Chapter 53: Audience with Pope Bibi Dong, the Grand Soul Arena of Spirit City!
"Come down, I'll take you to meet my teacher!"
Once the carriage stopped in front of the magnificent and resplendent Pope's Palace, Hu Liena cheerfully said this to Lin Yu and pulled him down from the carriage.
Standing before the Pope's Palace,
Lin Yu looked up at the entirely gilded cylindrical building, topped with a glass dome that shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight like something from a dreamlike fairyland, and couldn't help but feel amazed.
He had never seen such a beautiful building before.
But before Lin Yu could finish admiring the palace's splendor,
Hu Liena led him directly inside.
Passing through the grand front hall, they finally arrived at another large hall in the rear section of the palace.
This was one of the main halls of the Pope's Palace and a place where Bibi Dong often resided.
It was also connected to a study, which served as Bibi Dong's office.
At the door of this rear main hall,
two squads of fully armored Temple Knights in gleaming silver armor stood guard, each bearing broad swords on their backs, their presence commanding and intimidating.
Despite the solemn atmosphere,
Hu Liena was completely at ease.
She had a knight go inside to announce their arrival, then waited with Lin Yu outside the hall doors.
A few seconds later,
the knight returned and respectfully reported,
"Your Holiness the Pope invites Your Highness the Saintess to bring the young man inside."
"Let's go, we may enter now!"
Hu Liena immediately pulled Lin Yu into the hall.
Once inside,
the light dimmed slightly, and the air became cool and refreshing.
As they walked across the spacious hall toward the rear platform, Lin Yu raised his head and saw a figure seated on a throne at the top.
It was a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in regal purple robes, crowned with a nine-curve purple-gold crown, and holding a gem-encrusted scepter over two meters long. Her expression was composed and noble, her aura majestic.
At the sight of her, Lin Yu couldn't help but admire her beauty—she was breathtaking.
Although the original story of Douluo Continent didn't claim Bibi Dong as the most beautiful woman,
at this point in the timeline, most of the other famous beauties—like Hu Liena, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing—were still just girls.
Compared to Bibi Dong, who had matured and ascended to the pope's throne, exuding elegance and strength, they weren't even on the same level.
At least, not according to Hu Liena.
But Lin Yu only glanced at her briefly—Bibi Dong might be beautiful, but she was far too dangerous.
"Teacher, I've successfully recruited Lin Yu to join our Spirit Hall. His martial soul is indeed of the auxiliary type. On our way back, Elder Ju and I helped him hunt a soul beast in the Star Dou Forest."
"After absorbing the soul ring, the healing effect of his soul skill turned out to be incredibly strong. Even though he's only at Soul Master level, I found his healing is on par with, or even better than, some Soul Elders with auxiliary-type martial souls."
"I even suspect that his martial soul might surpass the Nine Heart Begonia—the number one healing-type martial soul in the Soul Master world!"
Standing before Bibi Dong, Hu Liena spoke excitedly.
"Very good."
Bibi Dong glanced at the slightly nervous Lin Yu and revealed a satisfied smile on her beautiful and mature face. She said gently,
"Child, welcome to our Spirit Hall. You've arrived at just the right time. The Spirit City Junior Soul Master Academy is about to begin its term. Nana will take you to enroll when the time comes."
"The promises she made to you—Spirit Hall will honor them all. Starting this month, once the proper reports are filed, someone will bring you everything you were promised."
"If you have any questions or concerns in your daily life, you can ask Nana—she'll guide you."
"You're new to Spirit City and probably still adjusting, so you'll live next to Nana."
"Nana, you may take him now. It's still early—if he wants to explore the city, show him around."
Finishing her instructions, Bibi Dong looked to Hu Liena.
Hu Liena, clearly pleased with Bibi Dong's arrangements, smiled: "Teacher, then we'll take our leave!"
After their audience with Bibi Dong, Hu Liena led Lin Yu away from the Pope's Palace.
After descending the hill where the palace stood,
at its foot, far from the bustling parts of Spirit City, there lay several elegant and beautifully designed residential districts.
On the way, Hu Liena gave Lin Yu a rundown.
These residences beneath the Pope's Palace weren't open to just anyone.
Only high-ranking members of Spirit Hall—such as red-robed archbishops with strength above the Soul Sage level or commanders of the Temple Knights—
or top-tier prodigies with innate soul power of eight or higher were eligible to live here.
Due to these strict standards,
many of the residences remained vacant.
Which only emphasized how rare and valuable it was to qualify for one.
Once they reached this picturesque residential area,
Hu Liena visited the local administrative office and, by Bibi Dong's verbal order, obtained a key.
Naturally, it was the key to the courtyard next to her own.
She handed the key to Lin Yu and then gave him a brief tour of the courtyard.
Lin Yu's new home was currently empty,
but now that it belonged to him, staff would soon be dispatched to furnish and prepare it. That would take a little time.
Taking advantage of the wait, Hu Liena took Lin Yu around Spirit City, showing him various locations.
Among everything he saw, Lin Yu was most interested in Spirit Hall's library.
That, after all, was his main reason for joining Spirit Hall.
After a day of sightseeing around the city,
in the evening, Hu Liena brought Lin Yu to the Grand Soul Arena to watch some soul duels.
On the Douluo Continent, due to the lack of other entertainment options and the prestige of soul masters,
watching soul duels in the arena was the favorite pastime of almost everyone.
Under Hu Liena's guidance, the two arrived at a magnificent and grand structure.
The building's exterior was a warm brown-yellow color, shaped like an upside-down bowl. It had entrances on all four sides—north, south, east, and west—with crowds streaming in nonstop. Colorful lights at the top sparkled in the night sky.
"Let's go inside!"
Led by Hu Liena, Lin Yu entered the Grand Soul Arena.
The main hall was a pristine white, with floors paved in marble.
The space was divided by a large stone tablet.
One side was for soul masters to register and sign up for matches.
The other was for spectators to buy tickets and attend.
Naturally, Hu Liena brought Lin Yu to the spectator side.
After buying tickets, she led Lin Yu to a sub-arena for solo battles in the Soul Elder group.
Here, Lin Yu witnessed his first soul master battle—it was indeed flashy.
But to be honest, he still found it a bit underwhelming.
In these duels,
the two fighters mainly probed each other, then seized opportunities to launch soul skills.
But soul skills were like game abilities—flashy but lacking in variation.
The effects were visually impressive, but there was little technique.
In most fights, the stronger soul skill user won.
Team battles might be better, but solo fights lacked suspense and surprise.
Lin Yu felt
that even watching two people use the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique against each other would be more thrilling than this.
However, during the match, Lin Yu spotted two familiar faces.
One was a tall young man with fiery red short hair, wearing a black tight-fitting outfit covered in lava-like cracks. His martial soul was the Lava Lord.
Hu Liena introduced him as Yan.
The other was a handsome youth with short black-red hair, wearing luxurious silver robes. His martial soul was a pair of crescent-shaped Moon Blades.
Hu Liena introduced him as Xie Yue—her brother.
(END CHAPTER)
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