Douluo: In an extraordinary world, with unparallel understanding!

Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:

patreon.com/ZeroMoney

I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated. 

******

"Why do you think we cannot defeat them?" Veina asked in response.

Xu Jiujiu, you truly know nothing about the strength of the Body Sect.

Veina was fully confident in her team's strength, having a clear understanding of the Body Sect's lineup.

While she was unaware of Huo Yuhao's ultimate Ice, she was certain that the Red Dust siblings' Soul Emperor-level cultivation was no problem, and they also possessed a martial soul fusion technique.

Even so, she remained completely confident.

The true power of Long Aotian was something only his fiancée, Veina, could truly understand.

It was an absolute confidence.

Of course, this was also a reflection of Veina's own self-assurance.

As a twin martial soul user, with one being healing and the other control, her brain-based martial soul had undergone a second awakening at the Silver level.

These various factors gave her an overwhelming sense of superiority compared to ordinary soul masters.

Moreover, being born into royalty and engaged to Long Aotian, the young master of the Body Sect, she had received the most intense training.

Her brain martial soul might even surpass Long Aotian's skin martial soul in strength.

After reaching the 50th level with her primary martial soul and successfully absorbing her first 10,000-year soul ring, she began focusing on cultivating her secondary martial soul. Currently, her secondary martial soul had already absorbed six soul rings, all at the 10,000-year level. Among them, two were over 50,000 years old, and three were between 30,000 to 50,000 years.

This configuration was the source of Veina's confidence.

Once she had absorbed the 10,000-year soul rings, her secondary martial soul became her primary focus.

Upon reaching the rank of Titled Douluo, she would begin cultivating her original first martial soul again, adding soul rings that would surpass the strength of her secondary martial soul.

This, she believed, was the most optimal cultivation order for a twin martial soul user.

It was the best way to balance the strength between her two martial souls without using rare treasures to improve her martial soul's potential or physical constitution.

Not only did this strategy make the best use of her secondary martial soul, but it also ensured the total quality and soul ring age of both martial souls were as balanced as possible.

Of course, all of this was still hypothetical.

Before anything else, her greatest task was to ensure she could reach that point.

Otherwise, if the empire fell and the Body Sect was destroyed, no matter how talented she was, she would never be able to complete the twin martial soul cultivation she had envisioned.

This upcoming competition was crucial for Veina.

"What?"

Veina clearly hadn't anticipated Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice.

"Are you saying Huo Yuhao possesses Ultimate Ice... and that he also has twin martial souls, training both simultaneously?"

If that were the case, her advantage would be significantly reduced.

Even though there might be some differences in the age of their soul rings, the gap wouldn't be too large.

Especially since Huo Yuhao might very well possess a Battle Armor.

A Battle Armor made from a Level 5 soul tool could elevate a Soul King to the peak of a Soul Emperor, or even slightly beyond. While a Soul Emperor wouldn't be able to reach the peak of a Soul Sage with it, it could easily elevate them to the entry-level Soul Sage rank, without reaching the true martial soul embodiment level.

Add to that the attributes of Ultimate Ice.

While she couldn't claim to challenge a Titled Douluo, especially without a true martial soul embodiment, a Soul Douluo would definitely be within reach.

Veina's chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, and her brow furrowed deeply.

Just a moment ago, she had been completely calm, but Huo Yuhao's abilities had thrown her off balance.

"You people from the Star Luo Empire actually managed to slip into the Sun Moon Empire?" Veina said with a tone that conveyed both frustration and disbelief.

Xu Jiujiu felt helpless in response. She gave a bitter smile and said, "We didn't even know about Huo Yuhao's existence before this competition. Not even Shrek was aware of his talents."

It turned out that Huo Yuhao and Duke Baihu were bitter enemies, and it was a deadly feud!

Given this, Xu Jiujiu wasn't even sure whether, had they known about Huo Yuhao earlier, they could have kept this genius in the Star Luo Empire.

Perhaps, the more likely scenario would have been to eliminate him instead.

After all, Duke Baihu was of greater importance to the Star Luo Empire.

From this perspective, Huo Yuhao's move to the Sun Moon Empire actually seemed quite logical.

Receiving this new information about Huo Yuhao, Veina's confidence began to waver.

Facing a single Su Yu wouldn't have been a problem, but with Huo Yuhao added into the mix, she had no choice but to proceed cautiously.

"What are you planning to do?" she asked.

"..."

During the day, they participated in the Soul Fighting Tournament, and at night, Su Yu and Huo Yuhao would head to the black market for the Soul Master Tournament.

After a few days of investigation, Su Yu had pinpointed a target.

Gao Dalou.

