Lin Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief upon returning to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Xiong Jun's sudden attack was completely unexpected, but thankfully Qian Daoliu had arrived to draw the Bear Lord's attention away.
With Qian Daoliu's strength, he could at least ensure that he wouldn't be at a disadvantage, and might even have the upper hand, but killing a defensive juggernaut like Xiong Jun would be difficult.
If Lin Mu and Qian Daoliu cooperated, it might be possible to kill Xiong Jun.
However, Lin Mu didn't do that. Killing Xiong Jun now would only yield a soul bone, wasting over 400,000 years of soul ring cultivation.
After this incident, Xiong Jun had become his prime candidate for his ninth soul ring.
However, his soul power was only Level 86, far from Level 90. Unless he received a massive system reward or found another fortuitous encounter, it would be difficult to reach Level 90 even in two years.
Soon, Lin Mu adjusted his mindset. With the speed of the Hurricane Armor, he didn't need to worry too much about Xiong Jun catching him again.
Lin Mu arrived at the Royal Fighting Team's training ground.
"Master! You're finally back."
Seeing Lin Mu approaching from the entrance, Tang San was the first to react and rushed to greet him, followed closely by the others.
Seeing this, Lin Mu patted Tang San's shoulder and said calmly, "I need to recover my soul power first, then I'll lead you all in training."
Having dealt with so many Titled Douluos in one go and flown such a long distance at maximum speed, his soul power was almost depleted.
Although the Gravity Swamp skill didn't consume much soul power to maintain, his weakened state made everyone feel insecure.
Everyone naturally had no objections to Lin Mu's request. However, they were all very curious about what their teacher had gone through to consume so much energy.
Half an hour later, Lin Mu had basically recovered his soul power. He immediately released the Gravity Swamp skill, controlling the gravity to three times its normal level, and trained everyone as usual.
At this moment, Qian Renxue took the initiative to approach and asked, "Where did you go?"
"The Supreme Pontiff's Palace."
Lin Mu had no intention of hiding this matter, nor was there any need to.
Within two days, everyone would know he had stormed the Supreme Pontiff's Palace; no matter how much he tried to conceal it, Qian Renxue would find out sooner or later through her intelligence network.
"What were you doing at the Supreme Pontiff's Palace?"
"Bibi Dong has caused me trouble several times, so naturally, I had to settle accounts with her."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mu glanced at Qian Renxue. He wondered what her reaction would be if she knew he had physically assaulted her mother.
However, he didn't regret his decision at all.
Let alone Bibi Dong, even if Qian Daoliu was hostile towards him, he would still fight him!
"Really?"
Qian Renxue initially looked skeptical, but seeing that Lin Mu didn't seem to be faking it, she immediately grabbed his wrist and hurriedly asked, "Was she injured?"
"She took a direct hit from me, so naturally her injuries are not light."
"That's great!"
Seeing Qian Renxue's excited expression, Lin Mu's face showed a strange expression. 'This was truly a case of motherly love and filial piety.'
Spirit City.
On the other side, the battle between Qian Daoliu and Xiong Jun had ended.
Both man and bear suffered some injuries, with Xiong Jun being more seriously wounded due to Qian Daoliu's aerial advantage and holy light. However, being incredibly resilient, the Bear Lord fled back to the forest upon seeing the situation turning against him.
Qian Daoliu did not pursue him deeply; a desperate fight to the death with a beast of that caliber would not have been advantageous for him or the city below.
Since Lin Mu had already vanished without a trace, Qian Daoliu could only return to Spirit City to clean up the mess.
After this battle, the once-sacred Supreme Pontiff's Palace was now in ruins, requiring considerable time for repairs.
"Your Holiness, your subordinates have failed in their duties and have not completely controlled Lin Mu. Please punish us!"
Outside the ruins of the palace, the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluos knelt on one knee before Bibi Dong.
Seeing this, Bibi Dong clutched her aching chest and said in a deep voice, "The failure of this operation is not your fault. You have done... a very good job."
