Bibi Dong's Fury

"The God Trial has me stay by your sides for six years." Luo Yun's voice was calm.

"For these six years, we won't be separated again."

Luo Shang's brow furrowed slightly.

Six years?

What kind of God Trial was this?

But he didn't ask. He saw light in Luo Yun's eyes—not the purplish-black light of destruction, nor the emerald-green light of life, but something warmer and gentler.

He suddenly understood something. His son had been through so much in Slaughter City and the Far North, but his true nature hadn't changed.

He was still the child who cried from the pain of medicinal baths, complained that the rations tasted awful, and acted spoiled in his mother's arms.

"Although I'm only a Soul Ancestor right now..." Luo Yun raised his right hand. Purplish-black lightning danced across his fingertips, then vanished.

"But I basically don't need to use Soul Power anymore."

"And very few people can bully us now."

Luo Shang's pupils contracted slightly.

Then he fell silent for a long while before nodding.

He didn't ask Luo Yun how he'd managed it, or what he'd gone through. He simply reached out and ruffled Luo Yun's hair, just as he used to.

"Good. We'll do as you say."

The family helped one another to their feet.

Luo Shang's wounds hadn't healed yet, and he still limped as he walked, but he refused Shen Yinshuang's support. Leaning on the Frost Cold Sword, he made his way out of the ice cavern one step at a time.

Shen Yinshuang held Luo Yun's hand as she walked beside Luo Shang, glancing at her son from time to time, her eyes full of relief at having survived the ordeal.

The blizzard in the Far North had already stopped.

Luo Yun glanced back at the ice cavern. Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo's bodies still lay inside, while the corpses of more than twenty Spirit Hall elites were strewn across the ice.

Ice Empress and Snow Empress had withdrawn their auras from his body. The Contract Space was quiet and still.

He turned and looked south.

Spirit Hall. Bibi Dong.

Holding his mother's hand, Luo Yun let a flash of crimson light flicker in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

Six years.

The God Trial had given him six years.

For those six years, he could stay by his parents' sides, be an ordinary child again, avoid killing and fighting, and keep his hands clean of blood.

But after six years, he would make Spirit Hall pay.

The family of three disappeared into the snows of the Far North.

Spirit City, Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong sat upon the throne in the Pope Palace. The golden crown on her head reflected a cold, sharp gleam. She held her scepter in her right hand, and nine Soul Rings slowly revolved beneath her feet.

Black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, red—eight black and one red. A suffocating configuration.

There was no emotion in her violet eyes, but everyone in the hall could sense that His Holiness the Pope was in an unusual mood today.

"What did you say?"

Bibi Dong's voice was soft, yet it echoed throughout the entire Pope Palace.

The Cardinal standing in the middle of the hall trembled all over. Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his lips quivered, but he couldn't utter a word.

He held an urgent report in his hands. Its handwriting was hurried and disorderly, clearly scrawled by someone in a state of extreme terror.

"Elder Chrysanthemum Douluo... Elder Ghost Douluo... Elder Ghost Leopard Douluo... Elder Demon Bear Douluo... and all the Spirit Hall elites sent to pursue King Frost Ling..." The Cardinal's teeth chattered, making faint clicking sounds as he struggled to force out the final words.

"They... have all fallen."

The Pope Palace fell silent as the grave.

The Cardinals standing on either side exchanged glances. Some had gone pale, some had their pupils contracted, some had quivering lips, and some gripped their scepters so tightly their knuckles turned white.

Four Titled Douluo—all fallen.

For Spirit Hall, this was its greatest loss in the past decade.

The last time Spirit Hall had lost a Titled Douluo was during the reign of the previous Pope, Qian Xunji.

Bibi Dong's fingers slowly tightened around her scepter until her knuckles turned white. The gems set into it gave a faint cracking sound.

Killing intent surged in the depths of her violet eyes.

"King! Frost! Extreme!"

Bibi Dong pronounced the three words one by one, her voice as cold as the deepest ice in the Far North.

The temperature in the entire Pope Palace plunged by more than ten degrees. The Cardinals in the hall couldn't help shivering. Some instinctively stepped back, some bit their lips hard, and some lowered their heads, not daring to meet the Pope's violet eyes.

The news sprouted wings and flew from Spirit City to every corner of the continent.

Heaven Dou City.

In teahouses and taverns, storytellers slapped their clappers and spoke with spittle flying.

"Now, King Frost Extreme was a level ninety-five Super Douluo, wielding a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, who had guarded the Northern Territory for many years.

"Spirit Hall sent four Titled Douluo to hunt him down. Guess what happened?"

"What?"

"They all died! Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, Ghost Leopard Douluo, and Demon Bear Douluo—four Titled Douluo, all fallen!" The storyteller held up four fingers and waggled them in front of the crowd.

"Not one of them made it back!"

The teahouse erupted.

Some slapped the tables and cheered, some whispered among themselves, some looked grave, and some took malicious delight in the news.

"Spirit Hall's taken a heavy fall this time!"

"Four Titled Douluo! How many Titled Douluo does Spirit Hall even have?"

"Is King Frost Extreme really that fierce? He killed four Titled Douluo by himself?"

"Who knows? What matters is, they're dead. Spirit Hall has already issued the obituary."

Star Luo Empire.

In the imperial palace, the emperor studied the urgent report in his hands for a long while before passing it to the minister beside him.

"King Frost Extreme of the Heaven Dou Empire." The emperor's voice was soft, and it was impossible to tell whether he spoke with admiration or wariness.

"Alone, he killed four of Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo. As long as he lives, Spirit Hall will never know peace."

The minister took the report and read it, his brows furrowing tightly.

"As expected of King Frost Extreme, guardian of the Northern Territory."

"Fortunately, our army never launched a major offensive into the Northern Territory..."

Some unnamed small city in the northern reaches of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Luo Shang stood by the window of an inn, watching the people coming and going outside, lost in thought for a long while.

"Dad," Luo Yun's voice came from behind him.

"Hmm."

"Spirit Hall has lost four Titled Douluo. Bibi Dong definitely won't let this go."

Luo Shang turned around and looked at his son.

"I know." Luo Shang walked over and sat beside Luo Yun. He took the cup of water and drank.

"So we need to be more careful."

"Not careful." Luo Yun raised his head. There was no fear or worry in his crimson eyes, only something weighty and reassuring. "We wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait for her to come."

Luo Shang was stunned, then smiled.

His smile held helplessness and relief, along with a trace of pride he hadn't even noticed himself.

His son was no longer the child who needed his protection.