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...In six years, Spirit City has changed greatly.
The streets were cleaner and more orderly, and the patrolling Spirit Master teams were strictly disciplined, but the entire city was permeated with an indescribable sense of oppression, lacking the past fanaticism and clamor, and gaining a few points of caution and... Death Qi?
Instead of landing immediately, she transformed into a golden stream of light, left Spirit City, and began flying over the land named "Spirit Empire."
She flew over the fertile plains that once belonged to the Balak Kingdom, over the border passes where fierce battles had once erupted but were now silent, and also over several towns of considerable size.
After several days, she saw an Empire that felt foreign to her.
The laws were extremely strict.
Spirit Masters oppressing Mortals? At best, their cultivation would be abolished; at worst, they would be immediately executed.
Nobles engaging in extortion and plunder? Not a few were subjected to having their homes confiscated and their entire clans exterminated.
The various branch halls of Spirit Hall now resembled law enforcement agencies, their power strictly limited, no longer able to lord it over others as they had in the past.
She saw that the farmlands had introduced cultivation spirit tools from the Sun Moon Continent, which were powered by spirit power and whose efficiency far surpassed manual labor.
She saw several workshops attempting to produce structurally complex civilian spirit tools.
She also saw that on the faces of the common Mortals, besides the persistent poverty, there seemed to be a hint of... a reverence for "order" and a faint expectation of "fairness" that had never been there before?
But this so-called "fairness" came at the cost of sacrificing the privileges of the entire Spirit Master class.
All of this was completely different from the Spirit Empire she knew.
Bibi Dong, that woman, actually chose such a path of... "self-destructing her Foundation"?
As a ruler, she not only failed to protect the interests of the Spirit Master class that supported her, but instead used iron-fisted methods to strip them of their privileges, binding them under strict laws.
If the original Spirit Empire had at least a powerful, war-hungry Spirit Master army as its Foundation, then the Spirit Masters in the current Spirit Empire could be said to have low morale and zero Battle Intent. This is because even if they fought desperately, they wouldn't gain much substantial benefit, and would instead be subject to stricter constraints.
The current Spirit Empire is like a giant forcibly bound by iron chains; outwardly it appears orderly, but internally it is full of cracks and dissatisfaction. It relies entirely on Bibi Dong's personal unparalleled military might, and the god-like, irresistible deterrence of Xuan Ming, to barely maintain the framework of a "nation."
Qian Renxue couldn't understand it.
In her perception, Bibi Dong was an ambitious woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. How could she do something that almost destroyed her Foundation? Establishing an Empire maintained entirely by personal military force and fraught with internal contradictions is simply not a long-term strategy.
Is it because of Xuan Ming?
Because Xuan Ming disliked the old Empire full of violence and plunder, Bibi Dong changed it at all costs?
Qian Renxue refused to believe it. She didn't believe that cold, paranoid woman who viewed power as everything would go to such lengths for a man, even risking having her rule established upon such a fragile sandcastle.
Yet, the facts before her made it impossible to refute.
However, it was precisely this "change" witnessed firsthand that made her deeply suspicious of Gu Yuena's words.
If Xuan Ming had truly decided to exterminate humanity, why would he still be doing these things?
Why would he still help Bibi Dong stabilize this Empire? Why would he personally destroy the Battle Intent of the Two Great Empires and maintain superficial peace? Why would he bring back spirit tool technology from the Sun Moon Continent that could boost productivity and improve people's livelihoods?
Aren't these actions contradictory to his insane plan to "destroy humanity"?
This completely contradicts the behavioral logic of a "Destroyer."
She was more willing to believe that Xuan Ming was still the complicated and contradictory man she remembered—he detested pointless slaughter, disliked the oppression brought by privilege, and deep down might harbor paranoia and destructive desires, but also had a bottom line where he didn't want to see lives ruined.
His methods might be severe and his actions paranoid, but perhaps his goal was never destruction, but rather... to "correct" this World he found disagreeable, in a way he approved of.
Perhaps Gu Yuena's words were just alarmist talk, a means to force her compromise?
Carrying a belly full of doubts and complex thoughts, Qian Renxue finally returned to Spirit City after traveling abroad for nearly half a month.
This time, she didn't hesitate again, walking straight toward the Supreme Pontiff Palace, which symbolized the highest authority of the Spirit Empire.
She was going to see Xuan Ming.
She wanted to ask him personally and hear his answer with her own ears.
She wanted to clarify whether what Gu Yuena said was true... Inside the Supreme Pontiff Palace, candlelight flickered, casting the long shadows of two people onto the polished floor.
Several exquisite dishes were laid out on the dining table, but Xuan Ming's eating was more like a ritual, a brief recollection of his past Mortal life.
Bibi Dong sat across from him, not wearing the Supreme Pontiff robe symbolizing power and majesty, but a simple purple everyday dress, her long hair draped loosely. With extreme naturalness, she was placing a piece of deboned fish into Xuan Ming's bowl, her movements practiced, her eyes holding a nearly docile focus that Qian Renxue had never seen before.
The scene at this moment was truly like the dinner of an ordinary couple, peaceful and harmonious.
This sight stung Qian Renxue's eyes.
She stood at the palace entrance, her golden Court Dress flowing with radiance in the candlelight, but the expression on her face was frozen solid. Her golden eyes stared intently at the two people by the dining table, especially Bibi Dong, whom she found incredibly unfamiliar.
Xuan Ming seemed oblivious to her arrival, still lowering his head and eating slowly, his actions without the slightest pause.
Bibi Dong raised her gaze to look at Qian Renxue at the entrance; a complex emotion flashed in her purple-gold eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. She put down her chopsticks and gently wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, her posture elegant and calm.
Qian Renxue's gaze swept back and forth between Xuan Ming and Bibi Dong; her heart felt tightly clenched by an invisible hand, and breathing became difficult.
She had never seen a Bibi Dong like this!
From childhood to adulthood, in her memory, Bibi Dong was always the high and mighty, cold and majestic Supreme Pontiff, the one who could sacrifice everything for power, even using her own biological daughter as a tool.
She had never seen such a... such a "wife-like" expression on Bibi Dong's face!
Gentle, serene, even carrying a hint of imperceptible dependence and satisfaction.
This realization was like the sharpest ice pick, fiercely piercing Qian Renxue's mental defenses, bringing an indescribable sense of absurdity and towering fury!
Bibi Dong... her mother... If she was Xuan Ming's "wife"... then what was Qian Renxue?!
Was she a superfluous product outside of their "family"? Or... a ridiculous, unacknowledged... bastard child?!
"I don't acknowledge it!" Qian Renxue practically ground her teeth, squeezing these words out from between them, her voice trembling slightly from extreme rage. Fiery flames burned in her golden eyes as she glared intently at the calm-faced Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong met her gaze, said nothing, but merely frowned slightly.
Xuan Ming finally put down his chopsticks and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, his movements still unhurried. Only then did he slowly raise his head, his ice-blue eyes calmly and motionlessly looking at Qian Renxue, who stood at the entrance radiating fury.
"Have you eaten?"