Bibi Dong rose to her feet and looked down at Deng Tianxin. Her voice was still as gentle as a spring breeze, but her words were anything but: "If you go to school without putting up a fuss, I might consider assigning you a little less cultivation practice. If you refuse..."
She paused, her gaze meaningfully sweeping over Deng Tianxin's backside.
Deng Tianxin instinctively tensed, a flash of humiliated anger crossing his little face.
Not that trick again!
The dignified Saintess of Spirit Hall was always threatening to spank a six-year-old child. Did she have no shame?
"Go ahead and hit me if you've got the guts," Deng Tianxin said stubbornly, craning his neck. "When I grow up, I'll get it all back—with interest!"
"Then we'll see when you're grown," Bibi Dong replied, completely unmoved. "For now, you're my disciple, so you have to listen to me. A month from now, you'll go to school without a fuss. Understood?"
She didn't take Deng Tianxin's words seriously. By the time he grew up, she would already be a Titled Douluo.
No matter how talented Deng Tianxin was, there was no way he could surpass her.
Deng Tianxin stared at Bibi Dong for several seconds, then suddenly slumped back into the reclining chair as if all the fight had gone out of him. He rolled his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. "Fine, fine. I'll go, all right?"
Seeing his utterly dejected little expression, Bibi Dong couldn't help smiling. She reached out and ruffled his hair. "That's more like it. Don't worry, all the teachers at the school are very nice. You'll like them."
"Like them? As if," Deng Tianxin grumbled. Then something seemed to occur to him. He shot upright, a sly smile appearing on his little face. "But since you put it that way, I have a condition too."
"What condition?" Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow.
"I'll go to school, but you're not allowed to come watch me," Deng Tianxin said solemnly. "And you're absolutely not allowed to call me a little brat, smack me on the head, pinch my cheeks, or grab me by the back of my collar in front of the teachers and other students. In short, no one at school can know you know me."
Bibi Dong paused, then realized that the little brat was afraid she'd embarrass him in front of his classmates.
After all, he was as bold and unruly as could be with her, but in front of other people, he acted like a well-mannered little gentleman.
If she called him a little brat in front of everyone, the image he'd worked so hard to cultivate would be ruined.
"Fine. I agree," Bibi Dong said readily.
Deng Tianxin breathed a sigh of relief and settled back into the chair, resuming his lordly air.
But inwardly, he sneered.
School? Sure, he could go.
Was a school on the Douluo Continent supposed to be harder than one on Earth?
After all, back on Earth, there was the college entrance exam. Here on the Douluo Continent, all he had to do was raise his level.
Watching his utterly relaxed expression, Bibi Dong's smile deepened.
The little brat thought school was somewhere to kick back and enjoy himself? How naive.
The first rule at the Spirit Hall Soul Master Academy was that all students were equal, regardless of their background or talent, and had to strictly obey the school rules.
Didn't listen?
Then he'd get detention, be made to copy lines, or have his parents called in.
She was eager to see whether the little brat could keep that lordly look on his face when a teacher made him stand in punishment.
And if Deng Tianxin's parents were called in, she'd go back and give him a good spanking.
"Oh, right," Bibi Dong said, suddenly stopping and turning around as if she'd just remembered something. "There's one more thing I forgot to tell you."
The hand holding Deng Tianxin's teacup stilled. He raised an eyebrow warily. "What is it?"
Bibi Dong gave him a meaningful smile. "The rules at the Spirit Hall Soul Master Academy include a special measure for students who won't behave: calling their parents. If a student keeps refusing to learn their lesson, the teacher will notify their parents and have them come to school. And your parent is me."
She paused, pleased to see the color drain from Deng Tianxin's little face. Then she leisurely delivered the final blow. "So if you get into trouble at school and they call your parent, you can imagine for yourself what I'll do when I get there."
The hand holding Deng Tianxin's teacup trembled slightly.
He could certainly imagine it. That spiteful woman would pin him across her lap and spank him in front of the entire school.
"This is an abuse of power!" Deng Tianxin set down his teacup and protested indignantly.
"I'm the Saintess, and I helped make the school rules," Bibi Dong said without batting an eye. "At most, I'm making reasonable use of my authority."
Deng Tianxin: "..."
He found himself unable to argue.
"So," Bibi Dong said, lightly patting Deng Tianxin on the head twice, her voice as gentle as if she were soothing a child, "go to school, pay attention in class, and don't cause trouble. Understand?"
Deng Tianxin squeezed out three words through clenched teeth. "...I understand."
"Good." Bibi Dong nodded with satisfaction, straightened up, and headed toward the palace doors.
When she reached the entrance, Bibi Dong suddenly stopped and looked back at Deng Tianxin, the faintest smile on her lips.
"Oh, right. Where I come from, 'old geezer' is an insult. You used it wrong earlier."
With that, she turned and left, her laughter ringing out like silver bells.
Deng Tianxin muttered under his breath, "Old hag. I curse you to be single for the rest of your life."
"Old hag, tigress, destined to be a spinster, single for life..."
Bibi Dong stood outside and listened to a few lines. The corners of her mouth only curled higher.
The little brat had quite a vocabulary when it came to insults. Too bad he only had a few lines, repeated over and over.
Either he cursed her to be single or said no one would marry her. So childish it was almost funny.
Who was she, Bibi Dong?
The Saintess of Spirit Hall, a genius with Twin Martial Souls, and the future successor to the Papal throne.
Men who wanted to marry her could line up from Spirit City to Sea God Island and back again. If she actually wanted to marry, she could take her pick of the young talents across the entire continent.
But her goal right now was to become stronger. Men like that would only slow down her cultivation.
That was something the little brat had helped her realize.
Thinking of this, Bibi Dong's remaining irritation toward Deng Tianxin faded a little more.
Forget it. She'd let him curse her behind her back to blow off some steam. School was already a done deal, and no matter how much he complained, he couldn't change that.
In a good mood, Bibi Dong set off toward the cultivation chamber.
But after walking a few steps, the sight of Deng Tianxin's puffed-up little face came back to her.
The little brat was foul-mouthed, lazy, and utterly unruly, but at the end of the day, he was only six years old. And he really was adorable.
With those chubby cheeks, big round eyes, and the pair of small dragon horns on his head, he'd probably grow into quite a handsome young man in another ten years or so.
It was just his personality that was truly hard to defend. What girl could put up with that mouth of his?
Before you continue