"."
Bibi Dong was a forceful person. Had it been Hu Liena, she would never have allowed her to defy her.
But the one saying this happened to be Luo Chen.
Her favoritism was not just because his twin God-Level Martial Souls made her value him so highly.
More importantly, there was that special affection.
Luo Chen was the first child Bibi Dong had encountered after giving birth to Qian Renxue, and she had saved him with her own hands.
Now they had reunited, and he had even become her disciple.
All of this gave Bibi Dong the illusion that it was somehow destined.
After all, on the Douluo Continent, the closeness between master and disciple was nowhere near as simple as it had been in Luo Chen's previous life.
Many people could not understand why Hu Liena later became Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden instead of Qian Renxue.
Yet the truth was that disciples inherently had the right to inherit their teachers' estates.
Soul Masters who had no children and no intention of marrying, in particular, would raise disciples from childhood and treat them as their own sons and daughters.
Luo Chen clearly met the standard of being raised from childhood.
Although Bibi Dong had Qian Renxue, she had never acknowledged this daughter.
So in her mind, she had "no" children, and would never have any in the future.
As for why she favored Luo Chen over Hu Liena...
Who could help it when Luo Chen was weaker?
Never mind Bibi Dong, whose maternal instincts had been awakened-even Hu Liena wanted to protect Luo Chen.
"Xiao Chen, you've always had a mind of your own."
Bibi Dong said, "All right. Then let me hear your thoughts."
"Thank you, Teacher."
Luo Chen already had Na'er, so he needed to find a reason here for his first Soul Ring to appear.
The absorption process was not a problem, because the Celestial Star Crown absorbed not only the Soul Ring but the Soul Beast's body along with it.
When the time came, Luo Chen only needed to absorb the Soul Ring into the Martial Soul Space, then quietly wait for it to dissipate.
Na'er had assured Luo Chen that the entire process would never expose her existence as his first Aspects.
"Teacher, the reason I want to absorb a Soul Ring is to see whether it will help my body."
"Besides, I can attach eighteen Soul Rings. Even if my first Soul Ring is white and less than a hundred years old, as long as I can break through to the Titled Douluo realm in the future, I can still attach nine high-quality Soul Rings starting from my tenth."
In that respect, Luo Chen really could afford to lose out on a Soul Ring or two.
The advantage of twin Martial Souls was right there. Even if his first nine Soul Rings were inferior to others', as long as the latter nine were all at least ten thousand years old, Luo Chen could still stand above every Soul Master with a single Martial Soul.
"And there's also the question of what sort of Soul Skill I'll have."
Luo Chen already knew his Soul Skills.
The Celestial Star Crown was worthy of being a God-Level Martial Soul. It could convert the abilities of his innate Aspects. Once he reached the pinnacle, he could summon eighteen Aspects above the Titled level together-the very thought was terrifying.
Not to mention that the Aspects could also merge with Luo Chen, allowing him to inherit their power.
Furthermore, there was no limit to the number involved in this fusion.
In theory, as long as Luo Chen's body could withstand it, he could even merge with eighteen Aspects at once, gathering all their power within himself.
Even the Clear Sky Sect's Ring Detonation fell far short of such an effect.
With The Star Forger currently unable to grant Luo Chen power in Martial Soul form, the Celestial Star Crown's Aspects Summoning and Aspects Possession were the greatest trump cards he could rely on.
Therefore, Luo Chen needed to fabricate another set of Soul Rings and Soul Skills to stand in for the Celestial Star Crown's true abilities, allowing him to bluff his way through.
"Only by knowing my Martial Soul's attributes can I find the right direction and cultivate better."
Bibi Dong found it difficult to find fault with Luo Chen's words.
Besides, Bibi Dong also wanted to know what the Celestial Star Crown's abilities were.
Bibi Dong and the others had witnessed the Sun Disc's power firsthand, and it had overturned their entire worldview.
After all, the basic requirement for twin Martial Souls was that the two Martial Souls had to be of comparable quality. Otherwise, twin Martial Souls could not be born.
Since the Celestial Star Crown could stand alongside the Sun Disc, even if there was a gap between them, it could not possibly be very large.
Bibi Dong had never seen twin God-Level Martial Souls, but she still possessed basic judgment. "Xiao Chen, what kind of Soul Beast do you need?"
Hearing those words, Luo Chen knew Bibi Dong had agreed.
For a moment, Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo revised his understanding of Bibi Dong. The Supreme Pontiff actually favors this child so much!
Even Luo Chen himself had not expected the possessive, domineering, coldhearted female Supreme Pontiff to indulge him this much.
"Teacher, I already thought through my choice for my first Soul Skill."
Without dwelling on it, Luo Chen quickly named the Soul Beast he and Na'er had discussed. "I want a Soul Beast with multiple attributes. The Rainbow-Winged Butterfly marked on the area map fits very well."
"A Rainbow-Winged Butterfly? Xiao Chen, are you sure?"
