The Pope Palace

At the same time, on the other side of Spirit Hall, inside the Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong looked down at the guard below and asked, "Are you certain you saw with your own eyes that the boy named Tai Yi had innate soul power of level twenty?"

"It is absolutely true, Your Majesty the Pope. As a guard of the Elder Palace, I personally witnessed Tai Yi begin absorbing his second soul ring immediately after absorbing his first. Furthermore, both his first and second soul rings were thousand-year rings. I dared not delay once I discovered this, so I came to report to Your Majesty immediately."

The guard replied in this manner.

"Very well, I understand. Return now, and do not let anyone suspect you."

Upon hearing Bibi Dong's words, the guard dared not linger and returned to continue his duties as an overlooked guard.

Once the guard had exited the Pope Palace, Bibi Dong asked, "Elder Yue, Elder Gui, and Nana, what do you think of this Tai Yi?"

Hearing this, Yue Guan, Gui Mei, and Hu Liena finally snapped out of their shock. Yue Guan and Gui Mei had followed the previous Pope, Qian Xunji, for some time, so they understood what innate soul power of level twenty represented. Naturally, both remembered the excitement Qian Daoliu and Qian Xunji had shown when Qian Renxue was tested, and how Qian Daoliu had shouted praises to the Angel God.

Now that another person with innate soul power of level twenty had appeared in the Elder Palace, both men were wondering whether their allegiance to Bibi Dong was a blessing or a curse.

After all, they were not fools; they had seen that since Bibi Dong ascended to the throne, Spirit Hall was no longer united. It had split into two factions: the Elder Palace, led by Qian Daoliu, and the Pope Palace, led by Bibi Dong.

Because the old Pope, Qian Daoliu, had chosen not to reclaim control of Spirit Hall after Qian Xunji's death, but instead retreated to the Elder Palace to mentor Qian Renxue, and because they had both witnessed Bibi Dong's twin martial souls and her breakthrough to Titled Douluo at such a young age, they had made their choice.

Moreover, having followed Qian Xunji to confront Tang Hao, they knew full well that Qian Xunji had not been killed by Tang Hao, but had died at the hands of Bibi Dong. Both men recognized her ruthlessness.

Furthermore, seeing a genius like Qian Renxue—with her innate level twenty soul power—abandon her cultivation in the Elder Palace to go undercover just to gain Bibi Dong's approval, they had wisely chosen to defect to Bibi Dong's faction. They chose to follow the only person in years to solve the cultivation dilemma of twin martial souls, which was why they had rejected the opportunity to become Elders in the Elder Palace and remained in the Pope Palace.

Otherwise, as two level ninety-five powerhouses with a martial soul fusion skill, why would they not have gone to the Elder Palace?

But now, hearing that another person with innate level twenty soul power had appeared in the Elder Palace—someone who surely wouldn't abandon his cultivation like Qian Renxue—and considering what the guard said about his thousand-year soul rings, they were unsettled. For an ordinary soul master, the thousand-year ring was only accessible at the third ring; Tai Yi was starting far ahead of everyone else.

With old-generation powerhouses like Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile at the top, and talents like Qian Renxue and now Tai Yi below, the two men naturally began to harbor other thoughts.

However, they could not express these thoughts directly in front of Bibi Dong, so they replied to her question:

"Your Majesty, if what this guard says is true, then our Spirit Hall has gained another peerless talent, one capable of rivaling the Young Mistress."

The moment the words left their mouths, both men regretted it, having forgotten in their distraction just how much Bibi Dong loathed Qian Renxue.

Sure enough, the next second, Bibi Dong's voice rang out through the Pope Palace:

"Shut up. Do not mention that disgrace."

To Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue's existence was a disgrace, an indelible stain on her life; otherwise, she could have gone to find her Xiao Gang long ago.

Seeing Bibi Dong's anger, Hu Liena quickly stepped forward and said, "Teacher, please do not be angry."

Hearing Hu Liena, Bibi Dong looked at her with comfort. Over the years, she had raised Hu Liena as her own daughter, and Hu Liena had not disappointed her; at nine years old, she was already a level twenty Great Soul Master, needing only to absorb her second soul ring.

Bibi Dong then looked at Hu Liena, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei, and said, "Enough, say no more. I have my own plans for Tai Yi. Nana, go call your brother and Yan, and have Elder Yue and Elder Gui take you all to hunt for your soul rings."

The three of them replied, "Understood."

Then, the three left the Pope Palace.

As Bibi Dong was left alone in the hall, she asked a voice within her mind:

"What did you mean just now when you said that Tai Yi is not simple?"

It turned out that while she was venting her anger at Yue Guan and Gui Mei for mentioning Qian Renxue, the voice of the Rakshasa God—the deity whose throne she was inheriting—had appeared in her mind, telling her that Tai Yi was not simple.

That was why Bibi Dong had dismissed the three of them so quickly, so she could question the Rakshasa God.

Regarding her question, the Rakshasa God replied:

"You must understand that due to the rules of the Douluo Continent, innate soul power is capped at level ten, just like yours—what is known as innate full soul power."

"But this is not absolute. There is a group of people who can break this rule: children chosen by the gods the moment they awaken their martial souls. They receive god-bestowed soul power. Your daughter, Qian Renxue, and now this Tai Yi, should be cases of this."

Having said this, the Rakshasa God seemed to have discovered something interesting and added:

"The Douluo Continent hasn't seen a person ascend to godhood in tens of thousands of years, yet this time, three have appeared within your Spirit Hall alone."

Bibi Dong was stunned. She had never imagined that the reason for innate level twenty soul power was being chosen by a god at the moment of awakening. She recalled the time Qian Renxue tested at level twenty, and how she had seen the excitement in Qian Daoliu's eyes—he clearly knew something, yet refused to speak when she asked.

At the same time, Bibi Dong understood why Qian Daoliu had not emerged to reclaim Spirit Hall after Qian Xunji's death, but instead chose her—the woman who killed his own son—to be Pope. After all, she knew that while others in Spirit City might not know how Qian Xunji died, that old man certainly did. It was all to focus on grooming Qian Renxue to become a god.