Bibi Dong Sees Yu Xiaogang for Who He Is
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The morning at Jialing Pass was shattered by the bugle calls from the Spirit Hall camp.
Nan Feng stood atop the city wall, his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light covering three thousand paces. The Soul Power fluctuations from the direction of the Spirit Hall camp were more intense than in the previous days. Tuoba Lie's Holy Dragon Legion had regrouped outside the pass, with 50,000 elite Soul Master arranged in twelve square formations, connected by Soul Power chains, forming a Soul Power network covering the entire plain. But Nan Feng's attention was not on Tuoba Lie.
He sensed Bibi Dong's Rakshasa Divine Power rising alone from the camp, without the phantom of the Twin Spider Emperor, without a black pillar of light shooting into the sky, simply moving towards Jialing Pass. The fluctuation of that Soul Power was more solid than before, and the divinity of the Rakshasa God was awakening at an accelerated pace, but the way it moved was extremely calm, not like it was about to launch a general offensive.
"She came alone." Old Huai poked its head out from the Immortal Tree, its half-face, now solidified by a remnant soul, bearing a solemn expression.
Nan Feng levitated the tower in front of his chest, the silver-white Purification light of the eighth floor intertwining with the silver-blue Samsara light of the seventh floor. He sensed that Bibi Dong's Soul Power fluctuations stopped three hundred paces outside the pass, not continuing to approach. That fluctuation carried an unprecedented emotion—not anger, not greed, not fanaticism, but a cold decisiveness.
"She's waiting for someone," Nan Feng said.
Tang San emerged from the city tower, the radiance of the Sea God Godhood slightly diminishing on his body. The trident mark between his brows was three parts dimmer than before; the dual divine cores were continuously draining his Soul Power, but his senses remained sharp. "She's waiting for Yu Xiaogang."
Nan Feng turned to look at him.
"Before Bibi Dong became a god, she had a past with Yu Xiaogang," Tang San said calmly. "It's recorded in the Spirit Hall's intelligence. Yu Xiaogang was a guest elder of the Spirit Hall back then, and later left the Spirit Hall to go to the Nuoding Academy. After Bibi Dong became a god, she kept looking for him, but Yu Xiaogang hid very well."
Nan Feng retrieved the tower from his palm. He sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of Soul Power moving towards the city gate from the direction of the inner city of Jialing Pass. The fluctuation was not much stronger than that of an ordinary person, and the aura of the Martial Soul was extremely weak, as if it had been suppressed by some kind of force. Yu Xiaogang.
"Let her in," Nan Feng said.
Xue Beng emerged from the city gate and frowned upon hearing this. "Bibi Dong is a descendant of the Rakshasa God. Let her into the city—"
"She came alone, without any troops," Nan Feng said. "She wants to see Yu Xiaogang. If we intercept her outside the city, she'll launch a full-scale attack. If she enters the city, at least we won't fight today."
Xue Beng was silent for a moment, then finally nodded. "Let her in alone. All Soul Master above the Soul Saint level on the city wall are in position, just in case."
Nan Feng nodded. He walked down from the city wall, silently activating the Nether Step - Shrinking Earth technique beneath his feet.
In the square Jialing Pass city, Yu Xiaogang stood beside a dry well.
He was thirty years older than when Nan Feng last saw him at the Nuoding Academy. His hair was completely white, his back was hunched, and his linen robe was washed until it was gray, with frayed edges at the cuffs. After his Martial Soul was destroyed, he looked as if his bones had been removed, standing there like a withered tree. But his eyes were still bright, and there was a complex emotion in them—fear, resentment, and a kind of almost stubborn expectation.
Nan Feng stopped at the edge of the plaza. He stood behind a pillar on the east side of the plaza, using his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light to sense every fluctuation of Spiritual Power on the plaza. Tang San stood beside him, the light of the Sea God Godhood completely subdued, covering the plaza only with his Soul Power. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing arrived silently from different directions, suppressing the Soul Power fluctuations of the Asura Jade Rabbit and the Nether Shadow to the minimum.
Footsteps echoed from the city gate.
As Bibi Dong entered the plaza, the Rakshasa Divine Power was completely contained within her body, leaving only a thin layer of dark purple light covering her entire body. She had changed into a simple black dress, and no longer wore Pope crown or tiara; her deep purple hair cascaded down her shoulders. Her face was even more stern than on the battlefield, her purple eyes swirling with the dark light of the Rakshasa Divine Power, but when her gaze fell upon Yu Xiaogang, a complex emotion flickered within that dark light.
Yu Xiaogang raised his head. He looked at Bibi Dong, his lips moved, and finally he spoke, "Bibi Dong... you've come."
