's ship might sink for good.

After all, she was only a healing Soul Master.

At that moment, upon seeing Bibi Dong, all of Wang Xian'er's strength crumbled.

"Ancestor, I have failed you..."

Kneeling before Bibi Dong, Wang Xian'er wept like a child. "I couldn't make Spirit Hall stronger. In recent years, our territory has shrunk again and again, our taxes have been intercepted, our lands plundered. Even the sects that once submitted to us dare to shit on our heads now..."

"Waaah... I've let you down. I've let down everything you built..."

She wept as though her heart were breaking, slamming her forehead against the cold ground with a muffled thud.

Seeing this, Bibi Dong had been about to scold her.

After all, what kind of conduct was it for the Pope to kneel in front of everyone without a second thought?

But looking at the woman kneeling before her, at the gray at her temples that had come from protecting Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong's heart softened.

She stepped forward, bent down, and drew Wang Xian'er's trembling body into her arms.

"You silly girl, you've done well."

Bibi Dong gently patted her back, as if soothing a little girl who had been wronged. "To hold on to this little patch of ground under these circumstances, you've already done everything you could. It isn't your fault."

At those words, Wang Xian'er cried even harder. She felt she had let her ancestor down all the more. Guilt and self-reproach surged through her, as though she were pouring out every grievance she had ever borne.

Just then, Zhang Peng arrived with Ye Guyi.

At the sight of that peerless figure surrounded by nine Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, he froze too.

He had seen Bibi Dong's portrait countless times and heard her story countless more, but he had never quite believed that gods truly existed.

Now, he believed.

So gods really did exist in this world!

Otherwise, how could someone from ten thousand years ago appear here now?

"Welcome, Holy Pope!"

Zhang Peng knelt without hesitation.

Then all the Titled Douluo elders, bishops, and cardinals who had rushed over after hearing the news knelt as well. Every single person who saw Bibi Dong fell to their knees.

The entire square was a sea of dark figures, silent except for Wang Xian'er's muffled sobs.

Standing behind Zhang Peng, Ye Guyi gazed curiously at the Bibi Dong surrounded by everyone, and a storm rose in her heart.

Was this the Holy Pope her teacher had worshipped day and night?

Was this the woman from legend who had nearly founded a unified empire?

She knelt, trembling, tears blurring her vision.

So she hadn't mistaken her.

So her teacher hadn't been fighting alone.

So their god had truly returned!