Bibi Dong Was Struck Like Lightning

"Where's your evidence?"

Bibi Dong gritted her teeth and pressed on. "What makes you say his theory is wrong?"

Dong'er's dark red eyes narrowed slightly.

"Evidence?"

A hint of mockery entered her tone. "You want evidence? Fine, I'll give it to you. Do you remember the Whale Rubber Fang Mo mentioned?"

Bibi Dong froze slightly.

"Whale Rubber?"

"That's right. Your disciple personally proposed that Whale Rubber could improve a Soul Master's physique and increase the toughness and width of their meridians."

Dong'er's voice was terrifyingly calm.

"And you personally helped him use Whale Rubber. You witnessed its effects with your own eyes.

"Fang Mo could withstand a Soul Ring over five hundred years old at the age of six. Do you think meditation alone could achieve that?"

At those words, Bibi Dong fell silent.

Dong'er continued:

"And the Immortal Herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well—the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid, Infernal Delicate Apricot, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum...

"These things can greatly improve a Soul Master's physical qualities, thereby raising the limit of the Soul Rings they can absorb.

"Fang Mo personally told you about all of this, and you witnessed it all with your own eyes."

Dong'er's phantom drifted another step closer.

"According to that piece of trash's theory, the maximum age for a first Soul Ring is four hundred and twenty-three years. How old was Fang Mo's first Soul Ring?"

Bibi Dong's lips trembled slightly.

"...Six hundred and fifty years."

"And according to that trash's theory, a six-year-old child cannot absorb a Soul Ring older than three hundred years. Did Fang Mo do it?"

"...He did."

As she said this, Spirit Dong'er's phantom trembled slightly.

She remembered her former self.

Back when she had been cultivating Twin Martial Souls.

With no experience from predecessors and no successful precedent to follow, she had forcibly carved out a path through her own talent and perseverance.

Yet he had used over a decade of her blood and tears to write that manuscript word by word.

Later, Yu Xiaogang's so-called "Twin Martial Souls Cultivation Theory" had simply repackaged the experience she had given him and released it.

In the end, he had even killed her.

Even with all these facts laid before her, Bibi Dong still refused to admit it.

"That was... an isolated case."

Bibi Dong's voice grew very soft. "Fang Mo's circumstances are special. He can't represent everyone."

"An isolated case?"

A trace of anger entered Dong'er's voice.

"You still think this is an isolated case?"

Her phantom suddenly pressed forward, her eyes nearly touching Bibi Dong's face.

"Every Soul Master can benefit from the strengthening effects Whale Rubber has on their meridians. It isn't limited to Fang Mo alone.

"You have already seen the improvements Immortal Herbs bring to Martial Soul quality in the Golden Generation. None of this is an isolated case!

"These are genuine theories that can be replicated, promoted, and used to transform the cultivation system of the entire continent!"

Bibi Dong's breathing became rapid.

She knew Dong'er was right.

She had personally witnessed the effects of Whale Rubber, and she had personally witnessed the effects of the Immortal Herbs.

After Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan of the Golden Generation used Whale Rubber, all of their Soul Power broke through to level twenty within a month.

Such a terrifying rate of improvement was utterly impossible within Yu Xiaogang's theoretical framework.

Yet it had happened.

Dong'er's tone sharpened.

"Why are you still hesitating? Because you don't want to admit that you were deceived back then."

"You don't want to admit that the man you once deeply loved, the man for whom you were willing to give up everything, was actually a..."

"Enough!"

Bibi Dong slammed her palm onto the table.

The teacup on the table jolted into the air and struck down with a crisp clink.

The study instantly fell silent.

Bibi Dong's chest heaved violently, and the emotions churning in her eyes grew even more complicated.

Anger, pain, unwillingness, confusion, and an extremely well-hidden... wavering.

Dong'er simply watched her.

The anger in those dark red eyes slowly faded, replaced by a deep understanding tinged with bitterness.

"I am you from the future, you from the future who has died once. I know exactly what you are thinking right now."

Dong'er's voice became very soft.

"You're thinking that if you admit his theory was wrong, then you'll have to admit that you fell in love with a liar."

Bibi Dong's body stiffened.

"You're thinking that if those years of feelings were built upon a lie, then what does that make you? A fool who was used by someone else?"

Bibi Dong's lips trembled. She said nothing, because she could not refute it at all.

Bibi Dong could not help thinking to herself.

As expected of my future self. She even knows exactly where to stab the knife to make the pain cut deeper.

Dong'er continued, her voice carrying a profound self-mockery that had crossed through time.

"Do you know? I used to think the same way."

Bibi Dong abruptly raised her head.

"Before Jialing Pass, I also refused to admit it. I kept telling myself that his theory was correct, that he was merely a misunderstood genius, that those people simply did not understand him."

"You probably never imagined it, but even before I died, I still believed in him without question."

The corners of Dong'er's lips turned downward, that curve filled with the bitterness of belated realization.

"But only after I died did I finally understand. It wasn't because he was so remarkable. It was because I was too stupid."

Bibi Dong's breathing stopped for an instant.

Dong'er looked at her again, a complicated emotion flashing through her eyes.

Then she slowly spoke.

"Do you know what I regret most in my life?"

Bibi Dong did not answer.

Dong'er's voice was hoarse and weak.

"It wasn't losing at Jialing Pass, nor was it failing to treat Xue'er well. It was that I actually once considered eloping with him."

Bibi Dong's body jolted violently.

Eloping.

That was her most secret memory.

Back when she was still the Martial Soul Hall Saintess, before Qian Xunji had done those things to her.

She had imagined countless times leaving Spirit Hall with Yu Xiaogang, going somewhere no one knew them, and living the life of ordinary people.

She had buried those fantasies in the deepest part of her heart and never told anyone.

Yet the person before her knew everything.

"What did you say..."

Bibi Dong's voice trembled.

Dong'er's tone turned icy. "I said that I, the former Saintess of Spirit Hall and the current Pope Bibi Dong—

"The greatest genius in Spirit Hall's history—actually considered giving up everything and eloping with a worthless man."

After saying that, Dong'er pressed again, "Do you know what happened later?"

Before Bibi Dong could react, Dong'er continued on her own.

"After you firmly rejected that trash, he immediately hooked up with another woman. The two of them were even cousins!"

At those words, Bibi Dong was struck like lightning and collapsed into her chair.

She had never imagined it.

She had believed herself unworthy of him, which was why she had chosen to reject him clearly.

Yet her future self was telling her—

That he had immediately hooked up with another woman, and they were even cousins!