Yue Guan's Little Scheme

Bibi Dong had already been in a bad mood. Then, startled by that sudden thunderous crash, her mind blanked for a moment before unprecedented fury instantly flooded her entire body. Her enraged roar, infused with Soul Power, spread throughout all of Spirit Hall:

"Who?! Who caused that commotion?! I'll count down from ten. Get in front of me immediately and confess your crime for punishment!"

Given Bibi Dong's current authority, her words within Spirit Hall were tantamount to an imperial decree. Apart from a select few, no one dared treat her words like nonsense.

In Worship Hall, Qian Daoliu, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, immediately furrowed his brow upon hearing Bibi Dong's roar.

"A dignified Pope, losing her composure like this—what does she look like?"

He muttered in displeasure, then relaxed again.

"Forget it. It must be because Little Xue has gone missing. As her mother, she must be in a bad mood..."

"I wonder which unlucky fool just had to provoke that woman at a time like this. I only hope she still has some sense and doesn't take things too far..."

With that thought, Qian Daoliu sighed, then closed his eyes and resumed cultivating, no longer concerning himself with worldly matters.

As the chief culprit behind the huge noise, Yue Guan nearly wet his pants upon hearing Bibi Dong's roar. He instantly sobered up as well.

Personal hobbies were certainly important, but if he could not quickly appease that old woman Bibi Dong's anger, he was going to suffer terribly!

Knowing the urgency of the situation, Yue Guan did not dare delay. Though he had always loved cleanliness and orderliness, he did not even have time to tidy his room. He merely hurriedly placed the Soul-Gathering Pill into a jade bottle before racing toward the Papal Palace at the fastest speed of his life.

From his current location, no one else could have made it to the Papal Palace within ten seconds.

This showed that Bibi Dong had never intended to punish the culprit lightly from the very beginning.

Her countdown from ten was merely an excuse to justify harsher punishment.

But Yue Guan was different.

Relying on his level 95 Soul Power, with his full speed unleashed, he arrived before Bibi Dong in exactly ten seconds—not a moment more or less.

Seeing him suddenly appear, Bibi Dong immediately frowned and said in an unfriendly tone:

"Get out first. This has nothing to do with you for now!"

Clearly, Bibi Dong had never imagined that the person responsible for the commotion would be one of her most trusted right-hand men.

However, Yue Guan's mind failed to catch up at that moment.

What was going on?

From Her Holiness the Pope's tone, was she planning to let this slide?

Heavens! As expected of Lord Pope. Even after making such a huge mistake, he could be pardoned with just one sentence!

Say no more. He, Yue Guan, would swear loyalty to Spirit Hall until death!

Yue Guan was still reveling in delight when Bibi Dong, seated upon the papal throne, saw that he had not left. A nameless blaze of anger instantly rose within her.

"Didn't I tell you to get lost? Why are you still here? Do you want to be punished alongside the idiot who caused that huge disturbance?"

The moment those words came out, Yue Guan stopped smiling.

What was going on?

Hadn't the Pope said she would not hold it against him?

Could it be...

Thinking of a certain possibility, Yue Guan immediately began sweating profusely. Looking at Bibi Dong's terrifying gaze, as though she wanted to devour someone alive, he swallowed hard. Then, gathering his courage, he bowed and forced himself to speak.

"Reporting to Your Holiness... the idiot who caused that huge disturbance... should be me..."

The moment he said that, the entire Papal Palace fell into dead silence.

Yue Guan lowered his head and did not dare breathe too loudly. In a situation like this, every extra word was another opportunity to make a mistake; fewer words meant fewer mistakes, while saying nothing meant no mistakes at all!

Therefore, before Bibi Dong took the initiative to speak, honestly remaining silent was the best choice!

No one knew how long the silence lasted. Then, upon suddenly hearing the crisp tap of a scepter against the floor, Yue Guan's overly sensitive body could not help but shudder.

"Speak. What exactly were you doing just now? Why did you make such a huge commotion?"

The moment those words came out, Yue Guan's tightly wound heart instantly relaxed.

He was safe!

Based on his understanding of Bibi Dong's personality, if this woman wanted to punish someone, she would never go through the trouble of asking for reasons.

And reality was indeed just as he had expected.

At that moment, although Bibi Dong was still burning with anger, at least part of her mind remained clear.

If the "culprit" behind that disturbance had been some unimportant mid-level Soul Master, or even some weaker lackey, Bibi Dong would have killed him without hesitation to vent the rage in her heart.

But this "culprit" was Yue Guan, which made things different.

Leaving aside the fact that he was one of her most capable right-hand men, when paired with Ghost, he could also unleash an immensely powerful Martial Soul Fusion Skill!

Toward such core subordinates, so long as they had not committed some grave violation of principle, Bibi Dong could generously grant forgiveness.

Under normal circumstances, a few casual reprimands would have settled this matter.

But today, she could not suppress her curiosity.

Based on what she knew of Yue Guan, he was not the reckless type. What exactly had he been doing to cause such a huge disturbance?

After pondering for a moment, Yue Guan immediately recounted the key parts of what he had seen in Sunset Forest to Bibi Dong.

As for that transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, he kept his mouth firmly shut.

Loyalty to Spirit Hall was one thing, but Yue Guan was no fool.

In his eyes, the Soul-Gathering Pill was far more valuable than a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. But in Bibi Dong's eyes, what he had done would absolutely seem unbelievably foolish.

Therefore, unwilling to invite trouble for himself, Yue Guan simply did not mention it at all. Instead, he spent the entire account describing how remarkable the pill-refining methods of that boy named Jiang Xuan were, as well as the little girl at the boy's side who was suspected to belong to the Angel Clan.

Bibi Dong had no interest whatsoever in pill refinement.

But upon hearing what Yue Guan said afterward, she immediately became alert.

"You said you saw a little girl in Sunset Forest who was suspected to be from the Angel Clan? Tell me in detail. What features did she have?"

Yue Guan had been away on missions for some time and had not yet learned of Qian Renxue's disappearance, so he answered the question without a second thought.

"That little girl was only around one meter tall. Although she wore a veil that covered her face, one could tell she was a beauty in the making..."

At that point, Bibi Dong abruptly stopped him, cutting Yue Guan off.

It seemed she had overthought things.

Although the Angel God Raiment soul bone could perfectly disguise even someone's gender, it absolutely could not turn a grown person into a child!

After confirming that the person was not the missing Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong lost interest in investigating further and prepared to dismiss Yue Guan.

This should have been exactly what Yue Guan wanted.

But for some reason, when he saw that Bibi Dong did not take the pill-refining Jiang Xuan he had mentioned seriously at all, Yue Guan suddenly became a little temperamental!

No, he had to prove that boy's value to Lord Pope!

As for how to prove it...

That boy had said this pill could greatly increase the Soul Power within a Soul Master's body.

He had originally intended to keep it for himself, but in order to make Her Holiness the Pope understand that boy's value, he would go all out!