"Yes, Grandpa Ghost Douluo."
Gu Xingzhou answered honestly.
"So, you deliberately made me fart and embarrassed me? Since you can replace soul skills, why did you specifically have to replace Yu Xiaogang's soul skill?"
Hu Liena questioned him, flushed with embarrassment and anger.
Ghost Douluo immediately interrupted her, "Nana, mind your attitude. Perhaps His Highness the Holy Son has limited replacements for this soul skill; he is only a One-Ring Soul Master after all, and moreover, you were the one who proposed the match first."
"I'm sorry... Your Highness the Holy Son."
Hu Liena also realized her mistake. She was not an unreasonable person; it was mainly because of that move just now. Unless someone had facial paralysis, it would be extremely hard to keep a straight line, especially since she had practiced the arts of charm since childhood and possessed absolute confidence in her beauty. To have a blooming, pretty young maiden like herself fart in public-who wouldn't be flustered? Losing was not scary; she would rather have been sent rolling on the ground in a battered heap by Gu Xingzhou than suffer this kind of fate...
"Grandpa Ghost Douluo is right."
"The soul skills I can currently replace are still limited, which is why I specifically asked you before the fight started whether you truly wanted to battle me."
Gu Xingzhou replied.
Just at that moment, a familiar voice came from the entrance of the Papal Hall.
"Xingzhou, you said the soul skills you can replace are still limited, so what is the upper limit?"
Gu Xingzhou turned his head to look. It was none other than Bibi Dong, with her purple hair and noble demeanor and makeup, his adoptive mother, who called the Pope "Mother."
"Mom..."
A flash of surprise crossed Gu Xingzhou's eyes. He swore that in his past life he never played Valorant; the reason he unceasingly awakened Bibi Dong's maternal love was purely to hug a powerful thigh.
"Mm, this is no place to talk. Come inside first."
Bibi Dong's cheeks flushed slightly as she turned away.
Gu Xingzhou followed right after her.
Hu Liena was about to follow when Ghost Douluo signaled her to leave.
The Papal Hall was empty and devoid of guards, leaving only him and Bibi Dong.
Along the way,
Bibi Dong's heart was a tangle of wild thoughts. Especially now that they were alone without the live stream audience, it was precisely because of this that she grew increasingly nervous. Scene after scene played out in the live stream-sucking out the toxin for first aid, the Tang Sect Thirteen Needles, the peace sign squats...
All of these made her flush with agonizing shame.
Especially that Tang Sect Thirteen Needles, the eleventh needle...
Originally she had been wondering how to face Gu Xingzhou and deliberately let Hu Liena go out to block for her, so now she could smoothly start from the topic of martial souls to make things less awkward.
"There is no one else here. Tell me honestly about your martial soul and soul skills."
Bibi Dong walked ahead, still keeping her back to Gu Xingzhou as she asked while walking, entirely because she did not dare look straight into Gu Xingzhou's eyes.
"My martial soul is a fox mask."
"As long as I have observed a soul skill, it gets stored in the mask. Then in battle, as long as I hit the enemy with the mask, I can replace their soul skill, but the duration is only one minute."
Gu Xingzhou answered truthfully.
"Observed soul skills? Anything at all?"
"Can you only replace a first soul skill, or can you replace anything else?"
Bibi Dong asked in astonishment.
"In theory, any soul skill can be replaced. As long as my soul power is sufficient, I can cycle through replacing every single soul skill."
"As for what soul skills can be stored... It seems there are no restrictions."
"Because..."
"I discovered that the soul skills I saw in the live stream seem to work too..."
Gu Xingzhou said.
"What???"
"The ones seen in the live stream work too? What do you mean? You mean... things like the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo?"
Bibi Dong turned around in utter shock, staring at Gu Xingzhou as she asked earnestly.
"Yes, I was very surprised too... but I saw that soul skill was inside the mask, though I hadn't tested it yet and just tried Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao a moment ago."
Gu Xingzhou replied.
"...Specifically how many, and which ones?"
Bibi Dong continued to ask.
"Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo Pole Vault, Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo Kill, and Tough Bamboo Temptation."
Gu Xingzhou answered honestly.
"..."
"Generate a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo Pole Vault mask for me to see. I want to test whether it can be effective against Titled Douluos."
Bibi Dong hesitated for a moment before speaking.
She had already done things far more socially agonizing in front of Gu Xingzhou, so a mere pole vault didn't amount to much anymore.
"Okay."
Gu Xingzhou immediately activated his first soul skill, generated a Joy Mask, and handed it to Bibi Dong.
The instant Bibi Dong took it,
the mask transformed into a streak of red and white light, merging into Bibi Dong's body.
Bibi Dong instantly prepared to try executing the first soul skill of her first martial soul, the Death Spider Emperor, but a bizarre thing happened. Clearly, in her mind, she was thinking of the Death Spider Emperor's first soul skill, but her mouth involuntarily shouted out: "First soul skill, Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo Pole Vault!"
The next second, a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo instantly appeared in her hands, and then, right in front of Gu Xingzhou, she began to jump up and down in the empty Papal Hall...
"..."
When Bibi Dong finally returned to the ground, she coughed twice with a trace of embarrassment.
"This soul skill of yours is truly miraculous, rendering even me unable to control it."
"However, this soul skill of yours must never be exposed lightly. Normally you can use soul skills like Luo Sanpao to misdirect and confuse people."
"As for those like the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo-fictional soul skills from the live stream-unless necessary, you must never reveal them in front of outsiders."
Bibi Dong said solemnly.
"I understand, Mom."
Gu Xingzhou promised.
"Alright, that's enough for today. You've traveled for half a day, so you should get some rest. I've already ordered someone to tidy up a room for you. The Holy Son's residence isn't arranged yet, so for this period you will live with me in the Papal Hall. That way your safety can be guaranteed too."
"After all, you are now the only genius across the entire Douluo Continent whose first soul ring is ten thousand years old; far too many people are eyeing you."
Bibi Dong said.
"Okay."
Gu Xingzhou nodded, then followed Bibi Dong to a room, identified his living quarters, and she took him to the dining hall for a lavish feast before he finally returned to his room to rest.
After all, he was still very far from becoming a god; eating, drinking, shitting, sleeping, and resting were indispensable.
The bed in this room clearly still carried the fragrance belonging to Hu Liena. Presumably Hu Liena, as Bibi Dong's direct disciple, occasionally slept here for a night or two.
Breathing in the scent,
Gu Xingzhou quickly fell asleep.
The next day...
Gu Xingzhou woke up feeling wonderful. Because he had eaten too well and too full the previous night, he didn't feel hungry at all, so he lazily stretched out on the fragrant, soft bed and turned on the live stream.
At the exact same moment, whether they were willing or not, everyone across the entire Douluo Continent was forcibly dragged out of their sweet dreams by Gu Xingzhou.
Scrolls of ink painting unfolded before their eyes.
[Today's live stream officially begins!]
[This round of the live stream will star Tang Hao and Tang San, the popularity winners from yesterday!]
[A PK match between Tang Hao and Tang San!]
[Entering the script selection phase now!]
When the live stream announcement began,
Tang Hao, who was far away at the ends of the earth, instantly grew nervous...
Before you continue