The journey back from the Star Dou Forest was swift and silent, a testament to the immense power surge Bibi Dong had just experienced. She utilized her basic flight ability, but wrapped herself in the newly acquired Shadow Merging skill—not for true stealth yet, but to stabilize her powerful aura.
The shadows adhered to her, creating a seamless, near-invisible aura that absorbed light rather than reflecting it. The sensation of the new power was intoxicating: a perfect balance of destructive force and subtle manipulation, far cleaner and less emotionally toxic than the power she had carried in her previous life.
The aura is stable. The core is intact, she confirmed, sending her spiritual sense deep within her. The ninth soul ring, deep crimson and utterly silent, resided around her Death Emperor Spider spirit, a monument to the Dying Covenant.
She felt the faint, protective loyalty of the Panther's essence, not hatred or rage. Good. The cleanliness of this power will be my greatest advantage against Qian Xunji and those old guards.
As the miles flew by beneath her, her mind, now crystalline clear from the restorative broth and the surge of power, immediately dove into the central dilemma: the threat of the Heavenly Favored Anomaly, Tang San.
The decision regarding Tang Hao and Ah Yin was agonizingly simple yet complex. Should I intervene to save Ah Yin's life, preventing Tang Hao from gaining that terrifying, 100,000-year soul ring and crippling the Clear Sky Hammer for the time being?
Her thoughts drifting internally,
Or, could I simply let the timeline unfold: allow Qian Xunji to attack, watch Ah Yin sacrifice herself to grant Tang Hao that ultimate power, a power that, while devastating, would guarantee Xunji's own fatal injury?
Killing the couple outright would solve nothing; it might just anger fate itself. The core problem was the outcome: the crippling of my rival versus the birth of my ultimate destroyer.
The idea of direct intervention felt somewhat foolish also. As she flew past the outskirts of Soto City, a name she remembered from countless future events, the absurdity of fighting fate struck her.
Tang San… the favored one of heaven, she mused, the thought bringing a wry, bitter chuckle to her lips. She vividly recalled the legend, confirmed by her own memory, that people like him were not mere strong opponents; they were anomalies, centers of cosmic luck and fate. They were protected.
If I kill them, wouldn't Tang San be born somewhere else, perhaps under a different name, with different parents, making him a perpetual, unpredictable headache for me to find and counter again?
The memory of the final battle, the scene where she had defeated him with her own hands only for the Gods themselves to intervene—resurrecting him through a monumental, unprecedented display of divine power—flashed through her mind. That act alone proved the futility of simple murder. He was not a foe; he was a cosmic force shielded by the heavens.
My only choice is to wait and watch, and to continue building my strength and my internal network.
She couldn't, however, ignore him. I cannot let him go. She recognized the absolute truth in the old proverb: "Two tigers cannot rule a single mountain."
In this case, the mountain was the entire continent, and the conflict was inevitable. She had ascended to the throne once, and he had torn it down. This time, she would solidify her reign before he could even draw his first spirit ring.
Her thoughts then shifted to the immediate threat: Qian Xunji.
Is Tang Hao truly strong enough to defeat Qian Xunji?
In her previous life, the battle had ended with a crippled Qian Xunji and the death of Ah Yin. But now, Xunji's strength had unexpectedly exceeded Level 96 earlier than projected. This deviation—this single change—meant she couldn't rely completely on her future predictions.
There was a dangerous possibility that Qian Xunji was now so powerful that Tang Hao and Ah Yin might be defeated outright, leading to a disastrous outcome where Spirit Hall retained powerful soul ring and Qian Xunji remained healthy.
I need to confirm their strength. I need to know where they are and gauge if Tang Hao can still land the crippling blow that serves my agenda.
She shook her head, a soft, weary sigh escaping her lips.
Why am I bothering with these complex, futile calculations? The answer is simple: Spirit Hall is already collecting information on them. I just need to sneak into the intelligence archives and read the reports.
She accelerated, the lights of Spirit City—the true seat of her ambition—now dominating the horizon.
The sight of Spirit City always instilled a complex blend of pride and rage in her heart. Even from high above, the capital was stunning—a sprawling metropolis of white marble, shimmering golden rooftops, and perfectly ordered, bursting markets. The city was a beacon of power and prosperity.
