After the prison warden left.
Bibi Dong took a deep breath and looked at Yu Yuanzhen beside her: "Patriarch Yu, any further doubts?"
"Your Holiness is most merciful. Zhen... feels deeply ashamed," Yu Yuanzhen said apologetically.
To be honest, he had truly suspected that Yu Xiaogang was being targeted by Bibi Dong.
Judging from the previous incident at Shrek Academy, Bibi Dong had come specifically for Yu Xiaogang—there must have been some unclear relationship between them.
But now...
A firefly compared to the bright moon.
How could there still be any lingering thoughts?
"Bibi Dong, trying to cover up your misdeeds? You've gone too far! Clearly, you ordered people to beat me, and now you refuse to admit it. I... I was wrong about you!"
A vein popped on Bibi Dong's forehead again.
She barely managed to suppress the urge to strangle this infuriating fool to death.
Just how had she ever fallen for this guy back then? Even Flender and Zhao Wuji were better than him.
Bibi Dong exhaled deeply, calming her emotions: "Patriarch Yu, I won't say anything more."
"I want the original copy of the Nine Crowns of the True Dragon, along with all related research materials."
"That is the condition for Yu Xiaogang's release."
"Bring me the materials, and I'll release him."
"This..." Yu Yuanzhen glanced at his disgraceful son and remained silent for a long time. "Fine. I'll need some time."
The so-called materials were likely just the ancestors' records of their experiences in that region, as well as their deductions regarding the Nine Crowns of the True Dragon. Without the dragon bones, Spirit Hall wouldn't be able to make use of them anyway.
Though they were confidential, it wasn't like they couldn't be handed over.
Even if the original was given away, couldn't they just make a copy? It wasn't as if giving them to Bibi Dong meant the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would lose them forever.
From Bibi Dong's words, it was clear she already knew they would make a backup copy.
"Ah, as expected of the Pope. Truly broad-minded." Yu Yuanzhen thought to himself that if he were in Bibi Dong's position, he would have been furious—he wouldn't have let Yu Xiaogang go without squeezing every last drop of value from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
No wonder this woman had been chosen by the Elder Hall and made Pope.
Her unparalleled talent in cultivating twin martial souls, coupled with the magnanimity befitting the leader of the Spirit Master Holy Land...
"Patriarch Ning, shall we step outside and leave some time for this father and son?" Bibi Dong's voice pulled Yu Yuanzhen back from his thoughts.
Watching as Ning Fengzhi and the others left the prison with Bibi Dong, Yu Yuanzhen sighed in admiration once more.
"Is this the measure of a Pope?"
Looking at the prison key in his hand, Yu Yuanzhen couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Alright, time to have a chat with this disgraceful fool.
"Father!" The moment everyone left, Yu Xiaogang burst into tears.
"Don't cry. If you cry again, you'll be the one calling me 'Father'." Yu Yuanzhen's scalp tingled.
A grown man in his forties, crying—what was the point?
Where was the boldness you had when cursing at Pope Bibi Dong earlier?
Sure enough, upon hearing that he might have to be the one called "Father," Yu Xiaogang quickly stopped crying: "Father, this is Bibi Dong's scheme. She really does want to harm me!"
"Harm you?" Yu Yuanzhen sneered. "Do you even know your own worth?"
"A supreme Limit Douluo, a 99th-ranked pinnacle existence on this continent—why would she waste time harming a mere 31st-ranked Soul Elder like you?"
"Have you lost your mind?"
"No, it's true!" Yu Xiaogang suppressed his sobs. "I was beaten up in the shared cell earlier—it must have been Bibi Dong's doing! She sent people in secretly to beat me because she doesn't want me to have a good life!"
"Beat you? I want to kill you myself!"
Seeing Yu Xiaogang still badmouthing Bibi Dong, Yu Yuanzhen almost lost his composure.
Good heavens!
Do you even know where we are?
This is Spirit Hall!
If they wanted to harm you, would they need to go through all this trouble?
They could just bury you in some remote mountain ravine, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would never find you. And even if they did, so what?
"Yu Xiaogang, you stole Spirit Hall's research materials and even tried to help Tang San obtain their twin martial soul cultivation method."