To put it plainly, the Rainbow-Winged Butterfly was an extremely weak butterfly-type Soul Beast. It was only popular among female Soul Masters because its wing powder could absorb sunlight and turn it into multicolored phosphorescence.
But the problem was that Rainbow-Winged Butterflies were extremely weak.
Aside from being pretty, these Soul Beasts were almost entirely useless. They even struggled to live past a hundred years.
At any rate, Spirit Hall's records contained no Rainbow-Winged Butterfly over five hundred years old.
"Why?"
Bibi Dong asked Luo Chen why he wanted a Rainbow-Winged Butterfly as his first Soul Ring.
"Because of its diverse attributes."
Luo Chen gave a reason Bibi Dong could not refute. "I read an introduction to Rainbow-Winged Butterflies in the Spirit Hall Branch's library."
"Although these Soul Beasts are weak, they have a great many attributes."
"Each color of wing powder contains extremely weak power of a different attribute," Luo Chen said. "Although these powers are still fundamentally light-attributed, it does manage to transform the light attribute into various other attributes."
This reason was precisely the groundwork Luo Chen was laying to explain Na'er's diverse elements later.
"Well..."
Bibi Dong sank into thought. Since I promised Luo Chen that he could decide on his first Soul Ring himself, I shouldn't keep questioning him.
"Very well. Have it your way."
Bibi Dong chose to trust Luo Chen's judgment. Xiao Chen is so clever. Perhaps he really can obtain a decent Soul Skill from a Rainbow-Winged Butterfly.
"Teacher, you're so good to me!"
Luo Chen smiled and took Bibi Dong's hand. He was genuinely happy.
With Bibi Dong trusting him so much, it would be a lie to say he was not touched.
"Oh, you child..."
Feeling the warmth from Luo Chen's palm, the stunningly beautiful Supreme Pontiff thoroughly enjoyed their interaction.
"Ghost Elder!"
Bibi Dong looked at Gui Mei and said solemnly, "Go capture some Rainbow-Winged Butterflies, ranging from ten to two hundred years old. Catch as many as you can."
"Teacher, forty- or fifty-year-old ones will do."
Luo Chen quickly offered his suggestion. He trusted Na'er's judgment: he could only absorb a Soul Ring forty or fifty years old.
But Bibi Dong did not agree. She looked at Gui Mei, who immediately understood.
"As you command!"
Gui Mei knew what Bibi Dong was thinking. She was making one final struggle.
Soon, Gui Mei returned with twenty or thirty Rainbow-Winged Butterflies held under the control of his Soul Power.
"Wow, what beautiful butterflies!"
The moment Hu Liena saw these palm-sized butterfly Soul Beasts, their dazzling, multicolored light caught her eye.
"Let's start with the oldest."
With a sweep of her hand, Bibi Dong sent a two-hundred-year-old Rainbow-Winged Butterfly straight before Luo Chen, who killed it with a dagger.
As the two-hundred-year-old yellow Soul Ring rose, Luo Chen shook his head.
"Next!"
Bibi Dong paid no mind whatsoever to the issue of casually slaughtering Soul Beasts. Even Na'er, the sovereign of all Soul Beasts, felt little about it.
Even if such weak Soul Beasts went extinct, it would not affect the Soul Beast Clan's continued existence.
Besides, Soul Beasts like Rainbow-Winged Butterflies, with only a few hundred years of cultivation, lacked even intelligence. They were purely mindless insects.
Na'er would never acknowledge creatures like these as her own kin.
I'm sorry.
Luo Chen offered a silent moment of mourning, then brought his blade down without hesitation.
He would not parade his righteousness like Tang San, calling these butterflies evil or even insisting that they should feel honored to contribute to him.
Killing was killing. Luo Chen was the one inflicting violence.
However, Luo Chen did not consider himself a good person.
He was selfish and only cared about those who cared for him and those he cared about.
Originally, Luo Chen had wanted to try persuading her a little more, hoping Bibi Dong would let him start with the ten-year-old ones.
That way, even if there were innocent casualties, only a few would be harmed.
Unfortunately, Bibi Dong had her own insistence on this matter.
They were only Rainbow-Winged Butterflies, after all. Killing a few more would let them determine the age he could absorb more precisely. Even an increase of just ten years would be more than worth it in Bibi Dong's eyes.
"Xiao Chen, I know you're kind."
"As Soul Masters, we must not slaughter Soul Beasts indiscriminately."
"But this is a necessary expenditure," Bibi Dong instructed him.
What compassion did Soul Masters have for Soul Beasts?
Besides, a dozen or so Rainbow-Winged Butterflies really did not amount to indiscriminate slaughter.
By contrast, Liu Erlong in the original story had slaughtered an entire forest of Soul Beasts to vent her frustrations over Yu Xiaogang. That was what indiscriminate slaughter meant.
Compared to Liu Erlong, Bibi Dong having Luo Chen kill a dozen or so Rainbow-Winged Butterflies was practically negligible.
