Harvest Galore

Bibi Xu had been extremely discreet. The spider lances had extended only slightly, and the energy pull was minuscule. With everyone's attention focused on Bibi Dong, no one noticed at first.

But as time passed, the signs eventually began to show.

Ghost Douluo, Gui Mei, was responsible for watching the west. His peripheral vision happened to sweep over Bibi Xu's direction. He paid it no mind at first, but the longer he looked, the more something felt wrong.

Why was something moving behind that child? And why were there faint Soul Power fluctuations?

He focused his gaze, and the moment he saw clearly, his pupils abruptly contracted.

An External Soul Bone!

And it was actively absorbing the residual energy of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Looking lower, two purple Soul Rings flickered beneath the boy's feet. The Second Spirit Ring in particular had an exceptionally deep color; one glance was enough to tell that its age was terrifyingly high.

Gui Mei sucked in a sharp breath.

He had long heard that the Pope's son possessed extraordinary talent and had become a Soul Grandmaster at the age of six.

But seeing it with his own eyes was another matter entirely. Those Soul Ring colors... the second ring was probably nearing four thousand years, wasn't it? A six-year-old level twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster? And an External Soul Bone capable of evolving on its own?

What kind of monster was this?

His reaction alerted Yue Guan beside him. Yue Guan followed his gaze and froze as well, his mouth falling open as he nearly cried out.

An External Soul Bone! And it could evolve by absorbing the corpse of a Soul Beast?

They had lived for most of their lives and had only heard that External Soul Bones might grow alongside a Soul Master. They had never heard of one actively absorbing Soul Beast energy to evolve.

This was no longer merely rare. It was unheard of!

And looking at that child's age... six?

A six-year-old Soul Grandmaster, two high-age Millennium Soul Rings, and an External Soul Bone that could evolve.

This talent was even more terrifying than His Holiness the Pope's had been in her youth!

Were mother and son both monsters?

Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance, each seeing shock and apprehension in the other's eyes.

Originally, their decision to pledge themselves to Bibi Dong had merely been a calculated choice after weighing the pros and cons. But after seeing Bibi Xu, their thoughts changed completely.

With such a monstrously gifted son, combined with His Holiness the Pope's own talent, Spirit Hall's future was practically limitless. Following a ruler like this could never be a mistake.

The loyalty in their hearts deepened by several degrees.

Ling Yuan, standing beside Bibi Xu, felt it most clearly.

She could distinctly sense the young master's Soul Power rapidly rising and the aura of the External Soul Bone on his back growing ever stronger. She was stunned as well, her lips parting slightly before she finally recovered after a long while.

She had known all along that the young master was extraordinarily talented, but she had never imagined... extraordinary to this extent.

This was no genius. This was practically a monster!

Bibi Xu focused on absorbing for about a quarter of an hour. Once he sensed that the Eight Spider Lances had reached their current limit, he slowly withdrew the pulling force.

When he looked at the Eight Spider Lances again, they had completely changed.

The spider lances, originally just over two meters long, had now grown beyond three meters. Their entire bodies were dark black with a metallic sheen, their edges covered in dense barbs, while their tips gleamed with an eerie blue-violet light. Their venom had become several times stronger than before.

With a light swing, they sliced the air with a faint tearing whistle. Their sharpness had soared dramatically.

Their age had directly broken through to thirteen thousand five hundred years!

One absorption had carried them straight past the ten-thousand-year threshold.

Moreover, his Soul Power had jumped two levels in a row, steadily stopping at level twenty-seven.

"Jackpot." Bibi Xu was ecstatic inside, but his face remained calm. He quietly retracted the Eight Spider Lances, pretending that nothing had happened as he continued looking toward Bibi Dong.

Just then, Bibi Dong's aura suddenly surged.

A terrifying storm of Soul Power swept outward from her as its center. Her scarlet Ninth Spirit Ring slowly rose beneath her feet, shining together with the previous eight Soul Rings. Yellow, purple, black, and red interwove into a breathtaking sight.

