Ning Fengzhi: I Will Declare War on Evil Soul Masters

When Lu Ma plays the game, the ratio of game time to reality is 1:1, but there are a few exceptions.

One is this type of cutscene; even if thirty years pass within the cutscene, it might only be a matter of seconds in reality.

Another is Lu Ma's pause function; even if thirty years pass, not a single second will elapse in the game.

Therefore, when Chen Xin and Ning Rongrong returned to the main hall of the sect, less than half a minute had passed in reality.

Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong were pacing back and forth inside the main hall.

"Uncle Gu, if anything really happened to Rongrong, how could I ever have the face to see anyone again!"

"Fengzhi, there is no need to worry. Sword already said Rongrong is fine. Besides, don't you stuff her with life-saving treasures every single day?"

"But your legs are shaking uncontrollably too!"

Ever since they received the message from Chen Xin, they had immediately dropped their work and rushed toward his location. Only after receiving the follow-up message that "Rongrong is fine" did they rush back, waiting anxiously in the main hall for Chen Xin.

Creak—

The door opened. Chen Xin hurried in and set Ning Rongrong down.

"Rongrong is fine. I failed to protect her; it is my dereliction of duty."

"No, no, Uncle Sword, this is not your fault. Who could have guessed that the scattered outposts would have barriers capable of isolating Title Douluo, and even have Title Douluo guarding them?"

"Exactly. If you ask me, those people from Martial Soul Hall really cannot be trusted. They spout nonsense about 'slaying Evil Soul Masters wherever they are found on the continent,' but in my eyes, they are just using this opportunity to consolidate the status of Martial Soul Hall."

Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong comforted Chen Xin with their words, but in reality, they crowded around Ning Rongrong to examine the little princess.

To their relief, other than a change in her soul power aura, Ning Rongrong had not suffered a single injury.

"Thank goodness!"

Ning Fengzhi let out a long sigh of relief, then widened his eyes and turned to look at the Sword and Bone duo.

"Uncle Sword, Uncle Bone, do you remember what level of soul power Rongrong was at before she left?"

"Fengzhi, how is your memory so poor? Even my old bones remember that Rongrong was level 26—"

Before he could finish the word "level," Gu Rong felt that something was wrong with her aura, and he also widened his eyes.

"Yes, when I arrived, Rongrong was already level 30. That is one of the reasons I did not continue to push deeper."

"Level 30!"

Ning Fengzhi gasped, immediately sending word to summon the best healer of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to conduct a comprehensive examination of Ning Rongrong.

As for their Ning Rongrong, aside from her gaze being a bit vacant and her not speaking since she returned, all her physical data was normal, and her mental state was stable and sound.

It was simply that her soul power had suddenly increased by four levels.

"Rong, Rong!"

Ning Fengzhi stepped forward and hugged Ning Rongrong tightly.

"It is Daddy who failed you..."

Ning Rongrong felt her father's embrace, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

She wanted to react, but the person controlling her had suddenly gone silent, and she still could not control herself.

She felt as if she were still dreaming, as if she simply hadn't opened her eyes yet. As long as she opened her eyes and a new day began, everything would return to normal.

But that was merely a feeling.

"Fengzhi, Rongrong might just still be balancing the soul power within her... didn't they say that increasing soul power too much in a short time leads to an unstable foundation?"

Gu Rong tried to think of ways to comfort Ning Fengzhi.

"Right, it's all the fault of the Evil Soul Masters for making my Rongrong like this. Write a letter to the world—tell them I am declaring war on the Evil Soul Masters!"

Ning Fengzhi nodded heavily, then turned serious, his tone shifting.

"Speaking of Evil Soul Masters, the few outposts that Uncle Bone and I investigated had very poor strength; three or four Soul Grand Masters was the limit."

"On our side... aside from the unexpected Title Douluo, the rest consisted of one Soul Elder, one Soul Grand Master, and twelve Soul Masters. And all those remaining were defeated by Rongrong. Perhaps she had an epiphany during the battle, which is why she broke through..."

"That must be it. The child was likely just scared silly. Rongrong, it's alright..."

Ning Fengzhi sighed and comforted Rongrong, only to discover that his daughter had disappeared again.

"Where is Rongrong?"

"She went out."

Chen Xin and Gu Rong pointed toward the main gate.

"Sigh—"

Ning Fengzhi let out a long sigh, returned to his seat, and picked up his pen to write the mission report.

Ning Rongrong was currently strolling through the busiest market in the sect.

It wasn't to buy anything, but to gather intelligence.

This game lacked mission guidance, so all missions had to be discovered by oneself. Since the market was crowded, it should be the easiest place to scout for missions.

An hour passed, and Lu Ma had already mapped out the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, including all the teleportation points marked on the map.

The teleportation points in this game were silver-white rings carved into the ground; as long as one injected soul power into them, one could instantly travel to any other point.

Although he was disappointed not to have found any worthwhile quests, the treasure chests along the way more than made up for it.

