Soul Land: Bibi Dong Is My Martial Soul

Chapter 115: The Schemes of Pope Bibi Dong

"Do you think I should let my Clear Sky Hammer absorb spirit rings?"

"That way, I could unleash greater power in the arena!"

"My Blue Silver Grass is still too weak. Against strong fire-attribute soul masters, it's practically useless on the stage!"

After the match, Tang San shared his thoughts with the rest of Shrek Academy.

"No way! A temporary setback isn't worth squandering your potential!"

"With twin martial souls, the best approach is to fully cultivate one martial soul before attaching spirit rings to the other. This maximizes the unique advantage of twin martial souls!"

"The second martial soul can then absorb all spirit rings of 50,000 years or more, significantly accelerating your progress in the later stages."

Hearing Tang San's idea, Flender was the first to object.

While he wanted Tang San to grow stronger and perform better in the tournament, he couldn't agree to wasting the incredible advantage of twin martial souls.

If Tang San weren't Grandmaster's disciple, Flender might have agreed, perhaps even encouraged him to do it. But since Tang San was Grandmaster's protégé, things were different.

"Exactly, Xiao San. Your teacher wouldn't approve of this either!"

Liu Erlong quickly chimed in.

"Yeah, third brother!"

"The dean is absolutely right…"

Ma Hongjun and the others joined in, persuading Tang San against his plan.

Under the collective advice of everyone, Tang San finally abandoned the idea of attaching spirit rings to his Clear Sky Hammer.

In subsequent matches, Shrek Academy suffered two more defeats, losing four matches in total. Among the Five Elemental Academies, they only managed to defeat the Elephant Armor Team.

However, in terms of points, Shrek Academy still secured enough to advance.

The five teams representing the Heaven Dou Empire's direct division were: Tianshui Academy, Blazing Fire Academy, Shrek Academy, Thunderclap Academy, and Godwind Academy.

The Elephant Armor Team was eliminated, as they couldn't even defeat the Skyblue Team.

The Skyblue Team, however, also failed to qualify. Although they weren't crippled by Tang San, they suffered severe backlash, performed poorly in their next two matches, and didn't earn enough points to make it into the top five.

After the preliminary round ended, two months had passed.

The five qualifying teams would join ten teams from other divisions of the Heaven Dou Empire for the ranking matches, which would determine the ranking of the fifteen teams.

The ranking matches would adopt an individual format, where each team would send one member to the arena. The loser would be eliminated, while the winner could continue fighting until their team ran out of participants.

The purpose of the ranking matches was to showcase individual strength before the king, offering an opportunity to earn royal favor and rewards for exceptional performance.

These matches would be held in the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, while the final round would see the top teams from both the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires compete in Spirit Hall.

Before the ranking matches began, Grandmaster used his Spirit Hall Honorary Elder token to secure a meeting with Pope Bibi Dong.

Even though the timing was advanced, Pope Bibi Dong was already aware of the emergence of a new twin martial soul user in the soul master world.

She also knew that this twin martial soul user was Grandmaster's disciple and, more significantly, Tang Hao's son.

"Yu Xiaogang, did you really think I wouldn't know that your disciple is from the Clear Sky Sect?"

"The Clear Sky Sect is an enemy of Spirit Hall. Why should I divulge the secret of cultivating twin martial souls to a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect?"

Bibi Dong's voice was icy as she stared coldly at Grandmaster.

In her mind, she assumed Grandmaster didn't yet know Tang San was Tang Hao's son. Otherwise, her anger would have been even greater.

To her, the son of Tang Hao posed an even greater threat to Spirit Hall than a regular Clear Sky Sect disciple. For Grandmaster to ask for such a secret on behalf of Tang Hao's son was entirely unacceptable.

Hearing Bibi Dong's words, Grandmaster's face changed dramatically.

He hadn't expected Spirit Hall to learn about Tang San so quickly.

It seemed Spirit Hall's ambitions were far-reaching, keeping a constant eye on the entire soul master world, which explained how they had obtained Tang San's information so quickly.

"Bibi Dong, I have no children of my own. Tang San is like a son to me!"

