Bibi Dong remained outwardly calm as she said, "Take it. After all, this is a token of goodwill from the Second Worship's clan."
"And this Heaven Prison Pope Token-I hope that, like the golden crocodile inside that gold bracelet, it will spur you on day and night, so you never forget your original aspiration to become a top-tier Soul Master."
Once again, she was diverting the flood of trouble eastward.
She had directed all the Elder Hall's Second Worship's perfunctory treatment toward Xu Zi. What a fine second use of the same borrowed knife to kill.
But Xu Zi did not refuse. No matter what, he was the greatest beneficiary.
"Yes." He obligingly accepted the Pope Token and gold bracelet, even putting on an expression of bitter grievance and deep resentment. "Your Holiness, I would never dare forget your teachings today. I shall cultivate diligently day and night and strive to have my Martial Soul engraved on your newly issued Pope Token as soon as possible."
"Mm, good." Bibi Dong was very satisfied with Xu Zi's performance.
She instructed Chrysanthemum Douluo, "Yue Guan, take him back to the academy and have someone arrange for him to join the team."
"Also, return before sunset. I will hold an emergency meeting through the night. Summon every high-ranking Soul Douluo you can to the hall."
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's eyes widened. He recalled the words in Bibi Dong's orders before they had set out to meet Golden Crocodile Douluo: "He has brought a new cultivation method from the continent across the sea." He immediately guessed the purpose of the emergency meeting-it was for the new cultivation method.
Yue Guan immediately glanced at Xu Zi, his gaze seeming to say: You're from the continent across the sea?
"What? Is there some difficulty?" Bibi Dong asked when Chrysanthemum Douluo failed to answer for several seconds.
Chrysanthemum Douluo hurriedly answered, "No, Your Holiness. I recalled what the Second Worship said and became distracted."
"Hmph." Bibi Dong gazed toward the distant Elder Hall. "Rest assured, they will soon have nothing left to say."
Finally, Bibi Dong's purple eyes flicked toward Xu Zi, and she left him with one remark. "Once you reach Spirit Hall Academy, there are things you should say and things you shouldn't. I trust you're no fool and can understand."
"Yes, Your Holiness. Regarding the Soul Core Method and today's events, I would not dare mention a single word," Xu Zi said, bowing in a ceremonial salute of the Church.
With a thunk, the Pope's Scepter struck the ground, and Bibi Dong walked away, her waist and hips swaying slightly.
Without standing on ceremony, Xu Zi put on the gold bracelet capable of storing living creatures, then clasped his fists with the Pope Token gripped in one hand. "Your Eminence Chrysanthemum Douluo, I look forward to your guidance."
"Let's go." Yue Guan nodded and led Xu Zi out of the hall.
Outside the Pope's Hall, an orange sun hung low in the western sky.
All around them, the temple guards on duty bowed their heads in ceremonial salutes of the Church.
"It's getting late." Chrysanthemum Douluo glanced at the distant setting sun, then summoned his Martial Soul Avatar-
A gilded chrysanthemum with a radius of three feet and three inches slowly grew beneath his feet, rotating as its bud unfurled.
"Come on up." Yue Guan beckoned.
"Thank you for the ride, Your Eminence." Xu Zi did not stand on ceremony either, lifting his foot and stepping onto the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Avatar.
A crisp chrysanthemum fragrance filled his nostrils, and Xu Zi could not help inwardly praising it: Truly worthy of being an immortal-grade Martial Soul!
With a thought from Chrysanthemum Douluo, the enormous gilded chrysanthemum immediately carried them into the sky, heading down toward Spirit Hall Academy.
With a sky full of yellow clouds as his backdrop, Yue Guan clasped his hands behind his waist and asked the person beside him, "How should I address you?"
Xu Zi answered with ease, "Xu Zi, of the Xu lineage of the Sun Clan, from the Sun Moon Continent."
