Chapter 410: Bibi Dong's Ability to Extort

"Wait."

Jin E Gongfeng could not help himself again: "Pope, do you intend to attribute this failure entirely to the Young Master... to her?"

Young Master? Isn't that just Qian Renxue...

Qin Jian curled his lips in secret.

However, he had not expected that even if that incident hadn't occurred, Bibi Dong still disliked this daughter in name only; it seemed she truly loathed everyone related to Qian Xunji...

Bibi Dong said indifferently: "Someone must bear the responsibility for failure. I don't care that you acknowledge her as Young Master, but the succession of the Spirit Hall is for me to decide. I will not allow her to become the next Pope."

Qin Jian finally understood what she was doing; she was confronting the Elder Hall head-on, taking advantage of this setback to disrupt their plans to have Qian Renxue inherit the position of Pope.

Everyone present was high-level personnel of the Spirit Hall, and they had all heard of the conflict between the Pope and the Elder Hall. Seeing it brought out into the open like this, they didn't appear too surprised.

"How can this be?!" Jin E Gongfeng said in shock and anger.

"Why not?"

Bibi Dong smiled coldly: "Don't forget that the Spirit Masters currently under siege ultimately take orders from the Elder Hall. If they are completely sacrificed, although the strength of the Spirit Hall will decline, for me, it can be considered a good thing."

"You!"

Jin E Gongfeng's expression truly changed, because the Elder Hall could not afford such a loss.

Qin Jian couldn't help but want to laugh.

Bibi Dong's two-pronged approach was truly slick; if he won, he, Qin Jian, would have to stay in the Spirit Hall forever, and if he lost, Qian Renxue would lose her chance at succession. No matter which way it went, it was extremely favorable to her.

"Pope..."

Jin E Gongfeng took a deep breath and said sternly: "The Elder Hall has already made concessions regarding Hu Liena being named Saintess, but this matter has now touched our bottom line. Neither I nor the Great Pontiff can accept this."

"If that is the case, then let the Elder Hall bear this responsibility as a whole..."

Bibi Dong didn't seem to expect them to truly agree, and at this moment, she immediately said: "I can represent the Spirit Hall and agree to their demands in exchange for the safe return of these twenty thousand Spirit Masters, but..."

She brought out her next contingency plan: "But the affiliation of these twenty thousand Spirit Masters needs to be changed. I will upgrade the local Spirit Hall branches into Spirit Judgment Halls, and these twenty thousand Spirit Masters will be assigned to the Spirit Judgment Hall."

Qin Jian's expression shifted.

This Spirit Judgment Hall was something he had once mentioned to Bibi Dong; he hadn't expected her to actually put it into practice.

"Does this Spirit Judgment Hall also belong entirely to the Pope, just like the Guard Army?" Jin E Gongfeng frowned.

Bibi Dong said calmly: "The Judgment Hall is entirely dominated by the Chief Judge."

"Who is the Chief Judge?" Jin E Gongfeng asked again.

Bibi Dong smiled softly: "The Chief Judge is, of course, the person who possesses the Judgment Scepter."

Swish, swish, swish...

In an instant, Qin Jian was pierced by countless gazes like a sieve.

Who didn't know that a year ago, the Pope had created a Pope's Scepter and a Judgment Scepter? At the time, no one said what they were for, only that the Judgment Scepter had been bestowed upon Qin Jian.

Only now did they understand her intentions.

"It's him again..."

Jin E Gongfeng looked at Qin Jian with cold eyes: "Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. Since the Pope has handed both the Guard Army and the Judgment Hall to him, is she not worried about betrayal?"

"Heh..."

Bibi Dong smiled lightly again: "If he were willing, I could even crown him Empress Consort directly; what do these things count for?"

If he were willing to stay by my side forever, belonging only to me, never mind Empress Consort, what would it matter if he were Pope?

Everyone: "..."

"The Elder Hall cannot give up the ownership of all twenty thousand Spirit Masters..."

Jin E Gongfeng started to refuse again, but halfway through his sentence, he suddenly tilted his head, as if listening to a voice transmission, and then changed his tone: "We can only accept at most ten thousand people being assigned to the Spirit Judgment Hall."

"Very well." Bibi Dong agreed without hesitation.

This result was already very good; she had originally only intended to extort five thousand people.

Unlike the Soul Hunting Teams from five years ago, the quality of this Spirit Master army was on a higher level; even five thousand of them were stronger in combat power than the ten thousand-strong Soul Hunting Teams of the past.

Qin Jian stood to the side with his hands tucked in, watching in admiration.

This Pope was absolutely a master negotiator; she had easily achieved her goal by neutralizing and striking simultaneously.

Initially, wanting to strip Qian Renxue of her succession rights was a feint, then demanding the ownership of twenty thousand Spirit Masters was an exorbitant price, and this final result was what she had actually wanted to achieve.

"Then today's discussion ends here. Tomorrow, we will announce the status of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family."

Bibi Dong stood up, her majestic phoenix eyes sweeping across the room.

"Yes."

Everyone responded.

Then they dispersed.

"Qin Jian, would you like to accompany me for... dinner tonight?"

Before the crowd had fully cleared, the Pope suddenly said this, causing many people to stumble, nearly falling over.

"Nana, I have left you to your own devices these past few days. I have some serious matters to discuss with him today; you won't be unhappy, will you?" Bibi Dong quickly added.

What else could Hu Liena say? Fight with her teacher in front of all the high-level officials?

She could only shake her head with a bitter face: "I won't."

Thus, Qin Jian left with Bibi Dong.

Along the way, the two did not exchange a word. Bibi Dong kept her brows furrowed in thought, seemingly lost in deep contemplation.

It wasn't until they sat down at the table on the top floor and the Maids had finished setting out the dinner in a steady stream that Bibi Dong finally turned back slightly.

"Apologies, this failure has disrupted many of my plans, so once I started thinking, I couldn't stop." Bibi Dong smiled back at him.

Qin Jian shook his head, looked at her beautiful profile, and asked: "Can you tell me about your plans?"

Bibi Dong rested her chin on her hand and nodded gently: "I will tell you my original plans in their entirety. After all, I lost the bet to you this time. According to our agreement, the strategy for the Spirit Hall to unify the Dalu will be adjusted according to your wishes."

Afterwards, she recounted the twenty-year plan of the Spirit Hall one by one.

"To summarize, it is divided into three stages: the initial stage is the infiltration period, exerting effort to infiltrate the various small duchies of the two great empires as well as the Seven Great Sects; afterwards is the Soul Hunting Operation to establish prestige and win over the hearts of the Spirit Masters on the Dalu; finally, it is the establishment of the Spirit Empire to confront the two great empires head-on and unify the Dalu..."

Qin Jian and she were in the same posture, the two sitting very close, one to the left and one to the right, both resting their chins on their hands, which made the Maids peeking from behind wear auntie smiles...

"I have to say that such a plan is quite good; as long as one doesn't encounter a cheater, with the Spirit Hall's super-strong Spirit Master power, it is indeed a guaranteed win."

"What is a cheater?" Bibi Dong asked curiously.

"Uh..."

Qin Jian scratched his head and said, "It's an existence that breaks the rules, the kind that can ruin your entire plan all by themselves."

"Are you talking about yourself?" Bibi Dong rolled her eyes at him.

I was clearly talking about the cheater Tang San...

Qin Jian felt ashamed.

After thinking for a while, he then said, "Actually, this plan could be more refined; by using a subtle approach, one could achieve the goal without engaging in bloody slaughter..."

(End of this chapter)