Bibi Dong's gaze shifted from Yue Guan to Qin Chuan's face.
Her gaze was unusual. Qin Chuan had been examined by many people, but Bibi Dong's scrutiny was unlike anyone else's. There was no curiosity in her eyes, nor any sense of probing—only the habitual, condescending appraisal of someone looking down from above.
Like a hunter sizing up a piece of prey, judging whether it was worth making the effort to kill.
"Qin Chuan."
Bibi Dong spoke. Her voice wasn't loud, but every corner of the great hall heard her clearly.
"That's a good name."
Bibi Dong rose from the dragon throne and descended the steps from the raised platform. She walked unhurriedly, her deep purple skirt trailing a dark arc over the steps. With every step, the dark gold tassels on her waist sash swayed.
She stopped in front of Qin Chuan, just two meters away.
Bibi Dong looked at him, the corners of her mouth perfectly still.
"Promising." She said the word crisply.
"Yue Guan told me what happened today. Fifteen years old, level 56, Twin Martial Souls." Bibi Dong circled halfway around Qin Chuan and stopped at his right side. "And you can fly."
Qin Chuan stood motionless.
"May I take a look at your eyes?" Bibi Dong asked. She could have ordered him, but she didn't.
Qin Chuan knew it was a test. He nodded.
With a thought, he activated the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye.
Six purple rings lit up in succession within Qin Chuan's pupils, one nested inside another, slowly rotating. A faint purple light spilled from his eyes, casting a dim glow in the air between him and Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong's eyes narrowed slightly. She felt it.
The power radiating from Qin Chuan's eyes was unlike any Soul Power she had ever encountered. Its essence was purer and more profound, as if it came from an entirely different system.
"This isn't Soul Power." For the first time, surprise entered Bibi Dong's voice.
She had lived for thirty years and was a level 99 Limit Douluo, a bearer of Twin Martial Souls. The things on Douluo Continent that could surprise her could be counted on one hand.
But the power in Qin Chuan's eyes had genuinely startled her.
"Show me your Martial Souls."
Qin Chuan dismissed his Samsara Eye and raised both hands.
The Illusion Bell appeared above his left palm. The purple bell hovered quietly, while five white Soul Rings slowly revolved around it from bottom to top.
Bibi Dong's eyebrows twitched when she saw the five white Soul Rings.
[Five white Soul Rings! Impossible. No one has ever succeeded with the legendary heretical cultivation method!] Bibi Dong was secretly shocked.
Qin Chuan raised his right hand.
The Zhu Xian Sword appeared above his palm.
Its pitch-black blade gleamed with a cold light, and a black Soul Ring with a cultivation age of twenty-five thousand years slowly revolved around it. The sharp aura spilling from the blade made the temperature in the hall drop by two degrees.
Bibi Dong stared at the Zhu Xian Sword for a full five seconds.
She could clearly sense the quality of the sword.
As a level 99 Limit Douluo, her ability to judge Martial Souls ranked among the top five on all of Douluo Continent.
The energy level of this sword was absurdly high!
"Zhu Xian Sword." Bibi Dong murmured the three words, her voice low. "I've seen the Seven Kill Sword and the Clear Sky Hammer. The energy fluctuations of your sword are more than one level above those of the Seven Kill Sword."
Standing to the side, Yue Guan's heart leapt at her words.
He had reached the same judgment earlier, but hadn't been sure whether his impression was accurate. Now that Bibi Dong had said it herself, he knew he hadn't been mistaken.
Bibi Dong looked away from the Zhu Xian Sword and turned her attention back to Qin Chuan.
"Yue Guan said you have a grudge against the Clear Sky Sect."
Qin Chuan's expression didn't change. "Yes. People from the Clear Sky Sect killed my family and my friends. Sooner or later, I'll make them pay."
Bibi Dong valued that. She walked back to the edge of the raised platform and turned around, her deep purple skirt tracing an arc around her feet.
