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It was as if she were a corpse.

Naruto's mouth hung open the moment he finished speaking; seeing Bibi Dong in this state was the first thought that had flashed through his mind.

In this gloomy, damp sewer, amidst the crumbling ruins, Bibi Dong leaned sideways against a purple-black sofa, her head drooping, her expression vacant, and her eyes devoid of light.

The stagnant water on the ground was nearly knee-deep, but Bibi Dong didn't care in the slightest, letting the ripples stir her skirt without a flicker of reaction.

Her entire being seemed to have merged with the ruins.

This state had likely persisted for half a day; at the very least, when Naruto had been siphoning spirit power from the Dong Trumpet during his spirit duel with Tang San, Bibi Dong had already been unresponsive, allowing him to draw her power like a puppet.

Naruto tentatively spoke up, reaching out to wave a hand in front of Bibi Dong's face.

"Hey?"

"Hallo?"

"Konnichiwa?"

"..."

Time passed, and seeing that Naruto was about to push his luck and start poking her, Bibi Dong's drifting soul finally deigned to return to her body. She first moved her fingers stiffly, then raised a hand to rub her brow.

"Stop your incessant chattering, This Seat heard you..."

Bibi Dong's voice held an unmistakable weariness.

Though a hint of vitality returned to her face, her raised eyes remained dull and lusterless.

"That's good, I was worried you'd died."

Naruto realized his mistake and retracted his mischievous hand, uttering words that weren't funny at all. Bibi Dong didn't fly into a rage; she didn't even react, simply nodding calmly before leaning back against the sofa.

Seeing her on the verge of returning to her living-dead state, Naruto paused and went straight to the point.

"You saw it all, didn't you?"

"The techniques Tang San used: Crane-Controlling Dragon-Capturing, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Mysterious Jade Hand, Purple Demon Eye, and the hidden weapons on his wrists."

From the very beginning, Naruto had only agreed to the spirit duel to force Tang San to reveal his hand.

Although the initial goal had been achieved, his own trump cards had been laid bare as well. If he hadn't beaten Tang San into a pulp and vented his own frustrations, the whole ordeal would have left Naruto at a loss.

Regardless, he had taken a beating, and it was time to review the "harvest" from his efforts.

"Yes, I saw it all. I saw it very clearly." Beside him, Bibi Dong bowed her head, her body curled up, her expression lost in the shadows as she let out a mocking, light laugh. "You even know the names of Tang San's self-created spirit skills by heart. And then?"

"And then?"

Naruto frowned, turning his head to look at Bibi Dong with a subtle expression.

"Yu Xiaogang is a piece of trash. That is the reality. I've already proven it to you. Or does our Pope intend to act like a shrew, insisting on being right even when she's wrong?"

"Yes... yes... Xiaogang is trash..."

Bibi Dong shook her head incessantly, her calm tone laced with heavy sighs.

As if clearing her thoughts or perhaps convincing herself, Bibi Dong's speech quickened, returning to her usual demeanor. "But... what does that have to do with the feelings between him and me?"

"Huh?"

Naruto froze.

"What do you mean?"

Bibi Dong slowly raised her head, her sharp eyes peering through her messy hair. A faint glimmer finally appeared in the depths of her gaze as she met Naruto's eyes.

"Little brat, you don't understand love at all. The feelings between Xiaogang and me have nothing to do with whether he is trash or not!"

"I don't understand?"

Naruto's eyes widened, his voice rising.

The anger he had been suppressing could no longer be contained!

"At the very least, I know that the foundation of love is mutual appreciation, mutual devotion, and facing the future together! That is the kind of love worth singing about!"

"What is yours? A wealthy young lady chasing after a delinquent!?"

"What does he have that's worth appreciating!? What has he sacrificed for you!? Does he have the responsibility to face the future with you!? What does he have!? Luo Sanpao?"

Naruto's fury burned, his scolding echoing through the air!