He carried a family heirloom, the ranking-engraving knife, the Blood Condensation Engraving Knife.

Gao Dalou's Soul Master techniques were all self-taught. Although he had a father who was a Soul Master, who had begun teaching him, his father had passed away right after reaching the third-level Soul Master rank.

But the miserly nature ingrained in his bloodline had led his father to hide all their wealth in a storage soul tool. After his father's death, the soul tool was looted, and even his father's internal organs were taken out.

Although Gao Dalou was a Soul Master, he lived in a pitiable state. His frail appearance was in stark contrast to his imposing name.

There was no other choice for him; as a miser, he couldn't even bear to sell the soul tools he made.

Although Su Yu had known about this person for a while, he couldn't help but feel exasperated.

Gao Dalou was truly impoverished.

He had practically brought shame to the Soul Master profession.

However, the fact that he had managed to reach the fifth-level Soul Master by working odd jobs and cultivating his abilities on his own showed that he had some talent.

Moreover, Gao Dalou was skilled with a knife—his engraving technique for core formation arrays was steady and precise.

After finishing his match, Su Yu quietly waited for Gao Dalou to emerge from the Xishui League's arena.

"Gao Dalou."

"Who are you?" Gao Dalou asked warily, eyeing Su Yu.

He was poor and didn't have anything valuable to steal.

If there was anything worth anything on him, it was probably just the Blood Condensation Engraving Knife.

Of course, his apparent poverty was only surface-level. Over the years, the soul tools he had crafted on his own were plentiful.

The issue was that he couldn't bring himself to sell them to improve his life.

Even selling his soul tools to purchase rare metals and enhance his soul tool crafting skills was something he couldn't bring himself to do.

"I'd like to talk to you, if you have the time?" Su Yu asked.

Gao Dalou wasn't keen on speaking to him.

After all, it seemed suspicious for a complete stranger to ask for a private conversation. And he knew that he might have something the stranger would want.

"Go! Go, go, go!"

But as he felt the terrifying aura surrounding Su Yu, Gao Dalou immediately changed his mind and didn't dare to utter the words "get lost."

My god, he must be at least a Soul Sage, right?

Feeling the immense pressure from Su Yu's mental and soul power, Gao Dalou was horrified.

What truly terrified him was Su Yu's complete mastery over his strength. The others around him couldn't feel a single trace of energy emanating from Su Yu.

No, it wasn't that they couldn't feel it; it was that there was none.

Apart from intimidating Gao Dalou, no energy leaked out.

Gao Dalou was miserly, but he was also afraid of death.

"Friend, if you have a purpose, just tell me, so I can die quickly and painlessly."

"Who's trying to kill you?"

Su Yu led Gao Dalou to a secluded corner, silently listening to his melodramatic tone. It was a bit ridiculous.

"I'm here representing the Sun-Moon Hall. I'd like to invite you to join us. What do you think?"

"What?"

Gao Dalou was instantly excited.

A Soul Master from Sun-Moon Hall? Inviting him?

"You're from Sun-Moon Hall?" He asked again to confirm.

Su Yu nodded, looking at Gao Dalou.

"Can Sun-Moon Hall provide me with rare metals to enhance my soul tools?"

"Of course."

Gao Dalou thought for a moment, then, gritting his teeth, asked, "If I make soul tools, will they be considered my personal property?"

Su Yu silently stared at him without responding.

As he met Su Yu's gaze, Gao Dalou began to feel increasingly guilty.

He knew that his request was somewhat unreasonable.

Although he recognized it was excessive, the miserly blood in his veins was hard to overcome.

Under Su Yu's steady gaze, he finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to follow his heart. Overcoming his greedy nature under the threat of death, he chose to submit.

"Fine, I'll join Sun-Moon Hall."

"After joining Sun-Moon Hall, both the soul tool techniques and rare metals are priced openly. Everything follows Sun-Moon Hall's rules, of course, and the evaluation standards must also adhere to Sun-Moon Hall's criteria."

With that, Su Yu and Huo Yuhao took Gao Dalou back to Sun-Moon Hall.

"Blood Condensation Engraving Knife?" As she looked at Gao Dalou, Jing Hongchen's mind recalled a familiar face.

"Is your father Gao Facai?"

"Uh…" Gao Dalou seemed embarrassed. He cautiously glanced at Jing Hongchen and awkwardly replied, "That was a former alias of my father. His real name is Gao Qian."

Making money?

Wasn't that essentially the same thing?

"Your father was also an eighth-level Soul Master back then. While he may not have met Sun-Moon Hall's standards, being able to reach eighth-level on his own was no small feat," Jing Hongchen remarked.

