After teasing Ling Yuan and making the little maid blush bright red, Qian Xunji had basically accomplished all his goals—gathering immortal herbs, refining pills, and diving to the very bottom of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to obtain the million-year soul bone.
With a faint smile on his handsome, flawless face, and sword-like brows paired with starry eyes, Qian Xunji leisurely changed back into his white suit and prepared to leave the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well with Ling Yuan.
Next stop—their castle in Heaven Dou City.
He planned to relax in the capital for a few more days before returning to Spirit Hall. After all, as the Pope, he had already been away from Spirit Hall for quite a while.
In his absence, the affairs of Spirit Hall had all been left to the... Grand Retired Emperor—cough, no!—the previous Pope, Qian Daoliu.
That old man had been retired for over ten years now. He'd finally gotten to enjoy some peace and a leisurely retirement, but Qian Xunji had forcibly dragged him back into the fray. No surprise that he was absolutely pissed these days.
While Qian Xunji had been staying in Heaven Dou City, the old guy had been sending him letters every few days urging him to return.
If it weren't for the fact that Qian Xunji had truly been busy with serious business this time, Qian Daoliu might've sent the three Worships—Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others—to tie him up and haul him back.
Qian Xunji couldn't help curling his lip in disdain.
'That old geezer has no ambition at all!'
Sure, you're over a hundred years old now. But according to that old flame of yours you never got, Bo Saixi, geniuses like you two who broke through to Titled Douluo early and reached the Limit Douluo realm could live for over a thousand years!
If you put that on a normal human lifespan scale, you're not even ten years old yet!
And you already want to retire and enjoy life? No way!
'That's just pure laziness!'
Qian Xunji clenched his fists and gave them a fierce wave, a surge of righteous indignation burning in his heart.
...
After leaving the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Qian Xunji returned to the castle in Heaven Dou City with Ling Yuan. He ordered Azure Luan Douluo to go back and continue guarding the Well.
As for him—he fully intended to relax and enjoy himself with his maid for the next few days.
He had been in Heaven Dou City for over a month now, and His Holiness the Pope had been busy the whole time. He hadn't even had the chance to properly explore the city.
What's that?
He went out and had fun during his pill-refining breaks? Tasted a lot of the local delicacies?
No, no, no!
That doesn't count. If you're not playing all day, then it's not really playing.
At best, that was just taking a mental break to stay productive during intense cultivation.
Exactly! That's how it is!
Anyway, as the Pope of Spirit Hall, all final interpretation rights were his.
Just as Qian Xunji brought Ling Yuan back to the castle, Golden Crocodile Douluo suddenly seemed to recall something and spoke in a slightly strange tone.
"By the way, Your Holiness. Two days ago, that brat Yu Yuanzhen from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan sent a letter."
"The contents were an apology for his son, Yu Xiaogang."
"He said his son was truly ignorant and actually got involved with our Spirit Hall's Saintess while in Spirit City."
"But he claimed it was all a misunderstanding."
"Apparently, his son just wanted to be friends with Bibi Dong and had no intention of being with her romantically."
"It was just that Bibi Dong was too passionate and forward, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he never clarified things."
"Who would've thought that Bibi Dong would misunderstand and go to extremes—eloping with Yu Xiaogang and breaking ties with Spirit Hall."
"He said that at the time, Yu Xiaogang didn't know the full story. That's why he took Bibi Dong back to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
"But once he found out what really happened, he gave Yu Xiaogang a harsh lesson, and now the boy knows he was wrong."
"He was planning to bring Bibi Dong back tomorrow to apologize, along with his son."
"But back then, Your Holiness, you were still in seclusion at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
"I told his messenger you were in closed-door training and asked him to pass the message back."
"Now that you've returned, what should we do about this matter?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked to him for instruction.
Upon hearing this, Qian Xunji let out a mocking laugh.
"That Yu Yuanzhen really knows how to make his son look good, huh?"
"Just wanted to be friends with Bibi Dong? What a joke."