Bibi Dong did not retort. She lowered her face, biting her silver teeth, suppressing the imperceptible trembling of her body. Her hand gripped the armrest unconsciously, crushing the wood into splinters with a creak.

And not far from the two of them, Crack!

A pitch-black fissure crawled up the gray-white wall at the edge of the space, followed by a second, a third, and more.

"He is a piece of trash through and through! Not just as a Spirit Master, but as a human being!"

"Didn't you want to talk about feelings?"

Naruto's mouth twisted into a cold sneer, his expression shifting from anger to mockery. "Fine! Your Xiaogang is truly lucky to have encountered this so-called 'true love' twice. But look at what he's done!"

"Running away! Twice! And you two still can't let go of each other?"

"Are you blind?"

"A piece of trash like this is even worse than that Chamber Douluo, Qian Xunji!?"

As the words fell, the Sealing Space plunged into a brief, deathly silence.

Naruto, having suddenly realized what he said, paused his cursing.

Bibi Dong raised her eyes abruptly. In the dim light, her eyes, flickering with a blood-red glow, were exceptionally striking as they stared fixedly at Naruto.

"You know?"

Naruto kept his mouth shut.

"You know!"

Bibi Dong repeated, her tone now laced with certainty. What followed was not a torrential storm of soul power, nor an attempt to fight Naruto to the death, but laughter.

"Hahaha!"

Bibi Dong bent over, her laughter shrill and desolate.

Seeing this, Naruto was stunned, completely at a loss for what to do as he tried to figure out a solution.

Bang!

A thunderous sound of something breaking through the air erupted behind him. Just as Naruto turned his head, a spray of water surged toward him, slamming directly into his body!

Soaked to the bone and stumbling, Naruto wiped the water from his face and looked behind him in bewilderment. Standing in the center of the rippling water was a gray-white stone that had just fallen.

What was this thing?

Crack!

Intermingled with Bibi Dong's unbridled, manic laughter, an discordant sound rang out. Naruto's eyes widened, and he spun around to see a dense mass of shadows overhead, like a passing storm cloud.

Bang!

Bang!!

Accompanied by Bibi Dong's laughter, the entire Sealing Space seemed to be hit by a torrential downpour. The ceiling above seemed unable to hold on any longer, and dense, gray-white fragments fell like hail—these chunks, several people tall, smashed heavily into the ground!

Naruto's pupils constricted. Golden runic chains erupted from the void above, weaving together with a clatter into an airtight net.

The fragments slammed into the chains, sparking bright, fleeting flashes and emitting a dangerous sizzling sound.

The runic chains blocked a few stones, but they could only protect this small patch of space!

More fragments crashed to the ground like bombs! Another familiar, thunderous roar followed, and an invisible shockwave whipped Naruto's sleeves, making them flap wildly. In its wake came crumbling debris and splashing water!

And this was only the beginning!

The stones fell as if they were worthless, and the ear-splitting roar was continuous!

Naruto retreated rapidly, using the golden chains shooting from the void to dodge and weave through the pile of falling debris, doing his best to keep his balance. The entire Sealing Space was now shaking violently, with falling stones and collapsing walls everywhere!

Even the ocean in the middle of a typhoon could not compare to this!

What on earth was happening here?

Naruto panted heavily, standing on a high point and looking around anxiously. The entire Sealing Space looked like a scene from the apocalypse!

Bibi Dong hadn't released any soul power, and the Eight Trigrams Seal was perfectly fine, so why did the entire Sealing Space seem to be collapsing?

As his gaze swept across the area, Naruto caught a glimpse of Bibi Dong in the center of the space, still laughing maniacally. Beneath her blood-red eyes, her laughter, now tinged with a sob, remained clear.

The falling stones around them seemed to consciously avoid the center where Bibi Dong stood, landing only in the surrounding area.

As if struck by a bolt of lightning, Naruto was momentarily dazed, recalling a certain claim from the unofficial history of the ninja world.

The Sealing Space is a reflection of the heart.

And this crumbling, dark sewer was not Naruto's... it was Bibi Dong's...