Although the Secret Chamber Douluo incident had left Bibi Dong with little fondness for men, she also knew she could not shut capable people out because of her emotions.
As the leader of Spirit Hall, she naturally needed to be fair in her rewards and punishments. Thus, it was difficult to give Tang Mo a definite status outright when he had contributed nothing and had yet to demonstrate exceptional talent.
Given Tang Mo's talent of Innate Transcendent Soul Power, it would not have been excessive to make him a nominal disciple.
A nominal disciple was not a true disciple, nor did the position confer any specific standing within Spirit Hall, but its advantage lay in firmly binding Tang Mo to Bibi Dong's warship.
Yet before she could entertain the thought of taking a disciple, she inevitably thought of Qian Xunji. That was why she had allowed Tang Mo to enjoy resources similar to Hu Liena's without granting him any status.
Since he was already attending school with Hu Liena, shouldn't his resources be the same as well? Since they enjoyed similar resources, whether he had a specific status no longer mattered.
Having guessed Bibi Dong's intentions, Tang Mo naturally would not refuse her goodwill. Just as he was about to thank her, he suddenly noticed that she seemed to have more to say.
A moment's thought told him that Bibi Dong wanted to arrange his second Soul Ring, so he spoke before she could. "Thank you for your generosity, Your Holiness. However, I also have a presumptuous request. Might Your Holiness agree to it?"
"Oh?" Tang Mo's unexpected words piqued Bibi Dong's curiosity. "Speak."
"I'm currently focusing on cultivating my first Martial Soul. This Martial Soul of mine is rather unusual. Its first five Soul Rings need to be acquired in the order of metal, water, wood, fire, and earth." As Tang Mo spoke, he revealed his first Martial Soul, and a purple Soul Ring appeared with it. "My first Soul Ring came from a Thousand-Year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. By my estimate, my second Soul Ring could even reach ten thousand years."
The moment Tang Mo finished, Pope Hall fell utterly silent. Bibi Dong's expression barely changed, but with her strong desire for control, she was somewhat displeased by his taking matters into his own hands.
More importantly, she did not believe that Tang Mo knew how to develop his own Martial Soul at such a young age.
Even with Spirit Hall's vast sea of records supporting her, she would not dare claim that she could devise a suitable cultivation plan for a Martial Soul that had never appeared before, much less Tang Mo, who had only just become a Soul Master.
In a flash, she appeared before Tang Mo. He perceived the path of her movement and knew he could not evade her. Besides, Bibi Dong could not possibly kill him on the spot, so he made no attempt to dodge.
The next instant, Bibi Dong stood before Tang Mo and raised a hand to press against the spot between his brows. Yet just before her fingertip touched his skin, she suddenly forced her hand down and pressed it onto his shoulder instead.
Even though Tang Mo was still a boy, she could not accept touching his skin, so she could only examine his condition through a layer of clothing. At least that way, she would not feel quite so repulsed.
The instant her Soul Power entered Tang Mo's body, a strange sensation swept through her heart. It was not discomfort, but a resonance originating from their Martial Souls.
The moment Martial Soul Resonance arose, Tang Mo's first Martial Soul and Bibi Dong's first Martial Soul manifested simultaneously.
A humanoid phantom identical to Tang Mo in his previous life appeared behind him.
Bibi Dong also involuntarily summoned her Death Spider Emperor. Her lower body transformed into the abdomen and eight legs of a giant spider, while a metallic-looking mask appeared over her face.
Just before Tang Mo's Martial Soul reached out and touched Bibi Dong's Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul, Bibi Dong gave a muffled groan and strained to control her body, breaking free of the peculiar connection between them.
Thud, thud, thud...
After retreating more than a dozen steps to put some distance between herself and Tang Mo, Bibi Dong stared at him with a strange expression.
As the distance between them widened, their Martial Souls gradually dissipated.
Had it not been for the shallow pits smashed into the solid floor by the Death Spider Emperor's legs, Bibi Dong would never have believed, even if beaten to death, that her Martial Soul could have such a high degree of compatibility with someone else's.
Compatibility existed between Martial Souls, and the higher it was, the easier it became to trigger a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Generally speaking, there were only five circumstances in which a Martial Soul Fusion Skill could form:
First, mutual complementarity, such as the Evil-Eyed White Tiger of the Star Luo Empire's Dai Family and the Hell Spirit Cat of the Zhu Family, or the Dragon Head Staff of Dragon Duke Meng Shu and the Snake Head Staff of Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang, the peerless dragon-and-snake pair.
Tiger and cat, dragon and snake-these were all Martial Souls with similar natures and a certain hierarchical relationship.
Second, mutual generation and restraint. Yue Guan's and Gui Mei's Martial Souls belonged to this category. The Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum brimmed with vitality and could strengthen the body. Gui Mei's Martial Soul was deathly still and governed the soul.
During Tang Mo's cultivation in his previous life, there had been the concept of cultivating both inner nature and life, which corresponded to the soul and the body respectively. A person's strength could be judged through the strength of their soul and body.
Yue Guan's and Gui Mei's Martial Souls corresponded to life and death, soul and body, and thus fell under mutual generation and restraint.
Third, blood ties. Hu Liena and Xie Yue's Martial Soul Fusion Skill belonged to this category.
Fourth, similar Martial Souls. The Martial Soul Fusion Skill performed by Canghui Academy's seven gem Martial Soul Masters during the Soul Master Tournament belonged to this category.
Fifth, divine blessings. This was the rarest circumstance. After Oscar and Ning Rongrong respectively earned the qualifications to undertake the Divine Exams of the God of Food and the Nine-Colored Goddess, their Martial Souls gained the ability to perform the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Resurrection Light, because the two gods were husband and wife.
Bibi Dong could sense that her situation with Tang Mo belonged to the first category. Their Martial Souls could be described as perfectly complementary, which was why they could resonate.
However, mere complementarity between their Martial Souls would not have made her lose her composure like this. What she truly could not accept was that, during the formation of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, her Martial Soul had not held the dominant position.
During the formation of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill just now, Tang Mo's Martial Soul had clearly wanted to grasp Bibi Dong's Death Spider Emperor and turn it into a weapon.
In other words, Tang Mo's Martial Soul was stronger than her Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul to a certain extent, which was why it could take the lead.
At that moment, even knowing that she could fail the Rakshasa God Trial, and that this Martial Soul Fusion Skill might very well become her final trump card for turning the tables if she did, Bibi Dong still did not want to come into close contact with Tang Mo again.
As long as two rank-ninety-nine Limit Douluos performed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, there was a very high chance that they could rival a rank-one-hundred demigod, or even clash with someone who had just attained Godhood.
If the two people performing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill were of opposite sexes, they were generally either husband and wife or brother and sister.
The resonance between Martial Souls could easily increase their affection for one another. Without blood ties serving as a barrier, it was very easy for them to fall into the river of love.
Although Bibi Dong very much wanted to deny it, her fondness for Tang Mo had still increased a little, even though they had not successfully performed the Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Her lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
As Pope, she could hardly push talented people away. After all, although Qian Daoliu had withdrawn from worldly affairs, Qian Renxue was still his granddaughter, and he had to leave her a core of supporters.
The moment she pushed Tang Mo away, Qian Daoliu would catch the scent and come over.
She could not tolerate Qian Daoliu pocketing a genius she had set her sights on, so she could only endure the strange feeling in her heart and take Tang Mo in.
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