Qian Daoliu's heart stopped when he heard Qian Renxue's words.
He clutched his chest, sweating profusely.
Why did this feel like my granddaughter had gotten together with some blond punk?
"Grandpa! Are you all right?"
Seeing that she had upset Qian Daoliu so much he seemed unable to catch his breath, Qian Renxue panicked. She hurried over to support him and check his condition. Fortunately, he was fine.
Qian Renxue breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he was all right.
"Xiao Xue, do you really want that Lu Yuan?"
Qian Daoliu sagged, his eyes resting weakly on Qian Renxue.
Qian Renxue hesitated too. She had only wanted to see the adorable Meowmeow more often. She had never expected such a strong reaction from Qian Daoliu.
Could there be more to what happened between Dad, Mom, and Yu Xiaogang back then-something I still don't know? Qian Renxue pondered.
Of course, even if Qian Renxue told Qian Daoliu that she wanted Lu Yuan because of his external martial soul, Meowmeow, she doubted he would believe her.
Looking at Qian Renxue's sorrowful expression, Qian Daoliu understood that she was serious. Her heart-rending appearance seemed to be saying something.
"You know I lost my dad when I was little."
"And Mom might as well not have been there."
"Ah..."
Qian Daoliu sighed and finally decided to indulge Qian Renxue.
"All right. Spirit Hall's midterm assessments for every year should be coming up in a few days. Once they're over, you can take that little rascal away."
After saying those words, Qian Daoliu felt as though all his vitality had been drained away.
Qian Renxue, however, lit up with delight.
"Really? Thank you, Grandpa!"
Qian Renxue threw her arms around Qian Daoliu in excitement. Ever since she had gone undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire, grandfather and granddaughter had rarely shared such moments of closeness.
"Heh."
Qian Daoliu smiled affectionately too. He had his own plans.
Having Qian Renxue wait until that brat finished his midterm assessment would keep her from rushing back to Heaven Dou City. He could keep his granddaughter in Spirit City for a few more days and take a good look at how she had changed over the years.
At the Pope Palace in the Martial Soul Hall Headquarters, Bibi Dong sat on the pontiff's throne, handling Spirit Hall's official affairs.
Suddenly, Bibi Dong raised her eyes, a trace of disgust mingling with her vigilance.
"That powerful presence, that feeling... Why does that old thing have time to come looking for me?"
Naturally, Bibi Dong meant Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined, Qian Daoliu, the head of the Worship Hall.
"Bibi Dong, long time no see."
Qian Daoliu walked in expressionlessly. Bibi Dong did not rise, speaking instead in a strictly businesslike tone:
"To what do I owe this visit, Great Enshrined?"
Qian Daoliu's brow furrowed slightly. This woman was Xiao Xue's mother, his son's student, and...
Ever since Qian Renxue's birth, Bibi Dong had never once called Qian Daoliu her father-in-law.
Qian Daoliu also knew that after Tang Hao had hammered Qian Xunji into a gravely wounded state, Bibi Dong had caught him off guard and killed him.
Qian Daoliu had also detected the aura of a divine inheritance on Bibi Dong, making her an even more terrifying threat to his Six-Winged Angel lineage.
Although Qian Daoliu was furious and had once wanted to kill Bibi Dong to avenge Qian Xunji, he had held back.
For one thing, Qian Renxue had already lost her father, and Qian Xunji had indeed deserved to die at Bibi Dong's hands.
Rigid as he was, Qian Daoliu did not want Qian Renxue, who had been born into suffering, to lose her mother after already losing her father.
The second reason was Spirit Hall. Qian Daoliu was getting old and did not know when he might ride a crane into the great beyond.
What if he suddenly dropped dead one day?
And what if another extraordinary prodigy like Tang Hao appeared on the Douluo Continent, someone who could break through to become a rank 99 Peerless Douluo through his own efforts?