Clearly, she was familiar with Gao Qian. After all, he was the owner of the Blood Condensation Engraving Knife.

Moreover, Gao Qian was extremely miserly, but he was willing to spend money on expensive pills for himself. His training was self-taught. At the time, he had only reached Soul Emperor level, but he managed to craft an eighth-level soul tool through clever methods and sheer persistence.

To be able to make an eighth-level soul tool with just Soul Emperor-level energy showed how extraordinary his talent was.

Su Yu was also surprised; he hadn't expected Gao Dalou's father to possess this kind of talent.

However, according to Jing Hongchen, Gao Qian had spent many years struggling before finally crafting an eighth-level soul tool. It wasn't until later in his life that he managed to craft one by advancing beyond his level.

As for Su Yu, even without the aid of a Battle Armor, he believed that after ten or more years of effort, he could easily craft an eighth-level soul tool at the Soul Emperor level. So, it wasn't too shocking to him.

It seemed that the Gao family had quite a bit of talent when it came to soul tools.

"A fifth-level Soul Master already meets Sun-Moon Hall's threshold. You can join Sun-Moon Hall and receive the standard benefits for Soul Masters. Someone will introduce you later."

Jing Hongchen's words were clear and to the point.

"Don't think about slacking off. If you stop progressing, your soul tool crafting skills will stagnate. If you want money, then you need to improve your soul tools."

"I can tell you this—an eighth-level soul tool is worth far more than a sixth- or seventh-level one. A ninth-level soul tool is worth several times more than an eighth-level one. Similarly, using the same rare metals to craft a ninth-level soul tool is worth more than crafting two eighth-level ones combined."

As expected of the Hall Master, Jing Hongchen clearly outlined the situation with just a few sentences, hitting the core of Gao Dalou's concerns.

Sun-Moon Hall would give him the opportunity to improve his skills, but he would need to follow all the rules that came with being a Soul Master in the Hall.

As for whether Gao Dalou would be able to endure the effort of crafting soul tools and hand them over to Sun-Moon Hall for their enhancement, that was entirely up to him.

His current resources, if used to craft higher-level soul tools, would significantly increase their value. His lack of skill was a waste of those assets.

"..."

It was an effective, straightforward approach.

"Alright, you can leave now," Jing Hongchen said, waving him off. She turned to Su Yu and asked, "Xiao Yu, have you figured out the problem with the Xishui League?"

Su Yu nodded.

Seeing Su Yu confirm, Jing Hongchen understood the purpose of his participation in the Soul Master Tournament.

"What are you hoping to achieve?"

Xishui League, the stronghold of the Evil Soul Masters.

While it may not be their headquarters, it is definitely an important branch.

"These three black markets should never have existed."

This was a den of iniquity.

Of course, Su Yu's primary goal was to uncover the forces behind them.

First, eliminate the tumors, and then after Xu Tianran's death, the reforms will proceed more smoothly.

Jing Hongchen could sense Su Yu's determination and did not try to dissuade him.

Although she didn't understand why Su Yu was so fixated on reform, it was undeniably a good thing for the Sun Moon Empire, so there was no need to stop him.

As long as he could handle the pressure, there was no reason to interfere.

Su Yu did not hesitate to make his intentions clear to Jing Hongchen.

Unification, reform, spreading faith.

This was closely tied to his future cultivation, and he couldn't afford to be careless. Su Yu had no tolerance for failure in this area.

He would be the founder of the rune system.

He would be the founder of the martial arts techniques.

He would be the founder of Battle Armor.

He would be the ancestor of the Blood Qi Martial Way.

He would be the creator of the Soul Spirit method.

He wanted it all!

And all of this relied on creating a harmonious and prosperous environment.

At the very least, he needed more people to focus on his achievements in order to build a purer and more immense faith.

Otherwise, if everyone was constantly in fear, who would take the time to appreciate the effectiveness of his techniques or the greatness of their creator?

"Xu Tianran invited a wolf into the house. I fear that, in the end, he'll have good intentions but lack the strength to eradicate the Evil Soul Masters. I was going to avoid this issue, but since you intend to act against the black market, it wouldn't hurt for us to intervene. At least, if Xu Tianran fails, he'll still be able to control the situation," Jing Hongchen said.

After wrapping up the discussion about the Xishui League, Su Yu requested an item from Jing Hongchen.

"A branch from the Golden Ancient Tree?"

Jing Hongchen was curious about Su Yu's purpose for this item.

It must be said that a branch fallen from the main trunk of the Golden Ancient Tree had many uses.

Not only could it gather the essence of heaven and earth, but it also accelerated the efficiency with which Soul Masters absorbed this essence.

---

(End of Chapter)