Heavenly Secret Divine Calculation Xu Jiujiu, The Body Sect, Qiangu Clan, and the Essential Gap with Shrek

After a moment of silence, a figure suddenly appeared beside Xu Jiujiu.

It was Nebula Douluo Manyi.

She glanced around before lowering her voice.

"Your Highness, the Qiangu Clan truly has hidden dragons and crouching tigers. I can vaguely sense at least seven or eight concealed auras deep within this valley, and nearly every one of them is stronger than I am. Two of them in particular are practically on par with the Grand Consecrator. The moment I stepped into the valley, they had already locked onto me."

Xu Jiujiu started walking out as she spoke. "Not only that, Grandma Manyi, did you notice? From the moment we entered the valley until now, we barely encountered any members of the Qiangu Clan. Yet among those we did meet, was there a single adult whose cultivation was below Soul Ancestor?"

"My imperial brother once said that a powerful clan does not rely on the number of its members, but on their quality."

"The Qiangu Clan indeed has few members. Even many small sects may have more disciples than they do. Yet they possess a level of quality unmatched by any clan or sect. That is already a miracle within the Soul Master world."

After a pause, Xu Jiujiu lowered her voice even further.

"A twelve-year-old Soul Emperor... Even across the continent's entire history, that was unheard of. Not even those Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire, who swallowed medicine like food, could cultivate that quickly, could they?"

Nebula Douluo pursed her lips and ventured, "Your Highness, could there be a possibility that he was joking? After all, a twelve-year-old Soul Emperor is simply too shocking..."

"Impossible." Xu Jiujiu answered decisively. "A twelve-year-old Soul Emperor is shocking, but not entirely impossible. Shrek Academy, for example, has produced quite a few genius Soul Masters who broke through to Soul Ancestor or even Soul King at twelve or thirteen."

"As long as there are enough resources, a Soul Master's advancement speed cannot be judged by common sense."

"Ten thousand years ago, Tang San, the foremost of the Shrek Seven Devils and founder of the Tang Sect, was only a Soul King at the age of twenty according to records from the White Tiger Imperial Family. Yet in merely five years afterward, he became a god and won the divine war."

"All of it came down to two words: resources."

Nebula Douluo thought it over and accepted Xu Jiujiu's words.

She was usually arrogant and overbearing, but she was not foolish to the core. She still possessed the basic ability to distinguish right from wrong.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?"

Faced with Nebula Douluo's question, Xu Jiujiu pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Just report everything truthfully to my imperial brother. There is no need to concern ourselves with anything else."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The next morning, Qiangu Yunche and Xu Jiujiu had already entered the Southern Dense Forest.

After returning from Qiangu Qing's place yesterday, Qiangu Yunche had taken Xu Jiujiu around the valley where he had lived since childhood. Nothing further happened after that.

Before dawn today, the two had already set out early.

Only Nebula Douluo accompanied them. As for Qiangu Liting and the others who would help Qiangu Yunche hunt Soul Beasts in the ocean, they would wait for him by the sea.

The Southern Dense Forest differed from the Star Dou Great Forest. This was a typical rainforest, with heavy rainfall, extreme humidity and heat, and an exceptionally rich variety of plants and Soul Beasts. Because of its harsh environment and intense pressure to survive, many uniquely powerful Soul Beasts had arisen here.

If the Qiangu Clan had not hunted vast numbers of powerful Soul Beasts within the Southern Dense Forest over the past thousand years, this place would have been even more terrifying.

Even so, the Southern Dense Forest remained one of the continent's top five Soul Beast gathering grounds.

It had rained last night, and the muddy ground, combined with all sorts of vegetation, made the path extremely difficult to traverse. Qiangu Yunche carried the Evil-Breaking Dragon Emperor Spear and cleared the way ahead, while Xu Jiujiu staggered along behind him.

This was Xu Jiujiu's first time seeing Qiangu Yunche's Martial Soul in its true form and the configuration of his Soul Rings. Though she had expected it, she was still greatly astonished.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Jiujiu asked as they walked.

"Yunche, how did you make every one of your Soul Rings surpass its age limit?"

"It's simple. Use medicinal baths, consume more treasures like Whale Rubber, Shark Pearls, and pills. It would be hard not to absorb high-age Soul Rings." Qiangu Yunche did not even turn around. "It's common sense to make use of resources when you have them. What I have never understood is why those genius Soul Masters with powerful backgrounds and exceptional talent rarely have Soul Ring configurations that surpass the limit. Could it be that they are particularly fond of yellow?"

Xu Jiujiu let out a giggle at that before saying, "If you put it that way, my Soul Ring configuration is also two yellow and two purple."

Qiangu Yunche turned back and smiled. "You're different. The Star Crown Martial Soul offers almost no enhancement to the body. What I said was mainly aimed at Beast Martial Soul Masters."

After a moment of silence, Xu Jiujiu suddenly spoke again.

"Yunche, are you going to the sea to hunt a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

Xu Jiujiu had thought a great deal last night. Qiangu Yunche merely needed his sixth Soul Ring. Not to mention the Star Dou Great Forest, even within the Southern Dense Forest there were certainly many powerful Soul Beasts suited to him. Yet Qiangu Yunche intended to travel far to the sea instead, which clearly defied common sense.

And what was the sea's greatest advantage over land?

