In the forest, an hour after the brothers Tang Xiao and Tang Hao had left, Qian Xunji straightened his clothes.
He glanced at the disheveled Ah Yin. "Clean yourself up..."
Ah Yin blushed as she straightened her clothes. "Were you that impatient? And did you have to be so rough?"
"You know the higher one's Soul Power Level and the greater one's life force, the harder this becomes... So I can't waste time."
"But you..." Ah Yin's face burned. She hadn't expected it to happen so soon. She had only just agreed when Qian Xunji lost patience, and worst of all, she had been unable to resist.
Qian Xunji savored the memory. A hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor truly was something else. A plant certainly had plenty of moisture.
"Come on, let's leave. I probably won't return to Spirit Hall for the next year... Once a day from now on... No, twice a day. Otherwise, getting pregnant might be difficult."
Qian Xunji added, "You'd better get used to it quickly. You don't want to become a Soul Ring and Soul Bone, do you?"
"You're shameless..." Ah Yin said, looking at him with disgust. Who behaved like that?
Once Ah Yin had finished dressing, Qian Xunji took her away. The two boarded a carriage and traveled without any particular destination.
"Where are we going?" Ah Yin asked inside the carriage, puzzled. Her body still ached even now.
"I don't know..." Qian Xunji propped his chin on one hand and gazed casually out the window.
"You don't know?" Ah Yin froze. "Why aren't you going back to Spirit Hall?"
"Don't feel like it," Qian Xunji said.
"Why not?" Ah Yin couldn't understand. He was Spirit Hall's Pope. Could Spirit Hall manage without him?
"No harm in telling you..." Qian Xunji then recounted Bibi Dong's story to Ah Yin as though it were a tale.
Ah Yin covered her mouth. "This... this isn't just a story? How did she fall for a... a good-for-nothing?"
She truly couldn't think of another way to describe him. With innate soul power of just 0.5, he was a good-for-nothing!
How could that Holy Maiden have been so irrational?
"You're asking me? How would I know?" Qian Xunji said bitterly. "Perhaps she thought it was true love."
"You're cruel," Ah Yin said. "You raised her for fourteen years, treating her like a daughter. How could you bear to ruin her like that?"
"Heh." Qian Xunji shook his head. "She was the one who said she'd give everything back to Spirit Hall!"
"I never demanded it. Did she really think she could betray Spirit Hall and walk away so easily? We aren't fools. We raised her to where she is, and she thought she could just leave!"
"Besides, it wasn't as if she got nothing out of it. At least she saw that man for who he really was, didn't she?"
"But isn't that too cruel to her?" Ah Yin asked, blinking her azure eyes.
"Cruel? Perhaps. But she made her choice," Qian Xunji said. "And don't forget what you promised me. You have only one year. I don't care how you do it, but you must. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to..."
"You're shameless..." Ah Yin gripped the hem of her skirt, her head lowered and cheeks flushed, unable to meet his eyes.
"It was your choice, wasn't it? I gave you two options back then," Qian Xunji said with a smile. Suddenly, she seemed rather cute to him.
"I... I just want to live. The human world is beautiful. I don't want to die like that."
Ah Yin spoke slowly. "And you won't cast me aside once I've served my purpose, will you? Answer me!"
"Is that so important to you?" Qian Xunji asked, glancing at her.
"Of course it is! If I do as you ask and you cast me aside in the end, won't I have lost everything?"
"Don't worry. As long as you do as I ask, you'll be the most honored person in Spirit Hall. Even if everyone on the continent learns you're a Soul Beast, no one will dare touch you!"
"No person or faction wants to make an enemy of Spirit Hall outright... I am the Pope, after all!" Qian Xunji said with a smile.
"Is Spirit Hall really that powerful?" Ah Yin asked. "I know it's strong, but I don't know how strong!"
"Put it this way." Qian Xunji explained patiently. After all, he would be spending a long time with Ah Yin, so he could spare her that much patience.
"My father, the previous Pope, is a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo—the Sky Invincible, one of the three invincible figures of the previous era!"
"The known Peerless Douluo are my father, the missing Tang Chen of Clear Sky Sect, and the High Priestess of Sea God Island!"
"Below my father are six worshipers. Every one of them is a Super Douluo, and every one of them is my uncle!"
"Below the Worship Hall is the Elder Hall, which currently has seven elders. If I hadn't lost my head and ordered the conquest of Sea God Island back then, there would be even more!"
"So Spirit Hall currently has fifteen Titled Douluo? It's that strong?" Ah Yin's eyes widened.
Before, she had only known that Spirit Hall was powerful. She had never known just how powerful.
Now that Qian Xunji had laid it out, Spirit Hall's strength seemed absurd. Even Clear Sky Sect currently had only one Titled Douluo...
"Of course. Why else would Spirit Hall be the strongest power on the continent?"
"One hall, two empires, seven great sects. Why does the hall come before the two empires? Because it's strong enough!"
Qian Xunji spoke proudly. He had arrived in this world at precisely the time when Spirit Hall was at its strongest!
"Um..." Ah Yin suddenly thought of something and asked, "If I return to Spirit Hall with you in the future, will they accept me?"
"They? Who?" Qian Xunji asked.
"Oh, come on!" Ah Yin protested. "Your father and those uncles of yours. They're either Peerless Douluo or Super Douluo. You'll be able to protect me, won't you?"
"I thought you meant something serious. If we go back carrying our child, I refuse to believe they won't acknowledge us!" Qian Xunji said with a smile.
"Don't worry. You may be a Soul Beast, but as long as you're the child's mother, that's enough. My father is rather old-fashioned, but he wouldn't do anything like that..."
"Besides, I'll be there. What's done is done, and I'm not afraid of what anyone might say about me!" Qian Xunji said.
Ah Yin gazed at Qian Xunji. Why did she feel so utterly safe with him?
That brute had only just forced himself on her...
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