The dazzling sunlight was somewhat blinding, causing her to instinctively squint her eyes slightly, using her long eyelashes to provide some shade.
"The weather is nice. Today, I can use more of my domain power to help those children quickly get through their vulnerable infancy..."
Ah Yin turned around and stepped outside.
Thinking about the precious plants that Dugu Bo recently transplanted, her steps became light and cheerful again.
On the other side, after leaving the Elder Hall, Su Cheng directly went to the Pope's Hall nearby.
Just as he was approaching the council chamber, he saw Zhu Zhuqing coming out, her face flushed.
Su Cheng was immediately puzzled.
He nonchalantly blocked her path.
To his surprise, she seemed completely oblivious and walked straight towards him.
It wasn't until they were about to collide that she reacted, suddenly leaping several meters back in shock.
Upon seeing who it was, she immediately scolded him like an angry cat, "Are you blind? Why are you standing right in front of me?!"
Su Cheng raised an eyebrow, puzzled, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so angry?"
Zhu Zhuqing was too lazy to explain, especially not wanting to tell him about her conversation with Bibi Dong. She snorted coldly and tried to bypass him to leave.
"Hey, wait a minute." Su Cheng quickly reached out and pressed her shoulder, "What's going on?"
Seeing her expression, it didn't seem like Bibi Dong had targeted her, and besides, Bibi Dong had no reason to target Zhu Zhuqing.
There was no conflict between them, and they had just acknowledged each other as master and disciple. On their way back to Spirit City, they had even displayed a deep bond of mutual affection.
So, is she angry with me?
Because I just went to the Elder Hall?
"What's it to you?"
Before he could think more deeply, Zhu Zhuqing impatiently shrugged off his arm but still refused to look him in the eye.
She just said sternly, "Stop wasting time here. Go in quickly; the teacher is waiting for you."
After saying that, she quickly walked away.
"Hey—"
Su Cheng called out, but seeing that she had no intention of responding, he felt a bit helpless.
Then he thought, Zhu Zhuqing has always had this kind of temperament. However, she is usually calm and rational, so she shouldn't do anything rash. I'll ask her about it later.
Shaking his head, he continued walking towards the hall...
Inside the council chamber, Bibi Dong stared blankly at Zhu Zhuqing's departing figure, her mind in a haze.
The sharp nails of her hands had already pierced her palms, with blood trickling down her fingers, but she seemed unaware.
At this moment, Su Cheng pushed the door open and walked in. His nose twitched as he caught a faint scent of blood, surprised, "Are you injured?"
"Hmm? No." Bibi Dong was startled by his words and only then realized her loss of composure.
She quickly relaxed her fist, and the wound healed swiftly.
Su Cheng noticed her odd expression and furrowed his brow, sensing that something was amiss. Both of them were acting strangely.
He then probed, "I just ran into Zhu Zhuqing outside. She seemed to be in a bad mood?"
Hearing this, Bibi Dong felt a bit displeased, but her expression remained unchanged. She merely chuckled, "What, are you afraid I bullied her?"
"Not really." Su Cheng felt a bit awkward, explaining, "She seemed to be angry at me."
"Oh, then I don't know. You should think about what you might have done."
"..."
For some reason, he felt that there was a hint of sarcastic mockery in Bibi Dong's tone.
Su Cheng coughed lightly, not wanting to dwell on this matter.
He quickly changed the topic, "Your Majesty, the Rakshasa God power within you should no longer have much influence on your soul. You can now try to cultivate the third volume of the innate power technique."
"Whether it works or not, it will help me identify the problem, allowing me to find a way to resolve it."
As he mentioned this, their eyes both became somewhat evasive, and the atmosphere grew silent.
The scenes from the lotus pond in the depths of her mind were still vividly present.
After a long pause, it was Bibi Dong who broke the silence by nodding and speaking first.
"I will. During this period, I'll cultivate on my own. When I hit an impassable bottleneck, you can then help me solve it."
"That works." Su Cheng was a bit taken aback, but also secretly relieved.
Actually, this was a decision Bibi Dong had made after a long period of reflection since leaving Hell Road.
She truly wanted some time alone.
She had many things to do. Planning for the Wuhun Empire, her own cultivation, and the arrangements for Qian Renxue and Zhu Zhuqing.
At this time, it was even more important to stay calm and thoughtful, to make clearer judgments and plans for the future.
In contrast, Su Cheng's thoughts were much simpler.
Firstly, it was a bit awkward to interact with Bibi Dong now, especially given his relationship with Qian Renxue, making things even more complicated.
Secondly, Bibi Dong indeed needed time to settle down.