I will not let this beauty be destroyed, she vowed, recalling the scarred, burning devastation of the final battle in her past life. This city will be preserved and ruled justly, under my absolute authority.
She descended slowly, effortlessly utilizing her improved stealth. Instead of landing at the main Spirit Hall plaza, she executed a flawless approach, merging briefly with the shadows of the highest spire before stepping out onto the spacious, secluded balcony of her own private residence within the complex.
The room was silent and empty. A wave of her spiritual sense confirmed that her children and her clone were not present. They must have gone out for some fun with the clone, perhaps visiting the marketplace outside or simply taking a stroll through the gardens. The thought brought a small, internal relief. She had hours of uninterrupted time.
After the profound emotional and strategic strain of the forest, the immediate priority wasn't political maneuvering, but knowledge acquisition. She was relaxed enough from her time with the soul beasts to resist the urge to immediately plot Xunji's downfall.
First, the foundations of ancient knowledge. Then, the execution.
She walked to the less conspicuous bookshelf in the room, where her children stored books alongside a few of her personal reference works. Her eyes, guided by memory, immediately located the large, leather-bound volume she had acquired from Yue Guan: the Ancient Tome of Herbs and Plants.
To an outside observer, it appeared like any other heavy, slightly worn historical encyclopedia, utterly unremarkable in its plain, dark binding, but she knew it contained secrets long forgotten by the world.
Bibi Dong retrieved the book and carried it to her study table, settling into the heavy, velvet-backed chair. She cracked the spine, finding the bookmark she had placed during a brief study session days earlier.
Flipping the pages, she bypassed the common medicinal ingredients and basic spiritual plants, landing directly in the section marked Special and Immortal-Grade Herbs.
She began to read, her gaze sharp and focused, her mind linking the descriptions to her two monumental new quests:
Immortality and Resilience: How could certain herbs grant such terrifying resilience and healing power? If she could understand the core mechanism of these plants, she could perhaps reinforce her children against the anomalies of the timeline.
The Ancient Path: Was there any cryptic reference, any forgotten annotation, that might hint at the origins or method of the Self-Soul Ring technique Ah Rou had mentioned? Immortal-grade herbs often existed near ancient power sources, perhaps remnants of a past cultivation era.
The text was dense, written in an archaic script, but her powerful mind absorbed the details like a sponge. She started by focusing on the Special-Grade Spirit Plants—rare flora that, while not capable of granting divinity or immortality, could exponentially boost cultivation or cure deep-seated spiritual flaws. She quickly scanned entries for substances that could fortify her children's foundations.
The Blood-Fire Ginseng, she read, is a root that burns with soul power upon harvest, capable of dramatically purging the meridians and multiplying the growth rate of any Soul Master below the fortieth rank. Its only danger lies in the sheer volatility of its purification process.
Bibi Dong immediately noted its value for her twins' early stages. She then found information on the Mind-Clearing Lotus, a delicate, pale flower that only bloomed under the light of the full moon.
Consuming its seeds was said to sharpen the Spiritual Sea, granting unprecedented mental fortitude and resistance to illusions—a perfect countermeasure to the manipulative tactics often employed by the older generation in Spirit Hall.
Finally, her gaze lingered on the description of the Shadow-Weaver Grass. This plant was described as a silent cultivator, thriving in deep darkness and capable of amplifying soul power absorption rates threefold for a short period.
A plant that thrives in shadows... how wonderfully suited to my martial soul and the soul ability, she mused, realizing these herbs were the tangible, tactical weapons she needed to secure her dominance long before the final war began.
An hour has passed in the silent room, the only sign of time passing being the deepening shadows that crept across the floor, met by the faint, shimmering darkness of her new, stable Shadow Merging aura.
Her entire being was focused on the knowledge laid before her, a powerful Titled Douluo quietly, methodically, preparing for war by reading a book. The knowledge was the true weapon, and Bibi Dong was determined to master every page.
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Author's Note:
Hmm, How are u guys? This month is great with festive seasons so I hope all of u are well and happy. All good for prosperity with my blessings also to u all. Enjoy this chapter as usual.