Evil God Retainer Bibi Dong

Placing an Evil God Mark on talented people, giving them the grand name of Evil God Retainers when they were really cultivation fuel...

Wasn't this just a fucking Evil Soul Master?!

Xu Xiaonian was alarmed and uncertain, but after carefully reviewing the Evil God Mark-Gifting Method, his expression relaxed.

It turned out that this sacrifice did not inflict irreversible harm on the retainers themselves.

After the sacrifice, with the cooperation of the "Evil God himself"—meaning him—the retainers could recover completely from their injuries after a period of recuperation.

Moreover, becoming an Evil God Retainer offered considerable... even enormous benefits.

That benefit was shared talent. No matter how gifted a retainer was, they would struggle to surpass Xu Xiaonian, who possessed two god-tier martial souls, and he could share his own talent with them.

After becoming an Evil God Retainer, their cultivation speed, physical constitution, and talent ceiling would all improve to some degree.

The extent of that improvement depended on the level of the Evil God Mark on the retainer.

A retainer only needed to sacrifice their soul when raising the mark to a very high level.

As for how to raise the mark's level...

"Xiaonian! His Holiness the Pope has summoned you!"

"Deacon Long is outside! He's here to take you to the Papal Palace!" Qian Peijiu called from outside the door, her voice tinged with urgency.

So soon? Hadn't I been home for less than two hours?

Surprise crossed Xu Xiaonian's face. Setting aside his investigation of the Evil God Mark-Gifting Method for now, he followed Deacon Long to the Papal Palace under Qian Peijiu and Xu Ke's worried yet expectant gazes.

The Papal Palace.

Seated on a gilded throne, Bibi Dong looked the child before her over a few times before slowly speaking.

"Your name is Xu Xiaonian? You awakened twin martial souls? And one of them is the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger?"

"Yes, Your Holiness," Xu Xiaonian answered, neither servile nor arrogant.

"Show me your martial souls."

"As you command."

He summoned his Dark Demon Evil God Tiger first.

The tiger beast martial soul manifested in the great hall, with wings sprouting from its back, a scorpion's tail, fangs, and crimson eyes.

"This is..."

Bibi Dong's heart gave a sudden jolt. She felt her Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor and Death Spider Emperor martial souls stir restlessly, as though they had sensed something intimately familiar.

Her expression turned astonished.

As one of the most powerful experts on the continent, she naturally understood what this reaction from her martial souls meant...

This child's martial soul... could actually perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with mine?

And judging by their reaction, his martial soul would even take the lead during the Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

If I could quickly cultivate him into a trusted subordinate, he would be another tremendous asset to my future plans.

Bibi Dong began to consider nurturing the child before her.

The next instant.

Xu Xiaonian summoned his Holy Spirit Purcell martial soul.

A sacred, holy aura spread through the great hall, standing in equal opposition to the evil aura brought by the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.

"What?!"

Bibi Dong shot to her feet and stared fixedly at him. "You... you have the Holy Angel Family's bloodline?"

Living in Spirit City, Xu Xiaonian knew his background would come to light sooner or later. He took a deep breath and admitted, "Yes. My mother is a direct descendant of the Holy Angel Family."

"The Great Enshrined... is my maternal grandfather..."

Boom—!!

Bibi Dong's powerful aura spilled out uncontrollably, causing several pillars around her to collapse to varying degrees.

She forced herself to calm down, abandoning her intention to nurture Xu Xiaonian.

"The Holy Angel Family... truly produces one talent after another..."

A moment later, Bibi Dong noticed Xu Xiaonian's clothing and raised an eyebrow.

"But has your family fallen on hard times lately? Why don't you even have a decent set of clothes?"

His clothes were not actually bad, but in her eyes, they were undoubtedly rags... unbefitting a member of the Holy Angel Family.

"My mother has very poor talent. She married outside the family, so her ties to the Holy Angel Family... aren't very strong anymore."

"Hmm?" Bibi Dong seemed to remember something. Understanding dawned on her. "You're talking about Qian Xunji's younger cousin... Qian Peijiu, aren't you? That would explain it..."

Direct descendants of the Holy Angel Family generally never married outside the family. Most likely, Qian Peijiu had done so because she had not inherited the family's martial soul.

In that case, nurturing this child a little was not entirely out of the question.

Even if the holy spiritual aura coming from him truly made her skin crawl...

"Child, let me ask you something."

Bibi Dong asked, "In this vast Spirit Hall... whose orders do you think you should obey, the Pope's or the Great Enshrined's?"

Xu Xiaonian's heart tightened. He understood that she was making him choose a side.

Bibi Dong? Or my nominal grandfather—Qian Daoliu?

In terms of character and blood ties, Qian Daoliu was undoubtedly the choice.

In terms of strength, the two were roughly equal, but Bibi Dong could become the Rakshasa God, while Qian Daoliu had no possibility of attaining godhood.

His choice was...

"Of course I'd obey the Pope!"

Xu Xiaonian opened his eyes wide, wearing an expression that said the answer was only natural.

The future Rakshasa God was Bibi Dong, and the future Angel God was Bibi Dong's daughter.

Although Qian Daoliu could not be underestimated either, he held no hostility toward Bibi Dong and also supported the establishment of the Spirit Hall Empire.

Bibi Dong simply did not know what Qian Daoliu truly thought.

So siding with Bibi Dong was the right choice!

Long live the Spirit Hall Empire!!

"Very good!" Bibi Dong nodded in satisfaction, then addressed a gold-armored guard standing to one side of the hall. "Go and bring Nana here."

While they waited.

Bibi Dong summoned her Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor martial soul and approached Xu Xiaonian with graceful steps. Her cool, delicate hand took his as she said:

"Try using Martial Soul Possession with your Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, then channel your soul power into me. Pay close attention to any changes in your martial soul."

Xu Xiaonian did as instructed.

His sky-blue eyes turned crimson. As he transmitted soul power imbued with his martial soul's attributes into her hand, he quickly sensed the injected power vanish without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

Beyond that, he felt nothing.

Bibi Dong, however, could no longer remain composed. She clearly sensed her Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor martial soul becoming unusually restless after devouring that soul power, craving another taste of that delicacy as though addicted.

Under her martial soul's influence, Bibi Dong's lovely face flushed slightly, and her breathing quickened.

"Give me all the soul power you have right now. Quickly!"

"Oh." Xu Xiaonian continued to comply.

But the next instant, the Evil God Mark-Gifting Method suddenly began operating on its own, completing a full circulation in an extremely short time.

Then, under Xu Xiaonian's horrified gaze, an Evil God Retainer mark shaped remarkably like a succubus crest from his previous life appeared on Bibi Dong's soft, fair nape.

"Hmm? What is this?"

Bibi Dong came back to her senses, noticed the mark on the back of her neck, and questioned the culprit in confusion.

Judging by her reaction, the mark had clearly caused her no discomfort—or perhaps it simply could not affect a Titled Douluo whose level was in the nineties.

Perhaps that was because he, the mark's master, was still too weak?

"Uh..."

Faced with Bibi Dong's question, Xu Xiaonian's mind raced. He hid his sweaty hands behind his back and forced a smile.

"This... this is the Evil God's blessing mark. It can improve the talent of people who aren't as gifted as I am! Heh..."