"Haah..."
Luo Chen knew Bibi Dong was right. "On the Douluo Continent, being softhearted is a grave taboo."
"Even if I want to change something, I need the ability to make that change."
"At least until I've grown strong," Luo Chen's gaze hardened as he brought his blade down on Rainbow-Winged Butterflies again and again, "I have no right to change the rules. I can only adapt!"
Watching the change in Luo Chen's eyes, Bibi Dong nodded in satisfaction. "As expected of my disciple. Truly outstanding."
Indeed, Bibi Dong was doing this deliberately.
She had noticed the innocence deep in Luo Chen's heart from the start.
This innocence differed from Hu Liena's ignorance. Hu Liena had a child's disposition and did not think trampling a group of ants to death was particularly cruel.
Luo Chen was different. He understood the cruelty, yet still chose to wield the butcher's blade.
On the Douluo Continent, innocence was something one could not afford.
Thus, Bibi Dong was very satisfied with Luo Chen's current performance. "Xiao Chen is not only intelligent and extraordinarily promising, but also possesses the heart of a powerhouse."
At the same time, Bibi Dong's heart ached a little.
If possible, Bibi Dong did not want to force Luo Chen to do anything. She believed she had the ability to protect him.
But whenever she remembered that the strong reigned supreme on the Douluo Continent, Bibi Dong had no choice but to suppress her desire to be a loving mother.
Blindly spoiling him would be truly irresponsible toward Luo Chen.
Since Bibi Dong had decided to give Luo Chen her genuine affection, she would not simply go through the motions. When strictness was needed, she had to steel her heart.
Of course, if Luo Chen pleaded with her, Bibi Dong felt there was a very good chance she would soften.
Fortunately, Luo Chen truly was outstanding.
He had understood her intentions and chosen to face slaughter and blood.
At this moment, Bibi Dong truly felt as though Luo Chen had become a continuation of her own life.
"I can absorb this one!"
Suddenly, Luo Chen's voice interrupted Bibi Dong's thoughts.
"Forty years..."
Yet the age Luo Chen reported still made everyone, Bibi Dong included, shake their heads helplessly.
"It's all my fault."
Bibi Dong hesitated to speak, but ultimately did not stop Luo Chen from absorbing this white Soul Ring.
The process went smoothly. Luo Chen sat cross-legged on the ground, pretending to absorb the Soul Ring while actually working with Na'er to produce the Soul Power fluctuations of Soul Ring absorption.
Na'er smoothly drew the Soul Ring into the Martial Soul Space, and Luo Chen rose to his feet at that same moment.
"How was it?"
Seeing Luo Chen wake, Bibi Dong and Hu Liena hurried forward to ask.
More than what kind of Soul Skill he had obtained, Bibi Dong cared about Luo Chen's body.
Her eyes were full of anticipation. She dearly hoped that absorbing a Soul Ring would allow Luo Chen's body to recover on its own.
"Good news, Teacher."
Naturally, Luo Chen's body had not changed. However, Na'er had said that once that red Divine Power was dealt with, his body would slowly begin to recover.
Since that was the case, he might as well attribute it to the Soul Ring.
"My Martial Soul told me that as long as I keep absorbing Soul Rings, my body will recover and even surpass other Soul Masters'."
Luo Chen made an estimate and reported a timeframe favorable to himself. "At this rate, I should be able to absorb a fifty-year-old Soul Ring in about a month."
"That's wonderful!"
Unlike Luo Chen, whose thoughts were tangled and complicated, Bibi Dong and Hu Liena were sincerely happy for him.
This made Luo Chen feel a little ashamed.
But when he thought of Bibi Dong's madness and love-addled mind in the original story, he forcibly suppressed that guilt.
There was no helping it. Until he was completely certain of Bibi Dong's intentions, Luo Chen could not let his guard down.
He would not repay kindness with betrayal, but keeping a few trump cards was not too much to ask, was it?
"Haah."
Luo Chen sighed inwardly. Who told me to jump to conclusions? Sorry, Teacher.
"Xiao Chen, congratulations."
Hu Liena bounded forward and threw her arms around Luo Chen.
"A god-level martial soul really is extraordinary."
Bibi Dong felt thoroughly reassured, and her anticipation of Luo Chen's future potential grew even greater.
Absorbing Soul Rings could strengthen the body. This was common knowledge.
And according to Luo Chen, after he absorbed his first Soul Ring, barring any accidents, he would need no more than half a year to attain the physical constitution of a rank 10 Soul Master.
At that point, Luo Chen could absorb a yellow Soul Ring at the age limit, thereby speeding up his recovery.
In a year at most, Luo Chen's third Soul Ring would catch up to the age of an ordinary Soul Master's third Soul Ring, reaching 1,700 years.
After that, Luo Chen would be able to absorb Soul Rings beyond the age limit just like Hu Liena, until he reached the physical limits his god-level twin martial souls could grant him.
(End of chapter)