Whether it was the lotus pond in her soul or the remaining Rakshasa God power, both required time to nurture and resolve.
If any issues arose during this period, he could address them promptly.
Even if he wanted to use her "water soul" for cultivation, now wasn't the right time.
That place had just formed and still had many hidden dangers.
Bibi Dong's inner obsessions were deep, filled with greed, anger, and delusion. Her soul's foundation was far inferior to his.
To develop it now would be to destroy her foundation, something Su Cheng would never do.
"By the way, Your Majesty. We still need to visit the Slaughter City again soon, not only to pick up Xie Yue and the others but mainly to meet the Slaughter King."
"Why meet him?" Bibi Dong was puzzled.
She had no objections to picking up those young Spirit Hall soul masters, but she figured Su Cheng wasn't too concerned about them, so it was likely more about the "Slaughter King" he mentioned.
"The Slaughter King has a significant connection with the Rakshasa God. We need to deal with him first; otherwise, he's a potential threat."
"He has ties with the Rakshasa God?!" Bibi Dong was shocked.
As the Rakshasa God's chosen successor, she had no idea about this.
"Shocking, right?" Su Cheng glanced at her, "This Rakshasa God is really a unique character. Honestly, I think she saw you more as an amusing toy rather than a successor."
"..." Bibi Dong's expression turned dark.
"No need to be so angry." Su Cheng said calmly.
"After all, these so-called gods are just stronger beings.
"Their thinking isn't necessarily much different from mortals. The strong naturally have privileges, which has always been true.
"When you become stronger than them, the roles will reverse."
Bibi Dong nodded silently, but a trace of malice flickered in her eyes.
"Tsk tsk, that look in your eyes..." Su Cheng clicked his tongue, feeling speechless.
It seemed the Rakshasa God indeed chose the right person.
Even after just experiencing a soul cleansing, her nature remained quite ruthless.
Perhaps it was also because of the influence of that "starlight," which further amplified her innate desires.
While amplifying, it also tempered her character and soul foundation.
The beautiful lotus pond, pure and fragrant, always relied on the layers of mud below.
"..."
Bibi Dong quickly corrected her expression, retracting the dangerous aura she had unconsciously released, returning to her earlier composed demeanor.
Su Cheng said nothing more, instead continuing, "By then, you can consider incorporating the Slaughter City into the Spirit Hall. But don't be too direct, as that place is connected to more than one god. We can't intervene openly."
"That's a good idea. The Slaughter City is quite suitable as a subsidiary of the Spirit Hall." Bibi Dong mused.
"One more thing." Su Cheng pondered, "Do you have any plans for the two major empires?"
"I do have some arrangements." Bibi Dong admitted, her eyes flickering, "Are you interested in such matters?"
Su Cheng nodded slightly, "Interested. If you achieve unification, I can benefit as well."
Hearing this, Bibi Dong's eyes showed a hint of joy, murmuring, "I knew it..."
"What?" Her voice was too low for Su Cheng to catch clearly.
"Nothing." Bibi Dong shook her head, "Before we discuss this, I have a proposal. See if you're interested."
"What is it?"
"Let Zhuqing accompany you on a training trip. What do you think?"
"Well... that could work." Su Cheng's eyes flickered, hesitating slightly.
He had intended to guide Zhu Zhuqing, who had a good chance of mastering innate power.
But considering Qian Renxue's attitude, he was still thinking about how best to achieve this.
Unexpectedly, Bibi Dong was so understanding and willing to take the blame, so he had no reason to refuse.
"You seem hesitant? Never mind, I'll personally guide my disciple."
"What? Wait, I didn't mean that. I think you have a good point."
"Heh." Bibi Dong sneered, "Su Cheng, I've never met anyone better at pretending than you."
"I think you might have misunderstood me." Su Cheng said awkwardly.
---
A/N: He was just trying to find a balanced way to avoid hurting the people around him. How could that be called pretending?
Regarding the issue of soul power, there seems to have been some confusion among readers about the lotus pond in Bibi Dong's soul.
The original work briefly mentions soul power. This extension is based on that, not something I made up. In the original story, during the soul master competition, Tang San used the Seven Monster Fusion Skill, which resulted in the manifestation of the Clear Sky True Body. At that time, a large amount of his soul power was drained. A Soul Saint needs soul power to activate their Martial Soul True Body.
Moreover, this story has laid some groundwork on this topic. Soul masters in the Douluo world have little understanding of souls and no related literature. The protagonist, in his third simulation, started researching from scratch, hence the slow progress compared to bloodline and physical studies.
The trigger for researching soul power was Xiao Xue's soul mutation, and then the protagonist's own exploration during the third simulation.