"Hey, hey, hey, Yue Guan, Gui Mei, are we still friends or not? We've known each other for years. Can't you let me go?"
After being escorted all the way to a courtyard, Bai Guyue couldn't help speaking up.
Yue Guan looked troubled.
"Brother Bai, it's not that we won't help you. It's His Holiness the Pope's order. We have no choice but to carry it out."
Gui Mei advised him:
"Brother Bai, His Holiness the Pope thinks so highly of you, so just give in. Besides, in your current position, you can hardly resist His Holiness the Pope. Why struggle?"
Bai Guyue sat in a chair without a word.
Even if he wanted to leave now, he really couldn't.
Could it be that I really have to stay in Spirit Hall for the rest of my life?
"Gui Mei, Yue Guan, you ate my fish and mooched meals off me for years, and then there's..."
Once Bai Guyue started, he didn't stop.
Gui Mei and Yue Guan both looked guilty.
After eating someone's food, it was hard to refuse them; after taking their gifts, your hands were tied.
Yue Guan hurriedly said, "Brother Bai, say no more. Tell us what you want, and we'll do our best to satisfy you. As for helping you escape, there's almost no chance we can agree to that. Spirit Hall branches are spread across the continent, so it would be easy to catch you."
As long as it wasn't that, they could do their best to satisfy him.
"Yue Guan, I won't make things difficult for you," Bai Guyue said. "Don't you like recording information about flowers and plants? Do you have any books I could read? I'm looking to pass the time."
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"But what it records are called Immortal Herbs, and I haven't found any in most of my life."
Yue Guan took a thick book from his Storage Soul Tool and handed it to Bai Guyue.
Bai Guyue took it and began reading. After turning a few pages, he found that it did indeed record quite a few Immortal Herbs, including the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, the Aromatic Silk Beauty, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and others.
Gui Mei didn't really understand what use this lousy book was. Almost none of the Immortal Herbs it recorded could be found.
In any case, he didn't like fiddling with flowers and plants. He had no interest in them, nor did he have the patience to study them.
"Brother Bai, I have to tell you, almost all the Immortal Herbs recorded in there are impossible to find. You'd be better off spending your time on something else. You're a Soul King now, one level away from becoming a Soul Emperor. Why study this?"
Yue Guan offered a word of advice.
Although he himself was studying Immortal Herbs, he hadn't found a single one in all this time and was already thinking of giving up.
Things like these weren't particularly easy to find.
Even a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could be found, but Immortal Herbs were truly hard to come by.
Besides, his own Martial Soul was a type of Immortal Herb, the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. If he could find another one, that would be wonderful.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. You two can go back."
Seeing this, Yue Guan and Gui Mei set off.
The problem was settled, so they didn't need to concern themselves with it anymore.
Half a day passed.
Bai Guyue had nearly finished reading, but the sight of the tightly shut gates left him irritated.
"I have ideas, but no way to put them into action. It's suffocating."
He wanted to go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but he had no way to get out. Besides, Bibi Dong was the Pope, and she had basically set her love-struck mind on him.
Sigh.
What a headache.
Why did she have to take this step with her love-struck mind?
If he wanted to reach the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Bibi Dong was his only opening.
Ask Bibi Dong for help?
Not a chance. It was practically impossible.
Unless he found a worshipper from the Worship Hall.
Over the past few years, besides staying by Bibi Dong's side, he had also accompanied Qian Renxue. Qian Daoliu had seen it all. There might be a chance, but it wasn't likely.
Just as he found himself at his wits' end, the gates suddenly opened.
A teasing voice reached his ears.
"Xiao Bai, looks like you've stopped making a fuss. Have you resigned yourself to your fate?"
After seeing who it was, Bai Guyue rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
"If you've got nothing else to do, you should let me go. You shouldn't put a young man in the prime of his youth under house arrest."
The more Bai Guyue spoke, the angrier he got.
"Listen to yourself. How could I put you under house arrest? I'm only keeping you from running away before our wedding. Once we're married, you can go wherever you want."
Bibi Dong smiled as she spoke.
"Isn't that a load of crap?"
"Once we're married, my status will be set in stone. What the hell would be the point of running then?"
Bai Guyue called Bibi Dong an old schemer to her face.
Who could be so shameless?
Once they were married, the whole continent would know he was the Pope's husband.
"So you have no choice."
Smiling, Bibi Dong pulled out another chair and sat down, looking at Bai Guyue seriously.
"I came today to discuss serious business with you. Apart from our wedding, you also need to make some changes. Do your best to break through to Soul Emperor before our wedding day. A Soul Emperor so young would make people see you in a new light and convince those fellows in the Worship Hall."
She needed Bai Guyue to break through to Soul Emperor, and then she would break through to Titled Douluo.
That would leave only two major realms between them.
In the future, if she received rewards from the God Trial that could raise cultivation, she could give them to Bai Guyue to raise his level.
Then, with the two of them joining forces, they would be invincible under heaven.
Bibi Dong had already planned the perfect script. All that remained was for Bai Guyue to cooperate.
But the simplest step was also the hardest.
Getting Bai Guyue to cooperate was easier said than done.
If only I had a potion that made people obey. Bai Guyue would do whatever I said.
We could even do what comes after the wedding. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Although she understood the idea of cooking raw rice into a done deal, she was still deeply averse to doing it.
Qian Xunji had forced himself on her. Unless she had no other choice, she wouldn't use those secret-room methods on Bai Guyue.
Bai Guyue pointed at his head.
"Your Holiness, is there something wrong with your head? You want me to cooperate with you? Are you daydreaming?"
"Xiao Bai, there's no deep-seated grudge between us. And tell me, how have I treated you these past six or seven years?"
Bibi Dong touched her chest.
"Search your heart. Have you forgotten the resources I gave you, and the time I secretly gave you a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone?"
Hadn't she given him enough?
Yet Bai Guyue still kept his distance.
Could it be that what Bai Guyue wanted wasn't any of that, but something of that nature?
Of course, that's just my own guess. I have no proof.
Bai Guyue shook his head.
"Your Holiness, that Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone wasn't suited to me, and I didn't take it in the end. You know better than I do how important a Soul Bone is. As for cultivation resources, I do admit you gave me a lot. Otherwise, I couldn't have broken through to Soul King so quickly."
In the end, Bai Guyue acknowledged that much.
"Then that settles it," Bibi Dong continued. "Cooperate with me to complete the plan. Once it succeeds, I can use my authority as Pope to bring out all the Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones for you to absorb, so you won't lack a single one."
Before, she really had intended to destroy the continent, but things were different now. Bai Guyue had entered her heart.
Whatever Bai Guyue wanted, she was willing to give him. If he wanted a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, she could give him one after she hunted down the Death Spider Emperor.