Chapter 141: Bibi Dong's Decision!
Heaven Dou City, Spirit Hall.
Platinum Bishop Salas was pacing back and forth in his office, his face full of anxiety.
Salas was dressed in a white robe embroidered with gold thread, and on his head, he wore the five-pointed white gold crown that symbolized his status as a Platinum Bishop.
However, even this luxurious attire could not ease the restlessness in his heart.
The office was spacious and lavish. Various files were piled high on the mahogany desk, but Salas had no intention of dealing with official business right now.
He walked to the window, looked in the direction of Dugu Manor, and frowned deeply.
Back when he first learned of Lin Mo's talent, Salas had immediately transmitted all the information he could gather regarding Lin Mo to Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong in Spirit City through Spirit Hall's special channels.
The message had been sent three days ago.
For three whole days, there had been no news from Spirit City.
Salas stopped pacing and rubbed his temples vigorously.
He was already over seventy years old and had served as the Palace Master of Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City for several decades.
Over these years, he had seen many geniuses and had personally recruited many talented Spirit Masters into Spirit Hall.
But someone like Lin Mo, he had never seen before.
A twelve-year-old Spirit King with a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring.
This kind of talent could no longer be described as genius. Calling him a prodigy would not be an exaggeration.
If he could recruit such a genius into Spirit Hall, the Supreme Pontiff would surely bestow a great reward.
He might even be able to use this opportunity to advance his own cultivation, or perhaps even gain a chance to aim for a position as an Elder before he retired.
However...
Salas cast his gaze out the window again, his expression darkening slightly.
The nominal supreme ruler of Spirit Hall was the Supreme Pontiff, and under the Supreme Pontiff were four Platinum Bishops. Salas was the Palace Master of Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City.
This position sounded noble, but when facing true powerhouses, it was still insufficient.
Dugu Bo was such a powerhouse.
Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo whose Spirit was the Jade Phosphor Serpent.
Although his strength was not top-tier among Titled Douluos, his ability to use poison made the vast majority of Spirit Masters tremble in fear.
Salas knew his own limits very well.
Rank 87 spirit power was quite impressive among Spirit Douluos, but when facing a Titled Douluo, especially a master of poison like Dugu Bo, he had no chance of winning whatsoever.
If those who were also Titled Douluos could rely on their own strength to look down on Dugu Bo, then for Spirit Masters like them, whose cultivation was inferior to Dugu Bo and who had no resistance to poison, encountering Dugu Bo was no different from meeting a natural disaster-level nemesis.
The Jade Phosphor Serpent poison meant death upon contact.
Before Dugu Bo's poison, there was not much difference between a Spirit Douluo, a Spirit Saint, a Spirit Emperor, or even lower-ranked Spirit Masters.
Even for a Spirit Douluo, the only advantage compared to lower-ranked Spirit Masters was that they could hold on for a little longer.
If not for his extreme fear of Dugu Bo, according to past practice, he would have long since used the name of Spirit Hall to personally recruit Lin Mo.
He would not be in this situation now, knowing exactly where Lin Mo was but not daring to act rashly, left only to pace around in anxiety.
Salas sighed heavily and sat back down in the chair behind his desk.
He picked up the detailed file on Lin Mo from the table and read through it again. This file had been compiled by his subordinates overnight, and its contents were very thorough.
From the time Lin Mo awakened his Martial Soul in Nuoding City at the age of six, to his entry into Nuoding Junior Spirit Master Academy, then Heaven Dou Intermediate Academy, then Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and finally his gaining Dugu Bo's favor.
Every part of his experience was recorded clearly.
But the more Salas read, the more anxious he became.
Such a genius, if he could not be used by Spirit Hall, would surely become a major threat to Spirit Hall in the future.
Especially since Lin Mo was now clearly close to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, and Emperor Xue Ye had even directly granted him the title of Earl.
Although it was only an honorary title, it represented the attitude of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
If the Heaven Dou Imperial Family were allowed to continue recruiting him unscrupulously, Lin Mo would likely lean completely toward the Heaven Dou Empire.
