Meeting the Parents

The next day, Mo Jia left Soul Beast Island aboard a small boat.

On the boat, Mo Jia looked at the letter in his hand and a set of special Scout Flying Bugs: "I said I'd help with anything, but isn't delivering a letter a bit of a waste of my talents? Does he even consider me a Title Douluo?! (Turning his gaze to the Scout Flying Bugs) Still, these little things seem pretty interesting. He said they'd automatically find their way once they got near that Spirit City, right? They won't run out of power the moment they get there, will they?"

One morning a week later, in the main hall of the Papal Palace, Mo Jia stealthily placed Mo Lin's letter on the Pope's seat. The Scout Flying Bugs had led him here. "This should be fine, right?"

Mo Jia muttered to himself, then, seeing no one around, prepared to slip away.

"Since this gentleman has come, why not stay awhile?"

In an instant, nearly a hundred purple spider fangs shot toward Mo Jia at once.

"Non-Aggression, Shield! Fourth Soul Skill, Shield Absorption!"

A massive shield appeared in Mo Jia's hand. The trajectories of all the spider spikes abruptly changed, converging on the shield, and after each attack, a thread of soul power condensed upon its surface.

That was the power of Shield Absorption: you had to attack the minion with Taunt first, and after attacking, you even gave the other side mana.

Bibi Dong frowned, surprised and intrigued.

It was not as if Bibi Dong had never seen a shield-type tool martial soul before, but aside from Mo Di, Non-Aggression had not appeared on Douluo Continent for five hundred years. It was only natural that she failed to recognize it.

More importantly, there were two points. First, soul masters with defense-oriented martial souls like this were usually rather cumbersome, making them ill-suited for infiltration and concealment. Yet Bibi Dong had not sensed the slightest trace of Mo Jia's presence until she reached the entrance to the main hall of the Papal Palace, which severely contradicted her common sense. Second, Mo Jia had been the one ambushed just now, so he had not dared let his guard down and had fully unleashed both his martial soul and soul rings. The red hundred-thousand-year soul ring exposed for that brief moment had been exceptionally conspicuous.

Sensing the aura of two Title Douluo clashing, Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo were the first to arrive. "Your Holiness, are you all right?!"

Bibi Dong nodded, but her gaze remained fixed on Mo Jia.

Mo Jia lowered his shield. Damn! Three Title Douluo. One of them is clearly higher-ranked than me—she must be Xiao Lin's master. From what Xiao Lin told me before, the Papal Palace and Elders' Hall of Spirit Hall have more than ten Title Douluo combined. Now that I've exposed my shield form, if I don't leave now, our Mo Family's Non-Aggression will probably become known to the entire world.

"Your strength is extraordinary, sir. I took the liberty of testing you just now. I hope you will not take offense." Bibi Dong did not wish to make too much of an enemy out of an unknown Title Douluo who possessed a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.

Seeing that Bibi Dong seemed willing to speak properly with him, Mo Jia put away his martial soul. "You jest, Your Holiness. My presence in this hall already violated the rules here. Even if you had truly beaten me to death, it would only have been proper."

Bibi Dong revealed a friendly smile. "Since you have come to Spirit Hall, you must need something. Feel free to say it. As the Pope of Spirit Hall, I can fulfill your requests to a certain extent."

Hearing this, Mo Jia understood that she intended to recruit him—or at least win him over—and smiled. "Your Holiness, there is no need to go to such lengths to recruit me. Unless something unexpected happens, because of a certain person, I will stand on Spirit Hall's side in the future. I merely came to deliver a letter this time. If there is nothing else, may I leave now?"

"A certain person?" Bibi Dong truly could not think of anyone she knew who had enough influence to make a Title Douluo with a hundred-thousand-year soul ring help her.

It seems Xiao Lin really hasn't revealed anything about the Mo Family all these years. Even his master doesn't know. Still, I shouldn't count on her letting me go willingly. Mo Jia offered a reminder: "My surname is Mo. Farewell!"

The moment she heard the word "Mo," Bibi Dong froze briefly. Seizing the opportunity, Mo Jia burst out of the Papal Palace at his maximum speed.

Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo also froze when they heard the word "Mo." By the time they came to their senses, Mo Jia had already escaped. They asked, "Your Holiness, should we pursue him?"

"There is no need." Bibi Dong walked to the Pope's seat, picked up the letter resting on it, and began to read.

A week earlier, on Soul Beast Island, Mo Lin first explained the circumstances of his special martial soul to his grandfather, Mo Teng.

This situation, in which it had inherited none of the characteristics of either parent's martial soul, greatly surprised Mo Teng. Even a mutated martial soul should have some similarities to its parents' martial souls, but Mo Lin's Primordial Qi resembled neither his parents' martial souls nor any martial soul in the entire world.

Because of this, Mo Teng had repeatedly tested Mo Lin's bloodline through different methods, but every result showed that Mo Lin was indeed his grandson.

Mo Teng was deeply troubled by this, because it meant that the training experience accumulated by the Mo Family over so many years was completely useless to Mo Lin and could not help him improve his combat ability.

Mo Lin, of course, did not care at all. He had relied on himself all these years. The only reasons he cultivated on this island were that it accelerated his cultivation and made soul beasts easier to obtain. He did not need the Mo Family to provide much assistance in that regard.

However, there was one matter Mo Lin still needed to clarify. He took out the soul bone that had originally been stored in the ring belonging to his father, Mo Di. "Grandpa, did Father take this soul bone off the island?"

Mo Teng first stared at the soul bone in surprise, then his eyes turned sorrowful. "This left leg soul bone does indeed belong to the island. It came from a ninety-thousand-year Poison-Devouring Dragon killed by the Mo Family two hundred years ago. But because its attribute was poison, it was unsuitable for the island's soul masters, so it was kept all this time. Then, fifteen years ago, when your father insisted on leaving to travel, I could not dissuade him, so I gave him this soul bone as a parting gift to increase his strength. I had thought a soul bone of such quality would have been taken by the Clear Sky Sect, but I never expected it to be brought back."

"Poison-Devouring Dragon? The properties of its soul bone seem like they'd pair well with the Tang Sect's poison qi!"

Mo Lin now somewhat wanted this soul bone. "Grandpa, can you give this soul bone to me?"

"There is no problem with giving it to you. This soul bone already belonged to your father, so passing it down to you would be proper. But your martial soul is so unusual—will this soul bone truly suit it?" Mo Teng asked.

Mo Lin did not know how to explain it, but his expression was full of confidence. "It may be difficult to explain, but don't worry, Grandpa. This soul bone really is suitable for me."

Seeing Mo Lin so confident, Mo Teng decided not to ask further. "Then take it. If you regret it before absorbing it, simply bring it back."