211: After taking power

Spirit City, Supreme Pontiff Palace.

The magnificent throne that once belonged to Qian Xunji now had a new master seated upon it.

Bibi Dong wore a luxurious purple-gold Supreme Pontiff robe, intricately embroidered with dark gold threads depicting the Death Spider Emperor and Soul Eating Spider Emperor patterns, with deep black obsidian adorning its edges.

She wore the Supreme Pontiff's crown, symbolizing supreme authority, with a strange gem radiating a dim light embedded in its center, resembling the cold compound eyes of the Spider Emperor.

Her light purple hair was no longer casually unbound but meticulously tied up with several bone hairpins inlaid with black jade, revealing a smooth, full forehead and a slender, elegant neck, adding a few more points of unapproachable majesty.

Her face was still exquisitely beautiful, but the occasional softness that once showed had completely vanished, replaced by a serene stillness that could freeze a thousand miles and a profound control over everything.

When her violet eyes swept downwards, there was no longer any warmth, like a high and mighty Divinity looking down upon mortal ants.

Although the Soul Power aura of a Titled Douluo was restrained, it permeated the entire hall like a deep undercurrent, silently causing all who came to an audience to tremble to their very souls.

Half a year.

Half a year had passed since that earth-shattering upheaval and the change of power in Spirit Hall.

This half-year was the bloodiest and most thorough half-year in the history of Spirit Hall.

The new Supreme Pontiff, Bibi Dong, with her iron fist and ruthlessness, declared the arrival of a new era to the entire continent.

The purge began the moment Qian Xunji fell, swift as lightning, cruel as winter.

The confrontation in front of the Supreme Pontiff Palace and Qian Daoliu's tragic departure, although temporarily stabilizing the situation, Qian Xunji had operated for many years, and his cronies had long since become deeply entrenched, infiltrating every corner of Spirit Hall.

Bibi Dong knew that any trace of mercy or hesitation could turn into a fatal poisoned thorn in the future.

Her orders were simple and direct: All direct descendants of Qian Xunji, regardless of rank or whether they had actual misdeeds, were to be uprooted!

The lights of the Hall of Judgment burned through the night.

Once high-ranking cardinals, influential commanders of the Temple Knight Order, and deacons who lorded over various branch halls... one after another, they were dragged onto the judgment seat.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan personally served as the chief judge; on his face, which always carried a gentle smile, there was now only cold, decisive killing intent.

Ghost Douluo Guimei, like the most loyal shadow, led the “Spider Shadow Guard,” secretly cultivated by Bibi Dong and completely loyal to her, responsible for executing the most secret and bloodiest purge missions.

Evidence? In the face of absolute power and will, evidence was merely an embellishment.

What Bibi Dong needed was not absolutely fair judgment, but a thorough purge and the establishment of supreme authority! Many trials were chillingly brief.

Yue Guan only needed to ask coldly: “Did you ever pledge allegiance to Qian Xunji and participate in framing the former Saintess?”

If the answer was even slightly hesitant, or their eyes flickered, what awaited them was Gui Mei’s silent ghost claw, or they were directly thrown into the “Soul Eating Dungeon,” soaked in the highly toxic Soul Power of the Death Spider Emperor, turning into withered bones in endless agony.

Blood stained the bluestones of Spirit City, and fear spread like a plague.

Every day, new bodies were secretly transported out of the city and thrown into mass graves.

In just three months, the core forces left by Qian Xunji's era were completely cleared out; hundreds of mid-to-high-level Spirit Masters were either executed or had their cultivation crippled and were exiled.

Throughout Spirit Hall, everyone was silent with fear, and no one dared to question any order from His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff.

At the same time, Bibi Dong carried out a drastic reorganization within Spirit Hall.

She abolished many redundant and outdated old rules, establishing a more efficient and centralized new system.

Core powers such as intelligence, finance, military, and Spirit Master cultivation were firmly held in the hands of the few people she trusted.

Liu Erlong, this woman with a fiery temperament and special loyalty to her and Mo Yuhan, was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, becoming the “Hall Master of the Hall of Judgment” under the Supreme Pontiff, a position second only to Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo, holding the power of supervision and judgment, directly accountable to the Supreme Pontiff.

Liu Erlong changed out of the standard Spirit Hall armor and put on a custom-made dark red judgment envoy robe, with golden fire dragon patterns embroidered along the edges, which both retained her heroic Spirit and gave her the majesty of a judge.

Her fiery red hair was still tied high, but her eyes had lost some of their past wildness and unruliness, gaining some of the composure and sharpness of a superior.

Her appointment initially caused quite a stir within Spirit Hall; a Spirit Emperor-level, and a bastard daughter disowned by a great Sect, how could she be worthy?

But when Liu Erlong, with thunderous means, in just three days, uncovered and executed three red-robed cardinals, remnants of Qian Xunji, who had tried to tamper with finances and secretly collude, all doubts turned into fearful silence.

The destructive aura unleashed by her Fire Dragon Spirit, combined with the power of life and death granted to her by Bibi Dong, quickly made the name “Fire Dragon Judgment” a new nightmare within Spirit Hall.

With internal troubles initially settled, external threats followed one after another.

The drastic changes in Spirit Hall and the vacuum in its power core presented a golden opportunity to the two Empires (Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empire) and the Upper Three Sects (Hao Tian, Seven Treasure, and Blue Lightning), who had always been extremely wary of it.

They quickly put aside their past grievances and secretly formed a loose “Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance,” intending to seize this opportune moment to suppress or even dismantle Spirit Hall's hegemony.

The news, through various secret channels, was placed on Bibi Dong's desk immediately.

“Alliance?”

In the deepest study of the Supreme Pontiff Palace, Bibi Dong looked at the detailed intelligence dossier in her hand, a cold and mocking arc curving at her lips. Her fingertips tapped lightly on the table, making a crisp and regular sound, like a death countdown.

“A mob of disparate individuals, each with their own ulterior motives, dare to dream of shaking Spirit Hall?”

She did not choose passive defense but took the initiative to attack, using precise and ruthless methods that struck at the heart of the matter.

Her first target was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, which seemed the strongest but was not a monolithic entity internally.

An ultimatum, extremely strong in wording and bearing the Supreme Pontiff's seal, was personally delivered by a Spirit Douluo-level Spider Shadow Guard leader to Yu Yuanzhen, the Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

The core of the ultimatum contained only two points:

1. Hand over the list of all Sect Elders and direct executors who participated in forcing out and disowning Liu Erlong back then.

2. Immediately announce withdrawal from the so-called “Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance” and publicly condemn its actions of dividing the continent.

Deadline: Three days.

“Bibi Dong! She's going too far!”

Inside the grand hall of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Yu Yuanzhen's hair stood on end, his whole body trembling with rage as he looked at the document in his hand, which was like a final ultimatum.

This was not just a slap in the face; it was asking them to amputate their own arms and destroy their own foundation.

Many of those Elders were pillars of the Sect!