Grant Her a Golden Bowl and Make Her Beg in the Plaza!

Inside the Papal Palace, Qian Xunji rested his chin on one hand, reclining leisurely upon the papal throne.

Outside the hall, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

Fierce winds swept along the torrential rain, which battered the glazed roof tiles with a crackling, dull, chaotic clatter.

Qian Xunji sat there, waiting for an outcome he had long anticipated.

Before long, two blurred figures cut through the wind and rain, swiftly entering the Papal Palace.

They were none other than Yue Guan and Gui Mei.

"Your subordinate greets Your Holiness!" Yue Guan stepped forward first, bowed deeply, and saluted Qian Xunji.

His voice carried both surprise and regret as he meticulously recounted everything he had witnessed outside to Qian Xunji.

From Yu Xiaogang's extreme disgust upon seeing Bibi Dong's disfigured face, to his hysterics after learning that her cultivation had been completely destroyed.

Then, finally, how he had slapped Bibi Dong across the face before fleeing Spirit City in blind panic.

Yue Guan described it vividly, feeling that Bibi Dong's sacrifices had not been worth it! Yet Qian Xunji's lips curled faintly as he listened, and then he burst into laughter.

"Serves her right! This is exactly how it should be!"

Mockery flashed through Qian Xunji's eyes. "Love? What laughable love! Only an idiot like Bibi Dong would believe that piece of trash's sweet talk!"

Qian Xunji knew all too well what kind of person Yu Xiaogang was.

Yu Xiaogang had known full well that Bibi Dong was the Saintess, yet he had approached her anyway. If there was no ulterior motive, Qian Xunji would not have believed it even if he were beaten to death!

That piece of trash had spent his entire life trying to prove himself to his Lineage.

He claimed his theories were invincible, yet he could not even break through Rank 30. In the end, he had become the laughingstock of the entire continent!

Provoking Bibi Dong had been his greatest and most reckless gamble!

If he had successfully lured the future heir of Spirit Hall back to his sect, Yu Xiaogang would have become the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's greatest contributor!

His father would have looked at him in a new light, and those clansmen who had mocked him would have marveled at his world-shaking wisdom!

Unfortunately...

Yu Xiaogang's calculations had been flawless, except he had not accounted for the original owner refusing to let Bibi Dong leave even after ruining her.

Nor had he accounted for the time-traveler she had become, who would be so ruthless as to directly cripple Bibi Dong and reduce her to a total waste!

When Bibi Dong became a cripple with a shattered martial soul, ruined cultivation, and destroyed appearance, what would he do?

The answer was obvious!

Not only would Yu Xiaogang gain nothing, he would instead have to endure the wrath of the colossal Spirit Hall!

Of course he would run!

"Enough. You may leave. Do not concern yourselves with Yu Xiaogang. As long as he lives, he will be the greatest punishment for that traitor!"

Qian Xunji casually waved a hand.

Bibi Dong had given up everything for Yu Xiaogang and become a cripple. If she learned that piece of trash was living well, how would she feel?

But just as Yue Guan and Gui Mei were about to accept the order and withdraw, Qian Xunji suddenly thought of something amusing. "Wait!"

"What other instructions do you have, Your Holiness?" Yue Guan asked respectfully.

Qian Xunji smiled. "Take her to the central plaza of Spirit City. Then grant her a golden bowl and have her beg there!"

"Remember, send more people to watch her. Do not let her starve to death too easily, but do not let her live comfortably either!"

"I want her to spend the rest of her life amid endless remorse and scorn! If the punishment for betraying Spirit Hall ended so simply, would that not be letting her off far too easily?"

"Begging? And... granting her a golden bowl?" Upon hearing this order, Yue Guan found it utterly inconceivable.

What beggar used a golden bowl to beg?

With a pure gold rice bowl placed before her, what passerby would think she was a beggar? Who would give her even a single copper coin?

Most crucially, Bibi Dong had once been the Saintess. Making her carry a golden bowl and beg was simply more agonizing than killing her!

When it came to being ruthless, their Pope truly took the prize!

"Yes, Your Holiness! Your subordinates will see to it at once." Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance before withdrawing from the Papal Palace.

The hall returned to its eerie silence, broken only by the sound of rain striking the glazed roof tiles.

Qian Xunji slowly rose from his throne and stretched.

"What a relief! Back in my previous life, I hated this shameless, ungrateful wretch more than anything!"

"Today, I have at least collected a little interest on behalf of the previous owner and Spirit Hall! What sweet revenge!"

He loosened his limbs. "Next, I should pay a visit to the Consecration Hall. This matter concerns the Saintess, after all. That old stubborn fool of a father should at least have the right to know..."

With his hands clasped behind his back, Qian Xunji strolled unhurriedly out of the Papal Palace.

The rain in the sky fell even harder.

Yet when the bean-sized raindrops were about to fall upon Qian Xunji, they seemed to strike an invisible barrier and slid down a foot away from his body.

The barrier formed by a Titled Douluo's outwardly released soul power kept even a single corner of his robes from being dampened!

Spirit City, before the gates of that secluded and elegant courtyard. Bibi Dong was still slumped there like a heap of mud.

The icy rain had long since soaked her through, mixing with the blood and tears on her face as it streamed downward.

Yet she was like an empty shell that had lost its soul, staring blankly at the deserted street and allowing the rain to lash her body.

As though this could soften her teacher's heart and make him forgive what she had done. Perhaps it could...

"Whoosh..."

Two ripples of soul power flashed, and Yue Guan and Gui Mei suddenly appeared not far in front of her.

The instant she saw them, Bibi Dong, who had seemed like a corpse moments ago, clutched at them as though they were her last lifeline and frantically crawled toward them.

With hands covered in mud, she grabbed Yue Guan's trouser leg and pleaded in a hoarse voice, "Elder Chrysanthemum, Elder Ghost."

"I know I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong. Please, could you plead with Teacher on my behalf?"

"As long as Dong'er can return to Teacher's side, even if I am no longer the Saintess, even if I must serve as a slave and maid in the Papal Palace and wait on Teacher for the rest of my life, Dong'er would be willing!"

"Please, Dong'er truly regrets it. Sob... sob... sob..."

Bibi Dong wept heartbrokenly. Her face, covered in charred black scars, appeared especially grotesque beneath the rain, enough to send chills down one's spine.

Looking at the former Saintess reduced to such a state, Yue Guan sighed faintly and said helplessly, "Bibi Dong, do not waste your effort."

"Do you still not understand a decision made by His Holiness? When has he ever changed a decision he has made?"

"His Holiness has decreed that you are to be granted a golden bowl today. From now on, you will beg in the central plaza of Spirit City to atone for your sins!"

"Rest assured, His Holiness is benevolent and specifically instructed that you would not be allowed to starve to death easily. Remember His Holiness's mercy."

"A golden bowl? Begging?"

Bibi Dong seemed to have been struck by lightning. Her entire body froze, and her hands slid down weakly. "No... no!!!"

"Does Teacher truly refuse to give Dong'er even one chance to start over? It cannot be like this, it cannot be!"

Yue Guan sighed softly and tried to reason with her. "Bibi Dong, I have already returned everything of yours to Spirit Hall. You personally demanded this before His Holiness. Now neither side owes the other anything. What more do you have to complain about?!"

"Besides, His Holiness warned you before: you may know a person's face, but not their heart, especially when it is a piece of trash!"

"Everyone's patience has its limits! Especially when what you did was betray Spirit Hall!"

"When you insisted on leaving Spirit Hall for that piece of trash, betrayed Spirit Hall, and declared that you would return everything to Spirit Hall, you should have known you would end up like this!"