The Douluo Federation, Ming City, a mountaintop in western Ming City, the War God Temple.
Xie An returned to his own office in the War God Temple.
"System, I've completed the mission. Claim my reward."
[System is checking. Mission completion confirmed.] [Reward issued: pure energy]
A surge of energy appeared out of thin air, ready to pour into Xie An's body.
He sensed its power. If he had absorbed it just after awakening his Martial Soul, it would probably have raised him two levels from level eleven.
After some thought, Xie An extracted the energy from his body and let it dissipate into the air, thinning out.
"System, what exactly is your origin?"
"Could you be some damn Plane Master of the Douluo Plane who sensed that I was a transmigrator and installed a patch to keep me from interfering with Tang Wulin?"
"The Plane Master of the Douluo Plane is that kid Tang Wulin's grandparents. Judging by this timeline..."
"Could it be that when Tang Wulin awakened his Martial Soul, the Plane Master woke up along with him, discovered me as a variable, and forcibly installed you?"
"If the Plane Master intends to control me with the power he granted you, you can leave right now."
The system fell silent, an unusual occurrence, and did not answer for a long time.
"What, did I hit the mark?"
Just as Xie An began to think the system wouldn't respond, it suddenly spoke.
Its voice was no longer the mechanical one that had issued commands at first. Instead, it was deep and full of wisdom.
"The system was created by beings countless times more powerful than the current Plane Master of the Douluo Plane. It was only because the host is a transmigrator who is untouched by cause and effect that the system could appear."
"Those two have already fallen, but the power they wielded in life was so immense that what remains of it still cannot dissipate."
"And with your existence, there is a chance they can be resurrected."
"So, Xie An, you can rest assured. The system will not harm its host."
Xie An froze. Then, almost involuntarily, he propped his chin on both hands and asked, "Tell me, who are those two beings?"
"This concerns the secrets of heaven. I cannot speak of it."
Xie An asked a few more questions, but the system said nothing further.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
The Second War God, Long Tianwu, pushed the door open and entered.
"Hall Master, the War Gods have finished taking stock of their subordinates. I'm here to report the results."
Xie An nodded, indicating that the Second War God should continue.
"According to the count, a total of 6,581 people have either left without explanation or gone missing over the past seven years."
"After a second review, 1,300 of them were confirmed missing."
"Most of the missing had cultivation below the fifth ring."
"However, two people caught our attention."
"Oh? Looks like we really have an unexpected gain."
Xie An looked up at the Second War God, curious.
"Yes. One is a Soul Douluo named Tian Dang. His Martial Soul is a Great Strength Demon Ape, and he has considerable talent."
"The other is a woman named Yehui, who went missing with him. Her Martial Soul is a Dark Angel."
"We suspect the two were married and came from a hidden sect on the continent. We weren't going to report it, but they may be connected to Evil Soul Masters, and they both had exceptional talent, so..."
The Second War God hesitated. There were many hidden sects on the continent, and their disciples often chose to train at the War God Temple or the Spirit Pagoda.
One reason was that there were fewer restrictions; another was that both organizations welcomed people from all backgrounds and were less exclusionary.
In the past, no one would have paid attention to a matter like this. Douluo Continent had a vast population, and the disappearance of a thousand or two people a year would hardly be noticed.
Were they supposed to spend manpower and resources investigating every case?
Having seven years' worth of records was already thanks to the vigorous reforms of the new Hall Master before him.
That was why the records covered only seven years, rather than ten or even twenty.
"Bring me the files on those two."
At his words, the Second War God handed the files to Xie An.
The first showed a young man with a very handsome face, his features possessing a rugged beauty.
"Tian Dang. Martial Soul: Great Strength Demon Ape. Level 86 Power Attack System Soul Douluo. Two-Word Battle Armor master."
The other file showed an exceptionally beautiful woman with flowing, waist-length purple hair and light-purple eyes that gave her an unusual charm.
