Time Flies

"Wind!"

"Fire!"

"Thunder!"

"Water!"

In the clearing before Qin Chuan, wind fanned the flames, while lightning crackled in the water.

Since absorbing the Silver Dragon King's Claw, Qin Chuan had spent these past days exploring the External Soul Bone. His control over the elements had grown increasingly effortless.

"Fall!"

Two attacks shot out, and the rocks before him instantly shattered.

Soon, the month-long break passed in the blink of an eye.

The development of Soul Tools at Spirit Hall was now fully on track. With Thunder Nether Douluo, a Grade 9 Soul Engineer, in charge of instruction, he had managed to uncover quite a few talented Soul Tool makers.

This time, the group of four returning to the main world, ten thousand years later in the Peerless Tang Sect era, had two new members: Yue Guan and Gui Mei, the famous Humming-and-Hawing Generals and Bibi Dong's trusted aides.

After Qin Chuan spent ten thousand Snow Hatred Value to exchange for two Sky-Covering Cloud Jades and gave them to the pair, he departed the world he was currently in under Qian Daoliu's watchful gaze.

Life at the academy was always dull and tedious, nowhere near as carefree as Bibi Dong and her companions' adventures outside.

The Douluo Continent had enjoyed a period of peace since the Evil Soul Master incident some time ago.

But the good times didn't last. Bibi Dong was up to mischief again, this time with two helpers in tow.

This time, they didn't disguise themselves as the Holy Spirit Cult. Their main goal was to rob rare metals.

Gui Mei's Martial Soul was unusual and difficult to detect. Bibi Dong and Yue Guan drew the enemies' attention, while Gui Mei slipped into the target location to collect the rare metals.

The trick worked time and again. The three great empires had few rare metals in reserve to begin with, especially with the front line in the Mingdou Mountains also having to withstand pressure from the Sun Moon Empire.

After Bibi Dong's antics, the three great empires found themselves in even greater straits.

While secretly moving their rare metals to safety, the three nations joined forces to capture the metal thief.

Yet after a year, not only had they failed to catch the thief, but their own supplies of rare metals had run critically low. As a result, the value of rare metals within their borders had multiplied several times over.

Just as the three great empires were at their wits' end, a good Samaritan stepped forward. He offered them rare metals at twice their pre-inflation price, and in enormous quantities.

At first, the three great empires suspected that he had stolen their own rare metals and was now selling them back. But rare metals were scarce across their lands, and their Soul Tools already lagged behind those of the Sun Moon Empire. If things continued this way, they would be wiped out.

Though their hearts bled, and they longed to tear the thief who had stolen their rare metals limb from limb, they were on the verge of running out of supplies. They had no choice but to accept the offer.

Bibi Dong sold the rare metals from the Heaven Dou Empire to Star Luo, those from Star Luo to Douling, and those from Douling to Heaven Dou.

The three great empires investigated discreetly. Only after confirming that the metals weren't their own did they breathe a sigh of relief. The next day, they decisively increased their orders.

After a long while, Bibi Dong decided the time was right. It was time to close the net.

The next day, the three empires' representatives went to allocate the rare metals, only to discover that the towering piles had been stolen clean.

A note had been left at the scene.

"Idiots. You fell for it twice."

The three great empires were furious. Not only had they lost years' worth of stored rare metals, but the money they'd used to buy the metals had come from their treasuries. Worst of all... they'd been played for fools from beginning to end.

Worse still, the Sun Moon Empire had seized the opportunity to raise the price of rare metals, leaving the Douluo Continent short on supplies. Even the Soul Tool Department at Shrek Academy was nearly out of rare metals.

With no other choice, the three great empires formed prospecting teams. Fortunately, they discovered several rich rare-metal deposits, which helped them weather the crisis.

"You've memorized all of them, right?"

"Your Holiness the Pope, I've memorized the locations of all those rare-metal deposits."

"Good. Another year has passed. Come on, let's return to the Sun Moon Empire and meet up with Xiao Chuan and the others."

After a year's absence, Bibi Dong returned to Spirit Hall to find it utterly transformed.

The ground was crisscrossed with Soul Tool rail lines, each station connecting to its assigned destination. Even Spirit City had grown to more than three times its former size, with buildings springing up everywhere.

The existence of Soul Tools soon attracted the attention of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires. But they considered them mere gimmicks, believing that Soul Masters should focus more on cultivating themselves.

That year, Qin Chuan turned eight. His Soul Power broke through to the Soul Elder rank, and he obtained his third Soul Ring: a black, fifteen-thousand-year Soul Ring exchanged through the system. He had also grown into a prospective Level 5 Soul Engineer.

The month passed quickly, and a new year of academy life began.

That year, Bibi Dong stepped up her schemes, and Qin Chuan exchanged for a full twenty Sky-Covering Cloud Jades.

Two years ago, she had disguised herself as the Holy Spirit Cult and gone on a killing spree. Last year, she had posed as a rare-metal bandit and dealt the three great empires heavy losses.

Bibi Dong intended to play an even bigger game. She planned an unprecedented raid on the newly opened rare-metal mines of the three great empires.

By the time the empires' reinforcements arrived, the mines had been stripped bare. The people were gone, and the site lay in ruins.

At the critical moment, Bibi Dong once again stepped forward, defeating the invading enemies with overwhelming force.

When the three great empires arrived, Bibi Dong was standing atop a number of powerful underworld figures she had brought under her control, lopping off their heads and sending a stark warning to the entire continent.

From then on, no one dared steal from the three great empires' metal mines.

Bibi Dong's actions won her the praise and admiration of the three great empires. She also established an organization called the Soul Hall in Shrek City.

Taking on the identity of the Soul Hall's leader, Bibi Dong swore an oath before the academy's senior officials and representatives of the three great empires. She vowed to make fighting Evil Soul Masters her lifelong mission and bring lasting peace to the Douluo Continent.

Her impassioned speech moved everyone present, and the Soul Hall she founded became one of the continent's top powers overnight.

When the news reached the Sun Moon Empire, Zhong Liwu, the Holy Spirit Cult Leader, flew into a rage and cursed at thin air.

"What a fine case of the thief crying 'Stop thief!' The Soul Hall sure has an appetite!"

"Damn it! In the first year, you disguised yourselves as members of my Holy Spirit Cult and slaughtered people all over the place, pinning the blame on my cult. Not only did I not hold it against you, I even sent Sleep Nightmare Douluo to recruit you. And what happened? Sleep Nightmare Douluo was beaten to death!"

"Now your Soul Hall is claiming to purge Evil Soul Masters. Who knows what kind of filthy business you've been up to behind the scenes? I have every reason to suspect that it was your Soul Hall that disguised itself as the Holy Spirit Cult and went on that killing spree in the first place."

"Fine! Since you dare to go this far, then let's see who destroys whom first!"

As it turned out, the Soul Hall's establishment had greatly promoted peace and stability across the Douluo Continent.

Three years passed without a hint of trouble. The continent was calm and peaceful, a far cry from the turmoil of the previous two years. All of it was thanks to the creation of the Soul Hall.

What nobody knew was that the Douluo Continent hadn't truly found peace. The real culprits had simply changed their line of business and taken their company public.