Without Bibi Dong, a promising talent with an excellent chance of becoming a Peerless Douluo, and with Qian Renxue yet to mature, Spirit Hall might not merely lose its title as the continent's foremost power-it could even be wiped out.
After weighing all these factors, Qian Daoliu had spared Bibi Dong's life, hoping she would continue to protect Spirit Hall for Qian Renxue's sake.
Unfortunately...
Qian Daoliu shook his head inwardly. Things had not gone as he wished.
Not only had Qian Renxue failed to awaken Bibi Dong's maternal love, but Bibi Dong had mocked her incompetence. In a fit of resentment, she had wanted to go to the Heaven Dou Empire and assume Crown Prince Xue Qinghe's identity as an undercover agent.
This had not only prevented any near-term reconciliation between mother and daughter, but also delayed her cultivation, squandering a talent that was exceptional even within the Six-Winged Angel clan.
Bibi Dong still loathed the Six-Winged Angel, and even ordinary angels.
What Qian Daoliu regretted even more was how swiftly Bibi Dong had acted. With the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears, she had seized control of Spirit Hall and fully taken Qian Xunji's place.
She had also decisively abandoned the optimal plan of giving her second martial soul nothing but hundred thousand year soul rings, instead filling its first few slots with soul rings from ten-thousand-year soul beasts approaching a hundred thousand years in age.
Before Qian Daoliu realized it, Bibi Dong had naturally advanced into the ranks of Super Douluos above rank 95.
Moreover, he had confirmed that a deity had bestowed an inheritance upon Bibi Dong, whereas their ancestral Angel God had not sent down any instructions for centuries.
If he truly confronted Bibi Dong, even Qian Daoliu had no absolute confidence that he could kill her.
If Qian Daoliu steeled himself to kill Bibi Dong but failed, with Qian Xunji's nearly two years of imprisoning her and his deeds as the Secret Chamber Douluo added to the mix,
Bibi Dong would surely no longer show any mercy toward Qian Renxue, who shared the same Six-Winged Angel bloodline. Spirit Hall would also face a true god-level enemy and plunge into a state of eternal damnation.
Meanwhile, Bibi Dong remained constantly on guard against Qian Daoliu as well.
Although her soul power level had already reached rank 99, making her a Peerless Douluo, the restrictions of the Rakshasa God Trial meant she could only wield rank 98 strength.
If Bibi Dong fought Qian Daoliu in earnest now, even if she survived, she would still lose a chunk of flesh. The gains would not outweigh the losses.
She was better off using Spirit Hall's power to help her carry out her plan to rule and then destroy the Douluo Continent.
And so, each burdened by their own concerns and ambitions, Bibi Dong and Qian Daoliu led the Pope Palace and the Worship Hall, maintaining a fragile balance within Spirit Hall.
Their mutual wariness was what caused Spirit Hall's internal divisions, preventing its formidable strength from pulling in a single direction and even making it consume itself through infighting.
"Bibi Dong, I only came to ask you one thing. Did you send that Lu Yuan to Xiao Xue's side to get close to her?"
Qian Daoliu questioned Bibi Dong, but an expression even more bewildered than his appeared on her face.
"What! Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue have gotten together?"
Seeing Bibi Dong's reaction, Qian Daoliu felt it did not seem feigned. Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue's meeting really must have been a coincidence.
"As long as it wasn't your doing. Incidentally, once this Spirit Hall Academy Midterm Assessment ends, send Lu Yuan to the Heaven Dou Empire to stay by Xiao Xue's side."
"No. I won't allow it."
Bibi Dong blurted those words out instinctively.
What a joke.
I intend to destroy the Angel Clan and the Douluo Continent in the future. If Lu Yuan, who seems to possess a divine inheritance even stronger than my Rakshasa God Trial, builds a good relationship with Qian Renxue and joins her side, how am I supposed to carry out my plan?
Yet the moment Bibi Dong spoke, Qian Daoliu sensed something amiss and grew wary.
"Bibi Dong, why? Could there be... something unusual about that boy?"