"If you're willing to share the secret of cultivating twin martial souls, I promise you, Tang San will never oppose you or Spirit Hall in his lifetime!"

Despite knowing his chances were slim, Grandmaster made a final attempt to secure the secret from Bibi Dong.

"And what guarantee do you have?"

Bibi Dong sneered, unconvinced.

She didn't believe Tang San would heed Grandmaster's words.

For Tang San, Spirit Hall was the murderer of his mother. Such a deep grudge couldn't be dismissed with a mere promise from Grandmaster.

"I…"

"I am his teacher. He respects me as he would a father!"

"If you're willing to share the secret of cultivating twin martial souls, I swear he will never become your enemy or oppose Spirit Hall!"

Bibi Dong's icy gaze didn't waver, her lips curling into a cold smile. She remained utterly skeptical of Grandmaster's assurance.

Yu Xiaogang was momentarily stunned by Pope Bibi Dong's question, left grasping for an answer. Finally, he could only persist in emphasizing his commitment.

"Fine. Since you insist, I'll trust you this once."

Pope Bibi Dong regarded the resolute Yu Xiaogang with a faint smile, and suddenly changed her mind, deciding to reveal the secret of cultivating twin martial souls.

"Really?"

Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened in disbelief. He had already prepared himself for rejection but was astonished when Pope Bibi Dong unexpectedly agreed.

"Yes, I'll tell you."

Bibi Dong's expression remained calm as she spoke.

The decision was not purely impulsive. She recalled how Su Mo's absorption of a millennial-quality spirit ring had emphasized the importance of physical conditioning. Based on Yu Xiaogang's theories, Su Mo had boldly validated this principle.

As Tang San was Yu Xiaogang's disciple, it was certain he would stress the importance of physical conditioning for Tang San as well. Whether she revealed the secret or not, it seemed it wouldn't greatly affect Tang San's path.

Thus, Bibi Dong decided to share the secret. She reasoned it was an opportunity to hold Yu Xiaogang to his word and, perhaps, earn his gratitude.

If Tang San truly avoided conflict with Spirit Hall in the future, it would be a beneficial outcome. And if he didn't, Yu Xiaogang would live with the guilt of breaking his promise.

"To cultivate twin martial souls without suffering from self-destruction, it's quite simple: focus on enhancing the body's physical constitution. A strong enough body can endure the spirit ring enhancements brought by twin martial souls."

Without further delay, Pope Bibi Dong directly revealed the secret.

"What? That's it?"

Yu Xiaogang was dumbfounded, even suspecting that Bibi Dong was deceiving him.

"Simple? Would you have thought it simple if I hadn't told you?"

"If it were truly that easy, previous twin martial soul users wouldn't have died from self-destruction while absorbing spirit rings!"

Bibi Dong sneered. She didn't consider it a simple matter at all.

It had taken her years of pursuit to find this most likely solution, and she had ultimately tested it on herself. Before her, there were no twin martial soul users in the soul master world to help verify the theory.

Hearing Bibi Dong's explanation, Yu Xiaogang found it hard to believe, but deep down, he accepted most of it.

Still, he felt it couldn't be that straightforward. If it were, he wouldn't have needed to seek Bibi Dong out in the first place. After seeing Su Mo's example, he had already emphasized physical conditioning in Tang San's training.

"Yu Xiaogang, you wouldn't dare forget your promise just because the answer seems simple, would you?"

Bibi Dong's cold smile deepened as she looked at Yu Xiaogang.

"No, I always honor my word."

"Rest assured, Your Holiness, I will ensure Tang San never opposes you or Spirit Hall."

"Of course, that's contingent on Spirit Hall leaving him alone. Otherwise, my guarantee becomes void."

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and replied to Bibi Dong.

Though he felt somewhat deceived, Yu Xiaogang still considered the trip worthwhile. Knowing the secret to cultivating twin martial souls would allow Tang San to train with confidence.

Having obtained the answer he sought, Yu Xiaogang quickly excused himself.

His haste to leave, and his clear reluctance to remain, left Bibi Dong feeling bitter.

"Am I truly so unbearable that you can't bear to look at me for another moment?"

As she watched Yu Xiaogang's retreating figure, Bibi Dong clenched her fists tightly, her heart aching.

