Spirit City

"Uncle Lin, take this Inferno Demon Lion. We're heading back."

Beside the Inferno Demon Lion's body, Yan rubbed the Golden Flame Pearl with his fingers, feeling the fire energy within him grow more active and powerful. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he instructed Feng Lin to take the Inferno Demon Lion away.

Compared to ordinary beasts, soul beasts naturally contained abundant energy. Not to mention this nearly four-hundred-year-old Inferno Demon Lion—setting aside its soul ring and Golden Flame Pearl, its body alone was of immense value. Yan was still growing and needed the nourishment.

Feng Lin merely nodded at Yan's instructions. By now, he had fully settled into the role of a follower. He reached out and touched the Inferno Demon Lion's mane, and the enormous beast vanished from where it lay.

"A Soul Tool... I could find some time to study it."

Yan glanced at the wristband on Feng Lin's arm. It was a valuable storage Soul Tool with a space of roughly five cubic meters. It was probably Feng Lin's most valuable possession, spoils from when he had once hunted down an Evil Soul Master.

After the Inferno Demon Lion was stored away, Yan collected some more materials from the battlefield. Quite a few soul beasts had died in the melee, and they all counted as decent materials, enriching the database of his intelligent brain. The intelligent brain Dawn's deductions depended on real-world data, so routine data collection was quite important.

After Yan finished gathering the data and confirmed that nothing had been missed, he left with Feng Lin and Liya, who had finished clearing the battlefield. As the three figures departed, the Golden Lion Plains gradually became noisy once more. Tentative beast roars sounded from afar as soul beasts were once again drawn to this chaotic place by the scent of blood.

Spirit City was located at the border between the two great empires. It was a young city wholly belonging to Spirit Hall. In fact, half a year ago, this city had not even existed.

A year ago, a major event had occurred on the Douluo Continent. Qian Xunji, the then Pope of Spirit Hall, had been assassinated by Haotian Douluo Tang Hao, the newly appointed Haotian Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect. Pope Bibi Dong succeeded him, and the situation across the entire Douluo Continent underwent tremendous changes.

The new Pope, Bibi Dong, had been the disciple of the former Pope Qian Xunji. She had long been established as the Holy Daughter of Spirit Hall and the first successor to the papal throne. After the former Pope's death, she naturally and smoothly assumed the position.

Of course, some disturbances arose during this process. For example, Qian Daoliu, the former Judgment Elder of Spirit Hall and the former Pope's father, suddenly emerged, and his relationship with the current Pope did not seem particularly close.

These circumstances gave people plenty to speculate about. Certain measures taken by the new Pope after taking office also made such speculation easy—for instance... relocating the Papal Hall and building Spirit City.

The Papal Hall was one of Spirit Hall's most sacred main halls, a holy place revered by countless soul masters. Together with the Douluo Hall, Hall of Elders, Worship Hall, and other important main halls, it held a supreme status.

The original Papal Hall had stood alongside the Worship Hall, and the two were known as Spirit Hall's two most sacred halls. However, after the new Pope took office, she cited disrepair and announced the construction of Spirit City and a brand-new Papal Hall.

This new Papal Hall was said to be the grandest structure on the entire Douluo Continent. And because of the Papal Hall's presence, the young city of Spirit City had become extremely famous, faintly showing signs of becoming a holy land for soul masters.

"So this is Spirit City. It really is magnificent."

On the main road outside Spirit City, a convoy of carriages slowly came to a stop. Yan, seated in the second carriage, slowly lifted the curtain. Before him stood a majestic city. Even coming from the modern world, he could not help but marvel at it upon first seeing it.

Spirit City was not particularly large in area. It was naturally bigger than ordinary cities, but compared to some more famous cities, such as Silves City, the royal capital of the Silves Kingdom that Yan's group had passed through, Spirit City was much smaller.

However, while Spirit City covered less land, its city walls were far more imposing than those of ordinary large cities. The eighty-meter-high walls looked towering from the outside, and they were over thirty meters thick, entirely constructed from granite.

This also reflected just how powerful Spirit Hall had become. After all, this city had not existed before. It had been built entirely with Spirit Hall's funds, and in merely half a year or so, such a magnificent Spirit City had risen. It was truly unbelievable.

Unlike ordinary square cities, Spirit City was hexagonal. It had six walls, each bearing a massive relief sculpture symbolizing one of six powerful martial souls.

Yan looked upward and naturally spotted the figures patrolling atop the walls. Every one of them was a soul master, clad in armor specially made by Spirit Hall.

As a Soul King, Feng Lin had some small measure of influence within Spirit Hall. Yan's group quickly passed the inspection and entered the city without issue.

The first impression Spirit City gave was one of emptiness. There were few pedestrians on the streets and even fewer shops. Most of those shops sold items needed by soul masters. Along the way, Yan had not encountered a single non-soul master.

No one without Soul Power was permitted to enter this special city of Spirit Hall, not even nobles. This was a holy land belonging to soul masters.

The hexagonal Spirit City had been built around a hill, and two especially striking buildings stood upon it.

The building halfway up the hill was the grander of the two. Even from so far away, it could be seen clearly. It was the Papal Hall.

The Papal Hall was entirely supported by columns and topped with a dome. Its exterior was covered in golden material that gleamed brilliantly beneath the sunlight, exuding immense majesty.

The other building stood at the top of the hill. It was much smaller than the Papal Hall, only about one-third its size. Its structure was somewhat similar, but its exterior was a lustrous jade white, far less conspicuous than the Papal Hall.

This much smaller-looking building was also special. It was the highest-ranking existence within Spirit Hall: the Douluo Hall. Only deceased Titled Douluo could enter it. It could also be said to be the burial place of Titled Douluo.

The reason this newly built city of Spirit City possessed such a devout atmosphere was not because of the Papal Hall, but because of the Douluo Hall. No matter where the Papal Hall was built, the Douluo Hall would be built alongside it, and the Douluo Hall would always occupy a higher position than the Papal Hall.

During every grand memorial ceremony, the Pope would personally go to the entrance of the Douluo Hall to pay respects. Yet even the Pope had no right to enter the Douluo Hall before death. This was the rule, a rule no one could violate. Otherwise, they would face the collective attack of all soul masters.