After making some brief arrangements for the coming days, Li Chang'an spent a little more time chatting with his mother before returning to his long-unvisited bedroom for some well-deserved rest.
Even though he hadn't been back in a while, his room was spotless and impeccably maintained—not just because of his status, but also because of how well-liked he was.
After all, was there a single women in the hotel who didn't like Li Chang'an?
By afternoon, Li Chang'an headed to his office in the Pope's Palace to begin handling some urgent official business.
Though he held only the title of Holy Son, many decisions still required his final word—be it for scientific research projects or political measures.
Fortunately, he had two secretaries who'd worked with him for quite some time. They were more than capable of handling various tasks on his behalf—truly two reliable aides.
After a full afternoon of work, Li Chang'an attended a specially convened Elder Council meeting that evening—held specifically because of his return. It was a testament to how much weight his presence carried.
The agenda for the Elder Council meeting covered several key topics:
1. The Spirit Hall's development strategy for the next five years.
2. Plans to attract and support talented individuals from commoner backgrounds, including subsidy policies.
3. Continued manipulation of the relationships among the Seven Great Clans.
4. Further infiltration of the upper echelons of the two great empires.
5. Increasing investment in education and scientific research.
Once all five matters had been discussed, Bibi Dong announced the death of Tang Hao.
Immediately, Li Chang'an received a huge wave of "points" from his impressive feat, drawing everyone's attention to him—including one of the central figures of the meeting, the Second Worshipper, Golden Crocodile Douluo.
In their eyes, Li Chang'an had always been an almost otherworldly strategist. He clearly had great potential, even if he hadn't fully demonstrated it yet.
But now that potential was fully realized—Li Chang'an had personally slain Tang Hao, the greatest threat to the Spirit Hall in recent years, even if Tang Hao was already gravely wounded.
When Li Chang'an presented the soul bone as evidence, the Worshippers finally accepted his claim as truth.
Were it not for the rule forbidding the Holy Son from also serving as an Elder, Li Chang'an would likely already be among the top-ranking Elders by now.
The meeting continued late into the night. Afterward, Li Chang'an had dinner with Bibi Dong before finally leaving the Pope's Palace. Without missing a beat, he headed straight to Hu Liena's place.
After all, they were leaving tomorrow—might as well make the most of tonight.
———
The next morning, Li Chang'an met Bibi Dong at the gates of the Pope's Palace. She was dressed in a white training outfit, with cuffed sleeves and pant legs, her long hair tied in a neat ponytail. She looked every bit like a youthful twenty-year-old girl.
When she noticed Li Chang'an staring so intently, Bibi Dong couldn't help but recall the night before. Her cheeks turned red.
"What are you looking at...?" she asked softly.
Even Bibi Dong herself didn't realize how shy her tone sounded—like a bashful girl speaking to her boyfriend.
"Nothing much... Just admiring a gorgeous woman," Li Chang'an replied smoothly. When it came to flirting, his words always came naturally—no need to even think.
Bibi Dong shot him a half-annoyed, half-embarrassed glare. "Alright, stop messing around. Grab my hand—we're tearing space directly."
After consuming immortal herbs and inheriting the Rakshasa God's power, Bibi Dong's strength had grown tremendously. Short-distance Spatial travel was now within her capabilities.
"Got it. Let's go..." Li Chang'an casually reached out and grasped that familiar, warm hand again, then made a playful face at her—prompting an eye-roll from Bibi Dong.
Ignoring his antics, Bibi Dong raised her left hand gently and sliced through the air. A ripple of spatial energy spread instantly.
About a minute later, a pitch-black rift—two meters tall—opened in front of them. However, the space within the portal seemed extremely unstable, with turbulent spatial currents swirling around it.
Bibi Dong's face had grown slightly pale, clearly showing the strain even at her level.
"Teacher, let's go."
As Li Chang'an held her hand, a wave of warm energy flowed from his palm into her. His pure soul power—refined by the Origin Fruit—might not have increased much in quantity, but its quality had risen dramatically.
Bibi Dong looked at him in surprise, then gave a small, warm smile before nodding. The two of them stepped into the spatial tunnel.
Her spatial rift was vastly different from Li Chang'an's Donghuang Bell teleportation. His method relied on his martial soul and was stable, fast, and efficient—though it couldn't carry others yet.
Bibi Dong, on the other hand, could bring someone along by relying on raw strength to tear open space. But anyone entering such a spatial rift couldn't be too weak, or their body wouldn't survive the journey.
———
A moment later, on the western fringes of the Douluo Continent, a surge of spatial fluctuations heralded their arrival as Li Chang'an and Bibi Dong stepped out of the tunnel.
With Li Chang'an constantly infusing her with soul power, Bibi Dong's energy expenditure wasn't too severe. Still, her opinion of Li Chang'an had clearly gone up a notch.
"Chang'an, this is the largest coastal city—Vast Sea City," Bibi Dong said, not even bothering to let go of his hand as she continued absorbing the warmth of his soul power.
Vast Sea City—the largest port and seaside city in the entire Douluo Continent, and the westernmost stronghold of the Heaven Dou Empire.
The city was built along the ocean, or rather, upon the coastal mountains. Regardless of the tides, it remained completely unmoved. Its thick walls marked it as a main city, and of course, there was also a Spirit Hall branch here.
However, the Hall's main operations were centered on the continent. Given the complex situation in this region, Spirit Hall's control here was limited. Bibi Dong had no intention of alerting the local branch, either.
"Since we're heading into the open sea, we'll first rent a large ship from within Vast Sea City. Ideally, we'll sail with the vessel. Otherwise, we might burn through all our soul power before we even find a single spirit beast."
Even Titled Douluo had their limits. Soul power wasn't infinite, and wasting it all on flying over the ocean would be unwise.
Li Chang'an naturally agreed. He wasn't an idiot—this much was obvious to him.
They passed inspection with ease and entered Vast Sea City hand in hand. Once inside the city walls, the salty sea air became even more intense.
Li Chang'an quickly noticed that the people here looked a bit different from those inland. The locals were generally shorter and darker-skinned.
And as for Bibi Dong—she was simply too beautiful. Along the way, they encountered a few fools with impure thoughts, but before Bibi Dong could lift a finger, Li Chang'an casually released a bit of soul power.
The would-be harassers were instantly scared out of their wits, fleeing in total panic—causing Bibi Dong to burst out laughing.
____
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