The Foundation of Martial Soul Hall

Chapter 32 The Foundation of Martial Soul Hall

Leaving the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Nan Feng and Yue Guan returned to the Martial Soul Temple.

"I only made a slight move, and Xue Ye handed over five million Gold Soul Coins..."

The more Nan Feng thought about it, the more something felt off.

It was too easy!

This was five million Gold Soul Coins!

That was enough capital to build a small sect!

There were no more than five powers on the entire continent that could produce that much money at once!

Yet, Xue Ye didn't even try to haggle!

He just gave it away!

"A slight move?" The corner of Yue Guan's eye twitched.

"You think this is called a slight move?"

You threatened the very survival of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family; you call that a slight move?

That five million from Xue Ye was life-protection money!

"But since he handed it over so easily, I keep feeling like I asked for too little," Nan Feng said.

"But this is five million Gold Soul Coins. That's plenty, isn't it?"

"Of course it's plenty!" Yue Guan looked speechless.

"Do you know how much the Heaven Dou Empire's annual tax revenue is?"

"How much?" Nan Feng asked, puzzled.

He really hadn't paid attention to such things.

"Less than ten million," Yue Guan said.

"Ten million?" Nan Feng frowned.

"So you're saying I only asked for about half a year's worth of his income?"

"I lost out!"

Yue Guan covered his face. This kid really had absolutely no common sense!

"Listen well, ten million is just a figure on the books. It's the total sum reported by the various kingdoms and duchies under the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. But of that ten million, over fifty percent is needed just to maintain the basic operations of the entire country. Another ten percent is used to subsidize low-level spirit masters and is handed over to the Martial Soul Hall—that's about one million annually. Only the remaining three million or so is what actually ends up in the national treasury," Yue Guan explained.

"And then, this three million-plus doesn't just support Xue Ye; it supports the entire Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Do you know how many people are in the Heaven Dou Imperial Family? Do you have any idea how much money it costs just to keep that palace running for a single day?"

"You robbed him of five million in one go; that's enough to make his heart ache for years! From here on out, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family is likely going to have to make massive cuts to their budget."

Nan Feng really had zero concept of money!

He talked about millions as if they were pocket change, yet even he, a Title Douluo, had a net worth of less than a million!

While spirit masters generally had high incomes, their expenses were equally high.

The only people on the entire continent who could talk about millions so casually were the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

As a spirit master faction that started out in business, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had relied on their formidable commercial prowess over the past millennium to amass nearly half of the continent's wealth!

Using the phrase "wealthy enough to rival a nation" to describe the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was actually an understatement!

Every spirit master faction on the continent, whether openly or in the shadows, had varying degrees of financial entanglements with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. They were able to rank second among the Upper Three Sects despite being a Support System sect, not just because of the two Title Douluos, Chen Xin and Gu Rong, but largely due to their terrifying network of interests!

This Support System sect never made enemies with anyone and always remained neutral, so no one treated them as an enemy. During the Elder Hall meetings, regarding the part of Martial Soul Hall's future plans involving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, most elders leaned toward winning them over. After all, the cost of winning over this sect was far lower than the cost of destroying them!

Even if they relied on the powerful spirit master forces of Martial Soul Hall to launch a direct attack on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's mountain gate, a centipede dies but never falls over.

The greatest strength of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect did not lie in direct confrontation, but in those unseen places.

If they truly fought this sect to the death, the price Martial Soul Hall would have to pay would be even greater than that of the Clear Sky Sect!

"Besides, money spent usually has a return on investment. The five million Xue Ye lost today is equivalent to money simply thrown away; it's completely different," Yue Guan said.

"Anyway, just settle down. Don't go looking for trouble lately. If you drive Xue Ye insane, it won't be good for anyone."

"Oh." Nan Feng nodded and walked away, carrying the little rabbit.

Yue Guan's eye twitched.

Oh?

Whenever Nan Feng used that interjection to answer a question, it meant the kid hadn't listened to a single word!

"You are Salas?"

"Reporting to the Elder, I am Salas."

A white-haired old man, looking to be in his sixties or seventies, stood opposite Nan Feng.

"Please, have a seat." Nan Feng was still quite amiable toward his colleague.