"Yehui. Martial Soul: Dark Angel. Level 83 Power Attack System Soul Douluo. Two-Word Battle Armor master."
By this point, Xie An had a rough idea.
"Tian Wu, contact the Sea God Pavilion at Shrek Academy immediately. In my name, ask Yun Ming whether any hidden sects on the continent have sought help from Shrek Academy in the past fifty years."
"Also use the War God Temple's authority to check whether any hidden sects have sought help from the Douluo Federation during the past fifty years."
"Boss, is something wrong with this married couple?"
"Let's confirm first. Right now, I'm only fifty percent certain."
After hearing this, the Second War God hurried out. Less than fifteen minutes later, she returned.
"Report! I've already asked the Sea God Pavilion. No hidden sects have come out of seclusion in the past fifty years."
"As for the Federation, I used the War God Temple's highest clearance. There are no relevant records there either."
Xie An pondered for a moment, then spoke based on his memories of the original timeline. "All right. I'm now ninety percent certain I know who this couple is."
"This couple?" The Second War God voiced the question at just the right moment.
"The man called Tian Dang has a Martial Soul that's actually the legendary Titan Giant Ape. He probably hid it on purpose, and since the Titan Giant Ape is a legendary Spirit Beast, it's understandable that the War God Temple staff recorded it as a Great Strength Demon Ape."
"Titan Giant Ape! How could a human be born with that kind of Martial Soul?"
Xie An waved a hand, signaling the Second War God to stay calm.
"At first, I didn't believe it either. Several decades ago, while traveling around the continent, I came across a hidden family. Their inherited Martial Soul was the Titan Giant Ape."
"At the time, my power was still at the Demigod level. I hadn't reached Quasi-God. I sensed that the family had a Limit Douluo whose vital energy was at its peak, and his aura told me he didn't think much of me."
"I thought the time hadn't yet come for the family to emerge from seclusion, so I left."
"This hidden family was surnamed Yuan'en. They called themselves the Yuanen Family. That man probably wasn't called Tiangang, either. He was likely Yuan'en Tiandang."
"Oh my god, how could a hidden family like that exist?"
The Second War God, Long Tianwu, said in shock.
Everyone knew that ordinary humans had physical limits and were extremely fragile. When certain top-tier Martial Souls awakened, a Soul Master with an inadequate constitution might trigger the body's self-protection mechanism, causing the Martial Soul to weaken again and again. Yu Xiaogang, two thousand years ago, had been an example.
Yu Xiaogang was Tang San's teacher and came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. His Martial Soul had mutated into a Light Sacred Dragon, but because of his own shortcomings, he awakened a useless Martial Soul that made him fart like thunder.
Still, with bloodline inheritance like Yu Xiaogang's, even if one generation failed to awaken the Martial Soul, the genes would be preserved and passed down. If a gifted descendant appeared, they could awaken the Martial Soul in its original form once more.
A thousand years ago, Mu En, Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy, had done just that. He had inherited Yu Xiaogang's bloodline and awakened the Light Sacred Dragon Martial Soul.
He had eventually become a Level 99 Limit Douluo. With the Golden Ancient Tree and the great power of a Limit Douluo, he purified and stabilized the bloodline.
This greatly increased the chances of his descendants manifesting the Light Sacred Dragon, while also reducing the risks.
The awakening and inheritance of the Light Dragon Martial Soul had since become a classic case studied by life scientists on Douluo Continent.
Most people, however, weren't so fortunate. More often, when a Martial Soul mutated during awakening, the body couldn't withstand its powerful energy and suffered severe damage.
The Soul Master might die young or be plagued by illness, unable to reach a high level of cultivation. If none of their descendants were lucky enough to awaken it, the bloodline would continue to weaken until it was lost to history.
Besides, mutations could be beneficial or harmful. Who could guarantee that a Martial Soul mutation would always make it stronger?
Before you continue