"So many Soul Beasts—how could they all have disappeared at the same time..."
"Could a powerful Evil Soul Master have plundered all those Soul Beasts?"
"Was it only the reported Soul Hunting Forests, or had something happened to every Soul Hunting Forest raised by Spirit Hall?"
After the intelligence personnel left, Bibi Dong's expression remained grim.
This single incident had dealt a devastating blow to Spirit Hall's Soul Hunting Forests.
From now on, Soul Masters in those areas who wanted to hunt for Soul Rings would have nowhere relatively safe that Spirit Hall could provide.
For something like this to happen while she was Pope was also a severe blow to Bibi Dong's personal prestige.
All Bibi Dong could hope now was that nothing had happened to the other Soul Hunting Forests.
As for places beyond the Soul Hunting Forests, Bibi Dong hadn't yet considered that the Soul Beasts there might have disappeared too.
She didn't even dare think about such a thing!
The disappearance of the Soul Beasts from just a dozen or so Soul Hunting Forests was already shocking enough.
She had asked the intelligence department to gather information about other places where Soul Beasts appeared as well, but only to conduct a thorough investigation.
The Speed Clan.
In the assembly hall, everyone from the Speed Clan wore expressions of utter terror, their faces deathly pale.
As the owners of the Sharp-Tailed Swift, the fastest Martial Soul on the Douluo Continent, the Speed Clan were also the finest intelligence gatherers.
Before they left the Clear Sky Sect, the Speed Clan had served as the sect's intelligence department.
Even after leaving the Clear Sky Sect all those years ago, they had never stopped gathering intelligence from across the land.
So they were the first to learn that the Soul Beasts had disappeared. They were also the first to discover that there were no traces of Soul Beasts left—not in any Soul Beast forest, nor in any other place where Soul Beasts had appeared.
Bai He himself had personally investigated a third of the Douluo Continent. With the other clan members checking the remaining areas, the truth had become clear.
The people present were so terrified because he had just announced the news.
"W-what... how could this happen?"
"Where did all those Soul Beasts go?"
"If all the Soul Beasts have disappeared, how are we supposed to cultivate from now on?"
"The news hasn't spread yet, but once it does, the whole world will explode..."
"What are we going to do then?"
"..."
The people of the Speed Clan all spoke at once, venting the fear in their hearts.
Along with their terror, they also worried about their cultivation. Without Soul Beasts, there would be no Soul Rings to absorb, and they would have no way to advance their Soul Master ranks.
Whatever rank they had now was the rank they would be stuck at forever.
"Grandpa, I... I won't be able to absorb a third Soul Ring in the future, will I?"
"Does that mean I'll be stuck at the Soul Grandmaster rank for the rest of my life?"
Bai Chenxiang had only just learned the news. Once she had absorbed the earth-shattering revelation, she immediately grabbed Bai He's hand and anxiously asked him.
"That's right. If those Soul Beasts never return, there won't be any Soul Rings to absorb." Bai He looked at his granddaughter, who seemed on the verge of tears. Though he hated to do it, he told Bai Chenxiang the truth.
"Ah..."
"Why is this happening?"
"Waaah... Grandpa, I don't want this..."
When Bai Chenxiang heard Bai He confirm it, her little face crumpled, and she couldn't hold back her tears.
At that moment, across the Douluo Continent, the great sects and factions...
Many others besides Spirit Hall and the Speed Clan had also discovered that the Soul Beasts were disappearing.
They were all frightened. Even though they only knew that the Soul Beasts in certain areas had vanished en masse, that was enough to terrify them.
All kinds of rumors began to spread.
Some said that every Soul Beast in a certain forest had vanished, while others claimed the same had happened in a certain mountain range...
Signs of turmoil had begun to appear across the entire Douluo Continent.
At Shrek Academy, however, aside from the Shrek Seven Devils and Zhao Wuji, who were away, no one else had noticed anything unusual yet.
Shrek also welcomed a new teacher that day.
"Haha, Xiaogang, you finally made it."
"I knew you wouldn't trust anyone else to teach your disciple, Tang San. I knew you'd come."
Flender excitedly stepped forward, put an arm around Yu Xiaogang, and enthusiastically patted him on the back.
A rare, gentle smile appeared on Yu Xiaogang's face too. He pushed up his glasses and nodded calmly. "That's right, Flender. In all my life, I've never seen talent like Xiaosan's. After half a lifetime studying Martial Soul Theory, I've finally found the perfect subject to put it into practice and prove it."
Flender led Yu Xiaogang to a seat in the shabby office and personally poured him a cup of the cheapest, roughest tea. "Xiaogang, tell me honestly—is Tang San a Twin Martial Soul user?"
As Yu Xiaogang's closest friend, Flender knew all about his theories.
So when Flender learned Tang San was Yu Xiaogang's disciple—especially after Tang Hao appeared—he had already guessed that Tang San might possess Twin Martial Souls.
"Looks like I really can't hide it from you." Yu Xiaogang took a sip of tea, then said with a smile, "That's right. Tang San does have Twin Martial Souls. He's the third known person in the world to possess them."
"Hahaha, wonderful, wonderful!"
"I knew my guess was right. That boy really does have Twin Martial Souls!"
Flender had only just sat down, but at those words, he couldn't help jumping back to his feet in excitement.
"Enough about Xiaosan. Flender, in your letter you told me that Shrek has so many monsters now. Is that really true?" Yu Xiaogang waved a hand, then asked Flender in return.
He hadn't planned to come to Shrek so soon. But Flender had written to tell him that besides Tang San and Xiao Wu, Shrek now had five other geniuses who could be called monsters, all about the same age as Tang San.
The moment Yu Xiaogang read Flender's letter, he knew what Flender had in mind.
Tang San and Xiao Wu plus those five made seven in all—just enough to form a team.
Flender wanted him to come and teach those seven!
"Of course it's true. You'll see for yourself when they get back. If those seven weren't so outstanding, I wouldn't have had the nerve to ask you to teach them, would I?"
Yu Xiaogang sat back down, then said with a smile.
"Good. Then leave the training of those seven to me!"
"I can use them to test the theories I've studied all these years. I'm sure that under my guidance, the seven of them will become a legendary team one day."
When Yu Xiaogang heard Flender say that, he knew it was true, and even his voice grew unusually excited.
An Innate Full Soul Power auxiliary-type Martial Soul, Sausage; the White Tiger and Hell Spirit Cat of the Star Luo Imperial Family and the Zhu Family; a mutated Fire Phoenix; and the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Plus Tang San and Xiao Wu.
Just thinking about a team like that made Yu Xiaogang excited.