When Chen Hong and Chen Xun returned to the great hall plaza, Ximen Rongcheng and the others also walked over.
"Uncle Hong, this battle can be considered near its end..." Ximen Rongcheng counted as being of Chen Xun's generation, but he was more than ten years older than Chen Xun. He was sixty-two this year, and judging by his age, he had a good chance of breaking through to Titled Douluo.
Chen Hong shook his head and said, "It depends on whether any rats have gotten out."
All of a sudden, the sound of wind and thunder, mingled with vast Soul Power, came from the foot of the mountain. Wherever it passed, rocks collapsed, trees were destroyed, and dust filled the sky.
"There really are some," Chen Xun said in surprise.
"That was inevitable. There will always be people who run for their own lives when the nest is overturned. This old man's soul skills are fairly powerful, but after all, the range was a little too large this time. For high-level soul masters, there were gaps to exploit. Judging by the situation, the commotion isn't small. Little Hong, who could this be?"
A group of people walked over from behind the mountain. The man in the lead was an old man with a full head of silver hair and a grizzled beard, yet his face was rosy and he looked brimming with vigor. It would not be excessive to describe his bearing as "paper spilling unrestrained wildness, rich ink flying free."
He wore black-and-white family robes printed with the pattern of the Heaven Suppressing Mysterious Tablet, full of a freehand ink-wash style. They were beautiful and elegant, outstanding and unconventional, revealing an identity that went without saying.
Heaven Suppressing Douluo, Fang Yuan!
Fang Yuan was renowned throughout Douluo Continent. He had inherited the family title "Heaven Suppressing," was nearly a hundred and twenty years old, and was a leading figure of the Fang Family.
On Douluo Continent, some major forces and top families all had one or two inherited titles. Or rather, forces with inherited titles were all long-standing powers possessing Top Martial Souls.
"Old bastard Fang, Uncle Changhao, it should be Yona Weiss. He's the only Soul Douluo from the Magic Sheep Sect whose whereabouts are unknown. But he can't run. Under Jingxue's arrows, no one can get away."
Chen Hong was already over ninety, so being called "Little Hong" still made him somewhat unhappy.
That old brat Fang Yuan had been a fool when he was young. Paired with Gui Changhao, one active and one still, they complemented each other perfectly. Even in old age, he was still an unreasonable rogue.
However, Chen Hong had never been afraid of Fang Yuan before, and he would not be polite in how he addressed him now.
Gui Changhao stood behind Fang Yuan. The hair at his temples had receded slightly, his brows were thick and black, his eyes shone with spirit, and his teeth were neat and faintly white. He stood quietly without speaking a word.
A height of two meters might not be considered especially towering, but if one had to use a single word to describe the person before them, then only "majestic" came to mind.
He was Fang Yuan's longtime partner, a peak rank-89 Soul Douluo.
He was no younger than Fang Yuan, but his appearance was much younger, looking only around fifty or sixty.
In truth, for the soul masters of their family, this age was equivalent to fifty or sixty for other soul masters, because their lifespans were twice as long as those of other soul masters.
At this moment, Gui Changhao's aura was steady, as profound and imposing as deep water and a towering mountain. In his hand, he carried a withered old corpse. Bartosz Weiss had died by his hand.
Previously, Fang Yuan had maintained the seal and would not act unless necessary. It was Gui Changhao who had acted alone and killed Bartosz Weiss, the most senior member of the Magic Sheep Sect.
Then, the people from the east and west also arrived.
"Senior Fang, Senior Gui, Senior Chen..."
Xue Tianming and Zhong Kui were nearly sixty, while Ma Zhibin and Long Wenkai were only just over fifty. They did not dare act rashly before these venerable elders, whether in terms of age, seniority, or strength.
"You're all here." Yang Jingxue walked over carrying a head. Her face was a little pale, and traces of blood could still be faintly seen at the corners of her mouth.
At the same time, an extremely special aura rose from within Yang Jingxue's body. It was both real and ethereal, like tiny specks of dust, yet also like the vast, boundless firmament, as though it could be touched with a casual reach.