"Thank you, Elder." Salas breathed a sigh of relief.

He was truly intimidated by this favorite of the Pope Hall!

"What is your take on the situation in Heaven Dou City?" Nan Feng asked.

Salas was taken aback. "Which aspect is the Elder referring to?"

"The bunch of freeloaders in the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, of course," Nan Feng said.

"I went to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace today and discovered that the corruption in Martial Soul Hall is truly nothing compared to that of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family!"

A chill ran down Salas's back.

Nothing compared to them?

What did that mean? Was the new Pope planning to overhaul Martial Soul Hall upon taking office?

That couldn't be right, could it? Wasn't this exactly how Martial Soul Hall had grown so large and powerful?

Otherwise, why would spirit masters be bored enough to run to a hellhole like Martial Soul Hall, where merit wasn't always rewarded but mistakes were always punished?

Wasn't it because of the hidden perks of Martial Soul Hall?

Not to mention the two great empires, even the Seven Great Sects and the Eight Great Families didn't dare to easily clash head-on with Martial Soul Hall. Therefore, the local branches of Martial Soul Hall could generally be called local emperors.

They didn't even need to be corrupt themselves; people would consciously bring tributes to them.

Take him, for example. Every year, aside from his regular salary from Martial Soul Hall, the various tributes added up to nearly two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins—several times his actual salary!

If he were an elder in another sect, he would only have status within his own territory. But serving in Martial Soul Hall, having reached his level, where in the entire continent—outside of Martial Soul City and the headquarters of those major sects—could he go without being the center of attention?

Fame and fortune combined!

With all that, why wouldn't one join Martial Soul Hall?

But if Martial Soul Hall were to start some kind of clean governance campaign, that would be shooting itself in the foot!

"Rest assured, I understand how things work," Nan Feng said.

"I am not such an idiot as to expect the horse to run without feeding it grass."

Salas gave a dry laugh. "You flatter me, Elder."

Why were most civilian spirit masters willing to join Martial Soul Hall? Wasn't it to shed their original status and become superior to others?

Being superior to others depended not only on strength but also on status.

A rogue Spirit King compared to a Spirit King from the Martial Soul Hall—the former wouldn't even dare to let out a fart in front of the latter!

With status comes the need for dignity, and dignity requires wealth to maintain. Relying solely on that meager regular salary? What kind of dignity could you possibly have with that?

If the Martial Soul Hall were to cut off these hidden sources of income and force everyone to be incorruptible, wouldn't the middle and lower ranks of the Martial Soul Hall be filled with complaints and resentment?

Especially those grassroots Martial Soul Hall branches—no money, no benefits, nothing at all. Would anyone be stupid enough to scour the mountains and plains to awaken spirits for those tiny villages?

Awakening spirits, it is no exaggeration to say, is the very foundation of the Martial Soul Hall!

The Martial Soul Hall has reached its current level of influence precisely because it monopolized the great undertaking of spirit awakening—a task with low investment and high returns.

Even if only one person out of a hundred possesses spirit power and can become a Spirit Master, that is a political achievement! A massive profit!

Spirit Masters are human too; only a fool would do something without any benefits. These individuals with spirit power found across the mountains and plains are the political achievements of the grassroots Spirit Masters, and they are also the foundation of the Martial Soul Hall.

The Martial Soul Hall has the largest number of Spirit Masters on the entire continent precisely because they can absorb these people immediately after their spirits are awakened.

If the Martial Soul Hall were to run into trouble with this, it would be a major disaster.

(Note: In Douluo Dalu I, Spirit Masters are the elite of society. The continent has a population of at least a hundred million, yet the Martial Soul Hall statistics show fewer than one hundred thousand Spirit Masters. Even a Spirit Master at only level ten-something is considered a superior being; commoners and commoner Spirit Masters are two completely different concepts. All Spirit Masters are considered noble lords.

In contrast, Spirit Masters in Douluo Dalu II are so common they are practically everywhere. The most obvious changes:

Douluo Dalu I: The legendary Title Douluo!

Douluo Dalu II: Oh, it's a Title Douluo.

Douluo Dalu III: You're a Title Douluo, too?

Douluo Dalu IV: Tsk, merely a Title Douluo.)