Chapter 110: Arriving at Heaven Dou City
She did not point it out directly, but within the heart of the female Pope, a stormy sea had already been stirred.
If she remembered correctly, her disciple's childhood friend had only applied to hunt his third soul ring a little over a year ago.
And now, in less than a year and a half, the fluctuations of soul power emanating from him had already reached the level of a quasi–Soul Ancestor.
If Lin Beiya had not lent a hand behind the scenes, she would never have believed it—no matter what.
Bibi Dong was already intimately familiar with Shi Nuo's background.
His martial soul, the Vigorous Demon Bull, had an innate soul power of rank eight. While both the quality of his martial soul and his cultivation talent could be considered good, there was absolutely no way he could cultivate to the Soul Ancestor realm at the age of thirteen.
Casting her gaze once more over the team members before her, Bibi Dong noticed that, aside from Shi Nuo, the cultivation levels of the others did not deviate too much from her expectations.
'It seems my disciple will not reveal all of his methods unless he's facing someone he trusts completely.'
'Still… a method capable of boosting another person's cultivation speed to such an unbelievable degree—should I have him hand it over to the Spirit Hall?'
After pondering silently for a moment, Bibi Dong ultimately decided not to press Lin Beiya on this matter.
The reason was the same as before—at this stage, Lin Beiya was still extremely useful to her.
At the very least… at the very least, she would wait until she had fully suppressed the Rakshasa God's evil thoughts with the might of the Gold Cloth.
Only then would she risk tearing apart her relationship with this genius disciple to extract secrets that could benefit her.
"Beiya, your judgment is excellent. This Pope believes that under your leadership, this group will achieve glorious results."
"It is all thanks to the Teacher's capable leadership of the Spirit Hall. This disciple merely went to the academy and recruited a few seniors into the team."
"Hah, you are far too modest. This Pope does not possess the ability to have someone advance from Soul Elder to Soul Ancestor in less than two years."
Although she had no intention of falling out with him, giving a warning was still necessary. If Lin Beiya voluntarily revealed the secret behind Shi Nuo's explosive growth, she could save herself quite a bit of effort.
But Lin Beiya, who was deeply versed in the art of speaking differently to different people, would never foolishly expose all his trump cards. That would be the true path to death—once you completely lose your value, trouble follows.
"Teacher jokes. Shi Nuo was simply fortunate; something extra happened during his soul ring hunt. It has little to do with this disciple."
"Is that so? Then it seems I have been overthinking."
"Cultivate well, all of you. This Pope still has state affairs to attend to."
Bibi Dong's smile did not reach her eyes. After casting a deep look at Lin Beiya, she turned and left the training ground.
Behind her, Shi Nuo looked at his good brother with some concern, but Lin Beiya merely smiled and shook his head, signaling him not to worry too much.
The following period was filled with tightly scheduled cultivation.
About a month before the grand tournament, Ye Lüsu finally raised his cultivation to the quasi–Soul King realm.
Together with Shi Nuo, he applied to hunt a soul ring, and under the personal leadership of Dean Wei Ming, they headed to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Ye Lüsu could likely be considered the only Soul King–level contestant in this year's tournament.
Having agreed to meet in Heaven Dou City, Lin Beiya led his team to Heaven Dou City in advance.
Accommodation needed to be arranged in advance—it was better to set out as early as possible.
Traveling alongside them was an old acquaintance, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan. After the successful conclusion of the evil soul master extermination operation, he would serve as the leading elder of the Spirit Hall's team and attend the tournament, preventing other factions from targeting the promising seedlings belonging to Spirit Hall.
"Little Beiya, do you have confidence in taking the championship?"
"Just remove the word 'confidence.' The championship has no chance of slipping into anyone else's hands."
"Hahaha, that's true. With a little monster like you sitting there, I really can't think of anyone who could snatch the title from your grasp."
"I'll just take that as a compliment, Uncle Ju."
Lin Beiya rolled his eyes at Yue Guan irritably. This refined old fellow always loved teasing people.
Because they set out early, the Spirit Hall team was in no rush along the way. Traveling by carriage, it took five full days before they finally caught sight of the gates of Heaven Dou City, with more than twenty days remaining before the promotion matches began.
In truth, the preliminary rounds of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament had long since concluded, and the teams participating in the promotion matches had already been decided.
As one of the three seeded teams, Spirit Hall would be directly promoted into the finals. The promotion matches had nothing to do with them, so before it was truly their turn to appear, there was still nearly a month left.
The accompanying deacons had already arrived in Heaven Dou City in advance and secured accommodations. When the carriage carrying Lin Beiya's group stopped in front of the hotel, pedestrians nearby immediately cast curious gazes their way.
"Hey, isn't that the Spirit Hall team's carriage?"
"That's right. Every tournament, Spirit Hall's strength is always among the very best. In the previous tournament, they even finished second."
"Wait, something's not right—why are so many kids getting off? Is Spirit Hall planning to give up this year?"
"Yeah, are these kids even eighteen yet? And why is there a little loli among them?"
The team members got out of the carriage one by one. Qiu Tete, who was originally trying to act like a master, instantly lost her composure upon hearing the term "little loli." She glared fiercely at those gossiping people.
"This lady is already over twenty. Stop spouting nonsense!"
However, her warning was delivered in a soft, childish voice. Combined with her barely 1.5-meter height and baby face, it carried no intimidation whatsoever.
The onlookers who had been whispering burst into laughter after hearing Qiu Tete's warning.
"Hahaha, what a cute little loli."
"Yeah, no matter how strong you are, Uncle here supports you. Go for it!"
Grabbing the furious Qiu Tete, who was about to rush forward and argue, Lin Beiya led the group onward into the hotel, all holding back their laughter.
"Captain, let go of me. I'll shoot through their mouths."
"What's the rush? Once the competition starts, Senior Sister will have plenty of chances to show off. Why bother arguing with a bunch of commoners?"
"Hmph, I don't care. Arrange it so I go on stage first. This young lady will make them pay."
"Alright, alright, Senior Sister will go first then."
With Lin Beiya's approval, Qiu Tete finally nodded angrily, already planning to stun everyone once the finals began.
With everything settled, Lin Beiya greeted everyone after dinner and left the hotel.
Yue Guan's ambiguous gaze before he left made him roll his eyes for a good while.
The hotel they stayed in was not far from the Crown Prince's residence. To avoid unnecessary trouble caused by their identities, Lin Beiya decided it would be better to visit her late at night.
After wandering aimlessly through the streets of Heaven Dou City for several hours, he looked up at the moon and saw that it was already past midnight. Only then did Lin Beiya arrive at the Crown Prince's residence with a few instantaneous teleportations.
Repeating the same method as before, after several quick flashes, Lin Beiya once again appeared inside that familiar room.
What left him dumbfounded was that, despite it already being midnight, Qian Renxue's bedroom was still brightly lit.
And the owner of the bedroom was looking smugly at Lin Beiya, who had suddenly appeared and frozen in place.
"I heard a report from my subordinates this morning that the Spirit Hall team had entered Heaven Dou City. I knew you'd try a night raid again."
"Heh, my Xue'er is indeed as sharp as ever. Long time no see—missed you terribly. To express my longing, how about a kiss?"
"Get lost!"
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End of Chapter