Jun Kuang

At the entrance to Pope Hall in Spirit City.

Bibi Dong had just returned from the Star Dou Great Forest and was preparing to see her teacher when an old man stopped her.

The old man was tall and powerfully built, with short white hair. He wore a suit of golden armor engraved with flame patterns.

Bibi Dong knew him. He was Jun Kuang, a Platinum Bishop of Spirit City, a rank eighty-nine Soul Douluo, and Jun Yan's father.

Truth be told, because Bibi Dong knew that Jun Yan had died saving her, she felt somewhat apprehensive when she saw Jun Kuang.

Jun Kuang gave Bibi Dong a kindly smile. "Your Highness, sorry to disturb you. I only wanted to ask: my son Jun Yan went to the Star Dou Great Forest with you. Why have you returned alone?"

Bibi Dong lowered her head and said with a somewhat complicated expression, "Jun Yan is dead. He was killed by a Soul Beast."

"What?" Jun Kuang's eyes widened as he stared at Bibi Dong and asked.

When Jun Kuang learned that Bibi Dong had returned to Spirit City alone, he had already had an ominous premonition. Now, hearing her words, his emotions surged so violently that even the Soul Power inside him went out of control.

Bibi Dong felt the temperature around her rise almost instantly, as though she were standing beside a furnace. Even her breathing grew much faster.

Just as Bibi Dong felt she could no longer bear the pressure, a gentle voice said, "Bishop Jun!"

The pressure on Bibi Dong immediately melted away like snow, vanishing without a trace.

Jun Kuang was also roused by the voice. He hurriedly dropped to one knee. "Your Holiness!"

The newcomer was none other than the current Pope of Spirit Hall, Angel Douluo Qian Xunji. Tall and heroic-looking, he wore a luxurious black robe with gold trim and the Nine-Curved Purple Gold Crown on his head. In his hand was a scepter about two meters long, inlaid with countless gemstones.

Two old men with unfathomably deep presences followed behind Qian Xunji. They wore scarlet ceremonial robes covered in gold and silver patterns. The gem on each man's chest, in particular, shone with golden light and was as large as an infant's fist, adding an especially luxurious air.

These two were Qian Xunji's guardian Douluo and also elders of the Elder Hall. One of them was the man who had saved Bibi Dong in the Star Dou Great Forest earlier.

Jun Kuang suppressed his emotions and said to Qian Xunji, "Your Holiness, I lost my composure and offended Her Highness the Saintess."

Qian Xunji said mildly, "I know more or less what happened. It wasn't the Saintess's fault. That child was simply unlucky."

After learning that Jun Kuang had stopped Bibi Dong outside the hall, the elder had briefly told Qian Xunji about Jun Yan. Qian Xunji had then come to help Bibi Dong out of the situation.

The elder who had saved Bibi Dong in the Star Dou Great Forest then said to Jun Kuang, "The Saintess and her companions encountered a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in the Star Dou Great Forest. That tiger's ferocity was overwhelming. Though it had only fifty thousand years of cultivation, it was so powerful that even I could barely defeat it, and only by trading injury for injury. By the time I arrived, I was only in time to save the Saintess. Your son had already been killed."

"That isn't true, is it, Elder?" a voice suddenly interjected.

The elder frowned. How could someone dare question him? Without even looking at the newcomer, he demanded, "What isn't true?"

"When the Saintess left, Jun Yan was gravely injured, but he wasn't dead yet."

"How do you kn-"

"Yan'er!" Recognizing his own son's voice, Jun Kuang immediately cried out in delighted surprise.

Bibi Dong also looked at Jun Yan in surprise. "You... you... aren't dead!"

Jun Yan first nodded to Jun Kuang, then dropped to one knee and addressed Qian Xunji. "Greetings, Your Holiness."

Qian Xunji looked at Jun Yan expressionlessly. Although he said nothing, he exerted an inexplicable pressure on Jun Yan.

After a long while, Qian Xunji said mildly, "It seems there was a misunderstanding. Bishop Jun, take your son home."

"Yes!" Jun Kuang nodded repeatedly.

"Dong'er, come back to Pope Hall with me. I have something to ask you."

Qian Xunji spoke gently to Bibi Dong, then turned and went back inside Pope Hall.

Bibi Dong said softly to Jun Yan, "Thank you for risking your life to save me. I'm so glad you survived."

With that, she walked into Pope Hall.

Looking at Bibi Dong before him, Jun Yan felt his heart flutter. His predecessor really had been deeply in love with her!

Jun Kuang patted his son on the shoulder, a trace of regret in his heart. "Yan'er, come home with me first."

As it happened, Jun Kuang had played a part in Jun Yan's infatuation with Bibi Dong.

He had often told Jun Yan, "Her Highness the Saintess is exceptionally gifted and has Twin Martial Souls. In all of Spirit Hall, only you are worthy of her."

In time, Jun Yan had come to believe it wholeheartedly. He had pursued Bibi Dong ardently, but she had never given him the time of day. Unable to win her over, Jun Yan had become a licking dog.

"Yan'er, you said the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger injured you?" Jun Kuang asked with concern.

A Dark Demon Evil God Tiger capable of injuring a Titled Douluo was no easy opponent. Jun Yan had been truly lucky to survive.

"Yes. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger pierced my chest with one strike, but fortunately, it missed my heart. And because it went after the Saintess, I had time to recover from my injuries."

"That's good, that's good?" Jun Kuang patted his chest and said in relief.

He then added, "It doesn't matter that you didn't obtain a Soul Ring. Once your injuries have fully healed, I'll personally take you to the Star Dou Great Forest. I may be old, but I'm still a Soul Douluo. Getting you a Sixth Soul Ring won't be difficult."

As he spoke, he sighed. "It's just that my enemies are too powerful. Otherwise, with your talent, you shouldn't have had to suffer such a calamity."

In Spirit Hall, the greater one's talent, the better one's treatment. Bibi Dong, for example, came from a commoner background, but her Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls had propelled her straight to the position of the Pope's disciple and Spirit Hall's Saintess. She might even become Pope one day.

With his predecessor's Innate Rank Nine Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls, Jun Yan's talent was somewhat inferior to Bibi Dong's, but only hers.

Yet the difference in their treatment was far from small. He had gone to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain a Soul Ring without any protection and ultimately perished under a Soul Beast's feet.

The reason was that he had never made his talent public. In all of Spirit Hall, only Jun Kuang and Jun Yan, father and son, knew that Jun Yan had Twin Martial Souls.

Jun Kuang had his own private considerations. He planned to support Jun Yan as he grew up, so that once Jun Yan's talent had turned into strength, he would naturally remain close to him.

If he revealed Jun Yan's talent, an elder or even a worshipper might take him as a disciple, and the already tenuous bond between father and son would be gone.

His predecessor had never thought deeply about the reasons behind it, but Jun Yan understood them clearly. He didn't particularly mind, however. Although Jun Kuang did have something to gain, the kindness of twenty years spent raising him was real, and their bond as father and son was not false either.

"You're worrying too much, Father. I've already obtained my Sixth Soul Ring," Jun Yan said.