Second Soul Skill, Thousand-Year!

By the stream, Dai Tu was the only one left.

He crouched down and looked at the twisted corpse on the ground, then at the purple thousand-year soul ring. His gaze was calm and undisturbed.

Huo Yuhao.

When he had spoken with Beibei and Tang Ya earlier, Dai Tu had thought of that name.

According to the timeline, Huo Yuhao should have been somewhere in the Star Dou Great Forest right now, absorbing Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's million-year soul ring and beginning his magnificent life.

And Electrolux... the remnant soul that should have sensed Huo Yuhao absorbing a powerful lifeform and gone to possess him to recover had instead fallen asleep here with him.

He had intercepted it.

"Foolish little brother..."

Dai Tu muttered softly, no emotion audible in his voice.

His feelings toward Huo Yuhao were complicated. Their shared blood through different mothers, their similar origins, their shared fate of persecution by the White Tiger Duke Mansion... By all rights, they should have been natural allies. They should have fought side by side and overturned that filthy family together.

But Dai Tu knew that Huo Yuhao in the original story had ultimately chosen forgiveness.

He had forgiven Dai Hao, forgiven the Duchess, and even forgiven those who had once persecuted him. Under Tang San's "guidance," he had become a pawn of the God Realm, a sacrifice made to preserve the "greater good."

That was something Dai Tu could not tolerate.

A blood debt had to be repaid in blood.

Forgiveness? Mercy? Repaying resentment with kindness?

That was for saints. He, Dai Tu, was merely an avenger who had crawled out of hell. He wanted an eye for an eye, blood for blood. He wanted everyone who had harmed him, who had harmed Konoha, to pay tenfold, a hundredfold.

"But... now isn't the time."

Dai Tu took a deep breath and suppressed the surging hatred in his heart.

Huo Yuhao should not have been completely "corrupted" by Tang San yet. He should still retain that original hatred and stubbornness. Perhaps... there was still a chance to change him.

But the prerequisite was that Dai Tu himself had to grow stronger first.

Strong enough to oppose the White Tiger Duke Mansion, strong enough to complete the God Trial, strong enough to... one day pull that foolish little brother out of his destined fate.

"First, I'll deal with what's in front of me."

Dai Tu stopped thinking about it and sat cross-legged, facing the Nether Flame Cat's corpse and that purple thousand-year soul ring.

He needed this soul ring.

The Mangekyō Sharingan was his primary combat Martial Soul and needed powerful offensive soul skills.

The Nether Flame Cat's spiritual and speed attributes both suited an eye-type Martial Soul. Judging by the quality of this soul ring, it could at least grant him a thousand-year soul skill.

"Let's begin."

Dai Tu closed his eyes and circulated his Soul Power, slowly drawing the purple soul ring toward himself.

The soul ring floated above his head, then slowly descended and settled around his body.

In an instant, violent Soul Power flooded into his body like a raging torrent. The energy of a thousand-year soul ring far exceeded that of a hundred-year soul ring.

"Hmm..."

Dai Tu groaned, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

But he did not stop.

The Tree of Life Martial Soul emerged on its own. Emerald light flowed through his body, gentle life force nourishing his damaged meridians and soothing the violent Soul Power.

The Mark of Life between his brows also grew slightly hot, releasing purer life energy to help him stabilize the situation.

Meanwhile, the Mark of Destruction suppressed the resentment of the Nether Flame Cat. Though the aura of destruction was violent, it possessed an innate restraining effect on such negative energy.

Life and destruction achieved perfect cooperation at that moment.

One healed, while the other suppressed.

One nourished, while the other destroyed.

Time passed second by second.

Dai Tu's complexion shifted from pale to flushed, then gradually returned to normal. The Soul Power fluctuations around him went from chaotic to steady, then rose continuously.

Level twenty-one, level twenty-two, level twenty-three...

When the final wave of energy was fully absorbed, his Soul Power stabilized firmly at level twenty-three.

He had broken through.

And he had risen three levels in a row.

Dai Tu opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them. He could feel that his physical condition, total Soul Power, and spiritual strength had all undergone a qualitative leap.

The benefits brought by a thousand-year soul ring were far beyond what a hundred-year soul ring could compare to.

He rose to his feet and stretched his limbs, then turned his attention to his second soul skill.

With a thought, the Mangekyō Sharingan appeared. Two soul rings rose from beneath his feet, one yellow and one purple.

"Second soul skill..."

Dai Tu revealed a mysterious smile.

In the blink of an eye, two months passed.

Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City.

As the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City's prosperity was far beyond that of Konoha, a village on the border of the Star Luo Empire.

The broad streets could accommodate eight carriages traveling side by side. Shops lined both sides, their signs swaying in the wind and releasing all sorts of tempting scents—the smoky fragrance of roasted meat, the cloying sweetness of sugar figurines, and the rich aroma of malt ale drifting from taverns.

Dai Tu stood on the official road outside the city gates, looking up at the city wall that stood thirty zhang high.

At the gate, two rows of soldiers clad in silver-white armor held halberds as they expressionlessly checked the identification of every person entering the city.

He had been traveling for two months.

He had encountered three groups of bandits along the way, all of whom he had easily dealt with using the Mangekyō Sharingan in conjunction with Wood Spirit Entanglement.

Over the past two months, his Soul Power had risen from level twenty-three to level twenty-five. His combat experience had advanced by leaps and bounds, and his use of the Mangekyō and Tree of Life had become increasingly proficient.

However, his face now carried a little more weathering. Those large eyes, which had once retained traces of childishness, now held only unfathomable stillness.

No, not stillness.

It was deathly silence.

Like a pool of stagnant water that would never ripple again.

Dai Tu withdrew his gaze and pulled a copper coin from his pocket—it was something he had taken from a bandit's corpse on the road. He did not have much, only seventeen coins in total.

He spent two copper coins on a steamed bun from a vendor outside the gate, wolfed it down, then slipped into the crowd and entered Heaven Dou City.

The clamor of the streets washed over him.

"Body Sect... where are you..."

He muttered under his breath, his eyes sweeping over the signs on both sides of the street.

It was only natural. The Body Sect was a reclusive sect that kept a low profile, and its headquarters were even more secretive. How could it possibly hang up a sign on the street?

Dai Tu wandered around the city for an entire day.

He went to the Mercenary Guild, spent one copper coin on a map of Heaven Dou City, then spent another three copper coins asking an old mercenary for information.

"The Body Sect? Never heard of it." The old mercenary scratched his graying hair and shook his head.

"As for the sects around Heaven Dou City, I know of the Iron Sword Sect, the Tyrant Blade School, the Flowing Cloud Sect... But this Body Sect? I've really never heard of it."

Dai Tu visited several bookstores as well, browsing records that chronicled the history of the continent's sects. Some books recorded the Clear Sky Sect, the "number one sect under heaven." Some recorded Shrek, the "number one academy under heaven." Some even mentioned the fallen Tang Sect, once known for the "number one Hidden Weapon under heaven."

But there was no mention of the Body Sect.

It was as if this colossal force capable of standing toe-to-toe with Shrek did not exist at all.

"They're hiding themselves well..." Dai Tu closed the last book. By the time he left the bookstore, the sky had already darkened.

Dai Tu stood by the roadside and watched the passing crowd, suddenly feeling exhausted.

It was not physical exhaustion, but weariness in his heart.

Two months, three thousand li of travel, sleeping in the open, fighting for his life. He had finally reached the Heaven Dou Empire, finally reached Heaven Dou City, yet he could not even find the Body Sect's door.

Did he have to keep searching like this forever?