Chapter 22 – Secrets Unveiled: A Hidden Daughter, a Secret Room, and Divine Revelations

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"Dialogue": Represented in double quotes for conversations between characters.

'Thoughts': Represented in single quotation marks, indicating the characters' internal reflections.

[Diary]: Represented in square brackets, used for messages intended for the heroines or entries written by Tenshin.

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Tenshin continued writing in his diary:

[As time passed, Qian Xunji finally took notice of the growing bond between Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang. To him, the notion was both absurd and laughable—how could Bibi Dong, the revered Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall, lower herself for a man destined to remain at level twenty-nine? Even his noble lineage from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan did nothing to alter his fate.]

[Qian Xunji, unwilling to accept such an outrageous match, grew increasingly alarmed. When Yu Xiaogang realized that their relationship had been exposed, he made a desperate, bold move by asking Bibi Dong to elope with him. Even more shockingly, she agreed. Perhaps he believed that by keeping her at his side, he could shield himself from ridicule—much like the hope he once placed in Tang San.]

[But Qian Xunji was not easily deceived. By the time he uncovered their plans, it was too late—Bibi Dong had completely fallen for Yu Xiaogang. Yet, Yu Xiaogang's miscalculation was fatal. Did he really think the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan could protect him from the Spirit Hall's wrath? If Bibi Dong ever set foot in that clan, the Spirit Hall would swiftly erase them both from existence.]

[Confronted by this madness, Qian Xunji took decisive action. Yu Xiaogang was expelled from the Spirit Hall, his ambitions shattered. Even as Qian Xunji warned Bibi Dong and confined her in an attempt to make her see reason, her resolve remained unshaken. No amount of persuasion—or reminders of the Spirit Hall's sacrifices—could move her heart.]

[In a final threat, Qian Xunji declared that if she ever dared to leave, Yu Xiaogang would never live to see another day. Ultimately, Bibi Dong relented, and Yu Xiaogang departed from the Spirit Hall.]

[Yet time had a way of deepening forbidden bonds. Not long after, Qian Xunji—Bibi Dong's mentor—once again noticed the closeness between her and Yu Xiaogang. Naturally, he could not accept it. How could someone as exceptionally talented as Bibi Dong fall for a Great Spirit Master doomed to remain at level twenty-nine for the rest of his life? Even his status as the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch was insufficient to justify such a union.]

[Thus began a renewed, relentless effort to forcibly separate the lovers. At one point, Yu Xiaogang made another bold move and asked Bibi Dong to elope with him—and, astonishingly, she agreed. Had Yu Yuanzhen been present, he might have slapped Yu Xiaogang to death without hesitation.]

[Who was Bibi Dong, after all? She was the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall, the future Pope. If she truly left with Yu Xiaogang, it wouldn't merely be an act of defiance—it would be an unforgivable betrayal. If she ever reached the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Spirit Hall would surely obliterate the entire clan by afternoon.]

Bibi Dong's eyes narrowed as she read, each word a cold reminder of her own painful choices. A mix of regret and defiant longing surged within her—she had sacrificed her ideals for forbidden love, and now the truth stung with unbearable irony. The weight of duty and the scars of betrayal converged into a silent, resolute vow that one day, she would reclaim the dignity she had lost.

[But the truth was, Yu Xiaogang's desire to elope wasn't born of love. He knew his own limitations—he would never reach the pinnacle of cultivation—but by keeping Bibi Dong at his side, her extraordinary talent would shield him from ridicule. This was the same logic he later employed when accepting Tang San as his disciple: if he could nurture a Titled Douluo, no one would dare call him useless.]

[However, Qian Xunji uncovered the truth before it was too late. He had watched over Bibi Dong since childhood, nurturing her talent and preparing her for her eventual ascension as Pope. Now, she was willing to cast it all aside for a man he considered unworthy. The realization enraged him.]

[When he confronted her, Bibi Dong made no attempt to hide her intentions. She declared plainly, "If you don't approve of my relationship with Yu Xiaogang, then I will leave the Spirit Hall and follow him." For the first time, Qian Xunji was left speechless. Had all his years of effort been in vain? Had she truly chosen a man she'd barely known over the very institution that had given her everything?]

[His fury erupted. Determined to break her free from Yu Xiaogang's influence, he had the man forcibly expelled from the Spirit Hall and warned Bibi Dong that if she ever tried to leave, Yu Xiaogang would not live to see another day. Faced with such an ultimatum, Bibi Dong hesitated. No matter how much she cared for Yu Xiaogang, she couldn't ignore the threat—if she left, it wouldn't just be her life at stake; it would be his as well.]

[In the end, she silently watched as Yu Xiaogang was driven away. Yet Qian Xunji, convinced that even this was not enough to ensure their safety, had no choice but to resort to his final, desperate measure.]

Bibi Dong's eyes flared with a searing soul aura as she read, anger and hurt intermingling in her gaze. 'You bastard! If you dare write this...' she hissed silently, her inner voice a resounding roar of defiance and betrayal.