"To put it bluntly, the fact that Bibi Dong didn't kill you on the spot already shows incredible restraint."
"Don't you know that the former Pope of Spirit Hall—Bibi Dong's teacher, Qian Daoliu's son—was killed by Tang Hao?"
"A few years ago, Tang Chen even came to Spirit Hall and fought Qian Daoliu before being forced to retreat."
"The grudges between the Clear Sky School and Spirit Hall—why would you meddle in that?"
"Do you have a death wish?"
"But... Tang San is my disciple, and he has twin martial souls. If I don't get the method from Bibi Dong—"
"Enough!" Yu Yuanzhen's anger flared. "First, it was Tianheng. Now, it's Spirit Hall. Do you really think the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is invincible?"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Yu Xiaogang defended himself. "I came to Spirit Hall with some confidence. I just didn't expect Bibi Dong to be so heartless."
"It must be Qian Xunji who corrupted Dong'er! The Dong'er from before would have told me everything!"
"Told you? Hah!" Yu Yuanzhen laughed in fury. "Couldn't you have used your brain before acting? Bibi Dong is the Pope—you're just a useless waste!"
"I—I am not useless!"
Yu Xiaogang bristled like a cat and jumped up.
"Don't argue with me, or I'll be the one calling you 'Father'!" Yu Yuanzhen's breathing was heavy as he continued,
"You accused Bibi Dong of having an affair with the former Pope. Do you have any idea how much disaster those words could bring upon the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?"
"Isn't it the truth?" Yu Xiaogang asked, confused. "She claimed to have fallen out with Qian Xunji, yet later reconciled and even had a daughter with him. Isn't that the definition of promiscuity?"
"You—"
"Do you really not understand where you went wrong?"
Yu Yuanzhen clutched his head in frustration, pressing his fingers against his temples to suppress his rage. "Yu Xiaogang, even if Bibi Dong had a relationship with the former Pope, it has nothing to do with you."
"That is not leverage you can use to blackmail the Pope. You don't have that right."
"You're helping Tang San now, aren't you?" Yu Yuanzhen suddenly thought of something and retorted,
"Why don't you claim that Qian Xunji forced you and Bibi Dong apart, then chased Tang Hao but failed to kill him—instead, he was severely injured by Tang Hao? And that after returning to Spirit Hall, the wounded Qian Xunji was then killed by Bibi Dong, who had once been deeply in love with you?"
"Didn't you say you and Bibi Dong had a good relationship?"
"Isn't that a possibility?"
"This..." Yu Xiaogang's eyes lit up. "That... could work."
"Work, my foot!" Yu Yuanzhen fumed. "Even if Bibi Dong was the Holy Maiden, do you think she could have killed Qian Xunji and still lived, let alone become Pope?"
"Use your pig brain for once—does that sound plausible?"
"Do you think Qian Daoliu, the 'Invincible in the Skies,' is an idiot?" Yu Yuanzhen looked at Yu Xiaogang as if he were a complete fool. He couldn't believe how absurd his son's logic was.
The Pope was a position of real authority, and Bibi Dong had the talent of twin martial souls.
If she had really killed Qian Daoliu's son, why would he let her live, much less support her as Pope?
Bibi Dong was only in her fifties and was already a Limit Douluo.
You, your father, are over ninety and only at Rank 96.
"Qian Xunji forced us apart, Bibi Dong assassinated him, and then Qian Daoliu made her Pope."
Damn, even novels wouldn't dare write something this ridiculous.
Yu Yuanzhen was so angry he felt his eyeballs might pop out.
No wonder he had kicked this fool out of the clan back then—it was the right decision.
If his stupidity had infected the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, their already precarious sect might have collapsed like a landslide long ago.
For over twenty years, he had achieved nothing outside—not even comparable to Tang Yuehua.
That alone wouldn't have been a big deal; there were plenty of people in the continent who couldn't cultivate.
But the worst part was that this fool had no self-awareness, always acting as if he were some unparalleled genius.
Back then... he really should have just shot him onto the wall.
Thinking about it...
Yu Xiaogang getting beaten up in prison wasn't entirely unreasonable.
He deserved it—a good, hard beating.
Even his own father wanted to beat him up.