"Jingxue, you're injured? Are you all right?" Chen Hong asked with concern.
"Brother Hong, I'm fine. It's not a big problem. I'll be fine after going back and entering seclusion for a few days," Yang Jingxue replied unconcernedly.
In this battle, she had contributed greatly, especially during the final one-on-one battle against the rank-88 Yona Weiss. After she shot the Wind Whirlwind Lightning Burial Flower Arrow, although she had not completely avoided the Magic Sheep Divine Light, her injuries were indeed not serious.
Although Yang Jingxue felt a little unwell, she was in an excellent mood.
The Magic Sheep Divine Light had entered her body, shaking her divine soul, and her illusory soul had floated out of her sea of consciousness. Added to the foundation of her past cultivation, amid that entanglement, she had comprehended will—and it was spatial will, extremely suited to archers.
"Congratulations. It seems the Yang Family will have another Titled Douluo before long!"
Congratulations rang endlessly from the crowd, their envy plain to see.
Achieving Titled Douluo not only brought a great increase in strength, but also lifespan, and it greatly elevated the family's power as well, giving them greater say.
Although everyone's aptitude, comprehension, and martial soul quality were all top-tier, who could say for sure when it came to achieving Titled Douluo?
There were plenty of people who had been stuck at the third threshold, the bottleneck of Titled Douluo, for decades. Wasn't Gui Changhao beside them one of those?
"This battle can be considered a complete success for us. I hope the subsequent changes in the situation will satisfy us," Chen Hong said with a nod.
"Incidents of this sort can happen once in a short period of time, but not twice..." Gui Changhao, who was usually a man of few words, suddenly added.
"In the short term, those restless forces will probably lower their flags and still their drums. Not every time is like what happened three hundred years ago. Even if there is trouble, if those major forces don't get involved, it won't be able to make any waves," Fang Yuan said, still rather confident on this point.
"The causes and consequences can't be concealed. The intelligence capabilities of the major forces are still very strong. Besides, if that doesn't work, they can buy it from Heaven Knows Pavilion. Heaven Knows Pavilion has quite a sharp nose," Yang Jingxue said softly.
"It couldn't be hidden to begin with, so don't hide it. Our strategy of hiding our strength and biding our time always has a limit," Ximen Rongcheng said, his metallic voice always sounding somewhat awkward.
Xue Tianming sighed. "Ah, as long as we don't admit it, that's fine. In any case, something like this happens every one or two hundred years. The forces that ought to be used to it are already used to it."
"The Seven Great Sects are still manageable. Over the past few centuries, there's been all sorts of turmoil, but it's more or less just been like that," Zhong Kui said, somewhat indifferent.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't count. As for the other six great sects, they couldn't do anything to us to begin with, and their relationship with us is tangled and complicated. The main issue is Spirit Hall!" Chen Hong said, glaring at Zhong Kui.
Zhong Kui shrank his neck. He had absolutely no temper before this venerable elder.
Ma Zhibin, standing to the side, called out in a high voice, "Spirit Hall can't do anything to us now either."
"Old bastard Fang, what do you think?" Chen Hong looked toward Fang Yuan.
"Although Spirit Hall suffered disastrous losses in the last calamity, even leaving only six or seven Titled Douluo, its foundation is extremely deep, its base of soul masters is enormous, and in terms of cultivation resources, it ranks first on the entire continent. Its speed of recovery far surpasses ours.
After all these years, even at an average of one every five years, the number of Titled Douluo should have recovered to more than fifteen by now.
"Besides, that old bastard Qian Chongling should still be alive, right?" Fang Yuan's tone changed from his usual one as he spoke solemnly.
Qian Chongling—the former "Iron-Blooded Pope," an obstacle the Soul Master World could not get around, an existence that could not be ignored, a rank-99 Peerless Douluo, and the one who had ended the last catastrophe.
Though he had also been badly wounded last time, fifty years had passed. If he had not died, his injuries should have healed no matter what.
By age, he was already over two hundred years old now, but for a Peerless Douluo, it truly could not be called the end of his lifespan.