[Qian Xunji's cruelty knew no bounds. He confined Bibi Dong to a secret room—subjecting her to unspeakable abuse at the hands of her teacher—which earned him the infamous nickname "Secret Room Douluo."]

The grand hall of the Spirit Hall trembled under an eruption of soul power. The Pope's scepter struck the marble floor with a sharp crack that reverberated throughout the vast chamber.

"Bastard!" Bibi Dong's voice rang out, each syllable laced with a searing blend of icy fury and profound, pained resolve.

Hu Liena, standing nearby, shivered as though caught in a merciless winter storm. The oppressive aura stole her breath, and the diary trembled in her grasp. "Teacher… I won't… I won't tell anyone," she managed, barely daring to meet Bibi Dong's unwavering, piercing gaze.

For a few long moments, the suffocating silence bound them as Bibi Dong's eyes returned to the diary, tracing the abhorrent words that laid bare the torment of her past like vultures circling a wounded beast.

Hu Liena swallowed hard, a silent prayer escaping her lips as she hoped this storm of revelations would soon pass—even as a deep, disquieting certainty told her that this was only the beginning.

Meanwhile, Liu Erlong's admiration for Yu Xiaogang curdled into bitter disdain. Tenshin's diary had unmasked his hypocrisy and treachery, leaving her to question every moment she had once revered him.

Just then, the diary updated once more. The women fell into stunned silence, each processing the shocking revelations in their own anguished way. The secret, so long concealed by Tenshin, spread like wildfire—revealing that Bibi Dong, once revered as an untouchable genius with twin martial souls, had endured a past steeped in tragic torment.

As the weight of the truth pressed down, sympathy intertwined with disbelief. "Her life truly has been tragic," one whispered, the words echoing in the heavy silence. United in sorrow, they now saw Bibi Dong not only as the formidable Pope but as a woman haunted by the scars of her past.

Tian Dou Empire, Crown Prince's Palace

Qian Renxue—still concealed behind the guise of Xue Qinghe—sat alone in the quiet of the Crown Prince's palace. Her fingers trembled as they traced the words "secret room" scrawled across the diary's pages, the revelation crashing over her like a brutal, icy wave. "How could this happen… how could this happen…" she murmured, her voice barely audible as her mind whirled with confusion and anguish. The diary had unearthed a piece of her father's past she had never dared imagine—Bibi Dong, once a proud maternal figure, had suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of Qian Xunji. Even more shattering was the realization that she herself was born from that dark act. Her hands shook violently as she clutched the diary tighter, every thought tangled in pain and betrayal. "No way…" she muttered, her voice cracking under the unbearable weight of truth. In that moment, a chilling question gnawed at her heart: How could she ever face Bibi Dong again, knowing the terrible legacy they shared?

Blue Tyrant Academy

Liu Erlong was at a loss for words, her heart a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. She recalled that Bibi Dong had once been Yu Xiaogang's first love—a confession that had once stirred hope in her heart. Yet now, as the diary revealed the full extent of Yu Xiaogang's disreputable actions, every past admiration curdled into bitter revulsion. In a stark moment of clarity, she realized that the man she had once respected was nothing more than a coward cloaked in deceit, unworthy of the woman who had borne so much pain.

[Qian Xunji's actions in the secret room irreversibly altered Bibi Dong's temperament, plunging her into a deep, dark gloom. When Qian Xunji returned to the Spirit Hall severely injured after failing to capture Ah Yin, Bibi Dong seized her chance and killed him without hesitation.]

The diary trembled in Qian Renxue's hands, but whether from rage or devastation, she did not know. Her golden eyes, so often filled with unwavering purpose, flickered with something far more fragile—something she did not wish to name.

For years, she had loathed Tang Hao. His hands, she believed, had torn her father from her, leaving only the cold, distant teachings of her grandfather to shape her into the woman she was today. She had built her identity upon that hatred, upon the belief that her father had been a martyr for the Spirit Hall's greatness.

But the truth was crueler than she could have ever imagined.

Her father was no martyr. He was a monster.

The revelation clawed at her mind, unraveling years of certainty with ruthless precision. Her mother—the woman who had never once embraced her, never once looked at her with warmth—had been his victim.

She clenched her jaw, struggling to suppress the roiling storm inside her chest. A part of her recoiled, desperate to deny it. But another part—a part she had spent years silencing—whispered the undeniable truth: If she had been in Bibi Dong's place, she too would have sought vengeance.

[In my the previous life, most netizens held two very different views about Qian Xunji. One camp argued that he resorted to raping Bibi Dong solely to keep her confined within the Spirit Hall—after all, as the Pope of the Spirit Hall, he had no woman by his side. The other side believed that Bibi Dong's talent was so extraordinary that Qian Xunji had raised her from a young age with the intention of making her his wife. After all, with the noble blood of the Qian family, a Six-Winged Angel martial soul, and exceptional talent of his own, he reasoned that a stronger partner would produce even more formidable offspring. This, they claimed, explained why he showed interest in no one else.]

