Doing Bad Things Can Make Us Happy

It had indeed gone smoothly.

Six Titled Douluos had arrived bristling with aggression, only to compromise and leave after swearing their oaths and leaving their marks. Not a drop of blood had been spilled.

Bibi Dong sat down across the table, her posture poised and elegant, without the slightest trace of carelessness. Only the icy aura surrounding her had completely thawed.

An almost imperceptible smile lingered on her lips as she admitted, "When you deliberately called out Senior Tang Chen's name earlier, I nearly lost my composure."

Qin Chuan said, "I noticed. The corner of your mouth was clearly twitching."

Bibi Dong raised her eyes and gave him a faint glance with her purple-gold pupils, a touch of helplessness in her expression. "As the Pope, I cannot lose my dignity in front of everyone."

"So you kept holding it in."

"Yes."

Bibi Dong turned slightly, gathering her loose lavender-pink hair behind her shoulder and revealing her long, graceful neck and the clean lines of her ear.

Lamplight illuminated her exquisite features. Stripped of their ruthless authority, they held a rare ease and serenity.

Watching her like this, Qin Chuan understood.

The Pope's seat was one everyone looked up to, but it also shackled her at every step. Day after day, she wore a mask of authority, with no one beside her to whom she could speak her heart. Only here, in front of him, could she shed that disguise.

Bibi Dong lifted her hand and poured two cups of the remaining tea, pushing one toward Qin Chuan.

Her expression quickly settled, returning to its cautious seriousness. "Let's discuss business."

"Successfully implementing the Soul Beast Protection Law and securing their oaths was only the first step." Her tone was steady, her reasoning clear. "The Upper Three Sects have agreed to comply, but the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires will never cooperate so easily. Their military soul master corps depend on soul beast resources to build their fighting strength. Those are fundamental strategic resources to them. They won't yield readily."

Qin Chuan nodded. He had already considered that thoroughly.

"There's no rush. Let the Upper Three Sects enforce it strictly first, set an example, and stabilize the situation. Once Spirit Hall's soul ring supply system is fully established, the two empires will need high-level soul ring resources. They'll naturally come to us to compromise and cooperate."

Bibi Dong considered it briefly, then nodded in approval of his strategy.

"Today in the Council Hall, you faced six Titled Douluos, rebuked them openly, and took control of the entire situation. Did you feel no fear at all?"

Qin Chuan smiled frankly. "It felt pretty satisfying."

Bibi Dong gave him a searching look. "Aren't you afraid they'll retaliate afterward?"

"Once I activate my domain, they're all under my control. There's nothing to fear." Qin Chuan spoke lightly, but with complete confidence.

Bibi Dong fell silent for a moment, reviewing everything that had happened that day.

Six Titled Douluos had stormed into Spirit Hall together to demand an accounting, only to be controlled and manipulated by a rank sixty-one Soul Emperor. In the end, they had been forced to swear Martial Soul Oaths and leave in disgrace.

If word of this got out, it would send an earthquake through the entire Douluo Continent. Nothing like it had ever happened in all of history.

A sense of relief rose in Bibi Dong's heart. She silently reflected that accepting Qin Chuan as her younger brother had been the best decision she had ever made.

"Brother Chuan, you... come with me." Bibi Dong stood and headed toward the bedroom.

Before she could say anything more, Qin Chuan had already stepped out. The stone door slowly closed, sealing off the secret chamber.

(One million words omitted below.)

Two hours later, the secret chamber's stone door was pushed open from within.

Qin Chuan came out first.

Bibi Dong followed behind, supporting herself against the wall.

They reached the secret chamber's antechamber. Qin Chuan stopped beside the table and turned around.

"Sis Dongdong, there are two more important things I need to do next."

Bibi Dong walked over and sat at the table, lifting the cold tea to take a sip.

She looked considerably more relaxed, a trace of satiation on her face and the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

"Mm. I'm all ears."

Qin Chuan sat down as well, folding his hands on the table and leaning forward slightly.

"It would be discourteous not to return the favor. I'm planning to take you somewhere called Holy Soul Village, to do something very interesting."

Bibi Dong set down her teacup and looked at him.

"Holy Soul Village? What exactly are we going to do?"

The corners of Qin Chuan's mouth rose a little.

He knew perfectly well.

In the original story, Tang Hao would bring Tang San back to the mountain behind Holy Soul Village around this time to retrieve that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

It was what Ah Yin had left behind after sacrificing herself, buried in the forbidden grounds behind the village and protected by a natural seal of soul power.

After obtaining that soul bone, Tang San had opened all the meridians in his body, greatly increasing his cultivation speed. From then on, he had marched triumphantly ahead.

But Qin Chuan did not want the soul bone itself.

He wanted the Blue Silver Emperor.

When Ah Yin sacrificed herself, her soul power had turned into nutrients that nourished the land on the mountain behind Holy Soul Village.

That land held not only the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, but also the lingering life essence of the Blue Silver Emperor-a seed.

If they brought that seed back, under the right conditions, there would be a chance to revive Ah Yin.

Of course, Qin Chuan would not reveal all of this. He only needed to show Bibi Dong the benefits.

"It's about a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. You'll understand once we get there."

Bibi Dong's hand froze on her teacup.

"What? A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?"

Her voice deepened, her tone more serious than before.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone was a supreme treasure anywhere on the Douluo Continent. Countless Titled Douluos could spend their entire lives searching without obtaining even one.

Back when she had wanted to break through her own bottleneck, she too had set her sights on those top-tier soul beasts.

"Why are you taking me?" Bibi Dong asked.

Qin Chuan had already prepared his explanation.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone was of little use to him. His martial soul was rule-type, and his path did not rely on raw strength.

But it would be useful to Bibi Dong. Advancing beyond rank ninety-seven required vast quantities of top-tier resources, and a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone could provide the crucial catalyst.

There was also a second, more important consideration that he did not voice.

Bibi Dong's inner demons.

Qin Chuan knew from the original story that, though Bibi Dong appeared ruthless and decisive, she carried an immense psychological burden deep within.

Doing something exhilarating-stealing Tang Hao's belongings-could help wash away some of that pent-up anguish.

Qin Chuan smiled and made a joke. "Because doing bad things can make us happy."

Bibi Dong looked at him, her brows shifting slightly.

"Doing bad things? Happy?"

There was a touch of confusion in her tone. Coming from Qin Chuan, those words sounded wrong no matter how she considered them.

But she did not question him further. She had seen that smile of his several times before, and each time it meant he had a deeper plan in mind.

Qin Chuan did not expose her secret. Time would let her understand what those words meant.

He changed the subject, his expression growing somewhat more restrained.

"Sis Dongdong, when I fought Tang Hao, I picked up on a few things from his reactions and words. His wife, Ah Yin, was hunted by Spirit Hall back then, wasn't she?"

Bibi Dong was silent for two breaths, then nodded.

"Yes. Not many people know about that."

Watching her expression, Qin Chuan knew something was churning inside her.

What had happened to Ah Yin was an old debt of Spirit Hall's, involving the former Pope, Qian Daoliu, and a series of long-standing grudges.

Although Bibi Dong had not acted directly, as the current Pope, she bore some of the blame for that debt.

"Don't feel guilty." Qin Chuan's voice grew even. "The truth is, Tang Hao secretly plotted the whole thing himself."

Bibi Dong went slightly still.

"What? He plotted it?"