Bibi Dong stopped ten paces away. She looked at Yu Xiaogang, remained silent for a long time, and then spoke. Her voice was cold and sharp, like a blade hidden in ice.
"Yu Xiaogang."
The air in the square seemed to freeze at that moment.
"I believed you back then, and that's why I went down the wrong path." Bibi Dong's voice wasn't loud, but every word clearly resonated across every inch of the plaza. "You said the age limit of Soul Ring couldn't be exceeded, you said Twin Martial Souls were a curse, you said my talent wasn't enough to become a god, you said I should give up the Rakshasa God's inheritance. When you said those things, I believed you."
Yu Xiaogang's face grew paler with each word Bibi Dong spoke. His hands trembled slightly in his sleeves.
Bibi Dong took a step forward, the dark purple light membrane of Rakshasa Divine Power rippled slightly on her body. "Later, I discovered the source of your so-called theory. The research manuscripts you stole from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the excerpts from ancient books you stole from the Spirit Hall's forbidden area, the 'ironclad rules' you pieced together from countless Soul Master ' combat records. You packaged stolen materials as your own theory, deceiving everyone."
Yu Xiaogang's lips moved, but no sound came out.
Bibi Dong took another step forward. Her purple eyes swirled with the dark light of Rakshasa Divine Power, but her voice was colder than before. "That brat Nan Feng, 920 years for the first ring, 2100 years for the second, and 12,000 years for the third. He proved with real combat that your 'ironclad rules' are all bullshit. His current power surpasses the Soul Power system, even exceeding the Divine Realm. And you?"
Her voice suddenly rose in pitch, Rakshasa Divine Power erupted from her body for a moment, causing a crack to appear in the stone railing of the dry well in the square.
You're still clinging to that stolen manuscript, thinking you're so great!
Yu Xiaogang's legs trembled violently under Bibi Dong's Rakshasa God. He tried to retreat, but his feet seemed nailed to the ground. His lips finally uttered a sound, hoarse and weak. "Bibi Dong... back then... I did it for your own good..."
"For my own good?" For the first time, a crack appeared in Bibi Dong's voice, a crack filled with icy anger. "You said Twin Martial Souls were a curse, and made me give up the Rakshasa God's inheritance, was that for my own good? You said I lacked talent, and made me settle for being the Pope of the Spirit Hall, was that for my own good? You said those things you stole were 'theories,' and made me believe you for most of my life, was that for my own good?"
She raised her hand. Rakshasa Divine Power condensed in her palm into a pitch-black short blade, the tip of which was aimed at Yu Xiaogang's chest.
What you steal, you will eventually have to pay back.
Yu Xiaogang closed his eyes.
But Bibi Dong didn't stab. Her hand hovered in mid-air, the Rakshasa dagger slowly dissipating from her fingertips. She looked at Yu Xiaogang's aged and terrified face, her deep purple pupils churning with an extremely complex emotion.
You're not even worth my time to finish you off.
She turned and walked towards the city gate. After taking three steps, she stopped without looking back.
"Yu Xiaogang, all your theories are wrong. Your so-called 'ironclad rules' are utter bullshit. You deceived everyone, including me, with stolen goods. And your most pathetic thing is—you still believe you're right."
Her figure gradually disappeared at the city gate, and the dark purple light membrane of the Rakshasa Divine Power dissipated in the morning light.
Yu Xiaogang was the only one left in the square. He slumped down beside the dry well, his hands bracing against the ground, his body trembling violently, unable to stand. His lips moved incessantly, as if repeating something, but no sound came from his throat.
Liu Erlong emerged from behind the colonnade on the west side of the square.
She was noticeably thinner than when Nan Feng had seen her at the tavern. The Scarlet Dragon Martial Soul lay dormant within her, its Soul Power fluctuations stable above those of Titled Douluo. She walked up to Yu Xiaogang and stood still, looking down at him. Her eyes were red, and tears welled up in them, but none fell.
"Yu Xiaogang."
Yu Xiaogang looked up. When he saw Liu Erlong, the expression on his face collapsed instantly. Fear, resentment, shame, and a kind of near-collapse-like regret surged onto his face at the same time.
Liu Erlong crouched down to look him in the eye. Her voice was Bibi Dong's, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.
"I heard what Bibi Dong said that day too," she said. "Your theory was indeed stolen. You've ruined so much of my life. You said I couldn't absorb the fourth ring beyond my limits, and I believed you. You said our Martial Soul were incompatible, and I believed you. You said I shouldn't have left the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and I believed you."
Her voice began to tremble.
