Hu Liena, who had been chatting happily with Chen Ci, suddenly whipped her head around to look at Bibi Dong.
She noticed that Bibi Dong seemed lost in memories.
The girl had always been mature for her age, and given their current surroundings, the clever Hu Liena immediately understood what Bibi Dong was thinking about.
With a mischievous grin, Hu Liena ran over to Bibi Dong, startling her.
In front of the three youngsters, Bibi Dong briefly set aside her identity as Pope and showed a girlish side.
She rolled her eyes at Hu Liena and chided her coyly:
"Hu Liena, what are you doing~?"
Hu Liena said with a giggle:
"Teacher, I get the feeling you're missing someone~
"Tell us about it~"
"No."
Bibi Dong promptly refused. Unless something unexpected happened, this was a secret she would keep buried in her heart for the rest of her life.
Naturally, she would not reveal it lightly.
Hu Liena had only intended to bluff her into talking. She had never expected that Bibi Dong really had fallen for someone.
Now she would not be so easy to brush off.
Hu Liena clung to Bibi Dong's arm and shook it:
"Teacher, please~"
Bibi Dong could not withstand Hu Liena's persistent coaxing. Besides, she had already noticed that Hu Liena was secretly developing feelings for Chen Ci.
To keep another pair of ill-fated lovers from appearing in this world, Bibi Dong decided to recount the past she had kept sealed away for so long.
After all, in Bibi Dong's eyes, all three were her students, and they were still youngsters. There was little reason to be guarded around them.
Moreover, as their teacher, she had to consider not only how to teach them to cultivate, but also how to guide them as people.
And so Bibi Dong told the three of them about her past with Yu Xiaogang.
Chen Ci was not particularly interested in Bibi Dong's past. As a transmigrator, he already knew her romantic history, including the secrets behind it.
Hu Liena and Gu Yuena, however, listened with rapt attention. One was a girl experiencing the first stirrings of love, while the other was the Silver Dragon King, who knew little of the world.
Chen Ci suddenly felt that Bibi Dong, before she fell into darkness, seemed rather good.
Under her leadership, Spirit Hall visited villages every year to awaken the martial souls of children of the appropriate age, without asking for any payment.
Ordinary soul masters could also visit Spirit Hall to look up any information they needed.
Tang San's destruction of Spirit Hall was truly a monstrous sin. Because of him, by the era of Peerless Tang Sect, no one was awakening martial souls for commoners anymore.
Only after Huo Yuhao founded the Spirit Pagoda did commoners once again gain the opportunity to awaken their martial souls for free.
Tang San truly was guilty of monstrous sins.
As Hu Liena listened to Bibi Dong's story, she kept stealing glances at Chen Ci, who was lost in thoughts she could not guess.
Finally, Bibi Dong looked at Hu Liena and said pointedly:
"If you find someone you like in the future, you must take the initiative and fight for them. Only then can you avoid regrets."
Gu Yuena was rather bewildered and pondered inwardly:
Like... what did that mean?
Hu Liena understood that Bibi Dong was giving her guidance, but right now, she was more concerned with what sort of man Bibi Dong liked.
She asked Bibi Dong:
"Teacher, you're so powerful. What cultivation level does the man you like have?"
Bibi Dong's expression became somewhat awkward, but she still answered:
"We've been apart for many years, but his cultivation probably isn't very high."
Hu Liena continued:
"Teacher, then what's his martial soul? How talented is he?"
"Let's not discuss his martial soul. His talent is fairly good."
Gu Yuena asked:
"Is he as talented as my brother Chen Ci?"
Bibi Dong shook her head. Though she hated to admit it, the truth was that the man she loved really was not as talented as Chen Ci.
Hu Liena asked, "Teacher, what does he look like?"
Bibi Dong replied, "He looks all right."
Gu Yuena asked, "Is he as handsome as Chen Ci?"
Bibi Dong shook her head.
After a string of questions, Hu Liena and Gu Yuena found themselves on the same side for once and asked in unison:
"Teacher, from what you've said, that man can't compare to Chen Ci in any way. What do you like about him?"
Their question left Bibi Dong silent.
What did she like about Yu Xiaogang?
Hearing this, Chen Ci became interested.
He knew the truth behind Bibi Dong falling in love with Yu Xiaogang. If he could make her discover that truth...
Then perhaps she would not fall into darkness.
Moreover, Chen Ci was eager to see what would happen when Yu Xiaogang, still believing that Bibi Dong loved him deeply, eventually met a Bibi Dong who had already seen through the truth.
He could not tell Bibi Dong the truth directly, though. He could only try to guide her gently toward it; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain how he knew.
The truth was simple: Qian Xunji had discovered the Rakshasa God's origin power within Bibi Dong, and to activate it...
He had used mental suggestion to make Bibi Dong fall in love with Yu Xiaogang, then used the same method to make Yu Xiaogang fall in love with Liu Erlong, creating a situation in which Bibi Dong was betrayed.
This would ultimately stir intense negative emotions in Bibi Dong and activate the Rakshasa God's origin power.
Since mental suggestion had been used, and Qian Xunji, the one responsible for it, was already dead...
As long as Bibi Dong could see through it, perhaps that suggestion would collapse without a fight.
Chen Ci could only give it a try.
First, he had to strengthen Bibi Dong's conviction that she could not possibly have fallen for Yu Xiaogang. So Chen Ci said:
"Teacher, you're a heaven-favored genius, and as beautiful as a celestial maiden. Why would you fall for such an utterly ordinary, worthless man?
"It simply makes no sense."
Now that Chen Ci, a man himself, had said the same thing, Bibi Dong's doubts deepened once more.
At the same time, the mental suggestion, now without a master, began to waver.
Chen Ci struck while the iron was hot. All he needed now was to make Bibi Dong suspect that someone had tampered with her feelings to make her fall for Yu Xiaogang.
As for telling her the truth directly, perhaps that would be possible later, but now was not the time.
"Teacher, from what you've said, you fell in love with that man very suddenly.
"Love at first sight, without any warning at all-it was almost as though a demon had bewitched you.
"Or could someone have deliberately made you fall in love with him to achieve some purpose?
"..."
Under Chen Ci's gentle guidance, Bibi Dong's suspicions continued to deepen.
Why had I fallen in love with Yu Xiaogang?
Could this really have been someone else's scheme?
As Bibi Dong uncovered flaw after flaw, the mental suggestion Qian Xunji had left behind became like an arrow at the end of its flight.
Finally, it shattered with a crash. In that instant, Bibi Dong at last understood why she had fallen in love with Yu Xiaogang.
She murmured:
"So that was it. So that was it..."
Bibi Dong had risen to the position of Pope through her exceptional intelligence. With Chen Ci's pointers, she soon pieced together the whole story.
At that moment, every trace of love she held for Yu Xiaogang vanished.
Seeing this, Chen Ci was happy for Bibi Dong as well.
Spirit Hall would finally welcome a true Pope.
And so the night passed.
The next day, the group successfully found a thousand-year Water Dragon for Chen Ci. Bibi Dong crippled it, and Chen Ci delivered the finishing blow.
Just like that, Chen Ci successfully obtained the first soul skill of his silver-patterned blue silver grass: Water Element Control.
Afterward, Bibi Dong planned to take the group to Nod Academy and personally handle Chen Ci's enrollment.
Chen Ci could hardly wait to return and give Tang San a beating, either.
Tang San had said that once they both obtained their soul rings, they would have a proper spar.
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