The architectural layout within the Pope's Palace in Spirit City is significantly different from that of the Elder's Hall.
The Elder's Hall is the true core decision-making body of the Spirit Hall.
Meetings among elders and the implementation of various specific policies are mostly discussed within the Elder's Hall.
Additionally, besides being a place to hold meetings, it is also the residence of the elders of the Spirit Hall.
Depending on their respective strengths and statuses, their room levels differ.
For instance, the Hall Master Qian Daoliu lives in the innermost room on the third floor. Qian Renxue and other offering elders also reside on this floor.
Previously, Su Cheng and the influential elders such as Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo had their rooms on the second floor.
However, now as direct subordinates of the Pope, these people seldom stay in the Elder's Hall for long periods and mostly reside in the Pope's Palace, facilitating the Pope's summoning.
The Pope's Palace, on the other hand, is more of a symbol of status and power.
It is the residence of the Pope of the Spirit Hall and the place where the Pope handles daily affairs and meets with various dignitaries.
Honorary elders like Ning Fengzhi generally stay in the Pope's Palace when they visit Spirit City.
Unlike the Elder's Hall, which has numerous living quarters, the first floor of the Pope's Palace is composed entirely of several conference halls.
At this moment, Bibi Dong walked gracefully to one side of the hall, where an elegant and exquisitely crafted large cabinet stood.
She opened the cabinet door, casually searching for something while speaking softly, "Where is the misunderstanding?"
"What are you looking for?" Su Cheng did not answer her question. His gaze followed her back to the direction of the cabinet.
"This." Bibi Dong did not mind his diversion. She took out an exquisite tea caddy from the cabinet and gently shook it at him before walking back.
"Let's sit and talk."
She spoke as she walked over to the tea table and chairs, picking up the teacup and teapot from the table.
"This is a precious tea plant cultivated by Chrysanthemum Elder, Poison Elder, and that Silver Lady. They said it's called Dragon Saliva Fragrance.
"Chrysanthemum Elder told me that theoretically, it's impossible to cultivate this plant in the environment of the Spirit Mountains. This plant is very delicate, needing to grow in a misty, cold mountain region with abundant water vapor but little sunlight."
She delicately pinched a small handful of tea leaves from the tea caddy.
Each tea leaf was rolled into a needle shape, appearing crystal clear and uniform in size.
Interestingly, such beautiful tea leaves emitted no aroma, as if it was completely locked within the leaves.
Bibi Dong then placed the tea leaves into the water and covered the teapot.
With a burst of soul power, the water temperature quickly rose, and she stopped the process just before it boiled.
After waiting for a moment, she lifted the lid.
As the lid was lifted, a strange fragrance wafted through the air.
Su Cheng closed his eyes slightly in enjoyment.
The aroma was so captivating that it made him anticipate the taste even more.
Delicate hands brewing tea, red sleeves adding fragrance.
This situation was not their first experience together.
However, times had changed, and their mutual identities, ties, and the environments they found themselves in were now completely different.
Bibi Dong poured the tea into two cups and pushed one towards Su Cheng, "Here you go."
Su Cheng picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp.
After drinking, he exhaled a cloud of mist-like steam and praised, "What excellent tea."
Though he couldn't pinpoint what made it excellent.
Bibi Dong chuckled softly, "Who drinks tea like that? It's like you're drinking wine."
"Really? Haha." Su Cheng laughed, "I don't really understand these things, but it does taste good."
His daily thoughts were mostly about cultivating and strategizing. He rarely indulged in such pleasures, except for certain very special tastes.
"Speaking of which, being able to drink this is thanks to you." Bibi Dong sipped the tea and laughed softly.
"What do you mean?" This time, Su Cheng didn't wait for her to pour him tea. He reached out and poured himself another cup.
"Although picking a few tender leaves wouldn't harm the plants, that Silver Lady is very reluctant. She treats those plants like her own children, even more attentively than Chrysanthemum Elder.
"Only when she heard that I was going to use them to entertain you did she agree to have them made into tea. So, I don't even feel right enjoying it alone."
Bibi Dong's voice seemed to carry some inexplicable meaning.
Hearing this, Su Cheng's tea-pouring hand paused slightly, then he continued drinking nonchalantly.
"Su Cheng, I'm really curious. What kind of charm did you use on that 100,000-year-old spirit beast? She forgot all her past hatred and even her husband and son, staying in Spirit City like she's determined."
"..." Su Cheng glanced at her silently, feeling somewhat odd.
He couldn't tell if Bibi Dong was letting loose or what.
In the past, she wouldn't have said something like this.
"What are you planning for that Silver Lady?"
"Isn't she here because of you? Why ask me?"
"You really have a lot of nerve..." Bibi Dong sighed.
"Zhuqing was sent by me to train with you. That Silver Lady also stayed in Spirit Hall because of me.
"In summary, these people are here because of me. It has nothing to do with you, Elder Su, right?"
Su Cheng felt a bit awkward and explained, "To be honest, I didn't intend for Ah Yin to stay in Spirit City. This place isn't suitable for her. Although she's no longer a spirit beast, the spirit beast forest is where she should be."