"You think we're idiots?"
"Not knowing the situation at first, taking Bibi Dong back to his clan? He thinks we don't know what his son was after?"
"He wants to send Bibi Dong back? Not a chance I'm accepting that!"
A cold smile tugged at the corner of Qian Xunji's lips.
"Trash that's already been thrown away—who'd want to pick it back up?"
"That's just dirtying the house again!"
"But if he wants to bring his son over to apologize, then let him."
"I want to see just how he plans to talk his way out of this!"
"His son made us lose a prodigy with innate full soul power and twin top-tier spirits—limitless future potential!"
"If he doesn't offer something substantial in compensation, don't blame me for leading a force to crush the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"
As he spoke, Qian Xunji clenched his fist tightly, as if seizing everything in the palm of his hand. His eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
Off to the side, Ling Yuan listened to Qian Xunji's confident and commanding words, filled with awe and admiration.
'His Holiness really has changed so much from before!'
'He was never this bold and decisive in the past.'
'And now, he even manages to act so righteously that no one can fault him for it.'
"Your Holiness, you truly have changed a lot," said Lion Douluo with heartfelt emotion.
"In the past, if Bibi Dong had tried to elope with Yu Xiaogang, you'd either have flown into a rage and done something impulsive..."
"Or you'd be so devastated you couldn't recover."
"You definitely wouldn't have acted so decisively and destroyed Bibi Dong's future in one blow."
"And you definitely wouldn't have thought of using Yu Xiaogang to pressure the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan like this."
"Now, seeing you like this, I can't help but think of Clear Sky Douluo Tang Chen... and Big Brother."
In Lion Douluo's view, Tang Chen was a bold, fearless man of great spirit. He had principles, sure, but also did all kinds of shady things if they benefited the Clear Sky Sect. His only drawback was... not being all that smart.
As for Big Brother Qian Daoliu—noble lineage, noble character, benevolent heart, unambitious, yet trustworthy and morally upright.
He embodied nearly every virtue under the sun.
Compared to Tang Chen, Qian Daoliu had greater wisdom.
But his moral bottom line was too high. He simply couldn't bring himself to do anything even slightly wrong.
To put it bluntly, his reputation held him back, and he was a bit indecisive.
Under Qian Daoliu's leadership, Spirit Hall gained great prestige in the soul master world—but its strength barely improved.
The former Qian Xunji inherited many of Qian Daoliu's good traits but lacked his wisdom and temperament.
Worse, he wasn't nearly as decisive.
Sure, he wasn't shackled by reputation and was willing to do some shady things for Spirit Hall, but he wasn't bold enough—hesitant, trying to have it both ways, always overthinking.
But now—Qian Xunji had completely transformed!
He had both Qian Daoliu's virtues and Tang Chen's decisiveness.
He could find the moral high ground, maximize benefits, and then strike without hesitation once he had the advantage.
It was... almost perfect.
'Lion Douluo's got a sharp eye,' Qian Xunji couldn't help but reflect.
His original body... had gone off the deep end after being hurt by Bibi Dong and ended up turning into a "Secret Chamber Douluo."
In the end, not only did he ruin himself, but he dragged all of Spirit Hall down with him.
If he had to describe it—
The original Qian Xunji was a nerfed, worse version of Tang Chen + Qian Daoliu.
But he himself? He was the enhanced, upgraded plus version!
'We transmigrators... really are just too awesome!'
Hmm... Thinking about it now, compared to Qian Daoliu, Tang Chen really was kind of a doofus.
In the original, Bo Saixi told both men that whoever broke through to godhood first would be with her.
Qian Daoliu understood that she was politely rejecting them and went back to Spirit Hall to give up the pursuit.
Tang Chen, on the other hand, didn't get it and ran all over the place looking for a way to become a god.
In the end, he even became the Slaughter King just to inherit the Asura God position.
But considering their backgrounds, maybe Tang Chen really didn't know as much about godhood as Qian Daoliu.
It makes sense... depending on how you look at it.