The distance between the two of them was less than half a meter.
In Bibi Dong's ears, Su Cheng's heavy breathing was clearly audible, along with the heat radiating from his body spreading into the surrounding air.
His scent wasn't unpleasant—there was even a faint herbal fragrance.
A slight blush flashed across Bibi Dong's face. Without showing any expression, she shifted her body and moved to the side.
She sighed, "Su Cheng, why must you oppose me at every turn?"
After venting her anger just now, the flames in her heart had already faded by more than half.
Su Cheng slightly turned his head and looked at Bibi Dong standing beside him."Your Holiness the Pope, since she is my disciple, naturally I should be the one to plan her future path."
"She is also a member of the Spirit Hall!"
"You have the authority to force her to take on this mission. That has nothing to do with me—that is your right." Su Cheng said indifferently.
"You…" Bibi Dong felt her anger rising again.
Maybe because of Qian Renxue's identity, maybe because of Su Cheng's peculiarity—
She found herself extremely easy to provoke today.
"You think because Qian Renxue stands behind you, you can act recklessly?" Bibi Dong's voice turned icy.
"I have never relied on anyone."
"What a joke. Why didn't you dare say that on your first day in Spirit Hall?"
"Then Your Holiness may as well find someone else to be Qian Renxue's teacher, see if it works. If she agrees, I will not object."
"..." Bibi Dong fell silent for a moment. "Su Cheng, I don't understand—what benefit did Qian Renxue give you?"
This made Su Cheng feel like laughing.
"Your Holiness, what benefits have you given me? From the moment I arrived at Spirit Hall, everything you promised has been just empty words."
Just look at what happened to Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo—Bibi Dong was the typical type with no generosity at all.
Even the little trio of Hu Liena, who had achieved nothing, already had three soul bones pre-assigned… yet those two had done countless dirty and exhausting tasks—what did they end up with?
On the protagonist's side, no matter how petty Tang San was, he would at least leave some soup for others after taking all the benefits.
But with Bibi Dong?She wouldn't give a single hair.
Su Cheng snorted lightly."Indeed, I only made two requests back then. So? Do you think just because of that, I should sell my life for you?"
Bibi Dong was stunned and momentarily didn't know how to respond.
"But I never expected any more benefits from you," Su Cheng continued. "The two requests I made have already been fulfilled. The Scripture Pavilion is open to me, and I am very satisfied with my disciple. I joined Spirit Hall willingly."
"To join Spirit Hall is to consider Spirit Hall's interests."
"Don't talk to me about Spirit Hall's interests. I'm an adult—I care about my interests." Su Cheng's tone grew impatient. "Besides, letting a nine-year-old child impersonate an imperial crown prince to plot a usurpation—this is Spirit Hall's so-called 'vision'?"
Bibi Dong's brows knitted tightly.
Su Cheng met her eyes without fear.
"Your Holiness, I can see that Qian Renxue has complicated feelings toward you, but you only feel disgust toward her. I don't know the reason, but I know the one who wronged you definitely wasn't Qian Renxue herself. I advise you to be kind."
As the words fell, the atmosphere instantly froze.
He did not say this to reconcile them.
In fact, words like this—coming from him—would only pour fuel onto the fire.
The conflict between the two was not some common mother-daughter quarrel. It was a knot Bibi Dong had carried for more than ten years—filled with hatred toward Qian Xunji, regret toward Yu Xiaogang, and the habit of taking everything out on Qian Renxue.
More importantly, Su Cheng's words clearly stood on Qian Renxue's side, showing no regard for Bibi Dong's feelings or the hidden reasons.
With her extremely self-centered and paranoid personality, she would only become even more extreme.
"..."
Su Cheng felt killing intent.
The moment he finished speaking, an icy, bone-piercing killing intent surged toward him like a tidal wave.
He knew—this time, Bibi Dong truly wanted to kill him.
In the Worship Hall—
Qian Renxue's expression was complicated.Touched, saddened, confused, wronged—countless emotions intertwined.
Qian Daoliu, however, looked extremely solemn.
He knew the truth of what happened back then.He also knew that Su Cheng saying these words now was pure courting death, so he had already prepared to intervene at any time.
But he was overthinking.
Su Cheng understood the principle of "just enough."He only stirred the pot slightly before changing the subject.
"In any case, I think this mission is unreasonable. No matter what you tell me, it won't change my mind. Why don't we discuss something else?"
"What do you want to talk about?" Bibi Dong said coldly.
"I mean, Your Holiness, you don't have to fixate on Qian Renxue's matter, right? When you invited me to join Spirit Hall, wasn't it for these things?"
As he spoke, he took a compiled manuscript from his soul guide device and handed it over.
Bibi Dong frowned and received it.
At first she skimmed casually—then she quickly flipped through it, her eyes widening—
"You can absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring as the fourth soul ring?!"
"Yes."
She gave Su Cheng a complicated look.
She couldn't help but sigh inwardly—"A man like this… why can't he stand at my side…"
Su Cheng cleared his throat, interrupting her thoughts."Your Holiness, I must remind you of one thing. This knowledge does not belong solely to Spirit Hall. It must be publicly released across the entire continent."
"How could that be allowed?!" Bibi Dong's brows shot up.
She was an ambitious woman.
If everyone obtained such a heaven-defying method, how could Spirit Hall maintain its edge?
"If you want me to continue developing later-stage cross-limit soul ring absorption techniques, you'd better agree to my request."
"You care this much about fame?" Bibi Dong gritted her teeth at his threat.
"For fame? Of course not." Su Cheng said calmly. "Only mediocre people are constrained by fame and wealth. My aspiration is to be a good person—contribute more to the world."
Bibi Dong looked at him with open disdain, thinking his words were too hypocritical.
Su Cheng glanced at her and smiled.
"How about this—when publishing this research, we can change the title, not release it as part of the original series. And you don't need to put my name on it. It can be issued under the name of Spirit Hall. Consider it a contribution from me."
He truly didn't care about fame.Originally, spreading books to gain renown was meant as a stepping stone to attract Spirit Hall's attention.
And he had indeed planned to give the later techniques exclusively to Spirit Hall to raise his own status.
But now—he changed his mind.
He found that the "three moves" he used on Qian Renxue worked far better than expected, meaning he had already secured his footing.
So there was no need to follow the old plan.If the gap between Spirit Hall's new generation and the younger generation of other forces became too huge, wouldn't that be strengthening the enemy?
Moreover, Su Cheng needed much more data to refine his theories.Relying solely on Spirit Hall's limited people wasn't enough.