"I've believed you for decades. I broke with my family for you, I guarded that dilapidated tavern for you, I gave up all other possibilities for you. And you—you stole the Blue Lightning Clan's manuscripts, stole the Spirit Hall's ancient books, stole countless people's combat records, pieced together a set of 'ironclad rules,' and then told me that you 'researched' them."
She took something out of her bosom. It was a shard of a broken wine glass, its edges as sharp as a blade.
"This is the wine glass I smashed when I heard Bibi Dong's words at the tavern." Liu Erlong placed the shards of the glass on the ground in front of Yu Xiaogang. "What you steal, you will eventually have to pay back."
She stood up, turned and walked towards the edge of the square. After taking five steps, she stopped without looking back.
"Yu Xiaogang, I see you for who you really are. I finally see you for who you really are."
Her figure disappeared behind the colonnade on the east side of the square. Only Yu Xiaogang remained in the square, slumped beside the dry well, with a broken piece of wine glass in front of him.
When Nan Feng emerged from behind the colonnade, there was no one else in the square.
Yu Xiaogang huddled beside the dry well, his hands wrapped around his knees, shivering in the autumn wind. The broken piece of wine in front of him gleamed faintly in the morning light. His lips were still moving, and this time Nan Feng could hear him repeating something.
"I did nothing wrong... I did nothing wrong... I did nothing wrong..."
Nan Feng walked up to him and stopped. Yu Xiaogang looked up and his pupils contracted when he saw Nan Feng. A look of near madness appeared on his old and broken face.
"You!" His voice was hoarse and shrill, "Your Soul Ring Configuration defies all common sense! The first ring is 920 years! The second ring is 2100 years! The third ring is 12,000 years! You—you proved me wrong! You proved that ironclad rules can be broken! You—you—"
Nan Feng looked at him.
"Your theory is stolen," Nan Feng said. "Your ironclad rules are cobbled together. You've fooled everyone, including yourself."
Yu Xiaogang's voice was stuck in his throat. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Nan Feng turned and walked towards the outside of the square. After taking three steps, he stopped, turned his back to Yu Xiaogang, and said something.
"Bibi Dong saw you clearly. Liu Erlong saw you clearly. The entire continent saw you clearly. But you—you still haven't seen yourself clearly."
He walked towards the city wall, silently activating the Nether Step: Shrinking the Earth beneath his feet. Behind him came Yu Xiaogang's hoarse and broken sobs, but Nan Feng did not turn around.
On the city wall, Bibi Dong had already walked out of Jialing Pass. She didn't look back; her long black dress billowed in the morning breeze, and her figure grew farther and farther away on the plains beyond the pass. Tuoba Lie's Holy Dragon Legion regrouped in the distance, but Bibi Dong did not return to the main camp. Instead, she walked alone towards the Spirit Hall.
Nan Feng stood atop the city wall, the tower suspended in front of him, the silver-white Purification light of the eighth floor intertwined with the silver-blue Samsara light of the seventh floor. He sensed that Bibi Dong's Rakshasa Divine Power gradually receded as she moved away from Jialing Pass, and the dark purple light membrane became fainter and fainter in his Soul Power perception, eventually dissipating completely.
She didn't return to the Spirit Hall. She went towards the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Old Huai poked its head out from the immortal tree. "Bibi Dong's Rakshasa God is awakening at an accelerated pace. After meeting Yu Xiaogang today, something in her soul changed. It's hard to say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing."
Nan Feng retracted the tower into his palm. He sensed that beside the dry well in the inner city of Jialing Pass, Yu Xiaogang's Soul Power fluctuations were growing weaker and weaker in the morning light. The fluctuations eventually dissipated, not from death, but from the natural weakening after his Martial Soul was destroyed.
Liu Erlong walked down from the city walls and stood beside Nan Feng. Her eyes were still red, but the tears had been wiped away. The Scarlet Dragon Martial Soul lay dormant within her, and the Titled Douluo- level Soul Power flowed slowly through her meridians.
"I've let it go," Liu Erlong said.
The Nan Feng nodded.
"From today onwards, I will live for myself." Liu Erlong untied the old hairband from her left wrist and put it into her bosom. She turned and walked down the city wall, her Scarlet Dragon Martial Soul glowing slightly behind her, its golden scales flashing in the morning light.
Nan Feng stood atop the city wall, the tower suspended in front of him. Bibi Dong had left, Yu Xiaogang had collapsed, and Liu Erlong had let go. The Purification light of the eighth ring flickered quietly on the tower; the ninth ring still needed deeper sedimentation.
But today is not the day of the final battle. Today is just the day to see a person for who they truly are.