"So the continent across the sea is called Sun Moon. A Sun Martial Soul?" Chrysanthemum Douluo looked toward the setting sun in the west and nodded quietly. "Not bad. It does have some affinity with the faith in light upheld by the Angel God. No wonder some unseen force brought you to our Spirit Hall to seek advancement."
"You flatter me, Your Eminence," Xu Zi said modestly. "Your Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Martial Soul is the manifestation of a tenth-grade immortal herb. I fear it is every bit the equal of my Sun Martial Soul."
"Tenth-grade?" As though Xu Zi had touched on a sensitive point, Chrysanthemum Douluo asked curiously, "Has the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum existed on your side as well?"
"No," Xu Zi denied. "This junior has merely done a little research into flowers and plants. I've always wondered what kinds of legendary immortal herbs there are, but the literature on this subject is incomplete where we come from. It is one small regret in this junior's life."
At those words, Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes lit up. "I happen to have a Detailed Explanation of Immortal Herbs. Would you be interested?"
Got it, Xu Zi inwardly exclaimed. He gave a knowing smile. "This junior could ask for nothing better."
According to the book Douluo Continent, Yue Guan could identify the immortal herbs used by all seven members of the protagonist's party merely from the scents on the Shrek Seven Devils. From that, it was not difficult to deduce-
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan possessed a book recording all the immortal herbs.
A faint light shone from his soul tool, and a volume of handwritten notes appeared in Yue Guan's hands. Yet he smiled inscrutably. "This treasure is the essence of my clan's legacy, passed down through generations. What do you intend to exchange for it?"
Hearing this, Xu Zi feigned difficulty. "This junior only has the Soul Core Method, but I have already presented this technique to Her Holiness the Pope. As one of her two protectors, Her Holiness will surely teach you..."
Yue Guan cut him off. "Then the Soul Core Method it is."
In Chrysanthemum Douluo's view, immortal herbs were exceedingly rare in this world. Even the treasured medicinal herbs held in reserve by the great clans were, at most, only seventh- to ninth-grade. Giving away this information would not conjure medicinal herbs out of thin air, so why not exchange it for something he urgently needed?
"Well..." Xu Zi pretended to hesitate for two seconds, then took out another paper scroll and offered it with both hands. "This is the Soul Core Condensation and Shaping Method that the upper ranks of our Sun Moon Empire researched and completed in recent years. Please have a look, Your Eminence."
Psychology was actually quite easy to manipulate.
As the Pope, Bibi Dong wanted powerful subordinates as plentiful as clouds, and she wanted everything under her control. Thus, she could not possibly teach the entire Soul Core Method to her subordinates all at once, because she would absolutely establish a reward system.
This gave Xu Zi room to maneuver-an opportunity to obtain the Detailed Explanation of Immortal Treasures, especially in a situation like this, when Chrysanthemum Douluo happened to be alone with him.
Although, at this point in time, Tang San had already plundered ninety percent of the immortal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
That did not change the fact that the herb garden was an exceptional treasure land for cultivating immortal herbs. Moreover, it was where the Water and Fire Dragon Kings had fallen, and two utterly different kinds of Dragon Qi lingered there without fading.
As a dragon Soul Master, Xu Zi would definitely claim the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for himself once his strength grew.
Thus, learning about these immortal herbs in advance would make it easier to cultivate more of them in the future. Besides, more skills were no burden to bear.
The exchange went smoothly. When Yue Guan read the opening-improving a Soul Master's success rate in advancing to level 90, increasing a Soul Master's total Soul Power, accelerating Soul Power cultivation, and accelerating its recovery-those four bombshells prompted him to hand the Record of Detailed Explanation of Immortal Treasures straight to Xu Zi.
For the rest of the flight, both initially intended to verify the authenticity of what they had received, but one after the other, they became immersed in the contents of the volumes in their hands, reading with rapt absorption.
Only when the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Avatar landed and a chorus of "Greetings, Your Eminence" rose around them did the two reluctantly put away the papers and handwritten notes.