44: Chapter 44: Bibi Dong's Thoughts and Decisions

In the Rose Garden, Hu Liena's timid answer sent faint ripples through the air.

The inquiry originally in Lu Jing's eyes instantly settled—aside from the future leader of the Golden Generation, there really shouldn't be a second candidate at this moment.

A perfectly measured look of surprise quickly spread across his face, and his voice rose slightly as he asked, "Who is your guardian?"

Hu Liena shook her head and answered softly, "My teacher brought me here."

"Teacher? Who is your teacher?" Wang Donger asked, feigning confusion.

"The Pope!" Hu Liena lifted her head, her youthful face filled with pride and gratitude.

"A disciple of the Pope?!"

Wang Donger covered her mouth in a perfectly timed performance, her powder-blue eyes widening. "Heavens... to think we could meet such a prominent figure?"

The exaggerated exclamation successfully made the tips of Hu Liena's ears turn red.

This future Charming Fox was fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, explaining in a low voice, "I—I am just a commoner... it is out of the teacher's pity..."

Before she could finish, a cool, faint fragrance suddenly permeated the garden.

A purple shadow approached the steps.

Bibi Dong, who had been watching from the shadows, finally stepped out.

Her pale purple court dress wrapped around her breathtaking curves, her hair was coiled high, and the falling strands set off a face that looked like it was carved from ice and jade.

Those pale purple eyes swept over Hu Liena's slightly reddened earlobes, then glanced over Lu Jing's face, which was feigning innocence, before finally resting on the performative shock that Wang Donger hadn't yet managed to retract.

She had originally wanted to use this chance encounter to get some answers she wanted, but not only did she get nothing, Hu Liena had almost been swindled out of everything. She was truly speechless, forcing her to come out from the shadows.

"Teacher!" Hu Liena bowed as if granted amnesty, her tense shoulders suddenly relaxing.

Lu Jing and Wang Donger bowed in unison, their movements so fluid it was as if they had practiced them a thousand times. "Greetings, Pope."

Although logically speaking, given Wang Donger's status, Bibi Dong should be the one bowing to her, but who could help it when they were currently on Spirit Hall territory?

As the saying goes, when one is under someone else's roof, one must bow their head.

"No need for formalities."

Bibi Dong lifted her fingertips slightly; the hem of her dress did not move at all.

Her gaze pierced toward Lu Jing like a probe, and she asked softly, "When did the Elder Hall take in such a clever child? I have not heard of it."

The words sounded like concern, but were actually an interrogation.

The jade steps in front of the hall were clearly the private path of the Elder Hall, a place outsiders could never step foot in.

Lu Jing lowered his head and respectfully replied, "We returned with the High Priest only a few days ago, so it is normal for the Pope not to know."

He deliberately glossed over their meeting in the Star Dou Forest and steered the topic toward the authority of Qian Daoliu. "As for the reason we met... without the High Priest's consent, this junior dare not speak rashly."

The air suddenly froze.

A cold light flashed in the depths of Bibi Dong's eyes—this child was actually using Qian Daoliu as a shield!

Yet the corners of her lips curved into an elegant arc. "Since you are someone the High Priest values, I naturally will not make things difficult for you."

The tone shifted abruptly, and her purple eyes locked onto the position of Lu Jing's Spirit Bone. "However, since you have entered Spirit Hall, it is standard procedure to register your Spirit. It wouldn't be too much to ask for the two of you to demonstrate, would it?"

Spirit Confrontation

Wang Donger glanced at Lu Jing from the corner of her eye, and seeing his almost imperceptible nod, her heart calmed slightly.

A pale blue radiance suddenly bloomed, and huge butterfly wings unfurled from behind her. The holy glow of the Radiant Goddess Butterfly made the roses in the garden lose their color.

Two spirit rings, yellow and purple, floated under her feet, with faint lightning patterns flashing as they circulated.

"A thousand-year second spirit ring?" Seeing this, Bibi Dong's pupils shrank slightly, and her expression changed; she clearly had not expected this.

