In the Pope's Palace, within the Pope's private secret chamber.
Bibi Dong, who sat cross-legged in cultivation, slowly opened her eyes. If someone had been present, they would have been shocked to see her eyes entirely blood-red, as if blood might drip at any moment. On each of her fingers were five-inch-long pitch-black nails, forming a stark contrast with her fair skin.
Her once noble and beautiful face was now twisted with terrifying distortion, even streaked with blood. Behind her, an invisible shadow of evil loomed.
As her eyes opened, Bibi Dong took a deep breath. A surge of black and purple light enveloped her, and the bizarre changes in her appearance gradually faded, returning her to her usual graceful form.
"It's almost time! Almost time! My foolish daughter wasted her precious years on the pointless game of stealing an empire. By the time she completes the nine trials and inherits the godhood, I'll have already ascended myself."
"By then, no one will be able to stop me. Qian Daoliu, your son ruined me, so I will destroy everything your angel clan has ever stood for."
Her eyes were dark and obscure, filled with venomous hatred.
For a long time, Bibi Dong had been blinded by hatred. From beginning to end, her only goal was to destroy the Spirit Hall—to obliterate the foundation of the angel bloodline.
She had always hidden this deepest purpose in her heart, never letting outsiders know.
The tremendous development of the Spirit Hall over the years was largely due to her efforts. At the same time, she slowly seized power, eroding the influence of the Qian clan bit by bit, and laid out the Spirit Empire plan. Sending Qian Renxue to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire was also her doing.
But in truth, the so-called empire-stealing was merely a smokescreen. Her real goal was to delay Qian Renxue's ascension to godhood. After passing the Rakshasa God's Trial, Bibi Dong received an intuitive revelation: her daughter was destined to become the God of Angels. That was the Rakshasa God's divine intuition warning her. After all, angels and Rakshasa are sworn enemies—no one knows you better than your enemy.
Because of this, Bibi Dong deliberately provoked Qian Renxue with harsh words, pushing her to take the initiative to go undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire. Waste time.
Otherwise, if Qian Renxue had no desire to go, no one could have forced her—not even her mother. She was the only angel descendant of her generation, backed by a grandfather who was a Limit Douluo. Who could force her?
Only if she voluntarily and firmly insisted on going would no one stand in her way.
After sending off Qian Renxue, the greatest threat to her future, Bibi Dong began a massive reformation of the Spirit Hall—transforming what was once an aloof sanctuary that ignored worldly affairs into a force bent on ruling the world.
Before this, the Spirit Hall was the holy land of all soul masters. It was detached from secular power and merely a religious institution devoted to worshiping the God of Angels. Though powerful, it posed no real threat to the two empires.
But ever since Bibi Dong took power as Pope, her moves had clearly signaled a shift. Anyone with insight could see that the Spirit Hall was entering the stage of political domination.
To outsiders, this might seem like a lust for power. Even her daughter might think she was a cruel, ruthless tyrant.
But the truth was, Bibi Dong—driven mad by hatred—had only ever had one objective: destroy the Spirit Hall and the angel clan.
All her actions were just misdirection.
Bibi Dong floated up. With a flash of golden light, the Pope's robes cloaked her graceful figure once more, transforming her back into the noble and commanding Pontiff.
"Haha, hahahahaha…"
Sinister laughter echoed through the secret room like a screeching night owl. The massive black shadow that had vanished earlier reappeared behind Bibi Dong, making her seem terrifyingly demonic.
She was, without question, a madwoman.
Of course, the Rakshasa God had a significant influence on Bibi Dong.
Much of her madness stemmed from the Rakshasa's power. Otherwise, the countless contradictory and deranged schemes she devised wouldn't have existed in the first place.
…
In Baiyun City, inside the City Lord's Mansion.
At this moment, Ye Cheng was teaching Bo Saixi how to condense her own spirit rings. It just so happened that all of her previous spirit rings had been shattered—ironically making her eligible to become a Divine Ring Master.
Since she was staying in the mansion for now, Ye Cheng simply decided to teach her the Ring Condensation Method.
When Ye Cheng proposed this, Bo Saixi hesitated for a while before agreeing.
After all, in her current state, unless she returned to Sea God Island and begged Lord Sea God for help, it was nearly impossible to regain her former strength.
Once a spirit ring is shattered, it can no longer be replaced by hunting spirit beasts. The slots on the body that once held the rings are still considered "used," even if the rings themselves are gone.
This is an iron law. Otherwise, many soul masters would deliberately shatter low-year rings later in life to replace them with higher-year ones. That would be utter chaos.
"Take a deep breath…"
"Don't be nervous. Just take your time…"
In the silent cultivation chamber, only Ye Cheng and Bo Saixi were present. No one else disturbed them.
After teaching Bo Saixi the essentials of the Ring Condensation Method via mental transmission, Ye Cheng brought her into seclusion and stayed to supervise, ensuring her safety throughout the process.
Bo Saixi closed her eyes, sitting cross-legged on a futon. She began condensing her spirit ring according to the precise technique engraved in her mind. The most dangerous part—the shattering of her original rings—had already passed. Compared to that, the condensation of a new ring was much simpler.
Under Ye Cheng's calm, guiding voice, Bo Saixi's first ring condensation went extremely smoothly. White light swirled around her body, twisting and fusing together… until it finally formed a ten-year spirit ring.
"What a wonderful feeling…"
Bo Saixi opened her eyes and looked at the white ring around her body, her voice full of wonder.
Only by personally condensing a spirit ring can one truly understand how miraculous this process is.
The feeling of condensing a ring oneself was vastly different from being gifted one by a god.
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