Plans Delayed

Bibi Dong looked at the utterly unpretentious boy before her, and the last of her hesitation melted away.

Besides, he was quite pleasing to the eye!

At that thought, a rare smile appeared on Bibi Dong's face. "From now on, I'll call you Xiao Yu. You are my second disciple. You also have a senior sister, though she is still studying at Spirit Hall Academy. When there is time, I will introduce you to her!"

As she spoke, Bibi Dong looked at Chrysanthemum Douluo beside her. "Yue Guan, take this child and find him a place to stay on the mountain. Tomorrow, I will take him to hunt a soul ring!"

"Yes, Your Holiness!"

Yue Guan respectfully bowed to Bibi Dong, then took Ling Yu's small hand and led him toward the rear of Pope's Palace.

Bibi Dong watched Ling Yu's small, thin figure with an unfathomable gaze. She turned and entered Pope's Palace, taking her seat upon the golden throne reserved exclusively for the Pope.

Her face was somewhat pale, as though she were forcibly enduring some pain. Beads of cold sweat formed on her fair cheeks, her soft lips pressed tightly together, and her expression was slightly twisted.

"Why did the Rakshasa God's Second Trial descend so suddenly? And..."

Rakshasa God's Second Trial: Take Ling Yu as a personal disciple and devote all effort to nurturing him.

Completion reward: Rakshasa divine power affinity increased by 15%; the age of all soul rings increased by 500 years.

As she looked at the bizarre contents of the second trial in her mind, she understood why she had suddenly returned to normal just as she was about to suffer another mental breakdown.

A divine trial had somehow become connected to a six-year-old boy. That meant his identity was anything but ordinary, or there had to be some special secret hidden within him.

And that secret was enough to draw a god's attention!

Yet she had read his background report. He was merely a boy from a remote mountain village who had never left it since childhood. There had not been a single soul master in the village, and he had been raised by the chief of Morning Glow Village for six years. Though his talent was extraordinary—his martial soul had awakened as a Body Martial Soul, and he possessed innately full Soul Power—that alone should not have been enough to attract a god's attention.

But this very boy had drawn a god's attention, to the point that even such a vital divine trial was tied to him. Such a simple trial was practically a free pass.

Compared to the mind-tormenting first trial, this one had arrived so inexplicably and was so easy that even a powerful soul master as calculating as Bibi Dong felt her scalp tingle at the Rakshasa God's sudden move.

Unable to make sense of it, Bibi Dong could only secretly resolve to observe this new disciple of hers carefully in the future.

Far beyond Douluo Continent, there lay a vast and boundless expanse of space. The entire realm was enveloped in dense, mist-like divine power, like an immortal paradise.

The Douluo God Realm!

Within a pitch-black palace, a voluptuous woman sat on a black bench, obvious excitement written across her face.

"I never expected to sense an aura of this level. Could it be that Douluo Continent is about to undergo another transformation?"

The woman could not help but exclaim, "My heir actually possesses such immense fortune. Her fortune had clearly been exceedingly thin before, yet because of this child's sudden appearance, it has expanded by hundreds, even thousands of times! And—"

A mirror suddenly appeared before her. The image reflected within showed the scene outside Pope's Palace. As she looked at Ling Yu's face, a burning gleam appeared in her eyes.

"This level of power completely surpasses the Douluo God Realm! Why has it appeared here? Merely sensing a trace of its aura has made even my Rakshasa Godhead feel fear and tremble!"

The woman continued to murmur, "What could it be? Never mind. First, I'll tie this brat to my heir. There can be no harm in building a good relationship with someone carrying such a great secret! Perhaps my heir's inner demon may even be dispelled because of this!"

At that thought, the seductive woman immediately let out several sharp laughs that echoed through the black divine palace, lingering for a long time.

Ling Yu followed Yue Guan to the rear of Pope's Palace, where many tall and magnificent buildings stood.

Seeing Ling Yu's astonished gaze, Yue Guan smiled. "I'll arrange for you to rest here first. Tomorrow, His Holiness will take you to the Soul Beast forest raised by Spirit Hall to hunt a soul ring. It is nothing like those Soul Hunting Forests outside. The Soul Beast forest exclusive to Spirit Hall is filled with rare and precious Soul Beasts from across the continent. Only those who have rendered great service to Spirit Hall are permitted to enter and hunt soul rings there. Kid, you've struck it lucky this time!"

Hearing Yue Guan's teasing, Ling Yu smiled slightly, but his expression quickly turned serious. "Grandpa Yue Guan, can I wait a while before hunting a soul ring?"

"Oh? Why?"

Yue Guan immediately stopped at Ling Yu's words. He turned and looked at him in confusion. When soul masters of this age reached level ten and could obtain a soul ring, which one of them did not happily report to their elders, impatient to acquire one? Why was this boy the exact opposite?

"Can you tell me the specific reason?"

Ling Yu considered it for a moment before deciding to speak. "I can feel that ever since my martial soul awakened, my body's strength has been rapidly increasing every day. I have a feeling that in just one year—no, half a year—my body will reach the peak for this age. If I obtain a soul ring then, I believe I will be able to get a better one! So..."

Yue Guan's face showed astonishment at Ling Yu's words, which was immediately replaced by wild joy. He placed a hand on Ling Yu's thin shoulder and sent his Soul Power into Ling Yu's body.

As he continued sensing Ling Yu's body, the expression on his face gradually became somewhat crazed.

"Ha ha ha! I never expected your body to possess such talent! I could already sense before that your body was incredibly strong, even comparable to that of an ordinary two-ring Soul Grandmaster! But it can still grow stronger!

"And your body is like a small vortex, constantly absorbing the Soul Power around it. No wonder your physical constitution is so exceptional. This is too important—I need to take you to report to His Holiness immediately."

Yue Guan felt happier than he ever had before. On one hand, he had a very good impression of Ling Yu and even felt the urge to raise him as his own grandson. Upon sensing the uniqueness of Ling Yu's body, he immediately thought of the soul rings he could obtain.

Before ten-thousand-year soul rings, the absorption of soul rings was determined almost entirely by a soul master's physical strength.

In other words, if Ling Yu wished, he could now absorb a soul ring at least a thousand years old. This was his first soul ring. According to the theories of a certain fraud, the absorption limit for a first soul ring was 432 years, the limit for a second soul ring was 764 years, and the limit for a third soul ring was 1,760 years.

That meant that once Ling Yu obtained a soul ring, his first soul ring could rival someone else's third soul ring. With such talent, combined with the talent he had already displayed, Yue Guan at least knew that even Bibi Dong, hailed as the greatest Pope in Spirit Hall's history, had not broken this rule. (Bibi Dong's thousand-year second soul ring was boosted by a divine trial! Consider it the author's secondary setting!)

And now, this six-year-old boy would break that rule and would very likely create an unprecedented miracle in Spirit Hall's history!

Thanks to Su Daqiang for the 4 recommendation votes, thanks to Worried Pineapple for the 2 recommendation votes, and thanks to Heavenly Heart Charity for the 5 recommendation votes.

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