He looked at the Darkin Bow in Gui Yuan's hand, a flicker of surprise crossing his aged eyes.
"The presence of a god."
Qian Daoliu's low voice echoed throughout the Pope's Palace.
"Although very faint, it is indeed the presence of a god."
The atmosphere grew somewhat delicate at that moment.
Qian Daoliu's gaze settled on Gui Yuan. "Boy, where did you get this bow?"
Gui Yuan knew to answer "honestly." "Great Enshrined, I received it when I obtained a god's inheritance."
Qian Daoliu fell silent for a moment, a meaningful expression appearing on his face.
"A god's inheritance... interesting."
Qian Daoliu then said, "Hmm... would you like to become my disciple?"
"Qian Daoliu!" Bibi Dong frowned, looking deeply displeased. "He is already my disciple."
The hall fell silent for a few seconds.
Qian Daoliu sighed. "Forget it, then."
"Spirit Hall has finally produced a genius with a god's inheritance. As his teacher, you must nurture him well."
Qian Daoliu looked at Bibi Dong, his eyes carrying an inscrutable meaning.
He knew that Bibi Dong had also obtained a certain god's inheritance, but he did not expose it.
After all, the dark-leaning divine power within Bibi Dong stood opposed to the sacred power of angels.
As the Great Enshrined, how could he possibly fail to sense it?
The same principle explained why he had immediately sensed the presence emanating from the Darkin Bow.
As Qian Daoliu spoke, he took out a token and placed it in Gui Yuan's hand.
"This token grants access to the Worship Hall."
"If you encounter something your teacher cannot resolve, come find me at the Worship Hall."
As his words fell, Qian Daoliu had already vanished from the Pope's Palace.
Gui Yuan looked at the token in his hand, then turned to Bibi Dong, looking somewhat "at a loss." "Teacher, this token?"
Yue Guan and Gui Mei were his two fathers, after all, so he openly knew a little about the discord between the Pope's Palace and the Worship Hall.
He had to ask Bibi Dong here, or he would be failing to give her face.
Bibi Dong fell silent briefly before saying, "Since he gave it to you, keep it."
"However, I do not believe there will be anything you need to trouble him with."
"Your teacher is no weaker than Qian Daoliu. You are my disciple. I will teach you myself!"
There was a hint of competitiveness in Bibi Dong's voice.
That old fellow Qian Daoliu had taken a fancy to her newly accepted disciple, and it left her deeply uncomfortable.
Then Bibi Dong looked at Gui Yuan and instructed him very seriously, "Unless your life is in danger, do not reveal this divine artifact."
"If the other outside factions discover it before you have grown strong, even being my disciple may not stop them from making a move against you in secret."
"With your second father around, such a situation generally won't happen, but you must still be careful."
Gui Yuan nodded. "I understand, Teacher."
Then, at Bibi Dong's prompting, Gui Yuan explained the effects of the First Soul Skill he had obtained this time.
"Sky-reaching golden chrysanthemum, condense petals to guard the body."
He recited a soul incantation, and a golden petal condensed in his palm.
"My First Soul Skill is called Singular Velvet Heart-Guarding Petal. After it is consumed, it increases defense and resistance by fifty percent for three minutes."
"I can make ten petals at once, and they can be stored for a month."
After listening, Bibi Dong showed a rare trace of a smile. "As expected of a Food-type Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power. The effects of your First Soul Skill are already far stronger than those of other Food System Soul Masters' First Soul Rings."
Fifty percent might not seem like much, but high amplification like that of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul was not the defining trait of the Food System.
Its initial percentage boosts were not particularly high. Its strengths lay in advance preparation, stockpiling large quantities, and certain support effects that other support-type Soul Masters did not possess.
These included flight, instantly recovering from injuries and restoring Soul Power, and so on.
Moreover, Gui Yuan's Soul Skill provided the same amplification to high-level Soul Masters.
This would be immensely helpful to Spirit Hall in the future.
Furthermore, food produced by his First Soul Ring already had a storage life of one month. Apart from his immortal-grade Martial Soul, this was also inseparably linked to his First Soul Ring being at the thousand-year level.
If a conflict with the two great empires arose in the future, Gui Yuan could truly support an entire army single-handedly.
Even a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master could not accomplish that.
Just then, Bibi Dong abruptly changed the subject. "Xiao Yuan, Yue Guan and Gui Mei possess the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Two-Level Stillness Domain."
"Now that you possess both the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and the Ghost Martial Soul, why don't you try fusing the two Martial Souls and see whether you can unleash a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"
Gui Yuan had actually already thought about trying this.
He had not tried because he felt that even if he did, success was unlikely at present.
Neither Martial Soul had had a Soul Ring yet. Even if they were compatible, could he successfully activate it?
"Teacher," Gui Yuan asked, "right now, only my Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum has a Soul Ring. My Second Martial Soul doesn't have one. Are you sure the fusion can succeed?"
Bibi Dong said calmly, "How will you know without trying?"
Although Gui Yuan's Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum followed the Food System rather than the Power Attack System, the key to a "Martial Soul Fusion Skill" lay in the fusion between Martial Souls.
It was not that a Martial Soul had to follow a particular path to meet the conditions for fusion.
Otherwise, it should not be called a "Martial Soul Fusion Skill," but rather a "Martial Souls' Soul Ring Fusion Skill."
Gui Yuan nodded, stood in the center of the hall, and activated both Martial Souls simultaneously.
He raised his right hand, and the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum bloomed in his palm, its golden petals layered upon one another.
He spread his left hand, and the Ghost Martial Soul turned into black mist that swirled around his fingertips.
One gold, one black, two utterly different powers intertwined within him.
Possessing Twin Martial Souls did not mean everyone could use both Martial Souls simultaneously.
Bibi Dong, for example, had two Beast Martial Souls, both "Spider Emperors." To use the other Martial Soul, she had to switch.
Gui Yuan, however, did not need to.
One of his Martial Souls was the Tool Martial Soul "Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum," while the other was the Body Martial Soul "Soul." They did not conflict and could be used simultaneously.
Gui Yuan tried to fuse them, and golden and black light collided ceaselessly around him.
Gradually, the golden light began to seep into the black, and the black mist began winding around the golden petals. They were beginning to fuse!
However, the only Soul Ring was the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum's single ring.
Bibi Dong and the others stood nearby, watching him without blinking.
Immediately afterward, a strange domain fluctuation emanated from Gui Yuan.
The fluctuation was faint, as subtle as wind brushing the water's surface, but Hu Liena, standing nearby, felt it most clearly.
Her pupils contracted slightly. She distinctly felt her body freeze for an instant.
Though it lasted only an instant, she had unmistakably felt that sense of restraint.
Gui Yuan felt the Soul Power within him draining extremely fast, as though something were frantically sucking it away.
His face rapidly paled, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The fused light lasted only a second before slowly dissipating. The phantoms of the two Martial Souls separated and returned to his body.
Gui Yuan opened his eyes and took a few panting breaths. "Teacher, it seems... I failed?"
"No." Bibi Dong looked at him and said calmly, "You succeeded."