"But so what?!"
Yu Xiaogang's laughter suddenly rose, turning shrill and piercing.
"You charged all the way to the gates of the Papal Hall, but what did that accomplish?"
"You were facing a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo, the Pope at the time, Qian Xunji!"
"You couldn't even touch a single finger of his before he beat you like a dead dog. In the end, didn't he still force you to crawl out of Spirit City in disgrace?!"
"You couldn't save her!"
"You could only watch helplessly, leaving Bibi Dong all alone in the Secret Chamber to endure that endless humiliation and torment!"
"Hahahaha! Yes, it was me! I couldn't have her! But neither could you! All you could do was stand outside like a useless piece of trash, listening to her screams, unable to do a thing!"
"We were both failures! Hahahaha!"
Yu Xiaogang's laughter echoed across the skies above Heaven Dou City.
There was not a trace of guilt or remorse in that laughter, only a sick, twisted madness and malice that sought to drag everyone down to hell with him.
Everyone was stunned by his utterly shameless words.
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Then came a towering inferno of rage.
Ning Rongrong stood below the platform, her pretty face pale with anger.
Her small hands were clenched tight, her nails digging deep into her palms.
Watching the man laughing madly on the platform, she felt wave after wave of nausea and revulsion.
She could not imagine how a man could say something so vicious, so cruel, about a woman he had once deeply loved.
It was nothing less than tearing open someone's deepest wound until it bled, rubbing a handful of salt into it, and then laughing at the top of his lungs.
Beside her, Oscar's expression was equally grim. He instinctively shielded Ning Rongrong behind him, his eyes filled with contempt as he looked at Yu Xiaogang.
In a nearby corner, Zhu Zhuqing said nothing.
Yet two cold, ghostly flames seemed to burn in her normally tranquil eyes.
She thought of Dai Mubai, and of the brutal struggle for the throne in the Star Luo Empire.
But even the most ruthless royal family would never stoop to something so vile and despicable.
This went beyond struggles for power. This was pure human depravity and evil.
Elsewhere, in the seats reserved for the Heaven Dou Empire's nobles.
Prince Xue Xing, who had always valued the royal family's dignity, now wore a livid expression as well.
Although he disliked Spirit Hall, he still held a measure of awe and respect for Bibi Dong, its formidable female Pope.
Yet Yu Xiaogang, a man born into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, had not only committed such a disgraceful act but smugly proclaimed it before the entire world.
He had disgraced not only himself, but the entire Upper Three Sects and the whole noble class!
Even Qian Renxue, who had remained as composed as an angler sitting steadily by the water while disguised as Xue Qinghe, suddenly clenched her hand inside her sleeve.
An intensely complicated glint flashed through her eyes.
There was anger, shame, and a faint, almost imperceptible killing intent.
Anger that a piece of trash like Yu Xiaogang dared to expose her father's disgraceful deeds so openly.
Shame that her father had truly done something so contemptible that even she despised it.
And that killing intent was directed both at Yu Xiaogang and at this unbearable past.
As for the thousands gathered in the square, especially the female Soul Masters, their reactions were far more direct.
"Kill him!"
Someone, no one knew who, was the first to shout.
"Yes! Kill that beast who's worse than pigs and dogs!"
"Qian Xunji is dead, but his accomplice is still alive! We can't let him get away!"
"Shameless! Filthy! I've never seen anyone so utterly brazen!"
"His Holiness the Pope is so pitiful... What exactly did she have to endure...?"
"No wonder His Holiness the Pope changed so drastically and wanted to wage war. All along, she was carrying such deep pain in her heart..."
For a time, the crowd seethed with outrage.
Their curses at Yu Xiaogang, their hatred of Qian Xunji, and their sympathy for Bibi Dong intertwined into an immense wave of sound.
That wave threatened to overturn the entire Judgment Platform.
Once, they had feared Spirit Hall for its tyranny.
But today, they felt genuine, profound sympathy and compassion for a Pope who should have been their enemy.
The curses roared like mountains crying out and seas surging, threatening to tear the very vault of the sky from above Heaven Dou Square.
Countless gazes converged on Yu Xiaogang. They no longer held mere contempt or scorn, but pure loathing, as though they wanted to devour him alive and strip the skin from his flesh.
How could a man be shameless to this extent?
He flaunted his most despicable deeds like trophies.
He made a woman's deepest suffering the source of his own sick pleasure.
"Kill him!"
"Someone like him doesn't deserve to live!"
"Cut him into a thousand pieces!"
The furious waves of shouting rose ever higher. Several hot-tempered Soul Masters had even stirred their soul power. Had the Heaven Dou Empire's Knight Corps not risked their lives to hold them back, they would have already stormed the Judgment Platform.
On the Judgment Platform, Bibi Dong's delicate body was still trembling.
Every word Yu Xiaogang spoke was like a poisoned steel blade, slicing back and forth, again and again, across wounds that had long since scabbed over.
Blood flowed, and the pain pierced her heart.
Her nails dug deep into her palms. Drops of crimson blood slipped between her fingers and fell onto her magnificent papal robes, blooming into a strangely beautiful red lotus.
But not a trace of vulnerability remained in her gaze.
Within her beautiful violet eyes burned a fire called hatred, fierce enough to reduce the entire continent to ashes.
Ning Lin, who had remained silent all this time, finally moved.
He slowly lifted his eyes and looked at Yu Xiaogang, who was still laughing like a madman.
His gaze was calm.
Just that single glance.
Yu Xiaogang's laughter stopped abruptly.
It was as though someone had dumped a basin of ten-thousand-year-old black ice water over his head. A sinister chill gripped him from head to toe.
What kind of gaze was that?
Why... why was he looking at me like that?!
What gave him the right?!
"A failure?"
Just then, Hu Liena's cool, clear voice pierced the uproar like a sharp sword.
The square fell silent once more.
Everyone's attention turned to Spirit Hall's Saintess.
Hu Liena looked at no one else. Her gaze remained fixed squarely on Yu Xiaogang.
"You called Ning Lin a failure?"
A smile of utter mockery tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"No."
"You're wrong."
Yu Xiaogang froze, as though he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
"I'm wrong? Haha! How am I wrong?"
He pointed at Ning Lin and shouted hoarsely.
"Back then, Qian Xunji beat him like a dead dog and drove him out of Spirit City. If that wasn't failure, what was it? He watched helplessly while Bibi Dong was violated. If that wasn't incompetence, what was it?"
"He..."
"Heh."
A soft laugh slipped from Bibi Dong's lips.
It was quiet, yet laden with boundless coldness and disdain.
She looked at Yu Xiaogang as though he were a fool who thought himself clever.
Before you continue