[Face-Tanking Ultimate: @everyone, I have an exclusive scoop to share with you all, about our Pope. It's going to be a lot of fun.]
Ye Qiong's message hit the group chat like a boulder crashing into water, sending ripples through it in an instant.
[Fire-Breathing Dragon: ?]
[Pagoda Suppresses River Demon: For real? Hurry up and post it!]
[First Cute Bunny: What? It's going to be fun? I want to see, I want to see! d(`･∀･)b]
[Heavenly King Covers Earth Fox: Group Owner, what are you planning? Don't you dare hurt Teacher!]
Hu Liena's heart leaped into her throat. She stared warily at the screen, afraid Ye Qiong might post something that would harm Bibi Dong.
Inside the Spirit Hall's sleeping quarters, Bibi Dong's expression instantly turned cold, too.
A scoop about her? What was this Group Owner, hiding behind a veil of secrecy, planning to do?
[Most Beautiful Pope: Group Owner, you'd better think carefully about what you're doing.]
[Most Beautiful Pope: Some jokes just aren't funny.]
The pressure of a Titled Douluo seemed to seep through the screen in her words.
(Emotion Point +80 from Most Beautiful Pope's shock and anger)
Ye Qiong pursed his lips. That little threat didn't faze him in the slightest.
They said that those who stayed close to vermilion were stained red, and those who stayed close to ink were stained black. After spending so much time with Sparkle, even he, Ye Qiong, had grown fond of stirring up trouble. The bigger the mess, the more fun it would be.
Besides, he was in Aedes Elysiae. Nobody could find him there. Heh heh heh!
[Face-Tanking Ultimate: Don't be in such a hurry, Your Holiness the Pope. We're all friends here. I'm just sharing some old gossip.]
[Face-Tanking Ultimate: I guarantee it'll be fascinating.]
After sending the messages, Ye Qiong spent 20 Emotion Points without hesitation to redeem the two crucial videos.
[Ding! Group Owner "Face-Tanking Ultimate" uploaded the video file Biography of Bibi Dong: Part One]
The video appeared in the group chat, with a prominent play button floating over it.
The group fell silent. Everyone instinctively clicked on it.
At the Crown Prince Residence, Qian Renxue, who was using the assumed name Xue Qinghe, furrowed her brows and curiously opened the video.
She wanted to see what juicy scoop this Group Owner could possibly reveal about that woman.
The video lit up. In a gentle halo of light, the camera focused on the Spirit Hall library.
Sunlight streamed through stained-glass windows and spilled between the bookshelves. A young woman in a simple, long dress sat quietly reading.
She looked about sixteen or seventeen. Her long golden hair fell smoothly around her shoulders, her skin was fair as snow, and her features were so exquisite she looked like a fairy in a painting. Her eyes were clear and innocent, untouched by a trace of impurity.
[First Cute Bunny: Wow, she's so beautiful!]
[Pagoda Suppresses River Demon: So this is... the Pope when she was young?]
[Begonia Blossoms: Her aura is so pure. She's completely different from the Pope she is now.]
The girls in the group let out a chorus of astonished exclamations.
Watching her younger self in the video, Bibi Dong felt her sealed memories stir, and her eyes went distant.
Back then, she had still been that person's proudest disciple, the Spirit Hall's Saintess, and her heart had been filled with boundless dreams of a beautiful future.
A figure entered the frame.
He was a young man who looked to be in his twenties. His features were ordinary, but he wore a clean scholar's robe. A faint melancholy lingered between his brows, and his deep eyes seemed to conceal endless wisdom.
The young man walked up to the girl and spoke softly. "Hello. Could you tell me which section has the books on Martial Soul Theory?"
The girl looked up, her clear eyes meeting the young man's "wise" gaze. A faint blush crept across her cheeks.
"They're, they're over there. I'll take you."
[Fire-Breathing Dragon: ...]
At Blue Tyrant Academy, Liu Erlong stared fixedly at the screen.
She knew that man better than anyone.
It was Yu Xiaogang, the man she loved most.
[Face-Tanking Ultimate: Everyone, pay close attention. The good part is about to begin.]
Ye Qiong popped up at just the right moment, like a professional commentator.
The video sped up, the images flashing by.
From their first meeting in the library, to their discussions during walks along forest paths, and then to their joint studies on the training grounds.
The young man was always tossing out novel "theories" that surpassed the knowledge of his time. Each one made the girl's eyes sparkle, her admiration plain for all to see.
"Dong'er, if my theories on Martial Soul Theory are proven, they'll completely change the balance of the Soul Master World."
"Xiao Gang, you're amazing! Teacher's never told me any of this!"
"Alas, many of my studies have hit a bottleneck. I can't access much of the Spirit Hall's core material."
The young man sighed and gazed sadly into the distance.
The innocent girl's heart ached for him. Without a moment's hesitation, she spoke up.
"Xiao Gang, don't worry. You're doing this for the entire Soul Master World. I'll help you! Teacher cares about me a lot, so I can go to the core archives and find the material you need."
By this point, some sharp-eyed members of the group had already sensed that something was off.
[6G Sky Wing: This man keeps leading her toward the Spirit Hall's classified information.]
Qian Renxue's brows knitted together. As someone who had lived undercover, she was extremely sensitive to this sort of manipulative conversation.
[Begonia Blossoms: It really does seem a little like... he's conning a young girl.]
[Hu Liena: Nonsense! How could Teacher be fooled? Maybe he really is talented!]
Hu Liena couldn't help defending him. In her heart, Teacher was intelligent and worthy of her respect; the person she loved must surely be genuinely gifted, too.
[6G Sky Wing: Talented? Heh.]
Qian Renxue let out a cold laugh.
She knew Yu Xiaogang. She had read those so-called theories of his, and they were practically unreadable.
[Face-Tanking Ultimate: Don't jump to conclusions yet. Let's take a look at something interesting.]
Ye Qiong spoke again as the video split into two screens.
On the left, Yu Xiaogang stood there, brimming with confidence as he sorted through a stack of manuscripts. They were filled with secrets and early theories Bibi Dong had copied from within the Spirit Hall.
On the right, Yu Xiaogang made a few small changes to the manuscripts, signed his own name, and turned them into the "world-shaking" theories he claimed as his own.
[Face-Tanking Ultimate: Is everyone getting the picture? His so-called talent amounts to little more than clever plagiarism and revisions.]
[Face-Tanking Ultimate: He took advantage of a young girl who'd just fallen in love, stole the wisdom accumulated over generations by the Spirit Hall, then put his own name on it. And just like that, he became the "Grandmaster" everyone admired.]
(Emotion Point +50 from Pagoda Suppresses River Demon's shock)
(Emotion Point +30 from Begonia Blossoms' scorn)
(...)
[Pagoda Suppresses River Demon: No way... This is just too...]
[First Cute Bunny: A con artist! He's definitely a con artist!]
[Begonia Blossoms: My goodness, is this the ultimate con? Using someone else's feelings to make a name for himself?]
[Begonia Blossoms: Your Holiness the Pope, you were sold off and still helped count the money. You were completely love-blind.]
The words "love-blind" stabbed like a sharp thorn into the hearts of two women.
One was Bibi Dong, and the other was Liu Erlong.
(Emotion Point +150 from Most Beautiful Pope's humiliation and anger)
(Emotion Point +120 from Fire-Breathing Dragon's humiliation and anger)
Inside the Spirit Hall, the comb in Bibi Dong's hand snapped to pieces with a sharp crack.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
The talent she had once worshiped as divine, the love she had once defended at any cost—there was no way it could all have been a deception!
She didn't believe it!
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