Shouldn't He Thank Me?

"Praise?"

Bibi Dong suddenly raised an eyebrow, then curled her lips into a scornful smile. "Looks like some people's heads are already empty. They can't even tell when they're being mocked."

Meanwhile, in the outside world, Naruto suddenly lifted his head from where he lay sprawled on the stone floor like a heap of mud, his eyes wide.

"So... I'm going to die?"

Ignoring the anxiety on Naruto's face, Bibi Dong instead slowly furrowed her brow as she leaned against her seat. Her expression turned peculiar, and she didn't answer right away.

Following the slender tip of Bibi Dong's finger, invisible spiritual power spread out from the seal under her control, traveling through Naruto's body as she carefully examined him. His meridians, on the verge of shattering and as cracked as a broken porcelain jar, came clearly into her awareness.

If it had been anyone else, Bibi Dong would have reached a hopeless conclusion: this person was undoubtedly crippled, and it would be a blessing if he could live as an ordinary person from then on.

But...

Bibi Dong found it genuinely hard to accept.

Without any treatment, Naruto's current condition was actually much better than it had been a few days ago. His body was slowly recovering.

That alone wasn't surprising. After all, this brat had put his body through all kinds of high-intensity training since childhood, abusing it at will, yet in the end nothing had ever happened to him. He still spent every day chattering away and bouncing around. Bibi Dong had long expected his body to recover far better than that of a Spirit Master of the same rank.

But there was more to it than that. For some reason, a faint trace of purple Soul Power clung to the spiderweb of cracks, slowly filling the gaps and repairing the damage.

That was the real "culprit" behind Naruto's recovery, when he should have been crippled.

And Bibi Dong was very familiar with this "culprit." Wasn't this the effect of her own Martial Soul, the Death Spider Emperor?

The Death Spider Emperor was famous throughout the world for its corrosive poison, while its nearly immortal vitality was overlooked by Spirit Masters across the continent. After all, Bibi Dong's hundred-thousand-year ninth Soul Skill as the Death Spider Emperor was an immortal body.

A Martial Soul's traits could feed back into its Spirit Master. With the Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul, a Spirit Master's body would naturally recover far better than that of a Spirit Master at the same level.

In the past, when Bibi Dong had suffered serious injuries several times in Slaughter City, she had gritted her teeth and persevered thanks to the Death Spider Emperor's powerful regenerative ability.

Now the same thing was happening to Naruto.

But...

Where had this brat gotten the Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul? Wasn't that Martial Soul hers?

Bibi Dong's expression was indescribably complicated and uncomfortable. Her brow furrowed as if she'd been cheated on, but she was powerless to do anything about her "man." She could only angrily slap the armrest beside her and glare at the "other woman" before her.

What made it even more infuriating was that this "other woman" only looked utterly confused and even blinked at her!

Good people didn't live long, but calamities lasted a thousand years!

She couldn't take it anymore!

Bibi Dong's slender fingers abruptly pulled back, and her invisible spiritual power took shape.

"Huh?"

Naruto's eyes slowly widened as he realized that his limp body had suddenly stopped obeying him. His right hand lifted of its own accord right in front of his eyes, his finger curling as it aimed at the space between his brows!

Smack!

"Ow, what the hell!"

Naruto yelled. He first wrestled control of his treacherous right hand, then clutched his forehead and complained to Bibi Dong in his consciousness.

"What are you doing?"

"Little thief!"

Bibi Dong inexplicably flew into a rage.

Naruto had absolutely no idea what was going on, and could only wear a baffled, meme-worthy expression. After saying that, Dong Trumpet quickly withdrew her spiritual power, slowly folded her arms, and turned her head away in a huff, sulking to herself.

Fortunately, before Dong Trumpet completely cut Naruto off, she left him a reassuring message.

"You won't die. But if you don't want to waste several months recovering for nothing, you'd better find a Healing-type Spirit Master at the Soul Emperor level to treat you."

What was that about?

Had she gotten triggered again and started throwing a tantrum?