By then, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven for Spirit Hall to recruit him.
"What exactly is the Supreme Pontiff thinking?" Salas muttered to himself.
According to Spirit Hall's rules, upon discovering a genius of this level, headquarters should immediately issue clear instructions.
Either recruit him at any cost, or...
Salas's eyes flickered.
Or take advantage of the fact that he had not yet grown up and nip him in the bud.
But whether it was recruitment or assassination, it required a decision from headquarters.
As a Platinum Bishop, he had no authority to act on his own, and he certainly did not dare provoke Dugu Bo.
If he rashly went to Dugu Manor, let alone recruiting Lin Mo, even seeing him would be a problem.
"Damn it..."
Salas cursed in a low voice.
What baffled Salas was that he had sent the message on the very first day. Why had there still been no reply from headquarters until now?
Did something go wrong while the message was being transmitted?
Or did the Supreme Pontiff really intend to let such a genius wander outside? Could she bear to let him not return to the embrace of Spirit Hall?
That was even less likely.
Salas knew the ambition of that Supreme Pontiff very well. She had always wanted to develop Spirit Hall to an unprecedented height.
Regarding genius Spirit Masters, Bibi Dong had always been eager for talent and would never let one slip away.
Then what on earth was going on?
Salas could not figure it out.
Meanwhile, at the Supreme Pontiff Palace in Spirit City.
The night was deep, but the Supreme Pontiff Palace was still brightly lit.
Seated on the throne, Bibi Dong was dressed in a luxurious black robe with gold patterns. She wore a nine-curved purple gold crown and held a scepter inlaid with countless gemstones.
Her outstanding face appeared exceptionally fair beneath the lights, her features exquisite as if they had been carved.
Time seemed not to have left many traces on her face, making her look only around thirty years old.
Yet at this moment, a rare look of hesitation appeared on that face.
Bibi Dong's gaze fell upon the desk in front of her.
Two documents were spread out on the table. One was the urgent report sent by Salas from Heaven Dou City, and the other was a secret letter personally delivered by Snake Lance Douluo.
The message from Salas had been delivered long ago. There had been no accident during transmission, as Salas had guessed.
Furthermore, not long after Salas's message arrived, Snake Lance Douluo had also come to the Supreme Pontiff Palace under Qian Renxue's orders.
Snake Lance Douluo was a member of the Consecration Hall and only obeyed High Priest Qian Daoliu and Young Lord Qian Renxue. His personal visit to the Supreme Pontiff Palace naturally represented Qian Renxue's will.
Qian Renxue's order was very simple, and unprecedentedly tough.
Lin Mo was a genius she had set her sights on. In the future, Lin Mo would definitely join her ranks, fall under her command, and become one of the many Consecrators in the Consecration Hall she controlled.
Just like Qianjun, Jiangmo, and Golden Crocodile Douluo in the current Consecration Hall.
Qian Renxue's attitude this time was extremely firm.
She had directly told Snake Lance Douluo to convey to Bibi Dong that Lin Mo was someone the Consecration Hall had chosen, and the Supreme Pontiff Palace should not interfere.
At that time, Bibi Dong had not immediately expressed her stance.
Bibi Dong slowly raised her hand and picked up the urgent report sent by Salas. Because she had read it many times, the paper already appeared somewhat wrinkled.
The urgent report detailed Lin Mo's information: twelve years old, a five-ring Spirit King, a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring, and a Martial Soul that was an extremely rare Dragon Beast Spirit.
If Lin Mo were only a normal genius, then given that Qian Renxue had already shown such a tough attitude, Bibi Dong would never have chosen to overstep her boundaries.
Although the Consecration Hall and the Supreme Pontiff Palace both belonged to Spirit Hall, they were two different factions.
The Consecration Hall was controlled by High Priest Qian Daoliu. It was filled with veteran powerhouses of Spirit Hall who only obeyed Qian Daoliu and Young Lord Qian Renxue.
