Fortune Smiles

Fortune Smiles

"Honestly, what are you planning to do with that mother and daughter?"

Back in Pope Hall, Bibi Dong had returned to her work. As the Pope's personal secretary, Nan Feng had naturally come along.

"For now, I'll keep them here." Nan Feng was sprawled on the sofa, flipping through a comic book.

"My great undertaking isn't just for humanity. It's for Soul Beasts, too."

"The flames of revolution will eventually sweep across the entire world, not remain confined to a tiny place like Douluo Continent."

Bibi Dong's eye twitched. "You're not seriously planning to talk Soul Beasts into joining you, are you?"

"I should warn you: Soul Beasts younger than ten thousand years old basically have no brains. Except for a few special kinds, they don't gain even a little intelligence until they're at least fifty thousand years old—and even then, only by Soul Beast standards."

"Only after they truly break through the 100,000-year threshold and undergo the baptism of a heavenly tribulation, gaining that trace of divinity, do they become truly intelligent, with minds no less capable than humans'."

"In other words, communicating with any Soul Beast other than a 100,000-Year Soul Beast would be a problem, let alone talking one into anything."

Nan Feng sat up. "Just because I can't communicate with them doesn't mean Soul Beasts can't communicate with each other. Otherwise, why do you think I wanted to keep those two?"

"That mother and daughter know the Forest King, Titan Giant Ape, and the Sky Azure Bull Python, and they're on very close terms. Through them, I can get in touch with those two."

"I may not be able to communicate with other Soul Beasts, but Titan Giant Ape can, right?"

Bibi Dong looked at him strangely. "You're sure you want to try this?"

"Don't forget, they're listening to you now because they can't resist. But if you dare take them back to the Star Dou Forest, what do you think will happen?"

"I never said I'd take them back right away," Nan Feng replied.

"If I can talk you into things, why should I be afraid of talking two sheltered rabbits into them?"

Soul Beasts weren't like humans. Although they lived for a long time, their lives barely changed from one day to the next.

Living a long time didn't make someone cunning. You couldn't know what you'd never experienced.

He'd heard plenty of stories about seventy- and eighty-year-old men being tricked into buying enough health supplements to fill a house. Age didn't equal experience, much less brains.

"Then you'd better keep them well hidden," Bibi Dong warned.

"This is Spirit City. If the people from Elder Hall discover that there are two Humanoid Spirit Beasts here, along with two ready-made sets of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings and Soul Bones, what do you think will happen?"

"Oh?" Nan Feng looked amused.

"They'd really dare try to take them from me?"

"Who knows?" Bibi Dong shook her head.

"You're not a proper Soul Master, so you don't understand just how much a high-year Soul Ring can boost a Soul Master. A ten-year Spirit Skill is utterly helpless against a hundred-year one, just as a thousand-year one is no match for a ten-thousand-year one. A ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, even a ninety-thousand-year one, can't compare to a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"

"The difference between them is only a hair's breadth, but the gap in quality is like heaven and earth. A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring is so powerful that it can completely overcome differences in attributes."

"Let them try." Nan Feng leaned closer.

"With you here, who'd dare bark at me?"

"What if Qian Daoliu tries to take them by force?" Bibi Dong asked.

"If that old man makes a move, I can't stop him."

"Him?" Nan Feng raised an eyebrow.

"How big a deal is that? With the two of us working together, who could withstand even one exchange?"

He didn't know about the divine stuff, but he'd secretly tried possessing Golden Crocodile earlier and found it was no different from possessing anyone else.

Qian Daoliu dared try to take something from him?

He'd just possess him, and Bibi Dong could follow up with Eternal Wound.

Could Qian Daoliu use Resurrection Divine Light, too?

"Humanoid Spirit Beasts?"

At Angel God Temple, Golden Crocodile went to see Qian Daoliu and told him that two 100,000-Year Humanoid Spirit Beasts had appeared in Saintess Hall.

"Where did they come from?" Qian Daoliu opened his eyes.

Humanoid Spirit Beasts, which hadn't appeared for thousands of years, had suddenly turned up in a group?

"It seems they were brought back from the Star Dou Forest a while ago," Golden Crocodile said.

"Bibi Dong has had people keeping an eye out for high-year Soul Beasts these past few years. A Soul Hunting Squad near the Star Dou Forest happened to find traces of Humanoid Spirit Beasts, so she went to capture them with Yue Guan and Gui Mei."

"But..."

"What is it?" Qian Daoliu asked.

Golden Crocodile looked a little odd. "Nan Feng has been taking those two Humanoid Spirit Beasts around Spirit City from time to time. By now, just about everyone in the city with the cultivation of a Soul Saint or higher knows about it."

Qian Daoliu froze. "Taking them around?"

"What's he trying to do?"

Golden Crocodile shook his head. "Not sure. But the elders in Elder Hall are discussing whether to make that kid hand over the Humanoid Spirit Beasts so they can divide them up."

100,000-Year Soul Beasts were extraordinarily rare and extremely difficult to hunt. It wasn't that the High Priests couldn't kill one; it was that when a 100,000-Year Soul Beast was cornered, its resolve to die far exceeded that of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

A 100,000-Year Soul Beast's self-destruction was just like its sacrifice: impossible to stop, and terrifyingly powerful. In the past, Spirit Hall had once joined forces to hunt a 100,000-Year Soul Beast. Of the three Peak Douluo who had taken part, all at level ninety-six, two had died and one had been crippled when the beast blew itself up!

Humanoid Spirit Beasts were different. Not only could they produce Soul Rings and Soul Bones just like ordinary Soul Beasts, but they were also much safer. Most importantly, their self-destruction was about as powerful as a human Soul Master's. As long as you acted quickly, you could kill one before it blew itself up.

Those two 100,000-Year Humanoid Spirit Beasts in Saintess Hall had attracted quite a few elders from Elder Hall. Even he was tempted.

After all, if he could obtain a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, his cultivation—which hadn't budged in decades—might finally advance!

"Go talk to him," Qian Daoliu said.

"Two are too many for him to handle alone. Have him hand one over, and we can guarantee that he'll keep the other."

Even Bibi Dong couldn't resist the lure of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone. Unless Qian Daoliu stepped in personally, the elders of Elder Hall couldn't simply stand by and do nothing.

"Hand one over? Fucking hell, you've lived for over a hundred years, nearly two hundred, and you can still say such bullshit with a straight face? What the hell is rattling around between your ears?"

"Fortune smiles on you, huh?"

In Saintess Hall, Nan Feng had been giving Ah Rou and Xiao Wu a lesson when Golden Crocodile showed up. Nan Feng couldn't help laughing.

They wanted him to hand over one Humanoid Spirit Beast for Spirit Hall's benefit, and in return, they'd guarantee he could keep the other?

Had they gotten so used to being bandits that they didn't even notice anymore?

They'd take half, leave him the other half, and think they were doing him a huge favor?

"What do you mean?" Golden Crocodile furrowed his brow.

He knew the kid had no manners, but this wasn't a negotiation.

Either the kid voluntarily handed over one of them, or he wouldn't be able to keep either.