The guard who had come to announce the visitor finally arrived. "Your Holiness, the Great Enshrined requests an audience."
"Oh, the Great Enshrined is here? Show him in."
The corners of Bibi Dong's lips lifted slightly. What Qian Daoliu had come for was all too obvious.
She admired the sacred painting in her hands. What else besides this could have stirred the Great Enshrined into action?
"Mom, Mom, you can't go back on your promise!"
Terribly worried that his mother would change her mind after his grandfather arrived, Qian Renxing hurriedly said, "You dote on me the most, don't you? If Grandpa comes to stop me from becoming a god, don't agree to anything he says!"
"Don't worry. Of course Mommy dotes on Xiao Xing the most."
Bibi Dong was in an unimaginably wonderful mood.
Just thinking of how, in the near future, she could spread her intellectually disabled son's sacred deeds throughout the world, while sending rumors about the Great Enshrined Qian Daoliu flying everywhere along with them-
She could not help laughing aloud. "Haha, Xiao Xing, Mommy will definitely help you become a god! Even if I have to pay out of my own pocket, I'll help you reproduce a billion copies of this sacred painting!!"
"Oh, oh! I love Mommy the most!"
Qian Renxing immediately brightened at her words. "Once I become a god, I'll definitely take Mommy into the Divine Realm too!"
"Haha, that's my most treasured baby!"
Bibi Dong laughed at his words. Her intellectually disabled son truly was her darling. He had not let down all the love she had lavished on him over the years.
But she did not need her intellectually disabled son to take her into the Divine Realm. She alone was enough.
Inside the Pope's Palace, Bibi Dong and Qian Renxing presented a picture of a loving mother and a filial son.
Soon, Qian Daoliu arrived with anxiety written all over his face. Seeing his intellectually disabled grandson chuckling away, he could not help feeling a sense of foreboding.
"Xiao Xing! Where's that sacred painting? You haven't already shown it to the Pope, have you?"
Qian Daoliu feigned composure. "Pope, surely you aren't joining the child in this nonsense? You know Xiao Xing is intellectually disabled. How could someone intellectually disabled possibly become a god? And by this method, no less! If we actually do this, I fear our Spirit Hall's reputation will be destroyed in a single stroke."
"Grandpa, you're looking down on me! I'm intellectually disabled, not brain-dead! Why can't I become a god?!"
Qian Renxing said angrily, "Once my mom helps me reproduce a billion sacred paintings and spread my sacred deeds throughout the world, I'll definitely become a god!"
"Wait, a billion copies? Didn't you say before that a hundred million would be enough?"
Qian Daoliu's composure shattered. He stared at his intellectually disabled grandson in horror, then hurriedly turned to the Pope. "Pope, how could you agree to indulge Xiao Xing's nonsense, and even print a billion sacred paintings? You're even going to spread his sacred deeds throughout the world? How can you do this!!"
"Do you have no consideration at all for our Spirit Hall?! I know you hate Ji'er, but you still can't do this!"
"Xiao Xing is innocent, I'm innocent, and Spirit Hall is even more innocent! Haven't you poured even a fraction of your heart's blood into Spirit Hall? Isn't Xiao Xing your own flesh and blood?!"
"Great Enshrined, I am the Pope!!"
Bibi Dong rebuked Qian Daoliu sharply. "Do you think I don't love Xiao Xing? Loving him means letting him become a god! Reproducing a billion sacred paintings was my idea!!"
"What? It was actually your idea, Pope!"
Qian Daoliu could no longer hold himself together. "Pope, don't let hatred blind you! Use your head and think carefully. Can this really make him a god? If those billion sacred paintings spread throughout the world, what awaits Xiao Xing probably won't be godhood, but becoming a world-famous freak!"
"And that's not all! My reputation will be destroyed along with it, and the prestige Spirit Hall has accumulated over hundreds and thousands of years will all flow down the drain! Can you really bear to do this?"
As he spoke, Qian Daoliu was on the verge of tears.
It hurt. It hurt so much! Just imagining such a future was worse than being killed ten thousand times!!
"Great Enshrined, you've disappointed me so much. Are you going to stop Xiao Xing from becoming a god for your own selfish interests? Aren't you Xiao Xing's grandfather? Don't you love Xiao Xing at all?!!"
Bibi Dong scoffed, utterly disdainful. "You really think of nothing but yourself. Can't you give something up for Xiao Xing?"
"As long as Xiao Xing can become a god, everything is worth it!"
"It's only your reputation. It's only Spirit Hall's prestige. What does any of that amount to?"
"Besides, how can you be so certain that our Spirit Hall won't become even more glorious once the sacred paintings spread?"
Bibi Dong spoke with righteous conviction, but inwardly, she felt utterly gratified.
Seeing Qian Daoliu's expression turn as ugly as could be, she even felt a thrill of pleasure. This was exactly what she wanted to see!
You old bastard, your suffering now isn't even one ten-thousandth of what I suffered back then! If you hadn't fathered that vile spawn Qian Xunji, how would you be tasting this bitter fruit today!!
Qian Renxing said happily, "That's right, that's right! Grandpa, don't worry. Once I become a god, I'll definitely lead Spirit Hall to new glory!"
"Xiao Xing..."
Qian Daoliu choked, speechless. Surely his intellectually disabled grandson did not truly believe that reproducing a billion copies of that sacred painting and making his sacred deeds known to everyone would let him become a god.
"Who do you think I'm doing this for!"
Qian Daoliu lost his composure. "You're still young and don't understand shame at all! Once you grow up, you'll definitely regret everything you're doing now. By then, even if you want to destroy them, you won't be able to!!"
As he spoke, Qian Daoliu's face filled with anguish. He never cried, yet now, for some inexplicable reason, he wanted to shed tears. "That's a whole billion copies!"
"Grandpa, a man has to have boldness! Once you've done something, don't regret it!"
Qian Renxing kept chuckling. The thought that a billion copies of his sacred painting would soon be printed and distributed worldwide, and that he would soon become a god, filled him with excitement. "I won't regret becoming a god either! After I become a god, I'm going to find lots of pretty big sisters~"
"Yes, yes, my baby is right. A man has to have boldness. Even if you want to find lots of pretty big sisters, Mommy will support you."
Bibi Dong simply could not suppress her smile. She was so happy. "On this point alone, Great Enshrined, you can't compare to your own grandson!"
"I lack boldness? Fine. It seems I have no choice but to use my final trump card now!"
Qian Daoliu made up his mind.
His heart was extremely heavy. That venomous woman Bibi Dong had poisoned his son to death back then, but considering the sinful wrongs his son had committed, he had ultimately said nothing.
But now she wanted to ruin his grandson's reputation, and even destroy the prestige Spirit Hall had accumulated over hundreds and thousands of years in a single stroke. He would never agree!
Qian Daoliu declared with ringing conviction, "I, Qian Daoliu, as Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined, deem the matter of 'whether to reproduce a billion sacred paintings and spread them throughout the world' to concern Spirit Hall's future and to be of vital importance. In my capacity as master of the Elder Hall, I hereby convene a council of elders, summoning all Titled Douluo elders and enshrined to vote on the final decision!"
His majestic voice spread throughout Spirit City, making everyone in the city raise their heads toward the Pope's Palace. Something major was about to happen!!