Douluo Continent: Bibi Dong's Start with the Secret Chamber and Qian Xunji

Bibi Dong wiped away her tears, stood up again, and her gaze swept across the secret room, now carrying the scrutiny and control of the mistress of the house.

She calmed her breathing slightly, opened the door to the secret room, and went out.

The Soul Masters guarding the door immediately bowed respectfully upon seeing her: "Your Highness, Holy Maiden."

They knew nothing about what had happened inside the secret chamber, only that the saintess was in seclusion there, and now she had come out.

Bibi Dong remained expressionless and, in the calmest possible tone, instructed, "His Holiness the Pope has gained some insights and needs to undergo a long period of seclusion to break through to the next level. During this time, no one is allowed to disturb him. I will temporarily handle all affairs within the palace."

Her voice carried an undeniable air of authority.

Although the guarding soul masters were surprised as to why the Pope had suddenly gone into seclusion, they dared not question Bibi Dong's order, since there had been precedents of the Pope going into seclusion and the Holy Maiden acting on his behalf.

They immediately bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Highness!"

Bibi Dong nodded, raised her head, straightened her back, and walked step by step toward the main hall of the Papal Palace.

The sunlight streaming through the corridor windows cast a long shadow of her.

That figure, still slender and beautiful, seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.

……

In his mind's eye, Lin An watched Bibi Dong's actions, especially her transformation into a movie queen and her calm and composed demeanor as she issued commands, and he was once again amazed.

"Incredible! Absolutely incredible! That mental fortitude, that acting talent! He's born for great things!"

"Dude, it seems like this time you've really hooked up with someone incredible!"

Lin An was already looking forward to seeing how much more energy this dark and insane Bibi Dong could bring him in the future.

But now...

He glanced at the pitiful energy value on the system interface—8.57 points.

Although it is still growing at a snail's pace, this amount of energy is simply not enough!

"Alright, let's just play it safe for now."

Lin An found a comfortable position in his consciousness space and began to study the system's functions. He soon discovered something interesting—the [Cross-Time Entertainment Module].

"Holy crap? You can even watch movies?"

He tried using 0.001 energy points to exchange for a classic old movie from Earth, and it actually worked!

"Awesome! Now I won't be bored anymore!"

Lin An happily watched the movie, occasionally switching to peek at the energy increase, and then checking what Bibi Dong was doing, just like an office worker slacking off while playing games.

In any case, his "god-like persona" cannot be broken; he must maintain a cool and mysterious aura and cannot chat casually with his host.

Well then... let's watch this movie first.

……

Night falls inside the main hall of the Papal Palace.

Bibi Dong sat alone on the throne that belonged to Pope Qian Xunji.

This is the first time she has sat here as the hostess, rather than standing beside the throne as a saint.

Her fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, making a rhythmic sound. Her gaze swept over the magnificent decorations in the hall, the murals and sculptures that represented the Spirit Hall's centuries of glory, and a feeling she had never experienced before welled up inside her.

That's a sense of control.

"Power..." she murmured softly, a cold light flashing in her purple eyes, "So that's how it is."

In the past, as a saintess, although she held a prestigious position, she always lived under Qian Xunji's "protection." She never truly considered what the Spirit Hall meant, nor did she ever care about those complicated affairs.

She once thought that all she had to do was cultivate step by step under Qian Xunji's protection. She disdained worldly power and the scheming politics.

But now it's different.

She finally understood that true power is never just about personal strength.

Power itself is a force, a force that allows her to no longer be controlled by others when she is not strong enough, and that allows her to truly control her own destiny.

"Teacher..." Bibi Dong's lips curled into a mocking smile, "You've taught me so much, but you've never taught me this lesson. But it doesn't matter, I'll learn it myself."

She stood up and walked towards the study on one side of the main hall. There, the Spirit Hall's core files were stored—personnel lists, power distribution, financial income and expenditure, intelligence on each branch hall…

She had seen some of them in the past when handling affairs, but never really paid attention to them.

Tonight, she will watch it all.

……

Bibi Dong sat in her study all night.

The candlelight flickered, illuminating her focused profile. She flipped through scroll after scroll of documents, and the vast outline of the Spirit Hall gradually became clear in her mind.

The Spirit Hall is not just a spirit master organization; it has a network of branches throughout the continent, controls the registration and management of countless spirit masters, and has intricate connections with the two great empires, the seven major sects, and countless kingdoms and duchies.

This is a huge and sophisticated machine.

And now, she is going to become the master of this machine.

"Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei, in charge of the Spirit Hall's law enforcement team, directly under the Pope..." Bibi Dong murmured, her brows slightly furrowed.

These two titled Douluo are Qian Xunji's absolute confidants, possessing great strength and unwavering loyalty.

Although she is currently acting as a temporary representative under the pretext of the "Pope's retreat," it could be very troublesome if the two men become suspicious.

However... there's no rush for now.

She has enough time to plan slowly.

As dawn broke outside the window, Bibi Dong put down the last volume of documents and rubbed her temples.

A Soul Master's energy far surpasses that of ordinary people, so staying up all night is nothing to her. But the amount of information she absorbed that night left her brain feeling a bit swollen.

"Not enough..." she muttered to herself. "I need to know more, I need greater strength, I need..."

Her hand unconsciously went to her lower abdomen, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

If that divine test is real, and if she can really gain power through this method, then she wouldn't mind continuing.

But the premise is that she has control over everything.

Just like what I did to Chihiro yesterday.

From now on, she will decide who is the prey and who is the hunter.

……

The next day, in the Papal Palace council chamber.

The Spirit Hall holds a monthly high-level meeting, presided over by the Pope himself. Today, with the Pope in seclusion, the meeting is being chaired by Saintess Bibi Dong.

Inside the hall, more than a dozen elders and deacons took their seats one after another.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei sat in the front row. They looked at each other and saw a hint of doubt in each other's eyes.

The Pope is in seclusion? How come there was no news about it before?

However, they didn't think much of it. His Holiness the Pope's favor towards the saint was well-known, and there were precedents of him having the saint handle affairs on his behalf.

Moreover, the Holy Maiden just broke up with that good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang, and His Holiness the Pope is going into seclusion at this time, perhaps to avoid suspicion and give the Holy Maiden something to do to distract her.

Yes, that makes sense.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan even thought to himself: His Holiness the Pope really went to great lengths for the Holy Maiden.