Pressure Falls on Spirit Hall

Bibi Dong was beginning to understand. Whenever Yu Xiaogang came up, everything said about her made her look bad.

Now she had to take a hard look at Lin Fan's earlier descriptions of her as "love-addled" and "an ungrateful wretch."

"Damn it. Is falling in love really supposed to make people stupid?"

"I'm going to kill that Yu Xiaogang with my own hands!"

Who was she, Bibi Dong? She had awakened her Martial Soul at six, possessed Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls, and become Spirit Hall's Saintess and the Pope's personal disciple.

While her peers still struggled to reach Soul Elder, she had already advanced to Soul Emperor.

Would someone like her give up everything she had in Spirit Hall for a good-for-nothing who couldn't even reach level ten?

Yet she couldn't bring herself to disbelieve the stories Lin Fan had told.

Qian Xunji, Qian Daoliu, Yue Guan, Gui Mei—Lin Fan had been right about every one of them.

Then he was unlikely to be wrong about her future, either.

Bibi Dong was thoroughly confused.

She had spent much of the past two days thinking about it.

She simply couldn't imagine what she might want from Yu Xiaogang.

Seeing Bibi Dong's brow furrowed so deeply, Qian Xunji patted her shoulder.

Then he said to Lin Fan, "Xiao Fan, go on with Tang San's story."

"Right." Lin Fan nodded. "I did get a little sidetracked, but Yu Xiaogang is fairly important in the novel. I wanted to give you some background so you could understand."

"Now, where was I?"

"After Tang San became his disciple, Yu Xiaogang helped him enroll. Tang San moved into the Work-Study Student Dormitory and met the most important woman in his life: Xiao Wu, who later became his wife."

"Xiao Wu happened to be in Tang San's class. She was also a genius with Innate Full Soul Power."

Yue Guan exclaimed in surprise, "Innate Full Soul Power again? Two people with it turning up in one remote area at the same time? That hardly makes sense."

"You'd think geniuses with Innate Full Soul Power were everywhere."

After a moment's thought, Qian Xunji said, "Xiao Fan, I take it this Xiao Wu has an unusual background too?"

"She certainly does!" Lin Fan nodded. "Xiao Wu is a Soft Bone Rabbit, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that took human form."

Qian Xunji was startled. "Another Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Why are they all connected to Tang San? His mother was a Soul Beast, and even his future wife is one."

"Speaking of that, let me tell you a joke," Lin Fan said with a grin. "It's about the Tang Family Ancestral Precepts."

"It goes: 'Don't raise your sons, don't let your daughters bear children; sons marry Soul Beasts, starting at a hundred thousand years old; daughters marry those with cheats, and settle for no one short of a god; sons get Blue Silver, daughters get Clear Sky.'"

"Readers even joke that, a few generations down the line, Tang San's descendants have practically no human blood left. They're Soul Beasts through and through—the kind you could kill for a Soul Ring."

"Funny, isn't it?"

Lin Fan had no idea whether they found it funny. He burst out laughing before anyone else could answer.

Bibi Dong laughed too. "Is it really that ridiculous?"

"Absolutely. But all that happens many years later."

"Hmph!" Qian Xunji did not laugh. He snorted instead. "Neither human nor beast—an unnatural mess. Don't the Tangs understand that those not of our kind cannot be trusted?"

Yue Guan immediately chimed in. "His Holiness is right. A Soul Beast is a Soul Beast, whether it's a hundred thousand years old or a million. It will never be human. The Tangs willingly sank so low as to consort with beasts. No wonder they became Spirit Hall's mortal enemies."

Lin Fan explained, "Village chief, this sort of thing is pretty common in Fantasy Novels. There's nothing strange about it. Besides, under the rules of Douluo Continent, only a Titled Douluo can see through a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that has taken human form to cultivate again. How could Tang San and the others have known?"

"The same goes for Tang Hao. He didn't know Ah Yin was a Soul Beast at first. She only told him after they'd fallen in love and were about to marry. Human Soul Masters are a great danger to Soul Beasts cultivating in human form. They can't exactly go around shouting, 'I'm a Soul Beast.'"

"So Xiao Wu went to school in a remote area to learn about humans without being discovered. Then, by sheer coincidence, she met Tang San, the protagonist."

Gui Mei spoke for once, his voice low. "If Xiao Wu is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, killing her would yield both a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone."

Qian Xunji's eyes sharpened.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone were treasures even Titled Douluo dreamed of.

"And that's exactly what Spirit Hall did. After Bibi Dong discovered Xiao Wu's identity, she sent people to hunt her down. But in the end, Tang San got Xiao Wu's Soul Ring and Soul Bone. It played out just like Tang Hao's story."

"That's why Tang San and Spirit Hall became mortal enemies."

Qian Xunji snorted. "So both times Spirit Hall took action, it ended up helping father and son?"

Lin Fan nodded. "Exactly. Pope Bibi Dong led the operation, with Yue Guan and Gui Mei, two Titled Douluo, accompanying her."

Yue Guan and Gui Mei looked at each other.

Yue Guan's voice rose an octave. "Us again? And we fail again?"

Qian Xunji drew a deep breath and said grimly, "So everything Spirit Hall does in this story pushes Tang San closer to becoming a god."

"That's right," Lin Fan said. "The novel explicitly says Tang San becomes the Sea God at twenty-five."

"To put it bluntly, Spirit Hall is practically serving as Tang San's sparring partner."

"A god at twenty-five!" Qian Xunji and the other two sucked in sharp breaths.

At twenty-five, most Soul Masters on the continent had only recently graduated from an advanced Soul Master Academy and were just setting out into the Soul Master world.

Once they heard the age at which Tang San became a god, the pressure fell squarely on Spirit Hall.

"That's enough for today." Qian Xunji rose, his tone betraying neither pleasure nor anger. "Xiao Fan, get some rest."

"Take care on your way back, village chief."

Pope's Palace.

Qian Xunji sat in the Pope's seat, his expression grave.

"Have you worked out the timeline?" he asked.

Bibi Dong stepped forward. "Teacher, I have. If we do nothing, I'll probably meet Yu Xiaogang in six months to a year. By that reckoning, Tang San will be born in another fifteen or sixteen years."

Yue Guan stepped forward. "Your Holiness, should we make arrangements now? We could intercept Xiao Wu when she leaves the Star Dou Great Forest and kill her before anything happens."

Gui Mei also took a step forward. "Tang San's father, Tang Hao, is currently traveling the Soul Master world with his elder brother Tang Xiao. They're known as the Clear Sky Twin Stars. Should we deal with them secretly? They'll likely meet that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast named Ah Yin before long."

Qian Xunji tapped a finger against the armrest. After several minutes of thought, he said slowly, "We could, but it would introduce too many uncertainties."

"Set aside Xiao Wu, who won't appear for another twenty years. Tang Hao and Tang Xiao are right in front of us, but the Clear Sky Sect is at the height of its power, and its sect master, Peerless Douluo Tang Chen, is there."

"Even if we destroy the Clear Sky Sect, remember what Lin Fan said. Tang San, this so-called Child of the World, will still come into being."

"Then things could move beyond our control. If we follow the story Lin Fan described and guide events from the shadows, the initiative will remain with us."

"As the Grand Worship said, we may lay plans, but we must not act recklessly. That's why he launched the Infiltration Plan."