Crying Won't Help—You Still Have to Train!

Original timeline—

Heaven Dou City.

Qian Renxue read Qian Daoliu's secret letter, her brows knitting slightly.

"Xue'er, the Icefire Yin Yang Well has been found. You must get there before Bibi Dong and absorb the Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass and Blazing Apricot Delicate Herb, as well as a third immortal herb suited to you."

"Chrysanthemum Douluo knows much about immortal herbs. To ensure this trip goes smoothly, I have Golden Crocodile intimidate them. Leave immediately after absorbing the immortal herbs, and do not confront Bibi Dong."

Qian Daoliu actually wanted Qian Renxue to steal Bibi Dong's treasure trove!

He had always known that Bibi Dong and Spirit Hall were divided in loyalty and morality, but he feared the Rakshasa God, considered his duty as Grand Enshrined, and had shown restraint because Bibi Dong was Qian Renxue's mother.

But that did not mean Qian Daoliu was foolish!

The most valuable immortal herbs were the spiritual plants that grew alongside the waters of the Icefire Pool. They could improve one's aptitude, strengthen the body, and grant a physique immune to fire, ice, and all poisons.

Qian Renxue was Qian Daoliu's trump card against Bibi Dong in the future. If she could ignore poisons, she would hold a tremendous advantage should mother and daughter clash one day.

Bibi Dong would never give the immortal herbs to Qian Renxue. She had to take them herself!

This was also a hidden reason why Qian Daoliu had sent Golden Crocodile Douluo to suppress Sunset Forest.

First, to suppress the powerful figures coveting the immortal herbs. Second, to strike when necessary, coerce Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo, and seize the immortal herbs first!

Porcupine Douluo and Serpent Spear Douluo knelt and said:

"Young Mistress, time is of the essence."

"The Grand Enshrined repeatedly instructed us to ask that you depart at once!"

That day, the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou reported illness and recuperated behind closed doors, refusing all visitors.

Sky Screen timeline—

The following day.

Lu Xuan awoke from the soft bed, stretched lazily, and felt fully refreshed.

He got out of bed and looked down. Saintess Bibi Dong was curled into a ball on the straw mat, covered with a thin blanket. She looked like a wealthy young lady who had suddenly fallen into destitution.

His expression darkened. He kicked the blanket and scolded her:

"What are you sleeping for?"

"At your age, how can you even sleep?"

When Bibi Dong woke from her dreams and rubbed her drowsy eyes, she heard Lu Xuan snort.

"I only sleep in when I've reached my limit."

"You're only a Soul King. What right do you have to sleep in?"

"Your master worked so hard yesterday, yet I still woke up earlier than you!"

Bibi Dong said pitifully:

"But Teacher, body tempering yesterday was exhausting, and the floor is so hard. I'm not used to sleeping on it..."

Lu Xuan cut her off.

"Cut the nonsense. From now on, I sleep until I wake naturally. If I wake up and see you still sleeping in, you're finished!"

This Bibi Dong had no self-discipline at all.

Look at Tang San. He got up to cultivate before dawn every day, used meditation instead of sleep at night, and even had to make breakfast for that deadbeat father of his.

If he had not acknowledged Yu Xiaogang as his teacher and been dragged down so badly, that kid might really have made something of himself.

"I want breakfast. Go make it for me!"

Lu Xuan tossed a chunk of ten-thousand-year barbarian bull meat to Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong answered with an "Oh," then silently went to make breakfast like a wronged little girl.

Lu Xuan stood with his hands behind his back and watched her leave.

A disciple should naturally do what a disciple ought to do. If the master had to personally handle everything, that would not be a disciple—it would be an ancestor.

It seemed Saintess Dong had learned to cook before.

Her cooking was decent.

Lu Xuan thought that rather than rewarding sword techniques, the system might as well reward a complete cookbook. Disciples needed to develop comprehensively in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor...

After eating, Lu Xuan said blandly:

"Let's go. I'll take you to hunt a Soul Ring. If the trait of your Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor is devouring souls to strengthen yourself, then the trait of your Death Spider Emperor is plundering life force to replenish yourself. The longer you fight, the stronger you become."

Bibi Dong's two martial souls were each more sinister than the last. Not only were they top-tier emperors among soul beasts, but they were both exceptionally insidious and troublesome.

Yet the combat power she displayed was so pathetic that Tang Hao could suppress her. Thinking of this made Lu Xuan look at her even more coldly.