The Ninth Spirit Ring—one hundred thousand years!

A Titled Douluo had emerged!

Bibi Dong slowly opened her eyes, and two sharp flashes of light vanished in an instant. She rose to her feet, her aura restrained yet unfathomably deep. She was completely different from before.

A Titled Douluo was a qualitative leap.

"Congratulations, Your Holiness! Congratulations on breaking through to Titled Douluo!"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei immediately dropped to one knee, their voices filled with reverence.

Ling Yuan also hurried forward with Bibi Xu, bowing as she said, "Congratulations, Your Holiness!"

Bibi Dong's gaze swept over everyone before finally settling on Bibi Xu. Only when she saw that he was unharmed did her expression soften.

But the next moment, she frowned slightly. Walking over to Bibi Xu, she caught his wrist and sent Soul Power into him.

"Level twenty-seven?" Bibi Dong was somewhat surprised. Then her gaze fell on his back. "Your Eight Spider Lances... evolved?"

She knew her son's aura too well. At a glance, she could tell something was off.

Bibi Xu stuck out his tongue and did not hide it. "It reacted on its own just now, so I tried absorbing some residual energy. I didn't expect it to really evolve."

Bibi Dong carefully examined the Eight Spider Lances again. Feeling the explosive increase in their venom and sharpness, her eyes filled with delight. "Good... what a fine evolving External Soul Bone. In the future, we should find more high-age spider-type Soul Beasts for you to devour. Perhaps it can truly evolve to the hundred-thousand-year level someday."

A Hundred-Thousand-Year External Spirit Bone—what kind of concept was that? It was simply unimaginable.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei, listening nearby, were even more shocked.

Sure enough, it could continue evolving!

This young master's future achievements would likely not fall below His Holiness the Pope's.

Bibi Dong was in an excellent mood. Her son's accomplishments made her even happier than her own breakthrough to Titled Douluo.

She bent down and stroked Bibi Xu's head, smiling. "Come, let's take out the Soul Bones first. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast is certain to produce Soul Bones. Let's see which part they are."

She walked to the Death Spider Emperor's corpse, extended her Soul Power, and quickly extracted a pair of black Soul Bones from deep within its chest cavity.

The two Soul Bones were shaped like sickles and covered in natural spider patterns, exuding a dense aura of death.

"Arm bones, and a matching pair at that." Satisfaction flashed through Bibi Dong's eyes. "Hundred-Thousand-Year Death Spider Emperor left and right arm bones. They are perfectly suited to Ah Xu's Twin Spider Emperors martial souls."

A rare pair of Hundred-Thousand-Year left and right arm Soul Bones was priceless. With them, Bibi Xu's offensive power and survivability would rise by a great margin, and his future path would be more secure. When she was not by his side, Ah Xu would also have another means of protecting himself.

She put away the Soul Bones, then glanced once more at the massive corpse and said to Bibi Xu, "If you still want to absorb the rest of the corpse, go ahead. There's no rush. We'll return tomorrow."

Since her son liked it, she would let him absorb his fill. Keeping the corpse around would only be wasteful anyway; it was better to make the most of it.

Bibi Xu's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Mom!"

But even if he wanted to absorb more, there was nothing left to absorb. The residual energy had already been drained dry earlier, so further absorption would be useless.

He scratched his head. "But... I think it's already been drained dry."

Bibi Dong smiled and ruffled his hair, her eyes full of indulgence.

The setting sun's afterglow passed through gaps in the miasma and spilled into the canyon, coating the cold battlefield in a layer of warmth.

The group stood beside the corpse, their shadows stretched long.

Bibi Dong had officially entered the realm of Titled Douluo, her strength rising to another level; Bibi Xu had gained an evolved Eight Spider Lances and two consecutive Soul Power level-ups; Yue Guan and Gui Mei had been completely won over, thoroughly throwing their lot in with the new Pope.

Their journey to Death Grand Canyon had yielded a bountiful harvest.