Yan was violently sent flying backwards several meters, spitting out a mouthful of blood, a bright, swollen red handprint clearly visible on his cheek.
A moment later, Yan stumbled awkwardly to his feet, looking up at the indifferent Chrysanthemum Douluo with a clear hint of deep resentment in his eyes, and demanded, "Elder Chrysanthemum, why did you hit me?!"
"You're completely nothing but a lowly prisoner. Do I really need a reason to hit you?"
Chrysanthemum Douluo openly sneered, his eyes filled with absolute contempt.
He truly hadn't expected this arrogant kid to have fallen to such a pathetic state, still completely failing to recognize his desperate situation, and actually foolishly trying to curry favor with him.
Hearing this blunt truth, Yan's face turned completely ashen. He had naively thought the two powerful elders would fondly remember their past working relationship and eagerly plead with Lin Mu on their behalf, or perhaps even secretly take them out of this prison.
But now it seemed painfully obvious the two elders had already fully submitted to Lin Mu and were utterly, entirely incapable of helping them escape.
"Grandpa Chrysanthemum, Grandpa Ghost, if you came here to try and formally persuade me to betray my beloved teacher, then there's absolutely no need to say any more. I'd honestly rather die right here than ever agree."
Even when directly facing her former, respected elders, Hu Liena remained completely steadfast in her stubborn stance.
Since she had completely failed to catch Lin Mu's eye, there was absolutely no reason or need for her to humiliatingly submit, much less violently betray her teacher who had carefully nurtured her for so many years.
In any case, her precious cultivation had already been permanently abolished. Joining the Heaven Dou Empire would at absolute best mean quietly living the mundane life of an ordinary person.
With her stunning, rare beauty and highly graceful figure, without sufficient personal strength or a powerful, protective backing, her ultimate fate would definitely be far from good in an active war camp. It was honestly better to just end it all now.
Seeing Hu Liena's surprisingly resolute attitude, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo quickly exchanged a meaningful glance.
A moment later, Chrysanthemum Douluo stepped forward, looking down at Hu Liena with unusually gentle eyes, and said softly, "Nana, Old Ghost and I have always treated you like our own daughter, like our own precious granddaughter."
Unlike his freezing cold, violent attitude towards Yan, Chrysanthemum Douluo not only completely refrained from any violence towards Hu Liena but also spoke to her exceptionally softly.
In the vast, sprawling organization of Spirit Hall, besides Ghost Douluo who was always silently by his side, Chrysanthemum Douluo only ever showed a genuine sliver of warmth towards Hu Liena.
It was precisely because of this lingering affection that he desperately didn't want Hu Liena to continue stubbornly down the completely wrong path.
Looking up at Grandpa Chrysanthemum, who was acting as kind as ever, Hu Liena's tense guard lessened somewhat.
But thinking of her devoted teacher who had dedicated so much time and resources to nurturing her, she still firmly, stubbornly shook her head.
Seeing this refusal, Chrysanthemum Douluo frowned slightly and earnestly advised, "Nana, we're all truly doing this for your own good. We genuinely hope you can finally see the absolute error of your ways."
"As long as you publicly betray Bibi Dong, I can safely take you back to the Wuji Sect. When the Sect Master officially becomes a god in the future, perhaps you can even miraculously regain your original cultivation. At least there's some actual hope there, isn't there?"
Hearing this incredible possibility, a sudden flicker of intense interest flashed brightly in Hu Liena's dull eyes.
Besides her, Xie Yue and Yan also had their eyes shining with desperate hope, wishing they could immediately agree on Hu Liena's behalf.
As completely crippled people whose lifelong cultivation had been abruptly abolished, absolutely nothing was more incredibly tempting than the prospect of miraculously regaining it.
Seeing Hu Liena's clear hesitation, Chrysanthemum Douluo suddenly asked a probing question, solemnly saying, "Nana, do you honestly know exactly why we betrayed Bibi Dong?"
Hearing this question, Hu Liena looked up at Chrysanthemum Douluo in genuine astonishment.
Could there actually be some hidden, valid reason?
Before Hu Liena could ask, Chrysanthemum Douluo coldly continued, "Long before the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament even began, Old Ghost and I had already secretly pledged our absolute allegiance to the Sect Master."
"There's exactly only one simple reason: Bibi Dong absolutely doesn't treat us like human beings at all. The Sect Master is the absolute only one who truly cares about our well-being."
"Looking back over the years, Old Ghost and I did a massive amount of incredibly dirty work entirely for Bibi Dong, but we absolutely never received any substantial, meaningful rewards, just completely useless gold soul coins."
