Yu Xiaogang's Plan

"Back then, I was the one who got together with your mother first. But his master, Qian Xunji, the former Pope of Spirit Hall, imprisoned your mother in Spirit Hall to keep us apart. I couldn't see her."

Yu Xiaogang took an indignant gulp of tea. "It wasn't until several years later that she was allowed to leave. But when I finally gathered the courage to go see her, she... she..."

"She didn't recognize you, right?"

Bing Jiu's eyes lit up slightly. After Yu Xiaogang's explanation, she had figured out most of what had happened.

Heh, so it had been such a thoroughly melodramatic history...

No wonder the Grand Elder had known what happened yet never told her about the past.

Though he had not been one of the instigators, Qian Xunji was his son after all. Since something so contrary to human ethics had happened, he, as the Grand Elder, had to bear part of the responsibility.

"Very good, Uncle Yu Xiaogang. You answered my questions, and I thank you."

"Thank you. Then..."

"You want to ask about the age limit of the soul rings I can absorb, right? Heh, watch carefully."

Bing Jiu set down her teacup and slowly tipped it over. A faint black liquid flowed from its rim. "I... will only demonstrate this once!"

Boom—

As Bing Jiu continued pouring the black liquid from her teacup, black mist filled the entire room.

Yu Xiaogang sprang to his feet in fright. Only then did he finally see the martial soul behind Bing Jiu.

That... six-winged dark angel!

"Fallen Angel! That kind of martial soul... how could you possibly...!"

"That's right!"

Bing Jiu grabbed Yu Xiaogang's wrist and gave a self-deprecating smile.

"My martial soul is the Fallen Angel. Surprised? A Fallen Angel Martial Soul doesn't need to hunt soul rings. Once it reaches a bottleneck, it automatically obtains the soul ring most suitable for itself, and its age and attributes are determined by the martial soul owner!"

"I know why you're so surprised. That's right, how could the owner of a mere evil martial soul be worthy of becoming Spirit Hall's Saintess? Why is that? Tell me, why is that?"

"I..."

Yu Xiaogang had long since become incoherent, backing away step by step.

Bing Jiu advanced on him step by step, a crystalline tear rolling down from her eyes.

"Because I am Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji's child. My younger sister inherited the brightest side of them, while I inherited their evil side. I was born evil!"

"Maybe you'll say there are no useless martial souls, only useless Soul Masters! But I was born this way. The heavens gave me this kind of martial soul, so what could I do? I... hate Spirit Hall!"

"You hate Spirit Hall?"

Yu Xiaogang had been deeply frightened by Bing Jiu's madness, but the moment he heard her say she hated Spirit Hall, he stopped.

He tilted his head as a scheme immediately came to mind.

Perhaps in the future, she could become a useful helper to Xiaosan.

"Child."

Yu Xiaogang hypocritically patted Bing Jiu's shoulder. "Would you be willing to..."

Crack!

"Ah!"

Bing Jiu directly dislocated his other hand...

"Sorry, Uncle Yu Xiaogang. Please don't touch me."

Yu Xiaogang left behind only the words, "Contact me anytime if you need anything," then turned and left. His expression was as ugly as if he had eaten shit. Bing Jiu had clearly hurt him badly; he would probably need several days to recover.

After he left, Bing Jiu wiped her eyes, and her gaze became cold and composed once more.

She clapped her hands, and Tuoba Xi and Ling Yuan immediately emerged from the shadows.

"Saintess, he's only a mere Soul Grandmaster. Was it worth putting on such a grand act for him?" Ling Yuan asked in confusion.

Tuoba Xi hurriedly nudged her shoulder and kept giving her meaningful looks.

Ling Yuan was completely puzzled and was just about to speak when Bing Jiu picked up the teapot again. A trace of black liquid seeped out from within it.

At the same time, her voice instantly became piercingly cold.

"You... heard what I said just now?"

Ling Yuan:!!!

"No!"

Ling Yuan shook her head like a rattle drum.

Bing Jiu smiled. Only then did she stop pouring tea, sit down on the sofa, and curl her lips into an amused smile.

"None of those people from Shrek Academy are simple, especially Tang San. Ling Yuan, did you see what his martial soul was?"

"Wasn't it the useless martial soul, Blue Silver Grass?"

"Hmph! Blue Silver Grass? Could that useless martial soul possibly let him become a Soul Elder in such a short time? All of this... was thanks to his other martial soul."

With a snap, Bing Jiu snapped her fingers. She spread open her palm, and a small dark gray pagoda appeared in her hand.

Seeing this, Tuoba Xi hurriedly concealed the aura within the hall.

The next moment, an extreme aura of slaughter emerged inside the room. The pressure was so low that even from four or five meters away, it was hard to breathe.

One red and two black soul rings emerged from the pagoda in sequence. Bing Jiu chuckled and tapped the very top of the Clear Sky Pagoda.

That... little hammer.

"His other martial soul is the Clear Sky Hammer!"

"The Clear Sky Hammer! Could it be..."

"That's right. They're both surnamed Tang, and that man's mother was Blue Silver Grass!"

Everything matched up!

Ling Yuan Douluo slapped her forehead, instantly coming to her senses. She hurriedly left the room to report the news to Spirit City.

Tuoba Xi was equally shocked, looking at Bing Jiu with an unsettled expression.

Bing Jiu calmly poured herself a pot of tea. This time, however, it was fragrant fruit tea.

"What I cast today was bait. In the future, I'm going to catch a big fish!"

The next day

At dawn, someone from the palace came to urge her back to the imperial palace.

Bing Jiu had no choice but to board the carriage back to the palace with a yawn.

Sure enough, just as expected, the moment she entered the Crown Prince Palace, someone pinned her to the bed.

"You actually dared to knock me out?"

Xue Qinghe wore an angry little face, glaring at her as though he were very fierce.

But in Bing Jiu's eyes, he looked more like... a jealous tiger throwing a tantrum.

And the hardest kind to appease at that.

"Alright, alright, don't be angry. I was wrong, okay?"

"No!"

"Then what do you want to do? Hit me back? Sure. Where do you want to hit me? How about my butt?"

As she spoke, Bing Jiu obediently turned around and stuck it out.

"Come on, hit me."

"You..."

Xue Qinghe's face reddened slightly. He could only let go of Bing Jiu and sit to the side, sulking.

Bing Jiu rolled her wrist. Seeing him like this, she found it both funny and exasperating, and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"Don't be angry anymore. This time, I brought back a gift."

"A gift?"

Xue Qinghe turned around in confusion. The words had just reached his lips when he swallowed them back, replacing them with a disdainful look.

"From someone like you, a gift probably means something meant to trick me, doesn't it?"

"Of course not. This time, it's a real big gift!"

Bing Jiu pointed at the door. "At noon, that gift will appear here. Remember not to close the door."

"Oh? You're so certain that this big gift will deliver itself to our door?"

"Of course, because he has no choice at all."