[For Qian Xunji, the only acceptable outcome was for Bibi Dong to become his wife—whether or not she eventually inherited the Spirit Hall. However, Yu Xiaogang's emergence disrupted those plans. Realizing that Bibi Dong would never willingly fall in love with him, Qian Xunji resorted to forcing her into submission in the secret room. Their resulting daughter, Qian Renxue, turned out to be nothing short of a marvel—boasting an innate soul power of level 20, a phenomenon unheard of on the entire continent when most people naturally reach only level 10.]

At that moment, the assembled women were shocked. No one had expected that Bibi Dong had a daughter, let alone one with such staggering talent. Tenshin's revelations had dropped a bombshell: not only did Bibi Dong have a daughter, but Qian Renxue's natural soul power was extraordinarily high. With such potential, her cultivation speed must be soaring, and many wondered what her current soul power level might be.

[According to the timeline, Qian Renxue should be around 16 years old now.]

Bibi Dong's grip on the armrest of her throne tightened imperceptibly, her nails pressing against the polished wood. A shadow flickered across her violet eyes as she reread the words before her.

Qian Renxue.

Sixteen years old—an age where she should be forging her own path, making her own choices. But the weight of the past, the legacy forced upon her, had undoubtedly shaped her into something else entirely.

Bibi Dong exhaled slowly, composing herself. The possibility of Qian Renxue possessing a diary like Tenshin's was unsettling. If the girl had already gained insight into truths that should have remained buried, then their confrontation was no longer a matter of if, but when.

And yet…

The thought of facing her daughter left Bibi Dong with an unfamiliar tightness in her chest. Was it dread? Guilt? Or something more complex, more fragile—something she had long since abandoned?

At that very moment, the diary continued to update.

[I personally lean toward the second viewpoint. Qian Xunji treated Bibi Dong as a child bride—taking her on as a disciple and designating her the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall, a role traditionally meant to inherit the Hall. After all, the Qian family has always controlled the Spirit Hall, so why would they make an exception for Bibi Dong? Even if she possessed twin spirits, it still seemed far-fetched. Typically, as she grew stronger, they might have promoted her to an Elder or another position rather than naming her Holy Maiden outright.]

[Yet Qian Xunji bestowed that title on her—and Qian Daoliu agreed. It appears they intended for her to eventually join the Qian family. However, Qian Xunji never anticipated that Bibi Dong's heart would belong to the good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang. When faced with her rejection of his plans, he resorted to force.]

[Forcing Bibi Dong into submission was a shortsighted move. Such coercion would only breed hatred toward the Spirit Hall and the Qian family, and given the opportunity, she might even bring about their downfall. In truth, Bibi Dong's heart was already with Yu Xiaogang; she could never fall for Qian Xunji. Moreover, her extraordinary talent meant that merging her abilities with the Qian bloodline would undoubtedly yield exceptionally gifted offspring.]

[Frankly, there were other ways to secure her loyalty. So why resort to force? This desperate act led Qian Xunji to bring Bibi Dong into a secret room and—"one shot, one soul"—produce Qian Renxue. I suspect that Qian Daoliu tacitly approved of this, for with his peak Douluo-level spiritual power and deep understanding of his son, it seems unlikely he was unaware of Qian Xunji's actions. Whenever Qian Renxue questions why Bibi Dong harbors such disdain, Qian Daoliu offers contrived apologies and shifts the blame onto the Qian family.]

[Of course, Bibi Dong is not blameless either. Raised for years by the Spirit Hall, she should have felt gratitude instead of choosing to leave with Yu Xiaogang. Without the nurturing of the Spirit Hall, she might never have awakened her spirit. Alternatively, after awakening her twin spirits, lacking a powerful protector, she could easily have been captured by a formidable soul master and forced to bear a talented offspring.]

[Objectively speaking, both Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong share the blame. Qian Xunji should never have forced her, and Bibi Dong—despite her role as Holy Maiden with access to vast knowledge—exhibited poor judgment by falling for the so-called theoretical master, Yu Xiaogang.]

[After killing Qian Xunji, Bibi Dong inherited the inheritance of a first-tier god, the Rakshasa God, which further tainted her mind with an evil aura. It's possible that the trauma from being confined in the secret room, combined with the Rakshasa God's corrupting influence, led to lasting mental defects. According to Tenshin's account, this malevolent aura altered her temperament, explaining her frequent outbursts of anger and growing obsession with power.]

Bibi Dong's eyes narrowed as she absorbed the chilling words. A tremor ran through her—a stark reminder of the uncontrolled fury that had once seized her. Did the Rakshasa God's corrupting influence truly alter her very nature? The promise of Heart-Cleansing Occlumency flickered like a desperate hope to purge that malevolence, even as she felt its heavy grip tighten around her soul.

Across the Continent, shock and unease rippled through the women who possessed copies of the diary. The revelation that gods not only existed but could interfere in mortal destinies—bestowing their inheritors with dark, unrelenting power—left them both awed and disturbed.