"That's absolutely not all; Bibi Dong actually arrogantly allowed that completely useless good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang to constantly run wild right in front of us! It's an utter, unforgivable disgrace!"
"Yu Xiaogang is literally just a pathetic, Level 29 piece of trash, yet Bibi Dong inexplicably promoted him to the prestigious rank of Elder, practically making the two of us his personal assistants. It's blindingly clear that Bibi Dong has absolutely never truly trusted us."
These harsh words contained the massive, suppressed resentment that Chrysanthemum Douluo had bitterly harbored for many long years.
He had worked incredibly tirelessly and loyally for Bibi Dong, yet he was apparently considered no match for a completely useless piece of trash.
Fortunately, he and Old Ghost were incredibly lucky enough to encounter their true master during a dangerous mission.
Lin Mu happened to desperately need their specific help and strategically planned to use their powerful Bipolar Static Domain to successfully hunt for a powerful soul ring, generously promising each of them a valuable bottle of pills afterward.
Although the immediate effects of these specific pills weren't particularly noticeable right away, only effectively offsetting a few months of tedious cultivation, they were still a truly great deal compared to the completely useless gold soul coins.
Furthermore, the slowly accumulated, long-term effects of these high-quality pills allowed their stagnant cultivation to begin improving rapidly.
Especially the incredibly rare pill carefully made from the immortal herb, which not only magically enabled him and Old Ghost to finally break through the bottleneck to Level 96 but also successfully awakened his dormant innate domain, significantly, permanently boosting his overall strength.
"There's actually this much of a hidden reason?"
Hu Liena was genuinely startled. She had absolutely never heard her teacher mention any of this before, naively assuming Lin Mu had just heavily bribed them with an impossible reward, but it turned out her teacher had deeply owed them something all along.
However, she still stubbornly persisted, saying weakly, "Grandpa Chrysanthemum, this was all probably entirely unintentional on Teacher's part."
"How utterly, ridiculously absurd! I've painstakingly, bloodily cultivated my entire life to successfully become a Titled Douluo, and I've loyally served Bibi Dong for many long years, yet I haven't even ever received a single, solitary soul bone, and I've even actively given away several priceless medicinal herbs to her cause."
"This massive disrespect is considered 'unintentional'?!"
At this tense point, Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes gradually turned fully hostile, seemingly correctly indicating that Hu Liena had been deeply, perhaps permanently, poisoned by Bibi Dong's manipulative influence.
Hearing this harsh truth, Hu Liena was completely and utterly speechless.
After a long moment, Chrysanthemum Douluo sneered loudly, openly mocking, "For an allegedly powerful woman like Bibi Dong to inexplicably take such a strong liking to a pathetic piece of trash like Yu Xiaogang, she must honestly be completely out of her mind. It's absolutely no wonder she's been so completely ruined like this."
"Teacher absolutely isn't like that!" Hu Liena desperately retorted protectively.
Chrysanthemum Douluo merely glanced at her perfectly calmly, saying highly meaningfully, "You might not actually know this dark secret, but Bibi Dong actually has a biological daughter. The only real reason she's been so incredibly devoted to raising you all these years is simply to desperately try and fill the massive, gaping void in her own heart."
Upon hearing this shocking revelation, Hu Liena was completely stunned.
"In the very end, the absolute only person Bibi Dong truly, deeply cares about is Yu Xiaogang. If Yu Xiaogang were the one captured here right now, Bibi Dong would definitely enthusiastically spare absolutely no effort or cost to rescue him."
These brutally honest words completely, violently shattered Hu Liena's remaining mental defenses.
Although it sounded incredibly cruel to hear, she absolutely couldn't find a single, logical excuse to refute it.
After all, Yu Xiaogang had surprisingly held a very high, respected position in Spirit Hall at the time, even officially serving as the lead tactical commander of the elite Spirit Hall battle team.
"Nana, we have all already paid an incredibly heavy, personal price, which can easily be considered as fully repaying Her Majesty the Empress's past kindness. Moreover, Her Majesty the Empress has already explicitly abandoned us here. We really should just think about ourselves now."
Xie Yue also gently advised her, which could be accurately considered as actively seeking a viable way out for her.
After pondering silently for a very long time, Hu Liena finally, reluctantly made up her mind. She slowly looked up at Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo and said quietly, "Grandpa Chrysanthemum, Grandpa Ghost, I am formally willing to join the Heaven Dou Empire's camp."
At this desperate point, if she stubbornly insisted any longer, she would probably only have a gruesome death as her absolute only option.
However, after carefully listening to Grandpa Chrysanthemum's brutally honest words, her former stance was absolutely no longer as blindly firm as before. She simply didn't want to die such an incredibly unworthy, meaningless death.