Ah Yin now was neither a spirit beast nor a human, but more like a plant spirit.
In the forest, all plant-type spirit beasts were her subjects.
There, unless encountering a formidable beast with Hundreds thousands years of cultivation, she wouldn't face any danger.
Even if she did encounter a powerful beast, it would be hard to threaten her life.
"Don't play dumb." Bibi Dong said flatly, "You can fool others, but not yourself. You'd better be clear about what to do in the future."
Su Cheng lowered his eyes, took a sip of tea, and changed the topic, "What are your arrangements for the two empires?"
"..." Bibi Dong sighed inwardly at his evasion.
Then she straightened her expression and said, "There's no arrangement for the Star Luo Empire. Over there, the major families are the core, connected by blood ties, making it difficult for Spirit Hall to infiltrate.
"Besides, the political situation in Star Luo is complex, much stronger than the Heaven Dou Empire. So I originally planned to use Heaven Dou as the entry point, but my plans were disrupted by you."
"That's because your plan was flawed." Su Cheng didn't think he had done anything wrong.
"Xue'er's talent is unique. Having her stay in Heaven Dou City to do those sneaky things was a waste of her abilities. The Heaven Dou Empire's royal family is already fragile, not requiring so much effort.
"The foundation of the Heaven Dou Empire isn't the royal family but the soul master forces scattered across the region. As long as we win over the sects and academies within Heaven Dou, the royal family's rule will naturally collapse."
Bibi Dong pursed her lips at his words and, unwilling to argue, straightforwardly asked, "So what do you plan to do?"
"I'll personally talk to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. As for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and those other elemental academies, does Spirit Hall have any agents or attempts to win them over?"
Su Cheng was sure there were no Spirit Hall agents within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
But he wasn't clear about the other forces.
In fact, given Spirit Hall's current strength.
Not counting the old fossil Qian Daoliu, other elders of Spirit Hall, combined with the greatly powerful Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue, and himself, could probably sweep through with force after some time.
But Su Cheng wanted to minimize the turmoil and casualties brought by power struggles, ideally solving these issues with the least bloodshed.
He wanted a peaceful unification, not a war-torn Douluo Continent.
This required a bit more effort.
Fortunately, the upper echelons of this world were already distorted, making the task not too difficult.
"The Elephant Armor Clan has already allied with Spirit Hall, as you know. Several elders at Heaven Dou Royal Academy are also from Spirit Hall, but they've been less and less in contact, likely with their own plans. The other elemental academies haven't shown a clear stance."
"…I understand."
Hearing this, Su Cheng fell silent.
So, in all these years, Bibi Dong had hardly accomplished anything significant.
The biggest achievement was seizing the crown prince position of the Heaven Dou Empire.
And that was settled by Qian Renxue, almost unrelated to her as the Pope.
Seeing his speechlessness, Bibi Dong felt embarrassed and quickly added, "There was little arrangement for the Star Luo Empire before, but things are different now. Since I've taken Zhuqing as my disciple, her unique status should be quite influential."
"I see, no wonder you two got together." Su Cheng finally understood.
He had wondered how these two personalities ended up as master and disciple.
Turns out, Zhuqing had used her origin in the Star Luo Empire as a bargaining chip to exchange with Bibi Dong.
With the unique Hell White Tiger spirit, Zhu Zhuqing indeed could be a standard bearer.
Thinking of this, he pondered and said, "I am well aware of the Star Luo Empire's situation. Although its nobles are strong, they have their own interests, making the situation not much better than the Heaven Dou Empire.
"The emperors of these two empires both sit uneasily on their thrones, each with their own troubles. In this world, nothing matters but one's own strength."
"You're right." Bibi Dong smiled.
Putting everything aside, in terms of strength, no one could steadily surpass her now.
Even the man in front of her, it was uncertain who would win without a fight.
Unaware of her thoughts, Su Cheng continued, "I'll go check the situation of the elemental academies in Heaven Dou Empire first. I'm familiar with the young elites there, and there's still some bond.
"As for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, they're superficially strong but internally conflicted. You should send some elders to use tactics, and it shouldn't be too hard to divide them. I've heard that the patriarch's line and the side branches don't get along."
Bibi Dong nodded slightly, "No problem."
"Then I wish you success, future Empress."
"It's 'we'." Bibi Dong corrected.
Su Cheng smiled noncommittally.
He had no interest in power struggles.
Even if he became the supreme emperor, could he withstand a casual strike from any first-level god?
At this moment, Bibi Dong looked at him curiously.
"Su Cheng, what exactly do you want to achieve?
"With your talent, as long as you continue to train steadily, even without inheriting a god position, surpassing gods in power is just a matter of time.
"So, do you want to change this world? Or fulfill the wishes of ordinary people?"
Su Cheng was surprised by her question, seemingly not expecting her to ask this.
After a moment of silence, he smiled softly, "You're completely wrong."
Bibi Dong's expression froze.