After leaving the Library Pavilion, the sun had already begun to set.
Su Chen felt completely at ease.
Qian Renxue had already appeared.
By the time he returned from Devil Island,
Qian Renxue would be about to be born, too.
"Ling Yuan, you're on duty today?"
Back at Saintess Hall, Su Chen saw Ye Lingyuan dressed as a Holy Temple Knight.
Silver-white armor covered the important parts of her body. The armor around her waist looked soft, revealing a glimpse of her slender, delicate waist.
"Xiao Chen, where have you been?"
Ye Lingyuan glanced at the several Palace Guard Knights behind her and gestured for them to patrol elsewhere. Then she came straight over to Su Chen.
She bent down and sniffed lightly twice. "You smell like a woman?"
Ye Lingyuan suddenly folded her arms across her chest, putting on an angry expression.
"How can you go fooling around outside?"
Su Chen rolled his eyes at her. "Ling Yuan, let me ask you something serious. Are you going to Devil Island for the attack?"
"Something serious!"
Ye Lingyuan crouched down, shifting from folding her arms to propping her chin on her hands. "I haven't received any word, and I'm not suited to fighting at sea, so I definitely won't be going... I heard most of the people being sent this time are flying Soul Masters and water-attribute Soul Masters..."
As the two chatted, they didn't notice that Bibi Dong had already arrived nearby.
She wore a simple, elegant purple robe.
Where did the fragrance she smelled on Su Chen every day come from?
At last, she had found the answer. It came from this woman.
Before Bibi Dong's eyes, a woman with an incredibly curvaceous, radiant figure crouched in front of her disciple, smiling brightly. Every so often, she reached out to pinch his cheek, and even kissed him once.
All warmth had long since vanished from Bibi Dong's exquisite face.
She didn't interrupt them. She simply watched in silence.
Ye Lingyuan seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around.
Her expression grew serious. She immediately put an end to all her playful smiles, slowly stood up, and bowed her head to Bibi Dong. "Your subordinate, Ye Lingyuan, pays her respects to Saintess."
"Teacher, what brings you here?" Su Chen greeted her with a smile, too.
Bibi Dong's gaze swept indifferently over Ye Lingyuan. She ignored her bow and only gave a soft snort.
The next moment, she turned and left without another word.
Su Chen was completely bewildered. "Teacher doesn't look like she's in a very good mood. Could something have happened with the Pope again?"
"I don't think it's anything to do with the Pope..."
Ye Lingyuan frowned. The Saintess didn't seem to like her very much.
"Xiao Chen, you should go after her. I'll get back to my patrol. Remember to come find me before you leave for Devil Island. Big Sister has something delicious to feed you."
"Okay!"
Su Chen said goodbye to Ye Lingyuan and hurried after Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong didn't stop or wait for him.
Her expression was grim.
Why did all this feel like something she had seen somewhere before?
In a dream.
Yes, it had happened in a dream: Ye Lingyuan had been very close to her disciple.
She hadn't expected it to come true.
She knew Ye Lingyuan was born and raised in Spirit Hall.
Her talent wasn't bad, either. She had a chance of becoming a Titled Douluo.
Half a year ago, Ye Lingyuan's Martial Soul had mutated while she was absorbing a Soul Ring.
Spirit Hall had designated her as a key candidate for cultivation.
Judging by how close she and her disciple had seemed just now,
the Martial Soul Mutation hadn't been caused by absorbing a Soul Ring.
It had been caused by the Immortal Herb her disciple gave her.
What a good disciple he was, keeping something like that from her.
"Teacher, why didn't you wait for me?"
Back at Saintess Hall, Su Chen spotted Bibi Dong sitting there resting and slowly approached her.
Bibi Dong was breathtakingly beautiful, yet there was a chill about her that kept people at a distance.
Seeing this, Su Chen strode over and smoothly moved behind Bibi Dong.
His fingers gently settled on her shoulders.
Bibi Dong didn't move at all.
Su Chen busied himself behind her for quite a while.
Only then did she speak in a voice that sounded almost amused:
"Had your fun? You still remembered to come back to Saintess Hall?"
Su Chen's movements paused. "This is home for you and me, Teacher. Where else would I go?"
"Home."
Bibi Dong's eyes went unfocused for an instant, and her voice softened a little.
"Heh. With a lovely woman for company, chatting and enjoying yourself, you'd be carefree and have no thoughts of home."
Su Chen leaned close to Bibi Dong's fair neck and looked at her profile. "Teacher, you're not jealous, are you?"
Bibi Dong snorted. "Would I get jealous over a little brat like you?"
Su Chen smiled and said nothing more.
He knew it wasn't romantic jealousy. It was Bibi Dong's possessiveness acting up.
He understood that feeling. When something you considered yours grew close to someone else, it could make you feel displeased for a moment.
Su Chen gently changed the subject. "Teacher, we'll be heading out to sea in two days. Which two Titled Douluo from Elder Hall will lead the expedition?"
"What, you're interested in that now?" Bibi Dong said, sounding annoyed.
"Teacher, I have a feeling Devil Island won't be simple. Wouldn't having only two Titled Douluo stationed there be too few?"
"I've looked through a lot of records. The sea is extremely dangerous."
"The Soul Beasts there also travel in packs."
"Especially Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. They're hard to find in the Star Dou Great Forest, but the sea seems to have no shortage of them."
"For safety's sake, I think we could bring a few more."
Su Chen thought that if Bo Saixi made a move, it probably wouldn't matter how many they brought.
But at least they wouldn't suffer such a crushing defeat as they had in the original story.
They might even bring quite a few people back alive.
Bibi Dong turned to look at Su Chen and chided him lightly. "That's easy for you to say. Do you think Titled Douluo are cabbages you can find lying around on the street?"
"Across the entire Douluo Continent, there are only three factions that can reliably produce two or more Titled Douluo."
"First is the Clear Sky Sect, then the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and last is my Spirit Hall."
"Sending two Titled Douluo and two thousand elites on this expedition already shows that it's a top-tier force."
"What's more, one of the Titled Elders is at level ninety-five."
Su Chen rubbed his nose. Bibi Dong gave a soft snort and casually rested her long legs on the armrest of her chair.
Su Chen circled around to stand in front of her, took her long legs into his arms, and gently massaged them.
Bibi Dong slowly closed her eyes, letting him trace circles over her legs.
"Teacher, are there any Peerless Douluo out at sea?"
Su Chen squeezed Bibi Dong's little foot.
It looked quite delicate.
Like jade.
Was it just his imagination, or did he kind of want to take a bite?
"Probably not!"
Bibi Dong kicked him, then lazily rolled over.
"There are only two Peerless Douluo: the Grand Pontiff of my Spirit Hall, and Tang Chen of the Clear Sky Sect. As for a third, I've never heard of one."
"Don't change the subject. I haven't asked you yet—what happened to Ye Lingyuan's Martial Soul? Her mutation didn't happen because she was absorbing a Soul Ring, did it?"
"Did you give her an Immortal Herb?"