Alternative House Arrest
The Eighth Elder and the Divine Craftsman Lou Gao were facing off in the reception room when a servant suddenly knocked on the door and came in to announce that a great figure from the Star Crown Sect had arrived and was waiting in the front hall.
Upon hearing this, the Eighth Elder was overjoyed. As he had written in his letter, he requested the sect to send someone capable of making a decision. This time, the person who came was at least a Titled Douluo.
"Lou Gao craftsman, please."
"I'm not afraid of you."
The Eighth Elder led Lou Gao to the front hall. Even though he was prepared, he was still stunned when he saw Xu Mingxi and Xu Mingguang sitting there. Was this lineup giving Lou Gao and Gengxin City too much credit?
These two are the future Sect Master and First Elder of the Star Crown Sect, definitely Super Douluo, while Lou Gao is just a Soul Saint. If it weren't for his slight fear of Lou Gao's prestige, I could have chopped him up.
Due to the threat posed by Qian Daoliu, the Star Crown Sect is currently unable to openly participate in the conflicts on the continent.
Lou Gao and Gengxin City are the largest weapons manufacturers on the Douluo Continent. Killing them would be easy, but if it attracts the attention of the Spirit Hall, it would be a loss.
Moreover, Gengxin City is quite powerful. If the Eighth Elder were to kill Lou Gao here, they might not be able to escape the encirclement.
"You two are from the Star Crown Sect..."
Lou Gao initially thought the two Mask, who appeared to be quite young, were some kind of titled figures from the Star Crown Sect, until he was overwhelmed by the oppressive aura unique to Titled Douluo and slumped into a chair, unable to speak.
Titled Douluo! Is it the Star Crown Sect Master? No, the age doesn't match, and the hair isn't Dugu Bo's. Who are they?
As the oppressive aura dissipated, Lou Gao looked at Xu Mingxi and the other person in terror, sitting blankly in his chair, his body trembling slightly, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"Master craftsman Lou Gao, now we can have a proper discussion about the rare metals business, shall we?"
"Yes, of course I can. How could I not?" Lou Gao, whose life was in someone else's hands, temporarily put aside his obsession with rare metals and nodded to Xu Mingxi.
However, he was still somewhat curious: were some rare metals worth Star Crown Sect exposing Titled Douluo they had kept hidden for so long?
"Master craftsman Lou Gao, besides manufacturing weapons and selling rare metals to various forces every year, your Gengxin City must have a considerable stockpile of rare metals, right? My Star Crown Sect wants them all."
"Impossible!" Lou Gao was about to shout when he suddenly realized that the two people in front of him were not the apprentices he could scold at will.
Forcing himself to calm down, Lou Gao finally regained his composure, but he couldn't suppress his curiosity.
There's only one possibility for the Star Crown Sect to be buying up large quantities of rare metals, but if they're not using the metals to forge weapons in Gengxin City, he's never heard of the Star Crown Sect being skilled in forging.
"Your Majesty, I can do my best to collect rare metals from the members of the Blacksmiths' Association, but I would like to know what you intend to do with them."
"Master craftsman Lou Gao, do you really want to know?"
As the Titled Douluo drew closer, and hearing his sinister voice, Lou Gao swallowed hard, feeling as if he had suddenly fallen into an unfathomable vortex.
Two months later, Lou Gao, the president of the Blacksmiths' Association who had collected a large amount of rare metals and claimed to be in seclusion to forge unparalleled equipment, disappeared from the weapon-forging room along with his favorite apprentice Si Long. All the rare metals also vanished without a trace.
The news caused a huge uproar on the mainland. The head of the largest arms manufacturer had mysteriously disappeared. This was serious.
The Soul Master were abuzz with discussion, but the leaders of the various forces turned their attention to the Spirit Hall, as if only they had the strength and the reason to take Lou Gao away from the heart of Gengxin City.
Lou Gao, who was being talked about by everyone, had already boarded a carriage heading to the Star Crown Sect with his disciple Si Long. In his hand was the blueprint for a level-two Soul Tool Xu Mingxi had shown him before, and his eyes were filled with fanaticism.
Back then, he only glanced at it when Xu Mingxi took it out, and he was certain that the Soul Tool would definitely cause a change in the Douluo Continent. He immediately agreed to go to the Star Crown Sect, even though he knew that he would most likely be placed under house arrest there.
However, he no longer wanted to think about these things. Now he only wanted to know how many of these Soul Tool blueprints the Star Crown Sect had obtained, and what level the highest-level blueprint had reached.
The driver in front was none other than the Eighth Elder, who was in charge of procuring rare metals. Having successfully completed his mission, he was vigilantly watching his surroundings, both out of concern for being attacked and to prevent Lou Gao and Si Long from escaping.
However, these matters were not Xu Mingxi's concern for the time being. After meeting Lou Gao, he and Xu Mingguang, following the location of the 150,000-year-old Void Demonic Leopard discovered by the Star Crown Sect, once again entered the Star Dou Great Forest.
This place is so familiar that even a powerful Soul Master wouldn't be considered strong without taking advantage of the situation. Xu Mingxi and his companion were already well-acquainted with the place and easily dismissed the Soul Beast that rushed up to them. They arrived at the spot where the Void Demonic Leopard had appeared.
This is the core area of Star Dou Great Forest. Even Xu Mingxi wouldn't dare to act recklessly here. If he were to disturb the Ferocious Beast deep inside that are absorbing the energy of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, things would be disastrous.
"Brother Mingguang, the Void Demonic Leopard is incredibly fast. This one is over 100,000 years old and might even have learned to use spatial energy. You must be careful from now on."
"Don't worry, my eighth Soul Ring is 100,000 Year Soul Ring. Even if I can't beat it, I can still hold out for a while."
The two searched the area carefully for many days, but found nothing. Just when Xu Mingxi thought that the Void Demonic Leopard had also gone to participate in the feast of dividing up the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, a slight noise suddenly came from afar.
He quickly grabbed Xu Mingguang, who was still unaware of the commotion, and jumped onto a tree trunk to hide, staring intently at the direction from which the commotion was coming from.
Trees in the forest were falling down and bushes were being trampled flat. A huge creature, standing on four legs, with a spiral horn, a silver body, and scales that shimmered in the sunlight, suddenly pushed aside the trees beside it and swaggered out.
"This is... Silver Scale Beast? Brother Mingguang, can you tell how old this Soul Beast is?"
"Look at its spiral horn, it's at least a dozen inches long. This is a Silver Scale Beast that's over 100,000 years old."
"Can it be your Ninth Soul Ring? Isn't the age limit too high?"
After thinking for a moment, Xu Mingguang decided to hunt down the Silver Scale Beast. He didn't know how long it would take to find the Void Demonic Leopard again.
Moreover, if he remembered correctly, the Silver Scale Beast could reflect mesmerizing light using the scales on its body. If he could obtain this Soul Skill, it would be a tremendous boost to his abilities.