Time was like a wind-and-fire wheel: give it the slightest push with your foot, and it went whizzing past.
A month later.
Ever since that day, Hu Liena had obeyed Lin Qian's every word. If he told her to go east, she would never go west. Take classes, for instance. After receiving the secret to cultivation, she skipped them every few days to focus on cultivating and familiarizing herself with her Martial Soul in her dorm.
Watching this, Lin Qian could not help feeling that he had not lost his first kiss for nothing.
With the two of them leading the way, the initially normal campus soon went wild. At first, only a handful imitated them, but after seeing Hu Liena's rapidly increasing Soul Power, more and more joined in.
The academy practiced elite education in small classes, so there had never been many students to begin with. Now even fewer attended lessons, leaving teachers of every subject facing the embarrassment of unemployment.
Once they made inquiries and discovered that Lin Qian had set this bad example, complaints were naturally inevitable.
Letters flew toward the Papal Palace like snowflakes, leaving Bibi Dong utterly bewildered. After reading their contents, she did not know whether to laugh or cry.
This disciple of hers really never gave her a moment's peace!
It was one thing for him to slack off, but why did he have to lead Nana astray too?
Yes, even now, Hu Liena still held the most important place in her heart, far surpassing Lin Qian, the disciple she had picked up so cheaply.
After all, in her eyes, a certain someone was merely a fellow practitioner. She had only given him the title of Spirit Hall's Saint Son because she did not want someone else to benefit.
She had never cared much about him, and his Soul Rings had also slapped Yu Xiaogang in the face. Bibi Dong's dislike only deepened, and she struck the floor heavily with her scepter.
"It's been a while since we last met. Have you developed a grievance? Fine... I'll come take a look myself!"
The academy.
Bibi Dong came charging straight into the academy, alone.
At the Pseudomorphic Cultivation Grounds, Lin Qian was still steadfastly refining the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Soul Power.
Such intense Spiritual Power fluctuations-comparable to the divine level!
Her displeasure gradually gave way to surprise, and Bibi Dong's steps slowed with it. She remembered that when Lin Qian had first become her disciple, he had only been at level eighty, without a single Soul Ring.
Even after adding three Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, his aura should never have become this powerful.
Could it be... he had broken through again?!
"Lin Qian, come inside with me."
Without any warning, Bibi Dong transmitted her voice directly to him, interrupting his cultivation.
Startled, Lin Qian opened his eyes to see Bibi Dong's graceful figure walking toward the villa.
Did this woman make no sound when she walked?
"Little Qian-Qian, make sure you protect yourself!"
Remembering Bibi Dong's earlier thoughts, Tian Meng reminded him from within his Sea of Consciousness.
"Relax. If anything happens, we'll follow the usual procedure."
Lin Qian rose and followed the path Bibi Dong had taken.
Inside the villa.
The moment Bibi Dong arrived, she entered Lin Qian's room.
After a semester apart, this woman seemed even more uninhibited...
All along the way, Lin Qian had restrained his gaze, trying his best not to let his eyes wander over Bibi Dong.
Her breathtaking face and long, beautiful legs really were alluring, but in this world of Douluo, which played by no rules of fair combat, people could sense another person's gaze.
Especially a Peak Douluo like Bibi Dong, who seemed to have countless pairs of eyes on her back.
Bang!
The door shut, and the familiar Soul Power barrier enveloped the room.
A secret chamber?
Come on, I absolutely won't resist!
Lin "Secret Chamber Douluo the Second" Qian's imagination ran wild.
To be safe, he only dared say this to Tian Meng within his Sea of Consciousness. If Bibi Dong found out, tsk, tsk... he could reserve himself a serving of Eternal Creation.
After all, the most despairing and darkest experience of her life had been the Secret Chamber Incident. For Lin Qian to actually dare make jokes about it, and with a giant worm at that, was a crime deserving ten thousand deaths!
Bibi Dong said, "As your teacher, I've been busy with official affairs and have neglected you lately. Don't blame me!"
Sure, I believe you. Heh!
Lin Qian had been a little nervous at first, but hearing such obviously perfunctory words made him a little angry instead.
What, did you take me for a three-year-old you could fob off with a single sentence?
"Teacher, you handle countless affairs every day. Thank you for all your hard work!"
Saying one thing to her face and another behind her back, he put on an air of concern for his teacher.
Bibi Dong had deliberately come to find fault and clearly was not buying his act. "I heard you never attend classes, and you told Nana not to go either?"
"..."
That was it?
A disciple picked up along the way really got no love!
Lin Qian instantly lost his enthusiasm. "Yes, Teacher."
Hu Liena often returned to the Papal Palace. There was no way Bibi Dong did not know that he had given her the cultivation method. She had no reason to come here except to find fault.
"Besides cultivating, Soul Masters also need to learn basic knowledge. From now on, I'll be the one urging Nana to attend to her studies. You needn't concern yourself with it!"
Without giving him any chance to explain, Bibi Dong made her imperious declaration.
She had not come to discuss anything in the first place, merely to inform him.
"She has such a queenly air, just like Bingbing~"
Watching from within the Sea of Consciousness, Tian Meng was dazzled and entranced, drool streaming from his mouth.
Lin Qian did not understand the mind of a sycophant. He did indeed want Bibi Dong to be more queenly, but not here-there.
Where exactly, you ask?
No explanation needed. Those who understood would understand; those who did not could figure it out themselves!
Although he did not want to speak, Lin Qian still had to explain for his conquest to succeed. "Teacher, the cultivation method I taught Senior Sister is universally applicable. Once I finish organizing it, it can be promoted throughout the continent."
Promoted throughout the continent?
Hearing this, Bibi Dong stared unblinkingly at Lin Qian with her beautiful eyes.
Experts were as plentiful as clouds on the Douluo Continent. Those who possessed strength but no brains were brutes, and she had always looked down on them.
She liked intelligent men. Even if such a man's strength was pathetic, like Yu Xiaogang's, she would still plunge toward him like a moth into flame, without regard for herself.
Once Lin Qian displayed intelligence, the look in Bibi Dong's eyes changed. She no longer looked down on him so loftily. Because... she had once again remembered her first love.
"How did you think of all this?"
She shifted her beautiful legs and began studying Lin Qian with interest.
Even if I told you about the immortal cultivation world, you wouldn't understand!
After being constantly suppressed by this woman, Lin Qian intended to strike back as well. "I was just trying my luck. Because my Soul Power was improving slowly, I searched through every book but couldn't find a way to improve quickly. Teacher, have you heard of Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang?"
Pretending he knew nothing, he deliberately brought him up. Bibi Dong nodded calmly, revealing not the slightest flaw. "I have. Go on."
Then Lin Qian began his performance. "I heard Grandmaster was tremendously learned and knew everything, so I searched through all the books he wrote, but I simply couldn't find a solution.
"So I thought, if even Grandmaster had no solution, was my life over? But I refused to accept it. Finally, after racking my brains, I developed a method for rapid cultivation that would spare Soul Masters twenty years of detours!"
Disparaging Bibi Dong's former lover to her face and watching her expression grow increasingly stiff, Lin Qian secretly reveled in it.
Surprised? Uncomfortable? That was exactly the effect I wanted. Who told you to disrespect me just now!
After secretly enjoying himself for a while, he continued bad-mouthing Yu Xiaogang. "What surprised me even more was that the great Grandmaster's Soul Power was actually only a measly level twenty-nine!"