Douluo Continent.
Spirit Hall, rear mountain.
Amid the chirring of cicadas, a meteor streaked across the night sky and slammed heavily into the ground.
Through the billowing smoke, something strange seemed to have fallen into the crater.
The commotion caused by the meteor's arrival in the rear mountain immediately caught the attention of the Spirit Hall Soul Masters on night watch.
In the blink of an eye, a Blazing Spirit Kite with a wingspan of nearly six meters shot out of Spirit Hall, with a burly Ghost Leopard close behind.
A few minutes later, two figures appeared beside the crater where the meteor had landed. Both stared in surprise at the object inside.
No one could have imagined that this mysterious object from the sky was actually a child, sleeping soundly in a swaddling cloth.
The child looked like a newborn, with a delicate little face as lovely as a carved doll.
Perhaps worried that her Martial Soul Avatar might frighten the baby, Spirit Kite Douluo dispelled it and then told Ghost Leopard Douluo to step farther away.
That rough face of his, enough to scare Soul Beasts to death, was better kept at a distance.
"Ghost Leopard, it's a child! A child fell from the sky!"
Spirit Kite Douluo furrowed her brow. In all her years at Spirit Hall, she had never seen a child fall from the sky.
"Ling Yuan, bring him up first! This is too bizarre. We need to report it to His Holiness the Pope right away."
Ghost Leopard Douluo stepped closer. After confirming that the object in the crater was a child, he immediately told Spirit Kite Douluo to bring him up.
Spirit Kite Douluo nodded, then bent down and tried to lift the child from the crater.
But no matter how many times she tried, her hands couldn't touch the baby's swaddling cloth.
"Ghost Leopard, it's as if some kind of barrier is protecting this child. I can't even touch him."
Spirit Kite Douluo's brow knitted tightly, her face full of astonishment.
Ghost Leopard Douluo approached the crater, clearly unconvinced. He looked at the sleeping baby inside and slowly reached out his hand.
But just as Spirit Kite Douluo had said, a five-colored film of light stopped his hand before it could touch the sleeping child.
Ghost Leopard Douluo tried channeling Soul Power into his palm, hoping to forcibly break through the barrier around the baby. But after several attempts, he failed every time!
The situation made Ghost Leopard Douluo and Spirit Kite Douluo tense up.
As elders of Spirit Hall, they were among the most powerful fighters on the entire Douluo Continent.
Yet even they couldn't break through the barrier around the baby who had fallen from the sky. Could the child be a being beyond the level of a Titled Douluo?
"Spirit Kite, stay here and keep watch. I'll report to His Holiness the Pope! Only she can decide what to do about something this serious!"
With that, Ghost Leopard Douluo turned to leave.
Just then, a purple figure sped toward them from afar. She hadn't yet arrived, but a waft of fragrant air had already brushed across Ghost Leopard Douluo's and Spirit Kite Douluo's faces.
When the figure came to a stop, Ghost Leopard Douluo and Spirit Kite Douluo hurriedly bowed.
"This subordinate pays respects to His Holiness the Pope!"
The newcomer was Bibi Dong, who had just taken over as the new Pope of Spirit Hall.
"Your Holiness, while on night watch, this subordinate noticed a meteor fall in the rear mountain. When the two of us rushed over, we discovered it was a child! The child's identity is a mystery. I tried to bring him up, but I couldn't..."
Ghost Leopard Douluo didn't dare conceal a thing and quickly told His Holiness the Pope everything that had happened.
At this, Bibi Dong's slender brows drew together, and curiosity filled her rose-colored eyes as she looked at the child in the crater.
"A child from the sky? How interesting!"
As she spoke, Bibi Dong ran a hand through her freshly washed hair. Beneath the moonlight, her delicate hands seemed especially radiant.
Then she flashed to the edge of the crater and stared intently at the tender child inside.
As the new Pope of Spirit Hall, she knew all too well how treacherous the Douluo Continent had become, with forces stirring on every side. The child in the swaddling cloth could very well be a trap laid by someone else.
She couldn't afford to be careless!
"Waaah, waaah!"
Just then, the child in the crater began to cry, the sound of his wailing carrying far through the silent night.
For some reason, Bibi Dong, who had been on guard around the child, reached her hand through the purple veil of light as if possessed when she heard the baby cry.
"Your Holiness, be careful! That barrier—"
Spirit Kite Douluo hurried forward, just about to warn her, when she saw His Holiness the Pope reach through the veil of light and bend down to lift the swaddled child from the crater.
Ghost Leopard Douluo and Spirit Kite Douluo were instantly dumbfounded. What was going on?
Why could His Holiness the Pope pick up the swaddled child when they couldn't?
If it was because of a difference between men and women, Spirit Kite Douluo was a woman too. Why couldn't she lift the child out?!
There was only one explanation, Ghost Leopard Douluo decided after a moment's reflection: His Holiness the Pope had given birth, while Spirit Kite Douluo was still an old maid!
That was the only reasonable explanation Ghost Leopard Douluo could think of. Otherwise, he couldn't make sense of it!
Above the crater, Bibi Dong held the child in her arms with a tender expression, gently soothing him with her delicate hands. A hint of heartache entered her eyes.
For some reason, from the very first moment she saw the child, Bibi Dong had felt a sense of closeness to him.
Under her gentle pats, the child in the swaddling cloth fell asleep again. Looking down at the lovely little one in her arms, Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes flickered with thought as she began to wonder about his identity.
A Soul Beast undergoing Soul Beast Transformation?
The thought had barely surfaced before Bibi Dong shook her head and dismissed it. There were three Titled Douluo present; a transformed Soul Beast could never conceal its true form from them.
Could the child have come from the Divine Realm?
Bibi Dong had already begun the Rakshasa God's inheritance, and she knew that many hidden inheritances existed on the Douluo Continent.
Even above, in the star-strewn firmament, the legendary Divine Realm was said to exist!
Since the child had fallen from the sky, he might well have come from the Divine Realm. Perhaps this was a special trial from the Rakshasa God.
The thought stirred other ideas in Bibi Dong's mind. Since the child was so extraordinary, why not bring him back to Spirit Hall and raise him well?
Perhaps one day he would become the perfect ally in her plan to destroy the Angel Clan.
Besides, the little fellow in her arms was handsome, with a plump, rosy face that stirred a hint of maternal affection in Bibi Dong. Her arms tightened around him.
Perhaps sensing the trace of maternal warmth radiating from her, the sleeping child suddenly buried his little head against Bibi Dong's chest. The drool at the corner of his mouth trickled down into the valley between her breasts.
The swaddled child's actions made Ghost Leopard Douluo and Spirit Kite Douluo tense up at once.
Everyone in Spirit Hall knew that His Holiness the Pope disliked children, yet this child had clearly mistaken her for his wet nurse.
What were they supposed to do?!
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