The Supreme Pontiff Palace, on the other hand, was Bibi Dong's territory. She had been cultivating her own power all these years, wanting to break free from Qian Daoliu's control.
Normally, to avoid conflict, Bibi Dong would never snatch someone the Consecration Hall had set its sights on. Correspondingly, the Consecration Hall would not interfere with someone the Supreme Pontiff Palace had chosen.
But this time was different.
Thinking of this, Bibi Dong subconsciously looked at the file in her hand that recorded Lin Mo's information.
The writing on the paper had become somewhat blurred, but she had already memorized its contents.
The key to the problem was that Lin Mo's Martial Soul was simply too special.
So special that even if Bibi Dong had to overstep boundaries and withstand pressure from Qian Renxue and Qian Daoliu, she still had to try to recruit Lin Mo.
Initially, it had only been an egg-shaped MartialSoul, but afterward, in the short span of time before he reached Rank 50 spirit power, it had undergone three benign mutations.
From the Charmander that hatched from the egg, to the Charmeleon it evolved into, and finally to the current Charizard, Lin Mo's Dragon Beast Spirit, which belonged to the same External Beast Martial Soul category as Yu Xiaogang's, had completed three benign mutations.
Each time, it became even more powerful than before.
This was the first time Bibi Dong had ever seen such talent.
"Benign mutation..."
Bibi Dong whispered these four words.
Her voice was very soft, almost inaudible in the vast palace.
But her eyes became incredibly complex at this moment, filled with nostalgia, pain, regret, and a trace of hatred that was hard to detect.
Yu Xiaogang.
This name had lingered in the depths of her heart for many years and had never truly disappeared.
Because of the malignant mutation of his MartialSoul, Yu Xiaogang's own spirit power cultivation was extremely slow. It was likely that he would never be able to break through Rank 30 in his entire life.
For a Spirit Master, this was undoubtedly a fatal blow.
Yu Xiaogang felt inferior because of this, thinking that he was not worthy of her.
Coupled with the interference of the previous Supreme Pontiff, Qian Xunji, the two of them were forced to separate.
After that, they never met again, but she had never forgotten him.
Over the years, Bibi Dong had been searching for a way to help Yu Xiaogang solve his malignant Martial Soul mutation, but she had never succeeded.
Until now, with the appearance of Lin Mo.
Thinking of this, Bibi Dong's thoughts suddenly became somewhat melancholic.
If Lin Mo had been born a few years earlier, allowing her to meet him sooner, would she have been able to find a way to solve Xiaogang's problem through him?
Lin Mo's Martial Soul was also an External Beast Martial Soul, also a Dragon type, and also underwent mutation.
But unlike Yu Xiaogang's malignant mutation, Lin Mo's mutation was benign, and it was continuous.
If she could figure out the principle behind Lin Mo's continuous Martial Soul mutation, could she find a way to solve the malignant mutation of Luo San Pao?
If Xiaogang's Martial Soul mutation could have been solved back then, if his Luo San Pao could have completed benign mutations all the way like Lin Mo's Charmander, then would the situation between her and Yu Xiaogang have been completely different from what it was now?
Would they have become lovers who eventually married, instead of being forced to separate like this?
Once this thought appeared, it grew wildly in Bibi Dong's heart like weeds.
She knew why Qian Renxue wanted to recruit Lin Mo. That girl was just like her father, ambitious.
A genius like Lin Mo would definitely become a Titled Douluo in the future, perhaps even one of the very top-tier Titled Douluos. If he could be used by her, he would certainly be a great asset.
But Bibi Dong did not care about these things.
From beginning to end, the only thing she cared about was whether the continuous benign mutation of Lin Mo's Martial Soul could bring hope for solving Yu Xiaogang's problem.
Even if there was only a glimmer of hope, she was willing to try.
Thinking of this, Bibi Dong could not help clenching her fists. Her nails dug into her flesh without her even realizing it.
Since she had made up her mind, she would never regret it.
.....
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