If she could, she wished she could keep Yu Xiaogang by her side.

But she couldn't. She wasn't ready to tell him the truth behind why she had abandoned him all those years ago.

Following Yu Xiaogang's meeting with Pope Bibi Dong, where he learned the secret to cultivating twin martial souls, the Promotion Tournament of the Continental Soul Master Academy Elite Competition began.

With the arrival of ten additional teams from other divisions, the competition grew fiercer, bringing forth more powerful teams. Among them was a unique Plant Academy Team, composed entirely of female members.

Their debut received an enthusiastic welcome from the audience, with cheers and applause filling the arena.

Unfortunately, their strength fell far short of teams like Tianshui Academy. When they faced the Shrek Team, Ma Hongjun single-handedly defeated all seven members.

The Plant Academy Team's loss was inevitable—the inherent weakness of plant-type martial souls was their vulnerability to fire. With every member's martial soul being plant-based, their defeat by Ma Hongjun, a fire-type soul master, was expected.

Any team with fire-type soul masters could easily overpower them, resulting in the Plant Academy Team's low ranking—quite the opposite of Tianshui Academy, which secured second place, just behind Thunderclap Academy.

Meanwhile, the Shrek Team also achieved an impressive ranking.

On the battlefield, Tang San frequently used his twin martial souls, often defeating multiple opponents at once, even one-on-seven situations.

Since the secret of his twin martial souls was already exposed, Tang San stopped hiding it altogether and used both martial souls extensively during the Promotion Tournament.

Though Shrek Academy didn't place in the top three, Tang San emerged as the most dazzling participant in the tournament.

"This Tang San, he's a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect, isn't he?"

"After all these years of seclusion, the Clear Sky Sect has produced such an exceptional disciple!"

"But why is a Clear Sky Sect member representing our Heaven Dou Empire in this competition?"

Emperor Xue Ye remarked to Ning Fengzhi, clearly impressed.

The emperor's amazement stemmed from the historical context—Clear Sky Sect had always supported the Star Luo Empire, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect supported the Heaven Dou Empire, with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan maintaining neutrality.

"There's nothing unusual about it, Your Majesty. The Shrek Team also includes members from Star Luo's royal family and the Zhu Clan," Ning Fengzhi replied with a smile.

"This could even be an opportunity, don't you think? Your Majesty could take this chance to reward Tang San!"

Ning Fengzhi suggested, his expression calm and composed.

Unaware that Tang San was actually Tang Hao's son, Ning Fengzhi naturally assumed he was merely a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect. This assumption was shared by most, except for a select few like Bibi Dong, who knew the truth.

"Ha! Sect Master Ning is absolutely right. This is indeed an excellent opportunity to win over the Clear Sky Sect!"

Emperor Xue Ye laughed heartily, his mood lifting.

"Perhaps I should also reward Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing," he added, glancing at the Shrek Team's other standout members.

"That might not be wise," Ning Fengzhi quickly interjected.

"After all, they are members of Star Luo's royal family. Unlike Tang San, rewarding them could be interpreted by the Star Luo Empire as a provocation."

"You're right, Sect Master Ning. Thank you for pointing that out!"

Emperor Xue Ye quickly realized his error and expressed his gratitude.

"Sect Master Ning is always so thoughtful," he said with a chuckle.

"You flatter me, Your Majesty. I'm sure you would have realized it on your own," Ning Fengzhi replied with a modest smile.

The emperor laughed heartily again, before shifting the conversation to another topic—the Heaven Dou Imperial Team.

"Ning Fengzhi, I've heard from Qinghe that your daughter and son-in-law are part of the Heaven Dou Royal Team. Both of them are said to be exceptional. Do you think Heaven Dou can secure the championship this year?"

While winning over Tang San was important, Emperor Xue Ye's greater hope was for the Heaven Dou Empire to achieve a strong result in the competition.

The Soul Master Competition had been dominated by Spirit Hall for the past two consecutive tournaments.

The emperor's words carried both expectation and a hint of frustration. As much as he admired talent, his ultimate goal was to see Heaven Dou emerge victorious and restore its prestige.

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