"Did you come to laugh at me?" Having survived Qian Daoliu's assault using her Death Spider Emperor's ninth soul skill Undying Body Bibi Dong now suffered severe side effects. It would take considerable time to recover her full strength.
"Sister..." Qian Renxue sighed, observing Bibi Dong's unstable aura. "Is your eighth Rakshasa God trial truly to kill a Six-Winged Angel user with innate full soul power?"
"What if it is? What if it isn't?" Bibi Dong's tone was icy. "Qian Renxue, you should be grateful Qian Daoliu has always protected you."
"And before? Grandfather wasn't present then." Qian Renxue's gaze deepened. "Yet you hesitated. Even your killing intent vanished abruptly when you could have easily ended me."
"Just as you said completing the trial would have pushed you from level 98 to 99."
"Is that all you came to say?" Blood trickled from Bibi Dong's lips, yet she ignored it, her eyes still frosty.
"Yes. Just as you didn't want me dead, I couldn't bear to watch my unloving mother slain by her own father-in-law."
"To me, that would be too cruel."
"Hahahaha!" Bibi Dong scoffed. "You're as hypocritical as Qian Xunji."
"Need I recount your deeds in the Heaven Dou Empire?"
"Now you perform this mother-daughter charade before me? Qian Renxue, you sicken me."
"Enough, Bibi Dong!" Qian Daoliu materialized beside Qian Renxue, his glare piercing the disheveled, drained Pope.
"Don't forget it was you who sent Xiao Xue undercover!"
"If we speak of bloodstained hands, you are the instigator."
"Do you know how many years of talent Xiao Xue wasted trying to prove herself to you?"
"Tch, so what?" Bibi Dong sneered. "I don't want to see her. Qian Daoliu, you'd best kill me now, or you'll regret it!"
"Bibi Dong, you think I dare not? If not for Xiao Xue "
"Grandfather, let's go." Qian Renxue inhaled deeply and turned away.
"Hmph! Bibi Dong, you're fortunate Xiao Xue lives. Otherwise, I'd have uprooted every last soul tied to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
"You wouldn't dare!"
Bibi Dong's eyes blazed.
"Test me!" Qian Daoliu flicked his sleeve and strode after Qian Renxue, She Long and Ci Xue following as guards.
Watching them depart, Bibi Dong's eyes bloodshot:
"Qian Daoliu, you'll regret sparing me!"
"Like Qian Xunji before, I'll annihilate your Angel Clan."
Covering her mouth, she coughed into her palm, scarlet droplets staining her pale, furious face.
"I never expected the old man to be this strong."
"Even if I reached level 99, I likely still couldn't match him immediately."
After meditating briefly, she took to the skies heading the same direction as the quartet: Spirit Hall.
With both sides gone, silence reclaimed the ravaged battlefield, its scars the only testament to the cataclysm that had transpired.
Soon after, a white-robed figure descended the Sword Douluo followed by the black-clad Bone Douluo, Gu Rong.
Standing amidst the residual soul power, they exchanged awed glances.
"See now what 'beyond the beyond' means, old bone? Your level 96 is still lacking!" The Sword Douluo teased.
"Tch, as if you're any better." Gu Rong rolled his eyes. Chen Xin's tone made it sound like he was the level 99, lecturing his junior. Shameless.
"I am level 97 a notch above you."
"Enough nonsense. Did you record everything? Or were you too engrossed in their family drama?"
"Of course." The Sword Douluo nodded skyward. "We've seen enough. Time to return before Rongrong and Fengzhi worry."
Black and white streaks shot upward, pausing midair before accelerating toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
...
Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Assembly Hall
The group anxiously awaited the scouts' return. Though discovery was unlikely, observing a clash between at least level 98 possibly 99 powerhouses carried risks.
Thirty minutes prior, the distant energy signatures had faded likely signaling the battle's end.
Suddenly, two beams of light landed at the hall's entrance.
As the soul power dissipated, the Sword and Bone Douluos emerged victorious from their reconnaissance mission.
"We struck gold!" The Sword Douluo announced upon entering. "Spirit Hall's internal strife is fierce. Without what seemed like a resurrection skill, Bibi Dong might've died to Qian Daoliu."
"What happened?" Ning Rongrong's eyes widened.
This contradicts my predictions Bibi Dong and Qian Daoliu went all out?
"Grandpa Sword, Grandpa Bone, did Bibi Dong kill Qian Renxue?"
"See for yourselves." The Sword Douluo produced the telescope, unscrewing its miniature recording core onto Ning Fengzhi's table, while Gu Rong handed another to Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan.
Infusing it with soul power, footage of Bibi Dong and Qian Daoliu's battle played fierce yet silent, their words lost to distance.
"Confirmed we need a lip-reader loyal to our sect."
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect needs such talent.
The recording captured their violent argument, the battle, then Qian Renxue's intervention. Though dialogue remained unclear, body language hinted at the gist.
Cross-referencing the original work's knowledge with Bibi Dong's personality, Ning Rongrong deduced:
Bibi Dong likely taunted about killing Qian Renxue, provoking Qian Daoliu's Angel God Armament. Otherwise, why would he go all out?
Once the footage concluded, Ning Fengzhi exhaled:
"Qian Daoliu's strength hailed as 'Invincible in the Skies' is truly terrifying."
Even with Eight Treasure Glazed Pagoda boosts, the Sword Douluo might still lose to Bibi Dong. Yet against Qian Daoliu, she'd been nearly helpless.
No wonder Ning Rongrong called him one of soul masters' three insurmountable peaks.
Just how powerful are Bo Saixi and Tang Chen then?
Though he'd witnessed Bo Saixi's might at sea, experiencing it firsthand through the recording was entirely different.