Throughout the journey, he watched the number of Gold Soul Coins in his inventory climb from twenty thousand to over thirty thousand, accompanied by a stash of small blue and red potions, which filled him with satisfaction. Of course, he wasn't opening these chests for the potions, the coins, or even the rarer experience potions; he was hunting for something else entirely—the Holy Soul Coin.

According to the description, Holy Soul Coins could be used to purchase treasures to unlock a second martial soul, but the requirement was steep: a full ten coins.

Despite opening over a hundred chests along the way, he had only found seven experience potions, and even fewer Holy Soul Coins—only two.

Before the sky turned dark, he stepped onto a teleportation point and returned to his small cabin.

Although he had only played for a little over an hour, Lu Ma was already tired, and he had other things to attend to that night, so he quickly saved his game and logged off.

Ning Rongrong had watched the entire process in boredom, not knowing what to say.

An hour ago, after hearing the sound of "the noodles are finally finished," her body had begun to move again, wandering the streets.

From her perspective, the normally familiar sect had suddenly sprouted numerous treasure chests in the strangest of places—some hidden in bushes, others on rooftops; she had no idea who had placed them there.

Every time a chest was opened, the people nearby would exclaim in surprise, "Why do I feel like my money has decreased?" As for the contents, she only recognized the Gold Soul Coins. She only knew the function of the bottled potions; after drinking seven of them, she felt her soul power reach the peak of level 30.

Every time she stood on a silver-white ring, she was baffled as to why she would appear somewhere else the next moment.

In her twelve years of memory, no one had ever been able to do such a thing. Thus, she naturally assumed this was the ability of the person controlling her, just like how he could perfectly dodge the attacks of those strange men.

Lying on her comfortable bed, she felt numb. After a long day, she was exhausted and hungry, having eaten nothing but bread...

"Yawn..."

She stretched...

Wait?

She could move?

Looking at her familiar fingers and legs, Ning Rongrong sat up abruptly, hope reigniting in her eyes.

"I can move?"

The surprised voice drifted from her lips, sounding beautiful to her own ears.

She immediately jumped out of bed and dashed toward the main hall.

Whether she could completely break free from this control depended on this moment.

In the main hall, Ning Fengzhi and the other two were still coordinating with other factions to discuss the matter of the Evil Soul Masters.

"There is one stronghold that we found to be quite suspicious during our post-incident analysis."

"The scene showed signs of a struggle; one side was our sect's Ning Rongrong, and the other was 12 soul masters and 1 Soul Elder."

Ning Fengzhi spoke to the three people beside him: the representatives from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Clear Sky Sect, and the Martial Soul Hall.

Most grievances between the various factions were insignificant in the face of the Evil Soul Master threat.

"Are you saying your Ning Rongrong defeated a Soul Elder and so many soul masters? Isn't her martial soul the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda? Can an auxiliary-type soul master really win against so many people?"

The Clear Sky Sect representative questioned.

"I find it hard to believe as well, but that is how it appears. Perhaps the treasures we gave Rongrong played a role," Ning Fengzhi nodded.

"I've long heard that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is wealthy and spoils Ning Rongrong to the heavens; it seems that is indeed the case."

"Ahem, that is not the main point. There were two others at the scene: one is a suspected victim whose martial soul is... Dark Blue Silver Grass. She is currently receiving treatment at our sect and should recover soon. The other was a spy from the Martial Soul Hall, who is dead."

"Indeed. He was the one who told us about the five strongholds; I didn't expect it to be a trap," the Martial Soul Hall representative acknowledged with a nod.

"An evil martial soul? Sect Master Ning, you must think clearly; this is a scourge."

"There is a reason for saving her. There were traces of another person at the scene—a level 40 Soul Ancestor—but for some reason, they left before the battle began. Our people are still investigating."

"A level 40 Soul Ancestor? An Evil Soul Master? Probably just a rogue cultivator."

"Indeed," Ning Fengzhi nodded. "We have a hypothesis, and I suspect you all share it."

"You mean... the Holy Spirit Sect? That cult that suddenly emerged? They have been silent for so long; have they started moving again?"

The Martial Soul Hall representative was surprised. As a member of the original suppression campaign against the Holy Spirit Sect, he knew well that they had lost almost all their combat power after that operation. It had only been three months; he found it hard to believe they had reorganized so quickly.

Yet, there were no other answers. Rather than believing a second Holy Spirit Sect had appeared, he would prefer to believe that the remnants of the first had managed to prop the sect back up.

"Yes, I agree with that view. To prevent the possibility of the Holy Spirit Sect making a comeback, I suggest," the Clear Sky Sect representative slammed the table, "that everyone dispatches Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings to ensure we catch this fish that slipped through the net."

"Agreed!"

After discussing the Evil Soul Masters, the remaining content was a simple exchange of information.

From the finances of various sects to the rising stars of the younger generation, everything served as fodder for their conversation. Not long after, Ning Fengzhi packed up his things and saw the three representatives off.