Judging from their performance, throwing themselves in front of her to block attacks, there was no possibility of betrayal in her mind.
Thinking about it carefully, as her right-hand men who had followed her for so many years, so loyal and devoted, how could they betray her because of an outsider like Lin Mu? Besides, she reasoned, she had done nothing to wrong them recently... mostly.
"You have rendered meritorious service in protecting me this time; each of you will be rewarded with 30,000 Gold Soul Coins."
"Thank you, Your Holiness."
The Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluos exchanged a glance, both able to see the barely suppressed relief in each other's eyes. Although they didn't care about the money, as long as it lessened Bibi Dong's suspicion, that was enough.
Before, they had no way to explain themselves because of Yu Xiaogang's slanderous words. But now that they had "proven" their loyalty with blood, they were safe.
"I truly underestimated Lin Mu's strength. His eighth soul ring is no ordinary hundred-thousand-year ring; it contains such terrifying power."
Bibi Dong's expression was extremely grave. If Lin Mu continued to grow stronger, he would likely become even more difficult to deal with. She could only hope that Qian Daoliu could eliminate him.
However, given Qian Daoliu's strange attitude towards Lin Mu during the confrontation, this possibility was almost zero.
'Perhaps that old man plans to marry Qian Renxue to Lin Mu.'
'No! Absolutely not!'
If Lin Mu allied with Qian Renxue, it would be even more difficult for her to control Spirit Hall in the future.
Two Days Later.
As Lin Mu had predicted, his destruction of the Supreme Pontiff's Palace and serious injury to the Pope and several Elders shocked both empires.
To single-handedly storm the heart of Spirit Hall with the cultivation of a Soul Douluo and escape unscathed, such a glorious achievement was unprecedented and unparalleled.
What was most incomprehensible was that, despite such a major incident, Spirit Hall did not send anyone to hunt down Lin Mu immediately.
All of this was naturally Qian Renxue's doing. Whether she conquered Lin Mu or was conquered by him, she considered him as her man, and naturally wouldn't let Spirit Hall harm him if she could help it.
As for Bibi Dong, even if she felt resentful, she couldn't do anything to Lin Mu right now. After all, judging from Lin Mu's demonstrated strength, ordinary Titled Douluos posed no threat whatsoever, and she was injured.
In the teachers' dormitory, Lin Mu looked at the uninvited Qian Renxue with surprise and asked, "Why are you here? Want to help me clean my room again?"
"Pah! Why is that all you can think about? Don't you have any other ambitions?"
Qian Renxue glared at Lin Mu with her beautiful eyes and said irritably.
Hearing this, Lin Mu frowned slightly and asked, "If you're not here to clean my room, then what are you doing here? Heh, don't tell me you've come to offer yourself again to me."
"The person I despise the most is Bibi Dong. You helped me teach her a lesson, so of course, I have to reward you."
With that, Qian Renxue forcibly pulled Lin Mu into the bedroom.
Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
At the same time, Emperor Xue Ye slammed his hand on the armrest of his throne, angrily shouting, "Xue Xing! Look what you've done! If we had won over Lin Mu earlier, he would surely have become the pillar of the Heaven Dou Empire!"
"Brother, this isn't my fault! I was only thinking of the Empire's dignity..."
Faced with Emperor Xue Ye's reprimand, Prince Xue Xing felt a pang of bitterness.
Who knew Lin Mu would be this strong? Besides, it wasn't entirely his decision in the first place, but now the blame was being placed on him alone.
"Hmph! Don't try to shirk responsibility. If you hadn't interfered with the suggestion of the Educational Board Head, I would have already agreed to Head Meng Shenji's suggestion to recruit him properly."
Emperor Xue Ye coldly snorted, his tone unquestionable. "Since you caused this mess, you must find a way to win Lin Mu over to the Empire's side. If you fail... you can forget about your privileges as a Prince."
Hearing this, Prince Xue Xing was completely dumbfounded. 'Entrusting me with such a huge task now? Isn't it too little, too late?'
But facing Emperor Xue Ye's furious expression, he dared not refuse and could only agree to try his best.