Nighttime.
Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and Yan, led by the two Douluos, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, arrived at the Supreme Pontiff Palace.
Bibi Dong had not yet retired for the night; she was seated on her throne, reviewing files.
Sensing the arrival of her three disciples, she spoke without raising her head, "You've returned. How did things go?"
Hearing their teacher's words, the three looked at each other. No one spoke; they only lowered their heads in shame.
As disciples of the Supreme Pontiff,
they had actually lost in a three-on-one situation.
And the defeat was so absolute that they felt incredibly ashamed, wishing they could just find a block of tofu to bash their heads against and end it all.
Finally, Hu Liena took a step forward, knelt on one knee, and cupped her fists, saying, "Teacher, your disciple is incompetent. We were defeated by Golden Crown."
"Defeated?" Bibi Dong still didn't look up, instead pressing further, "How were you defeated?"
Hu Liena gave a general account of the battle that afternoon.
When she heard that the three disciples she hailed as Spirit Hall's 'Golden Generation' had joined forces against Golden Crown—who had only recently become a Soul Master—and ended up losing,
Bibi Dong stopped what she was doing. She raised her head and lightly propped it up with her hand.
Those beautiful legs were crossed, her lovely eyes scanned the three of them, and her fingertips lightly tapped the tabletop.
After a long silence,
her cold voice rang out: "Are you saying that the three geniuses this seat hailed as Spirit Hall's Golden Generation were defeated in a joint effort by a fledgling novice Soul Master?"
"Hehe..."
Bang!
After a cold laugh, Bibi Dong's hand slammed heavily onto the desk.
She stood up and pointed at the three disappointing disciples below, scolding them: "Has all your daily training gone to the dogs?"
Upon hearing this,
Xie Yue and Yan also hurriedly knelt on one knee.
They knew that their teacher was truly enraged.
So, without any excuses or rebuttals, they just kept their heads down and took the scolding.
Seeing Bibi Dong so angry, Chrysanthemum Douluo quickly stepped forward to help speak for them: "Your Holiness, please calm your anger."
"Nana and the other two's defeat this time is excusable."
Bibi Dong's gaze was like a sharp blade as she looked at Chrysanthemum Douluo: "Excusable? Hmph! Being defeated in a three-on-one, what is there to excuse?"
Ghost Douluo hurriedly said: "The Supreme Pontiff might not know, but that Golden Crown's spirit power has already reached level thirty. More importantly, that boy's first and second Soul Rings are both thousand-year Soul Rings. It's normal that Nana and the others were not his match."
"What did you say?"
"Thousand-year!"
Bibi Dong's pupils quaked as she abruptly stood up from her throne.
This information truly left her stunned.
One must know that back then, even after Qian Renxue awakened a God-level Martial Soul, she didn't dare attempt to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring as her first ring.
Yet this boy, Golden Crown, was actually so bold, and the key was that he succeeded.
Both his first and second Soul Rings were at the thousand-year level.
Is the physique of a God-level Martial Soul awakener truly this terrifying? Or does the Hall of Worship have a method to increase the age limit of the Soul Rings a Soul Master can absorb?
Bibi Dong pondered for a moment and quickly ruled out the second possibility.
After all, if the Hall of Worship really had such a method, Qian Renxue's first Soul Ring wouldn't have been a hundred-year one back then.
Thus, the only possibility was that it was because Golden Crown had awakened a God-level Martial Soul.
Seeing her teacher's expression shifting between dark and light, Hu Liena mistakenly thought she was still angry and said, "Teacher, we are willing to accept punishment for our failure."
Bibi Dong sighed and said, "Forget it, you can't be blamed for this. It's only because I underestimated that boy's talent."
"You may leave."
"Yes."
After Hu Liena bowed, she left the Supreme Pontiff Palace along with Xie Yue and Yan.
After the three had left,
Bibi Dong looked at Yue Guan: "Chrysanthemum Douluo, starting tomorrow, double the training volume for Nana and the others. You will personally supervise them."
"Ah? Double it? Isn't that a bit..."
"Hmm?"
Chrysanthemum Douluo originally wanted to say 'Isn't doubling the training volume a bit too harsh?' but upon meeting Bibi Dong's cold gaze,
he chickened out and quickly cupped his hands, saying: "Yes."
After giving instructions to Chrysanthemum Douluo, Bibi Dong then looked at Ghost Douluo: "Gui Mei, when the Second Consecrator returns, give him something."
"What is it?" Gui Mei asked in confusion.
Bibi Dong threw a piece of paper from the desk to Gui Mei.
Gui Mei caught it and took a look, feeling very puzzled: "An Admission Notice? Your Holiness, you surely don't want the Second Consecrator to go to school, do you?"
In an instant, the Supreme Pontiff Palace became deathly quiet.
Chrysanthemum Douluo covered his face, inwardly cursing Ghost Douluo for being an idiot.
Bibi Dong was also extremely speechless; how did she recruit such an idiot as a subordinate?
She opened her mouth and said, "It's not for the Second Consecrator, it's for Golden Crown!"
Only then did Ghost Douluo realize, saying: "Yes."
The two of them then withdrew.
Bibi Dong walked to the window, looking at the full moon hanging in the sky: "This seat will never let such a talent slip away."
...One week later.
Jin E returned carrying ten exquisite boxes.
"Xiao Mian, did you miss your grandfather these past few days?"
As soon as he returned, he couldn't wait to pick Xiao Mian up.
"Old man, wasn't it just to go get that Whale Glue? Why were you gone for so long?" Golden Crown asked curiously.
Jin E explained: "The journey from Wuhun City to the Heaven Dou Empire is very long. Besides, I handled some other matters on the way, which is why I'm back a bit late."
"Other matters? What matters?" Golden Crown was very curious.
Jin E waved his hand: "Don't ask, it has nothing to do with you. By the way, this is the Whale Glue the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family gave us as compensation. Take a look."
Seeing the old man being so mysterious, Golden Crown didn't want to ask more, instead focusing his gaze on the Whale Glue.
"The Heaven Dou Empire is indeed wealthy; they actually managed to gather a hundred pieces of Whale Glue in a month."
"By the way, Grandpa, you must have been followed on the way, right?"
Jin E said: "You guessed right. The Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family did indeed send people to secretly follow behind me."
"But who is your grandfather? I sent those dozens of people on their way in just a few moves."
"Right, I have something to see the High Priest about. I'm leaving first."
After saying that, Jin E left.
Golden Crown opened all ten boxes.
Each box contained ten pieces of Whale Glue.
Glancing over them generally, the vast majority were hundred-year ones, with only a few thousand-year level ones.
"Hmm? This is..." Suddenly, his gaze landed on one of the black pieces of Whale Glue.
He picked up the Whale Glue, and after looking at it closely, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue!"
"My luck is really good to actually come across this."
But then he became troubled again.
Because although Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue was a good thing, if one wanted to consume it,
one must use high temperatures of over a thousand degrees Celsius to melt it.
Soon, a candidate surfaced in his mind.
"Look at my brain, how could I forget Grandpa Lion?"
"I'll just ask him to help me melt the Whale Glue."
After saying that, Golden Crown headed towards Lion Douluo's residence...