"Main body, world travel may come with opportunities, but it can also come with danger. Before I finish building the Magecraft array for crossing worlds, I hope you will think it through carefully."
As Wu Ling walked toward the Pope's Palace, Rose's question before he left kept echoing in his mind.
"Danger, huh?"
Anyone who had read fanfiction or infinite-flow novels had probably imagined what world they would visit if they could cross over. That was why Wu Ling had been so excited when the possibility became real.
But once he calmed down, he had to ask himself whether crossing worlds was truly a good idea. More precisely, at this point in time, could Wu Ling really abandon everything and cross over while accepting the possibility that he might never return?
And that was before considering the chance of landing in some high-risk world. If that happened, he might step through the door and be cut down as an invader before he even understood the situation.
After calming himself, Wu Ling decided to have Rose research those problems first. If they could be solved, he could go have some fun with world travel. If they could not, he would wait until he could possess nine Heroic Spirits at once, gain at least some self-protection, and properly settle his affairs before leaving.
While Wu Ling was still thinking, he unknowingly arrived before the Pope's Palace.
He pushed open the doors. The inside of the Pope's Palace was still as magnificent as ever. Under the sunlight, the glazed decorations inside scattered countless colors across the hall.
At the center of the palace, Bibi Dong sat upon her throne. Three attendants stood beside her, one holding a brush, one holding an inkstone, and one holding memorials.
After seeing Wu Ling enter, Bibi Dong set down the brush in her hand and waved for the three attendants to withdraw.
The three bowed respectfully to Bibi Dong, then left the Pope's Palace. When they passed Wu Ling on the way out, they bowed to him as well.
"Truly, the evil of feudalism," Wu Ling mocked inwardly. "What? I am one of the people at the top? Then never mind."
After laughing at himself, Wu Ling walked to the front of Bibi Dong's throne.
"Teacher, I am back."
"Good. I heard from Ghost that something unusual happened this time."
"Yes, Teacher. It seems a being who may be a god came looking for me..."
Wu Ling then adjusted the wording and changed a few titles before telling Bibi Dong what had happened.
As the inheritor of the Rakshasa God, Bibi Dong was naturally no stranger to divine matters. From only a few sentences, she could already feel how powerful that being must have been.
In truth, she had also sensed that malice back then. At the time, she had been undergoing a Rakshasa God trial. The moment she sensed that malice, one portion of her trial was directly completed.
She had originally assumed that it was the Rakshasa God's power. Looking at it now, the being Wu Ling encountered might have been an evil god above the Rakshasa God. It was also possible that the trial had passed because she had sensed that higher power.
"Can I take a look at the bead you mentioned?"
A single Spirit Ring from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had summoned a being of that level. Even Bibi Dong had become interested in that Soul Beast.
In her estimation, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger might also be compatible with her Martial Souls. However, under Angra Mainyu's action, the beast's corpse had been destroyed completely. Because of that, she wanted to borrow the Evil God Bead from Wu Ling and study it.
As a bead that had helped create another protagonist, a future first-class god of destruction, Wu Ling had been fully alert when he captured it. He had been prepared to keep it from escaping through space.
The Evil God Bead's method of space traversal was only dangerous the first time someone saw it. One did not even need to understand space. As long as they paid attention at the end and intercepted the bead when it flew into spatial turbulence, that was enough.
"Well, Teacher, you know Rose. She is already researching it. If she manages to produce a finished result, she will definitely let you use it first."
Facing Bibi Dong's request, Wu Ling scratched his cheek awkwardly and, for once, refused her.
Over the years, Bibi Dong had also come to understand Rose's personality. With her intense desire for knowledge, she really would not let go of something that special.
"Very well. Then I will wait until Rose finishes studying it."
"All right. I will tell Rose to go easy while she researches it."
"..."
"..."
A strange silence filled the vast Pope's Palace.
Since just now, Wu Ling and Bibi Dong had both fallen silent. It was not because of each other. It was because...
"Ahem. If the two of you are done talking, then I will cut in."
As the voice sounded, Lucius Cross slowly walked out from behind the throne.
From the moment Wu Ling entered, he and Bibi Dong had both sensed Lucius's arrival. Lucius had not hidden himself at all, and since he had said nothing, Wu Ling had continued his report normally.
Only when the conversation drifted toward private matters did Wu Ling and Bibi Dong, both wary of Lucius, silently stop speaking.
"Wu Ling, you must be bored, right? How about the two of us fight?"
Lucius's first words made Bibi Dong stand in surprise, but Wu Ling lowered his head and thought seriously.
"Lucius Cross, he is my disciple. Even if he needs instruction, it is not your place to instruct him!"
In Bibi Dong's mind, Lucius was trying to suppress Wu Ling. After all, Wu Ling was already far stronger than Aurelia, the true Angel inheritance candidate. On top of that, he had attracted a being who might be an evil god. For the Angel family, which had devoted itself to eradicating evil since ancient times, that was a perfect excuse to act.
Faced with Bibi Dong's protectiveness, Lucius simply ignored her and looked at Wu Ling.
"What do you think? It is boring, is it not? Want to try?"
"Back then, I was like this too. Before I met those two people, I was once invincible among those of my level, and I could fight above my level as well. I could still grow then, but I could already see the end of the road. If I had not later met those two, I imagine I would have been lonely too."
"But now, your situation is even more severe than mine was. Your talent is higher. Forget being invincible at the same level. When you were a Spirit Leader, you could fight Spirit Kings. Now that you are a Spirit Daoist, and with that special domain added in, even among Spirit Emperors, there should be very few who can completely defeat you."
"Most important of all, even now, there is no rival beside you, and no one walking forward with you."
"Talent can sometimes be a curse."
"So, what have you decided? Shall we fight?"
As Lucius had said, to Wu Ling, the entire Soul Land I world had nearly become simple mode. His combat strength was astonishing, and his life-saving ability was first-rate. He could already see his own future.
Of course, that was only one reason. Another possibility Wu Ling could think of was that Lucius wanted to use this fight to confirm his true state. After all, someone capable of drawing a being like that had become increasingly difficult for Lucius to read.
But Wu Ling did not mind.
He raised his head, silently nodded to Bibi Dong, then showed Lucius a brilliant smile.
"Good!"