Naruto tilted his head, trying to work out the logic behind Bibi Dong's outburst. But Bibi Dong didn't want to see this annoying pest right now, so Naruto could only fill in the blanks himself. And the result of letting Naruto's imagination run wild was...

Jealousy!

She must be jealous of my prime, my dazzling good looks! She's trying to kill me!?

A moment later, Naruto looked solemn, rubbed his chin, and gave a confident nod.

Bracing himself against the rock wall,

Naruto slowly shuffled toward the cave entrance. He had no idea how many days had passed.

The sky was clear now. Naruto looked up and, beyond a stretch of forest, could make out a small town at the foot of the mountain.

Ignoring his aching body and muddled brain for the moment, the most important thing right now was...

To fill his stomach first!

Above the small town,

now and then, streaks of light radiating powerful auras cut across the sky, drawing the residents to stop and look up.

But no one dared to speak loudly. Everyone whispered, because several teams wearing Spirit Hall uniforms were taking a short break in the town.

With so many Spirit Masters around, the entire town felt charged with murderous tension.

Yet despite the tense atmosphere, the town was unusually lively. The distinguished Spirit Masters had arrived, and inns and restaurants of every kind were pulling out all the stops to attract customers. Even the medical clinic was doing brisk business.

In the largest medical clinic in town,

several beds had been set up in the hall, with a few injured Spirit Masters lying on them.

A Spirit Master with one arm hanging limply looked thrilled. Waving his only remaining hand, he bragged to the other patients about a major incident that had recently taken place in Fasinuo Province.

"Right when the evil demon Tang Hao got carried away by lust and still wasn't satisfied, he even tried to make a move on a young boy. Several Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall couldn't hold back any longer, and all attacked at once! They swore to kill the bastard!"

"Hey! What a fight! It was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!"

Seeing that he'd piqued everyone's interest,

the one-armed Spirit Master smugly lifted his chin but said no more. He lowered his hand and paused like a storyteller.

The rascal even copied those people who stopped mid-story!

The others cursed him inwardly, but curiosity gnawed at them, so they had no choice but to ask.

"What happened after that?"

"Did they kill the Evil Spirit Master Tang Hao?"

"How many Titled Douluo did Spirit Hall send? What were their Martial Souls? Did anyone die?"

Who knew who had been so clueless as to ask such detailed questions?

Of course, it was a good question too. For these Spirit Masters, who would spend their lives at the bottom, who didn't yearn for those Titled Douluo? Those famous powerhouses across the continent were naturally a perennial topic of conversation.

Everyone's curious gazes turned toward the one-armed Spirit Master. He immediately stiffened, but still managed to keep his composure and cleared his throat.

"Uh... well... at the time... I was a little far away... so I couldn't see clearly..."

The others' eyes turned suspicious once more.

Unable to bear their stares any longer, the one-armed Spirit Master finally gave up and raised his hand in surrender.

"I heard it from the Spirit Hall big shots..."

"Boo~~"

A chorus of jeers rang out.

The one-armed Spirit Master was thick-skinned. Since he'd been exposed, he stopped pretending and switched from bragging to relaying stories he'd heard from Spirit Hall, leaving everyone full of wonder.

It seemed Spirit Hall was quite adept at the battle for public opinion.

Naruto had just finished eating and was waiting for the doctor to treat him. He nodded slightly, praising them in silence.

As expected!

Gossip was human nature!

No one could resist this kind of scandalous gossip, especially when it involved famous people!

Given the Clear Sky Douluo's great renown, the impact of this news on ordinary people across the continent was no less than Trump and Clinton.

Seeing Naruto listening to the gossip with shining eyes as Spirit Hall's little story grew more and more lurid, Bibi Dong couldn't hold back any longer and rolled her eyes at him.

"Hmph, if Tang Hao finds out, he'll probably hate you to death!"

"Huh? Why would he hate me?"

Naruto looked up in confusion.

Before Bibi Dong could laugh in response, Naruto immediately spread his hands and declared righteously,

"I took his reputation from the basement of the hierarchy of beastiality and raised it to homosexuality! That's a whole new floor! At least now he likes humans! Shouldn't he thank me?"