Everyone fell silent for a while. Ma Zhibin could not help cursing, "An old man who refuses to die is a thief!"
Fang Yuan glanced sidelong at him, and Ma Zhibin hurriedly shut his mouth. Aside from Ximen Rongcheng, who outranked and outcultivated him, the person he feared most here was Fang Yuan.
When a little punk ran into an old thug, he never had any way out, and could only suffer in silence.
That was right—Ma Zhibin was also one of the deputy commanders of the Soul Fighting Legion. The Soul Fighting Legion Commander structure had one chief and six deputies. Five had come for this mountain assault: Ximen Rongcheng, Ma Zhibin, Zhong Kui, Cheng Nanxing, and Qu Yixiang.
"I'm saying, even though Spirit Hall has great numbers and power, they have many places to keep an eye on, and their missions are heavy too. Their casualties every year aren't small either. They're not like us, with only Soul Fighting City to worry about; at most we do some business and keep our heads down, and that's enough. With so many forces across the continent, they can't take care of them all." Long Wenkai spoke steadily, his accent showing.
"With the agreement in place, it's not like we'll actually fight anyway. We've never counted as their opponent, right?" Zhong Kui added.
Chen Hong picked up the thread. "What do you know? In terms of low- and mid-level soul masters, we can't compare to them anymore. Though our high-level soul masters are quite a bit worse than theirs, they're still enough. The main issue is the number of Titled Douluo. This time, Jing Xue comprehending willpower is also a happy occasion."
As the Chen Clan's Iron Courage Alliance, the Yang Family's generation was about to produce a Titled Douluo, and Chen Hong was naturally glad to see it happen, his joy showing on his face.
"Old friend, when are you breaking through?" Fang Yuan asked Gui Changhao. If Gui Changhao broke through to Titled Douluo, the power of the two of them joining forces would increase severalfold.
"No rush!" Gui Changhao replied slowly.
He truly was in no rush. Compared to others' optimal breakthrough age limit of eighty, because of his martial soul, his chances of breaking through were still very high. More haste, less speed; the people of his family had always been very patient.
Moreover, his strength and defense even surpassed Fang Yuan and Chen Hong's. In other words, he effectively possessed Titled Battle Power.
Like Chen Hong, he was balanced in offense and defense, simultaneously possessing both Power Attack Type and Defense Type traits. He belonged to the Strong Defense Type of soul master.
If their battle power ratio were quantified, Chen Hong was six offense and four defense, while he was four offense and six defense.
"What about the other neutral organizations and Industry Guilds?" Ma Zhibin chimed in cleverly.
"I'd guess they'll clap and cheer. They can't wait for someone to stir up a little trouble." Xue Tianming gave him a wicked grin.
"Lao Xue, if you use that expression again, watch out or I'll beat you up." Ma Zhibin disliked that expression of his most of all.
Fang Yuan could not be bothered with this guy and began asking with concern, "How are our casualties this time?"
This time, he and Chen Hong had led the operation, so they would have to give an account after they returned.
"We're still counting. From the looks of it, not counting light injuries, there are more than twenty severely wounded. Aside from a very few brothers who lost limbs, the others should all be curable. In addition, the dead number only a dozen or so." Cheng Nanxing, at the side, responded.
He had been arranging the corresponding matters the whole time just now—statistics, headcounts, and so on.
Generally, these matters were handled by him, with his steady and calm personality. In Blue Star terms, he should be the executive deputy legion commander.
After all, the Magic Sheep Sect was a top-tier medium-sized sect. If they fought to the death, they could more or less drag some people down with them.
"There shouldn't be any accidents elsewhere, right, Yixiang?" Fang Yuan continued asking.
"There shouldn't be any problem. Over the past month, we'd already figured out the Magic Sheep Sect's basic personnel movements. In Yi Er City and Avant-Garde Town, with the strength of two squadrons from the Second Battalion, the seal from Old Fang's family, and Dean Chen Menglin leading them, taking them down shouldn't be a big problem. As for the others out of town, we also assigned people specifically to deal with them." Qu Yixiang was full of confidence. As the former captain of the Second Battalion, he still had that much confidence.
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