Bibi Dong's Idea

Yue Guan asked anxiously, "Your Holiness, does that mean all we can do now is make plans? Is there nothing else?"

"Perhaps what Lin Fan described is a novel, with words fixed on a page. But for us, it's reality. It's alive, and as long as it's alive, things can change at any moment. What if they change in ways we can't control?"

Yue Guan spoke in haste, but he had a point.

"You're right." Qian Xunji looked at him. "A novel is fixed, but we're not. That's why we need to make plans. Not to follow the novel, but to have cards to play when the unexpected happens."

Bibi Dong bowed. "Teacher, after learning what will happen to us, I've given it a lot of thought. I have an idea, though I'm not sure whether I should say it."

Qian Xunji's interest stirred. "Dong'er, speak your mind. I won't blame you."

"All right!" Bibi Dong raised her head. "If Lin Fan is right that Spirit Hall's heavy-handed approach drives everyone to oppose it, could we... do the opposite?"

"What do you mean?" Qian Xunji asked.

Bibi Dong answered earnestly, "In Lin Fan's story, Spirit Hall acts forcefully and directly. You could even call it overbearing."

"It kills and seizes what it wants outright. In the end, that pushes every potential enemy to the other side."

"But now that we know what will happen, we could win people over instead of killing them. Take Xiao Wu, whom Lin Fan just mentioned. If we prevent her from meeting Tang San and bring her into Spirit Hall instead, he won't seek revenge against us for her sake."

"And then there's Tang Hao. If we reach Ah Yin before he meets her, Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect won't become mortal enemies. The Grand Worshipper and Tang Chen get along well now, don't they? If we change what happens, Tang Hao will never have the chance to obtain a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring."

When Bibi Dong finished, the hall fell silent for a moment.

Qian Xunji did not answer at once. He simply watched her.

His sixteen-year-old disciple stood in the hall with her back straight and an uncommon sharpness in her eyes.

It was neither her usual liveliness nor her charm. She looked like someone thinking and planning in earnest.

"Dong'er," Qian Xunji finally said, "you're right."

He rose, walked into the center of the hall, and stopped before Bibi Dong. "Lin Fan said Spirit Hall's heavy-handed approach pushed everyone away. Until now, I've only thought of countering that by showing weakness. I forgot there was another way."

Bibi Dong looked up at him.

Qian Xunji spoke slowly. "Take a different route. Rather than killing or seizing what we want, we bring those who would have stood against us over to our side."

Yue Guan's eyes lit up. "Your Holiness, Her Highness the Saintess has a good idea."

"Xiao Wu is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who took human form. If she forms ties with Spirit Hall while she's young, perhaps even comes under its protection, she'll have no reason to cross paths with Tang San."

Bibi Dong nodded. "That's exactly what I mean, Teacher."

"There may be an even better way, involving Ah Yin. We all know that when a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast takes human form and starts cultivating anew, she becomes no different from a human once she reaches maturity."

"More importantly, the bloodlines of Soul Beasts capable of reaching a hundred thousand years and taking human form are exceptional. Nearly all of them are geniuses with Innate Full Soul Power."

"If Ah Yin, um... became your wife, Teacher, there would likewise be a good chance of having a descendant who could inherit the Angel God's position, as Lin Fan said would happen in the future."

For an instant, the air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Yue Guan's eyes went round. He sent Gui Mei a voice transmission. "Old Ghost, Her Highness the Saintess is something else. She must have been thinking about this for days."

Gui Mei replied, "It certainly is an unconventional approach."

Qian Xunji, meanwhile, looked at Bibi Dong. His voice dropped slightly. "Dong'er, do you know what you're saying?"

"I only just said that those not of our kind cannot be trusted, and now you want me to court a Soul Beast?"

Bibi Dong met his gaze and replied earnestly, "Teacher, Lin Fan said your future daughter, Qian Renxue, would inherit the Angel God's position. In that story, I'm the child's mother. But we're all trying to change what happens, so why not use this approach?"

"Ah Yin is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor who took human form. The fact that Tang San became a god shows how gifted her bloodline is. If she became your wife, your child would still have a powerful Angel Martial Soul."

"That way, the Angel God's inheritance would continue, I wouldn't have to go down that old path, and Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect wouldn't become mortal enemies."

Yue Guan drew a sharp breath. "That would solve three problems at once!"

Qian Xunji studied Bibi Dong's utterly serious expression and fell into thought.

He had to admit it was a good idea.

Seeing him consider it, Bibi Dong pressed on. "Teacher, I know you haven't found a suitable partner all these years because you've been looking for a woman of exceptional talent. Only then can you pass on the Angel Martial Soul."

"But how many women on the continent have Innate Full Soul Power and are of a suitable age? They're either already married, still children, or not yet born."

"So for the sake of the Qian family and the Angel Martial Soul's inheritance, please give this serious thought."

Qian Xunji said nothing. He was still considering Bibi Dong's proposal.

Yue Guan spoke up at the right moment. "Your Holiness, the Saintess has a point. This may well be a good solution."

Gui Mei said, "Your Holiness, I support the Saintess's proposal too."

Qian Xunji waved a hand. "Enough. I know it has merit, but she's a Soul Beast. Who knows whether the Angel God would strike me down for it?"

His words were half serious, half joking, but all three others in the hall could tell the idea had caught his interest.

"Give me time to think. I'll need to discuss it with my father as well. You may leave."

Bibi Dong, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei left the hall and entered the corridor.

Yue Guan smiled and cupped his hands. "Your Highness, I admire what you said today."

Bibi Dong replied calmly, "You're too kind, Elder Yue. I was only thinking of Spirit Hall."

"Of course, of course." Yue Guan nodded, then lowered his voice. "But Your Highness, if I may ask one more thing. About Ah Yin—were you truly thinking of Spirit Hall, or..."

Bibi Dong stopped and looked at him.

Yue Guan immediately raised both hands. "I won't ask! I spoke out of turn."

He grabbed Gui Mei and hurried away.

Bibi Dong stood where she was, watching them disappear at the end of the corridor. Then she looked down at her hands.

If Teacher agrees to my proposal, will I have changed my fate with my own hands?

She clenched her fists and strode toward her courtyard.