Ever since she received the inheritance of the Rakshasa God, she knew that in this World, so-called spirit ring configurations could be improved, but the problem was that it required the help of Divine Power. Even for someone like Qian Daoliu, it was the same.

Just as Bibi Dong was shocked, black flames rose silently.

The World-Destroying Black Lotus condensed above Lu Jing's head. The ink-jade lotus pedestal devoured the surrounding light, and the aura of ultimate darkness made Hu Liena instinctively take a half-step back.

And when that eerie purple spirit ring appeared, Bibi Dong's knuckles suddenly tightened against the edge of her sleeves—

A thousand-year spirit ring?! And it was the first spirit ring!

Her pupils contracted sharply.

How could a six-year-old child bear a thousand-year spirit ring? What was even more terrifying was the Black Lotus itself—the surging darkness actually made the Rakshasa Divine Power within her tremble slightly, as if it were in fear!

How could this be? This was the Rakshasa God, who could contend with the Angel God!

Thinking of this, Bibi Dong let out a breath. Biting her lip lightly, she whispered, her voice like wind brushing over ice, "Such an overbearing Spirit."

She forcibly suppressed the waves in her heart, and when she turned to Wang Donger, the radiance of the Radiant Goddess Butterfly had dimmed by three parts—not because it had weakened, but because it was overshadowed by the absolute darkness of the Black Lotus.

"Pope?" Lu Jing reminded her softly, and the Black Lotus quietly withdrew.

Bibi Dong looked at him deeply. "From today on, you may walk freely in the outer grounds of the Supreme Pontiff Palace."

Afterward, she said to Hu Liena, "Since you have met, take your new friends around. Remember, do not overstep your bounds."

The purple shadow departed, and the pressure in the garden dissipated instantly.

Hu Liena let out a long sigh of relief, but she did not notice the raging storm in her teacher's eyes the moment she turned around.

In the Rose Garden, Hu Liena watched Bibi Dong's retreating purple back, letting out a timid sigh of relief.

She turned to look at Lu Jing and Wang Donger, a sweet smile returning to her fair little face. "The teacher is gone, shall we continue walking around?"

Wang Donger's powder-blue eyes glanced toward the purple shadow that had disappeared at the end of the archway, her fingertips unconsciously clutching the hem of her skirt.

She clearly remembered Bibi Dong's ending, so she whispered tentatively, "This Supreme Pontiff... appeared suddenly and left in such a hurry..."

"Ten thousand years later, history books say she was extremely calculating."

Lu Jing's response was barely audible in the wind. His gaze swept over Hu Liena's innocent golden short hair, and he changed the subject: "However, the sunlight is just right today, so it wouldn't hurt to walk around a bit more."

The three of them wandered around the perimeter of the martial arts training ground for half a lap before losing interest.

When the noon bell echoed through Spirit City, Lu Jing stopped first. "It's time to go back."

Hu Liena nodded obediently, and after watching the two walk toward the Elder Hall, she hugged her books and skipped toward the side hall of the Supreme Pontiff Palace.

In the Rakshasa secret chamber of the Supreme Pontiff Palace.

The secret chamber had no windows; only the purple phosphorus stones embedded in the walls emitted a faint light, illuminating Bibi Dong, who stood in the center, like a ghost.

Her pale purple court dress billowed in the surging black mist, and a foul aura, thick as substance, rose from the formation at her feet.

"This Spirit... it can actually suppress the Rakshasa Divine Power..." Her fingertips brushed over the lingering image on the crystal ball, where the surging darkness of the petals seemed capable of devouring the projected light.

Qian Daoliu brought this child back but kept it secret; it was clearly an attempt to keep the variable under his own control!

"Clatter—"

The formation suddenly boiled! The black mist condensed into a hideous spider shadow that lunged into the void.

The last trace of hesitation in the depths of Bibi Dong's eyes was completely extinguished, turning into a venomous paranoia. Her low whisper echoed in the secret chamber: "If such an anomaly cannot be held in the palm of my hand..."

The killing intent in her purple eyes congealed like a cold pool:

"Then it can only be... completely erased!"