The Pope's Chessboard! The Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well!

Spirit Hall, Papal Hall.

The midnight bells had long since fallen silent.

The candles in the hall had burned out, leaving the light and shadows dim.

Bibi Dong sat upright upon the towering papal throne. Two intelligence reports lay side by side on the obsidian table before her.

The one on the left was a backup transmitted by Qian Renxue through a standard Soul Tool.

Spirit Hall's communications system never trusted any individual. Every piece of intelligence sent out was simultaneously archived in the central Soul Tool.

On the right was a fingernail-sized Soul Tool communication chip, flickering with a faint glow.

It had just been delivered by the Black Dove.

She had read Qian Renxue's report three times, word by word, sentence by sentence.

She had not even overlooked the fluctuations of Soul Power embedded between the lines.

"Xue Beng, the fourth prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, has made contact with the target again... His companion is suspected to be Dugu Bo... Continued observation is recommended. Do not intervene for now."

Her gaze slowly shifted to the right.

The information on that communication chip was like a blade tempered in ice.

"The target has reached an agreement with Xue Beng, the fourth prince of Heaven Dou. Subject: the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well."

"The intelligence transmitted by the Saintess contains critical omissions. The words 'Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well' were deliberately erased."

Bibi Dong's fingers traced the cold edge of the communication chip back and forth.

The motion was slow and repetitive.

The hall was vast and empty. No one could see her expression at that moment.

It was not anger.

After ruling Spirit Hall for thirty years, betrayal could no longer provoke her fury.

But this time, the betrayer was Qian Renxue.

Her daughter.

Her fingers stopped moving.

"Xue'er."