(ps: To clarify, the current timeline is after the news about Bibi Dong has spread. The earlier discussions among the major forces took place before it spread. Now, Bibi Dong has caught the attention of all the major forces.)
"Everyone, have you heard the news?"
"I have. Is it about Bibi Dong?"
Some ordinary Soul Masters began chatting. Douluo Continent was still in a feudal era. Although Soul Tools existed, the overall society during the timeline of the first Douluo Continent story was still feudal, and news did not spread particularly fast.
So even though Spirit Hall had stripped Bibi Dong of her position as Saintess and made some of her actions public, there were still places that had not received the news about her. Those people had only just heard it.
"I heard that the Pope back then had still hoped to make Bibi Dong his wife. After all, she was a genius Soul Master with Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power. If he kept her as his wife, she could surely bear super-genius children. Then Spirit Hall's future—its next generation—would be guaranteed.
"Spirit Hall often brought many ordinary geniuses under its wing, so the next generation mostly came from ordinary people with talent. Bibi Dong was the same."
"But honestly, Bibi Dong was so shameless. She actually fell for a good-for-nothing from an enemy force. Who in all of Douluo Continent didn't know that the Upper Three Sects and Spirit Hall were enemies?"
"Her behavior was utterly disgraceful. Getting together with a good-for-nothing from an enemy force? If you ask me, stripping her of her Soul Power and destroying one of her Martial Souls would have been getting off lightly."
"But in the end, Great Enshrined Qian Daoliu only destroyed one of Bibi Dong's Martial Souls. That was far too lenient. She should be grateful he didn't make her compensate Spirit Hall for its losses."
"Come to think of it, if Bibi Dong still has one Martial Soul and her Soul Power hasn't been stripped away, doesn't that mean we could use her to bear a genius for us?"
"Exactly! A top-tier Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power!"
In an instant, once the people of Douluo Continent received the news about Bibi Dong, they all began making plans: they wanted Bibi Dong to bear children for the geniuses in their families.
"Bibi Dong! Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power. Even if one Martial Soul was destroyed, the other still had Innate Full Soul Power—and it was a top-tier Martial Soul, too!"
Xue Ye was practically drooling over Bibi Dong. For all these years, the Imperial Family had been held back by their Swan Spirit and had almost no combat strength. The Imperial Family's Swan Spirit was highly ornamental, but the problem was that it was far too weak in battle.
To put it nicely, the Heaven Dou Empire was ruled by the Xue Family because the nobles had chosen them. To put it bluntly, the nobles had picked a puppet to be emperor. In the end, the imperial family was a compromise between the various forces. His family could rule only because it represented the nobles' interests.
That was why the Heaven Dou Empire had always been far inferior to the Star Luo Empire. The Star Luo Imperial Family was genuinely powerful in combat—at least around the Soul Douluo to Soul Sage level, far stronger than the Xue Family.
What's more, the Star Luo Imperial Family could use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with the Zhu Clan's Martial Soul. Their combat strength could at least rival a Titled Douluo's.
That was why the Star Luo Empire had always kept the Heaven Dou Empire under its thumb. Without Spirit Hall, Heaven Dou would have been wiped off the map long ago.
Of course, that wasn't to say the Star Luo Empire was all that good. It was simply a nation with a fierce martial tradition. Its people were naturally more combative, so its military was stronger than Heaven Dou's. But the people's quality of life wasn't any better.
"Imperial Brother, I think the best thing for us to do now is capture Bibi Dong as quickly as possible. Then we can use her body to bear geniuses for us! Our Heaven Dou Empire needs talented people right now!
"We need top-tier combat strength. We need geniuses who can hold up the sky in the future! We know what kind of person Bibi Dong is—a heartless ingrate—but no one can deny that she's a genius."
"We have to move quickly. We can't let the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect get to her first. They must want Bibi Dong, too! If what you said is true, that Qian Renxue was born to Bibi Dong, then Bibi Dong might be able to help us have a child with the potential to become a god!"
Although Xue Ye and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect were allies, he knew their partnership was nothing more than an exchange of interests. The moment the Heaven Dou Imperial Family stopped being useful, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could replace its partner at any time. What would happen then? It didn't bear thinking about. They shouldn't mistake the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for a bunch of good people.
"Yes!"
"Bibi Dong! Damn, so she really did something like that."
"Fengzhi, Bibi Dong killed us before we died at her hands, so we never knew her story. But looking at it now, Bibi Dong's body is so extraordinary—she was able to give birth to Qian Renxue, who has the potential to become a god. Then it's quite possible she could help the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect have children with the potential to become gods, too."
Bone Douluo Gu Rong remembered the scene of Bibi Dong killing him. He still held a grudge, but more than that, he saw the bigger picture: use her to bear geniuses for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, perhaps even children with the qualifications to become gods. Then the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could become the continent's undisputed overlord, even rule the whole continent.
Bibi Dong could become a god herself, and her children could become gods, too. Didn't that mean her body could be used to bear a whole bunch of children who could become gods?
"Fengzhi, even people who aren't Sea Soul Masters can take the Sea God's Divine Trial on Sea God Island. Tang San's Martial Souls are the Clear Sky Hammer and the Blue Silver Emperor, yet he can still become the Sea God.
"If we have Bibi Dong bear children for our sect's outstanding talents, then even if the children aren't Sea Soul Masters, we can still send them to Sea God Island and see whether they can receive the Sea God's Divine Trial."
Bone Douluo's words struck a chord with the other two. Sword Douluo felt that this kind of behavior was somewhat wrong, though, so he said nothing.
"We have to capture Bibi Dong as quickly as possible! Then the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's future—"
Ning Fengzhi could already imagine how many genius Soul Masters the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would have in the future, and how they would rule the continent.
Then, even without Tang San's help, he could stand against Spirit Hall. Tang San would have to obediently kneel before them and lick their feet.
They could take those Hidden Weapons from the Clear Sky Sect whenever they wanted and force Tang San to hand them over.
"Then I'll go take care of it now. Old Sword Man, this isn't the kind of thing you should do. Leave it to me. I'm a dirty-handed fixer, anyway, so it doesn't matter."
"..." Sword Douluo Chen Xin said nothing.
Before you continue