"Your Holiness the Pope, you mustn't do this. A single soul bone is already incredibly difficult for our Spirit Hall to spare. And now you're proposing to bring out four at once? Are you planning to empty out the Spirit Hall's entire treasury?"
Although Spirit Hall had a long history, it didn't have many soul bones in reserve.
Most of the soul bones had already been allocated to the high-ranking elders of the Hall. Fewer than ten remained in their possession. Pulling out four at once was an enormous burden on the organization.
"Impudence!" Bibi Dong snapped coldly. "I am the Pope! My decisions are not for a mere bishop like you to question. I said four, and it will be four. That's final. I've already selected the attributes of the soul bones!"
"Your Holiness, we already lost the last time. If we lose again, the Spirit Hall will have lost a total of five soul bones!"
"Silence!"
With a flick of her staff, Bibi Dong sent the objecting bishop flying, blood spurting from his mouth.
"Don't think I don't know whose man you are. But right now, this is my Spirit Hall. I decide what happens here. If you dare speak out again, I'll take your worthless life!"
The Spirit Hall was far from harmonious internally. But this time, Bibi Dong was willing to stake everything—for her disciple's sake. She was willing to bet four soul bones, fully confident that Jiang Xiaofeng would not disappoint her.
At that moment, a golden figure descended from the sky.
"Bibi Dong, how arrogant you've become. You've only been Pope for a few years, and already you're acting this domineering and rude?"
Looking at the figure that had just landed, Bibi Dong remained expressionless and replied coldly.
"Great Worshipper, this is not your Douluo Hall. This is my Spirit Hall. I am the Pope. I don't need your approval for any of my decisions."
Qian Daoliu spoke flatly, "I didn't come here to stop you. I came for one thing—an answer, one that you and I both know."
Bibi Dong sneered, "Oh? Isn't it that you simply don't want me to root myself in Spirit Hall? Isn't that why you want me to step down from the Pope's seat? Fine. Let's use the upcoming Advanced Spirit Master Tournament as our wager. If my team doesn't win the championship, I will step down from the Pope position of my own accord!"
"Good!" Qian Daoliu agreed. "Since you said it yourself—if your team fails to win the championship, you and your disciples will get the hell out of Spirit Hall!"
Bibi Dong just laughed.
"And what if my disciples win?"
Qian Daoliu replied, "Then we'll treat it as if nothing ever happened. Let's leave it at that."
Bibi Dong mocked, "Oh, you're good at bargaining. If I lose, I'm banished along with my disciples. But if I win, we act like nothing happened? Do you take me for a fool? If my disciples win, then as the Grand Priest of Douluo Hall, you owe my disciple a reward."
Qian Daoliu furrowed his brow. He had investigated the strength of Jiang Xiaofeng and Hu Liena, but in his opinion, beating last year's champion would be impressive—never mind winning the entire thing.
"Fine. But I will only reward one of your disciples."
"Then it'll be Jiang Xiaofeng!"
"Jiang Xiaofeng? A beggar from Soto City is worth that much attention from you? Looks like I'll need to reassess him."
Bibi Dong said sternly, "Will you now? You can observe him, but don't lay a finger on him. Otherwise, you'll face consequences you can't afford."
"Hahaha, what a joke. Why would I, a senior, bother harming a junior? Very well, what is it that you want?"
"The Angel Trial!"
Qian Daoliu's eyes flared with golden light.
"Bibi Dong, do you even know what you're asking for?"
"Of course I do. The Angel Trial isn't exclusive to the Angel Clan. Others can participate too. What, Qian Daoliu, are you afraid?"
Qian Daoliu narrowed his eyes, staring at Bibi Dong. This woman was ruthless and cunning—he couldn't tell what she was plotting. But for non-Angel Clan members, passing the Angel Trial was extremely difficult. Since she wanted to try, he might as well let her fail.
"Fine. If that's what you want, I'll give him a chance. But only if he wins the Advanced Spirit Master Tournament. Otherwise, all of you are out!"
Bibi Dong stood up and slowly walked to Qian Daoliu's side.
"Good. Then remember what you said today. My disciple will enter the Angel Trial!"
Qian Daoliu said nothing more. With a flash, he vanished from the Pope's Hall.
From that moment on, no one in Spirit Hall dared oppose Bibi Dong. If even Qian Daoliu had agreed, what else could the others say?
A few days later, Jiang Xiaofeng was presented with a mountain of documents. These were profiles of all the teams participating in this year's Advanced Spirit Master Tournament.
Bibi Dong had ordered them to be delivered personally. She wanted Jiang Xiaofeng to spare no effort in winning the championship—because the Angel Trial was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.
Even if he couldn't pass all nine Angel Trials, he could still gain incredible fortune along the way.
"Instructor Mobot, Teacher sent all this information—did she mention anything else?"
Mobot shook his head. "Not really. I heard she made some kind of wager with Qian Daoliu, but no one dares talk about the details."
Jiang Xiaofeng furrowed his brow.
Qian Daoliu—a rank 99 Limit Douluo—was one of the most powerful individuals on the entire continent. Even Bibi Dong might not be a match for him, although she did have hidden strength Jiang Xiaofeng wasn't entirely sure of.
"A wager? And she didn't say anything specific?"
Mobot replied, "Well, she did say one thing: that you all need to do your best to win the championship. Does that count?"
To Mobot, that sounded like a general encouragement—not anything worth interpreting as a hidden command.
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded. He understood now. The wager almost certainly had something to do with the tournament's outcome.
"If that's the case, then I can't let Teacher down. The championship will belong to us—the Fengshen Battle Team, the Spirit Hall team!"
Mobot said, "I glanced through the team profiles. All the major sects and clans have sent their elite disciples—every participant is an advanced Spirit Master under the age of 25. Most of the seeded teams are composed of Spirit Elders, and quite a few even have Spirit Kings. So the pressure is heavy."
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded.
It was no wonder Qian Daoliu looked down on their chances. On paper, their team didn't appear to stand out among the competition.
But paper isn't everything. They still had nearly a year before the tournament. Plenty of time to grow. And their youth gave them an edge—that was their key to victory.
....
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