She had to be trained ruthlessly!

Crying wouldn't help. She still had to train even if she cried!

Leaving the Icefire Yin Yang Well, they headed straight for the core of Sunset Forest. In a medium-sized soul beast forest like Sunset Forest, only the deepest regions held high-age soul beasts.

If they could not find a suitable one, they could only go to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Lu Xuan spread out his spiritual power and swept across the entire core region like radar, eventually locking onto a Cave Demon Spider deep underground.

The Cave Demon Spider possessed formidable vitality and excelled at ambushing enemies by using the terrain. It was a rare close-combat, power-attack soul beast among spider-type soul beasts, with exceptional melee ability.

All of Bibi Dong's earlier Soul Rings had been focused on poison. In Lu Xuan's eyes, that was completely redundant. Poison was about quality, not quantity. One or two of the strongest kinds were enough.

The most troublesome aspect of the Death Spider Emperor had never been poison... but immortality.

Lu Xuan carried Bibi Dong on his sword and sped toward the Cave Demon Spider's nest in the core region.

They arrived at the entrance to the nest.

The Cave Demon Spider's nest was a complex, labyrinthine network that extended incredibly deep.

The usual hunting method was to lie in wait at an entrance until it emerged to feed, but that depended heavily on luck, since Cave Demon Spider nests had countless entrances.

Lu Xuan chose the most direct method.

He summoned the Godslayer Sword and casually slashed at the nest entrance. In an instant, dirt and rocks flew everywhere, and the bottomless nest was flattened into a massive pit.

Revealing the dumbfounded Cave Demon Spiders inside.

Lu Xuan locked onto the largest one and struck again with restrained force. The Cave Demon Spider did not even get a chance to flee before it collapsed, barely alive.

"I know you definitely can't beat it, so we'll save some trouble this time. I dealt with it for you. Go obtain the Soul Ring. Once you become a Soul Saint, you can hunt every Soul Ring afterward yourself."

Lu Xuan glanced at the other trembling Cave Demon Spiders.

With another sword strike, he heavily injured three smaller Cave Demon Spiders.

"After absorbing the Soul Ring, use your Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor martial soul to devour these ten-thousand-year Cave Demon Spiders."

"Let me see where your limit for devouring lies."

Hearing this, Saintess Bibi Dong felt a little nervous.

She said uneasily:

"But Teacher, this Cave Demon Spider seems to be fifty thousand years old. That already exceeds the stated limit for a sixth Soul Ring, by a full thirty thousand years!"

Lu Xuan spat.

"Who told you there is a limit to the age of Soul Rings one can absorb?"

"Everyone's physique is different. Can someone with a strong physique absorb the same age Soul Ring as someone with a weak physique? This so-called universally accepted Soul Ring age limit is complete nonsense!"

"If anyone spouts that rubbish to me in the future, slap them across the face. They're weak, yet they love pretending. Pretending is one thing, but misleading others while pretending means they deserve a beating!"

Saintess Bibi Dong answered with an "Oh," then obediently walked to the fifty-thousand-year Cave Demon Spider. The spider spears of her Death Spider Emperor delivered the final blow, and a black ten-thousand-year Soul Ring slowly floated into the air.

She sat down cross-legged and began absorbing it.

At this moment, dawn had also arrived in the original timeline.

More and more viewers gradually gathered before the Sky Screen.

"Damn, getting scared first thing in the morning! What is Her Holiness the Pope doing? Judging by the patterns on those spider legs, that's a fifty-thousand-year Cave Demon Spider!"

"I remember someone called Grandmaster—the one who published the Ten Core Martial Soul Theories. Didn't he say the absorption limit for a sixth Soul Ring was twenty thousand years? He even recommended absorbing one around twelve thousand years."

"I don't know, but isn't the age of a Soul Ring one can absorb determined by the individual? Every soul master's martial soul quality and physical condition are different. Could everyone's limit possibly be the same? Why does that sound like pure rote memorization?"

"Uh, is the Grandmaster you're talking about the disgrace of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect? The one who broke through to rank fifty at less than thirty years old in soul power?"

"You're not joking, are you? How could a Great Soul Master possibly be a Grandmaster? He doesn't even know what the Soul Venerable realm is like. Everything above Soul Venerable is just fantasy to him, and he still dares to guide others in cultivation?"

"This Grandmaster wasn't self-proclaimed, was he..."