It possessed an unimaginably vast number of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and there were no restrictions on hunting them. As long as one was strong enough, even hunting ten or eight at once would draw no criticism, nor would one suffer retaliation.

Moreover, as far as Xu Jiujiu knew, the madmen of the Body Sect, who could rival Evil Soul Masters, had frequently gone into the ocean to hunt Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts ever since the Beast Tide years ago.

Therefore, after combining all the information she knew, Xu Jiujiu boldly made a guess.

Hearing Xu Jiujiu's words, Qiangu Yunche's hand paused, and a trace of surprise entered his voice.

"Princess, you're pretty smart."

Having received her answer, Xu Jiujiu was even more startled than Qiangu Yunche.

"You're absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring for your sixth ring? What, are you trying to become a god?"

"Uh, did you see through me again?"

Qiangu Yunche clicked his tongue. He knew Xu Jiujiu had only been guessing, yet every one of her guesses had accurately struck upon the truth. Was that not a form of divine calculation?

"..." Xu Jiujiu was momentarily speechless, but she still said, "Let's set aside whether you can absorb a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Hunting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the ocean requires at least several Super Douluo working together..."

Qiangu Yunche speared to death a Mandala Snake lurking in the bushes, intending to ambush them, before saying,

"Although my great-grandfather cannot come this time because he is condensing his second Soul Core to break through to Limit Douluo, my second grandfather and father are both Super Douluo. My mother is only a Title Douluo, but her attack power far surpasses that of ordinary Super Douluo. Between the three of them, they possess four Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, most of which were obtained from the ocean."

"Let me put it this way. In our clan, nearly every Coiling Dragon Staff Soul Master who can endure a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring after breaking through to Title Douluo has one. We are never stingy with our own people. Besides, hunting Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts is an excellent opportunity for Coiling Dragon Staff Soul Masters to temper their staff intent. It benefits both the clan and themselves. No member of the Qiangu Clan would refuse."

Qiangu Yunche's words sounded somewhat arrogant, but every sentence was true.

Ask everyone a question: why was the Body Sect so powerful?

First, because of Body Martial Souls. Second, because they were extremely protective of their own and generous toward them.

The Qiangu Clan and the Body Sect followed the same path of survival and development. As long as the clan or sect was powerful enough, it would never mistreat any of its members or disciples. That was why both the Qiangu Clan and the Body Sect possessed extraordinarily strong internal unity and an extremely high sense of identification with their clan or sect.

In stark contrast to the Qiangu Clan and the Body Sect, and fundamentally inferior to them, was Shrek Academy, renowned for empty promises and manipulation.

In the original story, not one of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings or Soul Bones they promised Huo Yuhao ever materialized. Huo Yuhao obtained them all himself.

Qiangu Yunche even suspected that if Lexuan had not met with an accident and Ma Xiaotao had not been abducted by the Holy Spirit Cult, the two of them might have struggled to obtain Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings even after reaching Title Douluo.

Clearly, hunting Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings was no difficult matter for Sea God Pavilion, yet they simply had no intention of doing so. They only wanted to maintain Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year glory and lofty status.

Simply put, they wanted the ox to work without feeding it grass.

Xu Jiujiu was so shocked by his words that she could not speak for a long while. Only after some time did she finally say,

"I think I understand why your clan is so powerful. If I had been born into a clan like this, I would only hope for it to grow stronger and more prosperous. I would never harbor any other bad thoughts."

After a pause, Xu Jiujiu added sweetly, "Then can you bring Grandma Manyi and me along when you hunt Soul Beasts in the ocean this time? I want to broaden my horizons..."

"That's up to you. Just remember to lend a hand when the time comes." Qiangu Yunche did not care much about it. He had already made many things clear, so bringing Xu Jiujiu and Manyi along would make little difference.

"Of course." Xu Jiujiu smiled brightly. Just as she was about to ask Qiangu Yunche another question, she heard a clear, resounding cry.

In the distance, through the dense vegetation, a pure white figure entered their field of vision.

Seeing the spiraling horn atop the white figure's head, as dazzling as a starry sky, delight flashed through Xu Jiujiu's eyes.

"A Starlight Unicorn! I didn't expect to find it so easily."

"There's another Soul Beast beside it."

Qiangu Yunche narrowed his eyes and quickly recognized the Soul Beast hanging between the tree canopies, confronting the Starlight Unicorn.

A Bone Wing Demon, a humanoid Soul Beast with the exceptionally rare death attribute. Its appearance somewhat resembled the Vampire from Qiangu Yunche's memories of his previous life, except it had virtually no flesh on its body.

This kind of Soul Beast almost never cultivated. It increased its cultivation by sucking the blood and brains of other Soul Beasts, and it especially loved Light-element Soul Beasts.

In that regard, it was remarkably similar to a certain Golden Lion Mastiff.

Judging from its aura, this Bone Wing Demon had at least thirty thousand years of cultivation.

The Starlight Unicorn, with only ten thousand years of cultivation, could not possibly be a match for the Bone Wing Demon. Had Qiangu Yunche and Xu Jiujiu arrived any later, they likely would have returned empty-handed.

"Jiujiu, step back. That Bone Wing Demon actually wants to suck the blood of its own kind. It must be an utterly vile Evil Soul Beast. I shall kill it at once and save the Starlight Unicorn!"

Qiangu Yunche spoke with righteous conviction, but his words made Xu Jiujiu feel that something was strangely off.

Why the hell did that sound...