"Yan, say that again if you dare!"
"Do you really think I wouldn't dare kill you? You actually want to leave Spirit Hall!"
"Do you have any idea how much manpower, money, and resources Spirit Hall has poured into nurturing you over the years?"
"You think you can just say you want to leave and walk away? Aren't you taking this far too lightly?"
"Do you know what this makes you?"
"A traitor! This is betrayal!" Bibi Dong questioned him again and again, berating him over and over.
Yan had long prepared himself for this scene. His emotions remained as still as an ancient well, his manner neither servile nor overbearing, as he said once more, "Your Holiness, everything you've said is true. I cannot deny it."
"Spirit Hall has indeed helped me greatly and made much of what I am."
"Without Spirit Hall, I would not be who I am today."
"Yan, so you do remember that Spirit Hall nurtured you and made you who you are!"
"I thought you'd forgotten everything!"
"I'm very curious just what reason could make you so determined to leave Spirit Hall!" Bibi Dong glared at Yan. She truly wanted to slap him dead, but she had sensed Qian Daoliu's arrival.
The question she asked was also what puzzled her.
Over the years, Spirit Hall had done everything it possibly could for Yan, nurturing him as part of the Golden Generation and even offering him a soul bone as a reward.
"Bibi Dong, you're reprimanding Yan again? Didn't I tell you there was nothing wrong with what he did?"
"Have you let my words blow past your ears like the wind?"
"Do you think I wouldn't dare do anything to you just because you gave birth to Xiao Xue?"
"This is the Qian Family's Spirit Hall, not your Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong!"
Qian Daoliu walked into Spirit Hall and unleashed a string of reprimands at Bibi Dong.
He looked at Yan and said kindly, "Yan, it's all right. You may leave."
Yan remained where he stood.
Bibi Dong sneered, "Qian Daoliu, I wasn't reprimanding the person you favor."
"The person you favor came here to tell me he wants to leave Spirit Hall."
"This is the person you favor?"
"How laughable!"
Qian Daoliu's brows furrowed slightly at Bibi Dong's words, but he did not immediately question Yan. He felt the problem must lie with Bibi Dong.
He asked, "Yan, can you tell me why you want to leave Spirit Hall?"
"Is Bibi Dong making things difficult for you?"
"If so, you can come to the Worship Hall and cultivate alongside me from now on."
Yan was one of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation. His talent was outstanding enough that he would certainly become a Titled Douluo someday, and Qian Daoliu did not want someone with Yan's talent to end up with another faction.
Yan respectfully cupped his hands toward Qian Daoliu and said, "Great Enshrined, thank you for your kindness."
"My wish to leave Spirit Hall has nothing to do with His Holiness the Pope. I simply yearn for Mount Lu Residence and feel it suits me better."
"I know Spirit Hall has treated me generously over the years. I also know that everything I possess now came from Spirit Hall."
"Please strip away my soul power, soul rings, and soul bones, Great Enshrined. I am willing to bear the price and punishment for leaving Spirit Hall."
"This is the soul bone awarded for winning this Soul Master Tournament. Please take it back as well, Great Enshrined." Yan took the Explosive Burning Flame Right Arm Bone out of his Storage Soul Tool and held it out to Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu did not rush to accept the soul bone. He knew Yan's heart was no longer with Spirit Hall.
He sighed and asked, "Yan, do you understand the consequences of doing this?"
"Great Enshrined, of course I do. But I have thought this through carefully, and I will not regret it," Yan answered with a resolute gaze.
Bibi Dong, however, muttered inwardly from the side:
Qian Daoliu, why are you wasting your breath on Yan?
He's already asking to leave Spirit Hall.
You should lock him up.
Just as Qian Xunji treated me back then!
Qian Daoliu looked into Yan's resolute eyes and knew he could no longer persuade him to stay. Besides, Yan had offered to have his soul rings, soul power, and soul bones stripped away. Even if he left Spirit Hall, his future accomplishments would not amount to much.
The process of stripping away soul power, soul rings, and soul bones would cause extremely severe harm to the body.
Adults ought to take responsibility for their own choices.
Qian Daoliu replied, "Yan, since your heart is no longer with Spirit Hall and you wish to leave, I will grant your wish. Today, I will strip away your soul power, soul rings, and soul bones."
"If you regret it someday, do not blame me or Spirit Hall. This is the path you have chosen yourself."
"Naturally, you must bear the consequences yourself as well."
"Rest assured, Great Enshrined. I have sown today's seeds myself. Whatever fruit they bear in the future, I will never resent Spirit Hall or you."
Under Qian Daoliu's scrutiny, Yan did not avert his gaze in the slightest. His expression was composed.
"In that case, let us begin."
Just as Qian Daoliu was about to act!
Bibi Dong refused to accept it.
Back then, she had wanted to be with Xiao Gang.
She had even threatened Qian Xunji.
Qian Xunji had certainly not indulged her like this.
Bibi Dong roared, "Qian Daoliu, how can you let Yan leave Spirit Hall?"
"You shouldn't let Yan leave Spirit Hall!"
"If Yan can leave Spirit Hall,"
"then what did everything that happened to me back then amount to?"
"Xiao Gang and I truly loved each other!"
"Why did Qian Xunji have to stop me?"
Qian Daoliu frowned slightly and rebuked her:
"Bibi Dong, stop making an unreasonable scene here."
"Ji'er's actions back then were indeed improper, but our Qian Family has given you no small amount of compensation over the years. We made you Pope and helped you break through to Titled Douluo."
"You should be satisfied by now."
"And don't forget, you and Yan are different. Although Yan belongs to Spirit Hall's Golden Generation, his standing cannot compare to that of an elder or an enshrined."
"You were Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden, the future successor to the Pope. Ji'er had very high hopes for you."
"How could you do something like elope with Yu Xiaogang?"
"Besides, if you could have been like Yan and remembered to be grateful for Spirit Hall's kindness, things would never have reached that point back then, forcing Ji'er to wrong you."
"Qian Daoliu, you have double standards!"
"Why is it that something Yan can do,"
"I cannot?" Bibi Dong roared in accusation. She had never hated as much as she did today.
She hated Qian Daoliu, hated Qian Xunji, hated the Qian Family, and hated all of Spirit Hall.
Now she even hated Yan.
Why could Yan succeed when he sought freedom?
Yet when she had pursued love back then and wanted to be with Xiao Gang, why had Qian Xunji insisted on stopping her?
She refused to accept it!
Watching Bibi Dong continue her unreasonable tirade, Qian Daoliu had nearly exhausted his patience. He warned her, "Bibi Dong, do you really think I don't know what you've done?"
"The fact that you're still alive is tantamount to my acknowledging that Ji'er did indeed wrong you."
"He deserved to die!"
"But no matter what, he was still my son. Had it not been for Xiao Xue, because I didn't want her to lose her mother immediately after losing her father, do you think you could have survived back then?"
Bibi Dong fell silent.
Before you continue