The sun had not yet crested the spires of the Supreme Pontiff's Palace when the smell of steamed buns and jasmine tea began to waft through the corridors. In the private dining hall, the atmosphere was thick with a unique blend of anticipation and nervous energy.
This was not a typical morning. For Yorrichi and Qian Renxue, this was the day the world would finally see them—not as protected royalty, but as students of the Spirit Hall Academy.
Bibi Dong sat at the head of the table, her presence commanding even in a simple morning robe of deep violet silk. She watched her children with a piercing gaze.
Renxue was vibrating with energy, her fork clattering against her plate as she spoke a mile a minute about "beating everyone in the sparring class."
Yorrichi, conversely, was the picture of stillness. He chewed his food with a methodical rhythm, his maroon eyes focused on his tea as if reading the future in the floating leaves.
"Sit properly, Renxue," Bibi Dong said, her voice soft but carrying the weight of an imperial decree. "A Soul Master of Spirit Hall does not let their excitement dictate their posture. If you cannot control your fork, how will you control your spirit?"
Renxue stiffened, instantly mimicking Yorrichi's calm. "Sorry, Mother. I'm just... I want to see if the other kids are as strong as the guards say."
"They aren't," Yorrichi said simply, setting down his cup. "Most of them are pampered. They have the rank, but not the scars."
Bibi Dong's lips curved into a tiny, almost imperceptible smile. "A wise observation, Yorrichi. But never underestimate a cornered beast, even a pampered one."
Once the meal was finished, Bibi Dong gestured for them to follow her to the sun-drenched foyer. Waiting on a velvet-covered pedestal were two small, exquisite items. One was a silver ring engraved with delicate patterns of wings; the other was a dark, leather wristband embedded with a single, deep-blue sapphire.
"Before you leave," Bibi Dong began, her tone shifting to something more personal, "you will need the tools of a professional. In your hands, these are not just ornaments. They are Spatial Soul Tools."
The children gasped. Even Yorrichi, who rarely showed emotion, felt his heart skip. Spatial tools were legendary—artifacts from the ancient era that could store vast amounts of weight in a pocket dimension. To a common Soul Master, one of these was worth a city.
"Yorrichi," she said, picking up the sapphire wristband. "I named this as 'The Sun's Cradle.' It has a storage capacity of fifteen cubic meters. It is reinforced against heat, specifically for your... unique needs." She fastened it to his arm. He felt a cool hum of energy resonate with his soul.
"And Renxue," she turned to the girl, sliding the silver ring onto her finger. "I named this as 'The Angel's Reach' for your likeability. It has also same fifteen cubic meters space. It is attuned to your light attribute."
Inside the tools, Bibi Dong had already placed their necessities: several ironwood practice swords, notebooks of high-quality parchment, specialized ink, water skins, and even a few emergency medicinal pills.
"Spatial tools..." Renxue whispered, her eyes wide. She immediately began trying to "summon" her notebook, causing it to pop in and out of existence with a series of soft clicks. "This is amazing! I can carry a whole armory!"
"Use them wisely," Bibi Dong warned. "Do not show them off to your classmates. In the Academy, jealousy is a faster killer than any soul beast."
The walk to the Academy gate was short—the school was nestled directly beside the massive walls of the Spirit Hall complex—but it felt like a march between two different worlds. As they approached the towering obsidian gates of the Academy, the noise of hundreds of children and shouting parents hit them like a physical wave.
Bibi Dong stopped ten paces from the gate. She could go no further without drawing a crowd that would cause a riot. She knelt down, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.
"From this gate forward, you are not my children in the eyes of the public. You are students. Yorrichi, watch over your sister. Renxue, listen to your brother's silence as much as his words."
She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The world is watching for a weakness. Give them none. Go."
With a final, lingering look, Yorrichi and Renxue turned and walked into the sea of students. Bibi Dong stood perfectly still, watching their small figures until they vanished into the crowd. She felt a strange, cold ache in her chest—the realization that the "Weeks of Iron" were over, and the era of their independence had begun.
Returning to her private quarters, the silence of the palace felt deafening. Bibi Dong wasted no time. She retreated to her inner sanctum, a room as usual filled with the scent of old paper and the faint, ozone-like tang of high-level spirit energy. She then took out the the ancient tome from the hidden shelf as she had been translating—the manuscript that held the secrets of the "Old World" flora.
She sat down, her fingers tracing the yellowed edges of the pages. She was currently reading the remaining section on Special Grade Spirit Plants—herbs that are rarely found.
The Yearning Heart Red, she read, her eyes narrowing. A plant that blooms only when nourished by the blood of one who truly loves. It grants immortality to the heart and strengthens the bloodline of the fire-attributed. She shook her head. Too sentimental for her needs. She flipped the page, her eyes lighting up as she found a section labeled: The Ghost-Faced Arachnid Lily.
Her breathing hitched. This was a herb that grew only in places of absolute death—mass graves or the hearts of ancient battlefields. It didn't just nourish the body; it nourished the spirit soul. For someone like her, possessing the Dual Spider Emperors, this plant was a potential catalyst for a little breakthrough.
The Lily acts as a bridge, the text read. It allows the toxins of the spirit to merge with the marrow of the host, removing the 'rebound' effect of venomous soul skills.
"This..." she whispered. The rebound of her spider venom was one of the few things that still caused her physical pain during high-level cultivation. If she could find this lily, she could push her Rank even higher, perhaps even reaching the threshold of the 'God' level faster than the Grand Worship.
She continued reading, losing herself in the details of the Star-Fall Ginseng and the Nine-Petal Cold Crystal. Each entry was a puzzle piece. She realized that many of these plants weren't just for her; some could help Yorrichi stabilize the immense heat of his technique rely on Sun, and others could sharpen Renxue's mental clarity.
Suddenly, a bell chimed in the distance—the midday signal.
Bibi Dong blinked, the trance of the book breaking. She looked at the window; the sun was directly overhead. Four hours had passed like four minutes. She closed the tome with a heavy thud, her mind already pivoting from the theoretical to the practical.
"Midday," she murmured.
She stood up, her eyes flashing with a cold, predatory light. She wanted the best spirit rings for her children and the most powerful herbs for her own path, she had to be the one to hunt and go now.
She moved to her wardrobe, stripping away the regal morning robes. Beneath them, she donned a suit of dark, flexible combat armor crafted from the scales of a Deep-Sea Turtle. She strapped a pair of hidden daggers to her thighs and threw a hooded cloak over her shoulders.
In this outfit, she wasn't the Supreme Pontiff. She was a dangerous Soul Master on the Douluo Continent.
"The Star Dou Forest is waiting," she said to the empty room.
She then commanded her clone to do things as usual until her return which in turn nodded. She stepped onto her balcony, looked toward the distant, emerald canopy of the great forest, and vanished in a blur of purple light. Her adventure for today has started.
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Pls your OG Author needs ur support. u guys know that fanfics can't earn so i am trying it.
If i able to have a contract for my novel here, I really promise u that I will update regularly for my fanfics.
Pls just add this one. I have improved much also.