Inside Spirit Hall's main hall.
A woman dressed in a radiant gold evening gown had been waiting there for some time. She sat at the highest point of the hall, looking noble, cool, and exquisite.
"Teacher..." Setting Qin Chao down, Hu Liena bowed respectfully to Bibi Dong.
Hearing Hu Liena's voice, Bibi Dong finally raised her head, revealing her breathtaking face.
This was Qin Chao's first time seeing this legendary woman.
In the novel, she had been terrifyingly powerful.
Her Holiness the Pope of Spirit Hall, its most powerful leader in history, the second person in nearly a century to possess twin martial souls, the first to overcome the problem of the added attributes from multiple soul rings exceeding a twin martial soul wielder's physical limits...
There were simply too many halos surrounding her-so many that readers almost forgot she was only a woman, a very, very beautiful woman...
Her beauty differed from Hu Liena's. Hu Liena always carried a seductive air that made people want to conquer and possess her.
Compared with Hu Liena's, Bibi Dong's beauty was more immediately striking.
Noble, elegant, cool, exquisite, sacred... all these words suited her, yet none could fully capture her beauty.
Looking at that breathtaking face, Qin Chao was momentarily entranced.
Sensing Qin Chao's gaze, Bibi Dong frowned slightly.
This child is rather interesting.
Having occupied a lofty position for so long, she had long since acquired the imposing dignity of a ruler. Even Hu Liena, who was closest to her, dared not look directly at her like this. This little fellow certainly had some courage...
"Teacher, this is Qin Chao from Nuoding City..." Hu Liena gently patted Qin Chao's shoulder and reminded him quietly, "This is Her Holiness the Pope of Spirit Hall. You should bow..."
Only after Hu Liena's reminder did Qin Chao come back to his senses.
He had been busy recalling Bibi Dong's complicated past and had momentarily forgotten to bow. That had been careless of him...
Qin Chao was about to bend forward when a gentle force supported his body.
Bibi Dong waved a hand. "Forget it. He's still a child. There's no need to fuss over all these tedious formalities..." She turned toward Hu Liena. "Nana, leave us for now. I have a few things to discuss with him..."
Hu Liena bowed again and respectfully withdrew. With only Bibi Dong and Qin Chao remaining, the great hall seemed even emptier.
"You aren't afraid of me?" Bibi Dong studied Qin Chao with interest. The little fellow was rather handsome, though his clothes were truly shabby. He must have suffered some hardships before coming here.
For some reason, she suddenly thought of Qian Renxue. She had been taken to the Elder Hall when she was little. Bibi Dong wondered how she was doing there...
While Bibi Dong was still lost in thought, Qin Chao spoke up on his own. "No. You're pretty, a beautiful big sister. You didn't even scold me when I forgot to bow. Why should I be afraid of you?"
In the novel, Bibi Dong's difficult experiences had made her somewhat extreme in temperament. Qin Chao did not know quite how to deal with her, but fortunately, he was only a six-year-old child now. Acting cute and sweet-talking her surely couldn't go wrong.
"A beautiful big sister?" Bibi Dong was speechless, but Qin Chao's "childish words" still made her laugh. "Do you know how old I am this year? And you're calling me big sister? Even if you called me Auntie, I'd think you were too young..."
Bibi Dong was not exaggerating. In the novel, she was thirty-six years older than Tang San, while Qin Chao was a few days younger than Tang San. By that calculation, calling her Auntie would indeed be appropriate.
But how could Qin Chao let the conversation stall there?
"Age isn't a problem, and status doesn't keep people apart. Girls are always eighteen, no matter how old they are..."
Before transmigrating, Qin Chao had spent plenty of time scrolling through X-tok. Those cheesy pickup lines he had learned were finally coming in handy.
"You little rascal, you certainly have a sweet tongue. I wonder if your strength measures up..." Bibi Dong shifted gears, steering the wandering conversation straight back on course. "I heard you possess twin martial souls, and that you even burst the crystal ball during your soul power test. Is that true?"
Bibi Dong's gaze sharpened, fully revealing her imposing presence as the Pope.
Under the pressure of that powerful presence, Qin Chao naturally dared not lie. Of course, he had no need to lie either.
"Yes... Beautiful big sister, you aren't going to make me pay for it, are you...?" Qin Chao confirmed her words without forgetting to play dumb.
"You little rascal..." Qin Chao made Bibi Dong laugh again, completely breaking her imposing demeanor.
But she had never intended to make things difficult for him in the first place.
On the surface, she was Spirit Hall's supreme leader, but only she knew that this was merely outward splendor. The Elder Hall faction led by Qian Daoliu had always constrained her. They were like a hemp rope stretched across her throat, choking off her efforts to move forward.
In her view, the old guard's middle-of-the-road thinking was already outdated. Only an infusion of fresh blood could make Spirit Hall flourish further and lead it toward a bright future.
That was why she had launched the Golden Generation plan. While nurturing her successors, she was also covertly putting the old men of the Elder Hall on notice.
Spirit Hall's future was not in their hands.
The three members of the Golden Generation, led by Xie Yue, had decent talent, but they still fell far short of her own. She had always harbored some doubts. Now, Qin Chao's arrival had given her a new option.
"Show me your martial souls!"
Bibi Dong spoke elegantly, a hint of anticipation appearing in her eyes.
Qin Chao did not hesitate. Soul power surged through his body, and he summoned the Golden Little Tower in his right hand.
"A tower-shaped martial soul? That's quite rare... Wait..." Bibi Dong's pupils abruptly contracted. "Is that a soul ring? You've already attached a soul ring to your martial soul? Who helped you hunt it?"
Her expression grew somewhat stern.
The Golden Generation plan was meant to nurture Spirit Hall's future leaders. No outside faction could be allowed to meddle behind the scenes.
Qin Chao once again trotted out the nonsense he had used to fool Tang San, but Bibi Dong was clearly not as easy to fool as the six-year-old Tang San.
A cold smile curled her lips. "Qin Chao, was it? I am the Pope of Spirit Hall. Do you take me for a fool?!"
(In Holy Soul Village, Tang San, who was searching all over the hills for the supposed soul beast, let out an enormous sneeze...)
Bibi Dong moved slightly, appearing before Qin Chao in an instant. Her slender, pale right hand shot out and clamped around his fragile neck.
"Speak! Who ordered you to join Spirit Hall, and what faction is behind you?!"
Bibi Dong's fingertips were slightly cool, but her delicate hand, with fingers like tender scallion shoots, had now become an iron clamp that would take his life.
Never in his wildest dreams had Qin Chao imagined that merely trying to squeeze out another batch of fortune points before leaving would end up costing him his life.
Across his previous life and this one, Qin Chao had lived less than thirty years in total. What a terrible loss, when he added it all up. He was still a virgin, too. He had finally transmigrated into another world where bride prices weren't required, only to get snuffed out before he could even grow up...
"No... no one... My martial soul awakening... to... setting out... was only... three days... Even if... someone helped me... there wasn't... time to hunt... a soul beast... It really was just luck..."
Bibi Dong's grip tightened, and Qin Chao found it increasingly difficult to breathe.
After struggling to finish his final explanation, Qin Chao finally lost all his strength and slumped limply into Bibi Dong's arms.
Feeling the woman's voluptuous curves, Qin Chao had only one final thought left. At least this life set me straight... and was worth it...
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