Spirit City, Papal Hall.
Deep inside the hall, the light was dim, and the oppressive air made it hard to breathe.
Bibi Dong sat high on the papal throne, her scepter striking the dark-gold floor tiles with a heavy thud.
Below the steps,
several black-robed Titled Douluo knelt on one knee.
"Any word from Heaven Dou City?" Bibi Dong asked.
As soon as she returned to Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong had sent people to investigate Qian Renxue.
Ghost Douluo bowed low. "Your Holiness, our agents have all been deployed.
"The first group of elite Shadow Guards can infiltrate the outskirts of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace tonight."
Bibi Dong leaned forward slightly, a vicious glint flashing through her narrow eyes.
"Not enough."
Those two words sent the temperature in the hall plummeting.
"I want to know everything that happened to Qian Renxue in the Heaven Dou Empire!"
"From the first day she went undercover, find out whom she met, what medicine she took, what she thought about—even what she muttered in her sleep. I want every detail!"
"Turn Heaven Dou City upside down if you have to. Dig up every dirty secret she's hiding!"
That girl had changed.
Every piece of intelligence suggested that Qian Renxue had slipped beyond Spirit Hall's original control.
That unfamiliarity, that extreme danger emanating from her very bones, instinctively set Bibi Dong on edge.
She would never allow anything to escape her grasp.
Not even the Qian Clan whelp she hated most.
"As you command!"
Ghost Douluo felt his scalp prickle. He hurriedly acknowledged the order and withdrew.
The hall fell deathly silent once more.
Thick violet-black currents rose in Bibi Dong's eyes.
She resembled a venomous spider crouched in the darkness, ready to devour her prey at any moment.
The Papal Hall's moves