"Qin Chuan, are you willing to stay at Spirit Hall?"
There was no preamble or beating around the bush. Bibi Dong asked him directly.
Qin Chuan raised his head and met Bibi Dong's gaze. "I am."
"Good." Bibi Dong returned to the dragon throne and rested her left hand on the armrest, tapping it lightly twice with her fingers. "Yue Guan."
Yue Guan stepped forward. "Your Holiness the Pope, what are your orders?"
Bibi Dong glanced at Qin Chuan, then said to Yue Guan, "Arrange for him to stay at Flying Cloud Pavilion, in the same area as Hu Liena and the others. You'll personally be his instructor."
Yue Guan was taken aback.
Flying Cloud Pavilion was where Spirit Hall's core disciples lived. Everyone staying there was a carefully nurtured candidate. Giving that privilege to an outsider who had just arrived meant Bibi Dong valued Qin Chuan even more than he'd expected.
"Yes, Your Holiness the Pope."
"And," Bibi Dong paused, "he's to receive the same access to Spirit Hall's cultivation methods, classics, and resources as Hu Liena and the others."
"Yes."
Bibi Dong's gaze returned to Qin Chuan.
"Qin Chuan, you're very unusual. So unusual that it makes me think Heaven is playing a joke on me. A level 56 Soul King at fifteen, Twin Martial Souls, and those eyes of yours."
Bibi Dong's voice was flat. It was impossible to tell whether she was praising him or simply thinking aloud.
"But the more unusual someone is, the more careful I have to be. Spirit Hall doesn't support idlers, and it doesn't support ingrates. Do you understand what I mean?"
Qin Chuan nodded. "You have my word, Your Holiness."
Bibi Dong watched him for three seconds. At last, the corners of her mouth moved. It was a faint curve—not quite a smile, but at least she no longer looked cold.
"Mm. Get some rest. From this moment on, you're one of Spirit Hall's people."
Qin Chuan followed Yue Guan out.
The moment the great hall's doors closed behind him, Qin Chuan finally let out a breath of relief.
The pressure of standing before Bibi Dong had been greater than facing Tang Hao's hammer. Tang Hao's pressure came from the sheer, overwhelming force of his strength. It was direct. Bibi Dong's pressure was different. She hadn't done anything; she had simply sat there and looked at you, and you felt as if she'd stripped you bare.
Those deep, ink-black eyes seemed capable of seeing right through your underwear.
Still, at least he had passed.
Yue Guan led Qin Chuan out of the great hall, and they walked along a stone-paved path through the mountains.
Hu Liena had been waiting by the entrance. When she saw them emerge, she ran over to meet them.
"Chrysanthemum Elder, what did His Holiness the Pope say?"
Yue Guan smiled. "His Holiness the Pope is very satisfied. From today on, Qin Chuan is a core disciple of Spirit Hall. He'll be staying at Flying Cloud Pavilion, in the same area as you."
Hu Liena's eyes lit up. "Really? That's wonderful!"
The three of them followed the mountain path east for about ten minutes, passed through a bamboo grove, and emerged into a wide-open view.
Flying Cloud Pavilion stood on a spacious terrace halfway up the mountain and consisted of several separate buildings.
Each building was a two-story structure of wood and stone, with upturned eaves and pale blue gauze curtains hanging over the windows. Small paths paved with gravel connected the buildings, while neatly trimmed shrubs lined either side.
Yue Guan led Qin Chuan to the easternmost building.
"This one's empty. It'll be your place from now on."
Qin Chuan pushed the door open and went inside.
The first floor held a living room and a study. A square redwood table and four chairs stood in the living room. The study was small, but a row of bookshelves lined the wall, filled with all kinds of classics and handwritten notes.
The second floor had a bedroom and a bathroom. A thick quilt covered the bed, and the pillow was filled with buckwheat hulls; it felt hard to the touch. The window faced east, so tomorrow morning the sunlight would wake him directly.