It's over, you can't escape

"Senior, I believe you have already realized that my Martial Soul is rather unique; it does not require hunting Soul Beasts to absorb Soul Rings.

It can form contracts with Soul Beasts, thereby borrowing their energy to condense Soul Rings.

The Soul Beasts I contract with become my Beast, fighting for me, while I act as their Beast Tamer, helping them grow. The first one is my Beast, the white tiger you saw earlier..."

Forced by the situation, Xu Bai had no choice but to reveal the abilities of his Beast Tamer Martial Soul to an outsider. Of course, he only revealed a portion—only what Sword Douluo might have already witnessed.

"A Martial Soul that can form contracts with Soul Beasts..."

A flash of astonishment crossed Sword Douluo's eyes. The world was full of strange Martial Souls, but he had never expected one capable of commanding Soul Beasts in battle.

He wondered if the "helping them grow" part he mentioned was also related to his Martial Soul's power. If his Martial Soul could truly assist in a Soul Beast's growth, then its capabilities were nothing short of astonishing.

Perhaps his rapid progress in Soul Power rank was also due to this Martial Soul's ability.

To call such talent unprecedented would not be an exaggeration.

However, this brat was being a bit dishonest. Even now, he dared to hold things back and was trying to fool him as if he were a simpleton.

Thinking this, he narrowed his eyes: "Junior, you are stalling me."

"Stalling? I—I wouldn't dare..."

Xu Bai looked flustered, feeling a sense of panic in his heart.

Could it be that a Title Douluo possessed the ability to read minds? He had never told anyone about his Martial Soul's true capabilities.

Not to mention the Manual in his mind; how could he know he was hiding something?

However, Sword Douluo's next words allowed Xu Bai to breathe a sigh of relief: "You say you can form contracts with Soul Beasts to make them your Beasts, but is my great-grandfather's tombstone also a Soul Beast?"

"Senior, if I told you your great-grandfather's tombstone had gained sentience, would you believe me?"

Xu Bai spoke cautiously, then paused, suddenly feeling something was off.

Wait, Sword Douluo was a dignified Title Douluo; could he not sense the Soul Beast aura on the Sword Spirit?

Or perhaps, something like a Sword Spirit did not belong to the category of Soul Beasts, but rather to that of heaven-and-earth spiritual objects...

But that didn't seem right either. The Snow Empress was also a heaven-and-earth spiritual object, and the immortal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well from the second generation of Douluo also had several that gained sentience, yet they all possessed the aura of Soul Beasts.

Xu Bai couldn't figure it out and could only force an explanation that seemed reasonable: because the sword was forged by human hands, its sentience was fundamentally different from those spiritual objects born of heaven and earth.

On the other side, Sword Douluo could no longer maintain his composure. He stared intensely at Xu Bai: "Brat, do you know the consequences of playing games with me?"

"I would not dare. If you do not believe me, Senior, I can swear by my Martial Soul that my Martial Soul can currently only contract Soul Beasts."

Xu Bai cleared his mind and said earnestly.

Seeing this, Sword Douluo nodded slightly, no longer questioning him.

In the Douluo Continent, swearing by one's Martial Soul might be meaningless for a failure, but for a genius, its weight was no less than swearing by one's Dao heart in a fantasy novel.

He turned slowly, his back to Xu Bai, and said softly: "Follow me."

"Where to?" Xu Bai asked instinctively.

"Back to the sect."

"Back to the sect..."

Xu Bai hesitated, trying to refuse: "Senior, um, is it possible not to go?"

"Not go? Very well." Sword Douluo turned around, a smile on his face.

Xu Bai was stunned, though he felt a flicker of joy, not expecting Sword Douluo to be so easygoing.

He began to offer fake thanks, expressing his gratitude, only to hear Sword Douluo continue:

"Then let us discuss the matter of you stealing my great-grandfather's tombstone."

After saying this, he wore a meaningful expression, and the Seven Kill Sword appeared in his hand before Xu Bai even noticed.

Xu Bai fell silent. After a long while, he forced a smile that looked worse than crying:

"Cough, cough, I was just joking. In truth, I have admired your sect since I was a child, but I have always lacked the opportunity..."

"It seems you recognized my identity?"

"The Seven Kills thunder rises, a single sword breaks the sky. Who in the world does not know the fame of the Seven Kill Sword? I just happened to read a few more books and recognized the appearance of the Seven Kill Sword."

Sword Douluo chuckled, turned, and entered the cave entrance. His calm voice drifted back: "Keep up."

Xu Bai felt helpless and had no choice but to follow. Who told him to be so itchy-handed as to steal someone's ancestral tombstone?

Now that he had been caught, he couldn't win a fight and couldn't run away; he could only leave his fate to the heavens...

But on second thought, this didn't seem like a bad thing.

Looking at the current situation, if nothing went wrong, he would surely become one of the few people standing at the pinnacle of this world in the future; even becoming a god was not impossible.

So, what did someone with such a promising future lack the most right now?

For other geniuses and monsters, before they had fully grown, what they lacked most was time.

But for a cheater like him, while time might be important, what he truly lacked were Gold Soul Coins.

And the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect happened to be the place that lacked Gold Soul Coins the least; what they lacked were geniuses.

This was a perfect complement, plain and simple.

Having figured this out, Xu Bai's mood couldn't help but improve significantly.

"Kid, get on."

Stepping out of the cave, Sword Douluo slightly raised his hand, and the Seven Kill Sword instantly grew in size, lifting him up.

"Senior, could we wait a moment before leaving..."

Xu Bai hesitated as he spoke. He still wanted to record more Soul Beasts to boost his mental power, mainly because he feared his current mental capacity wouldn't be enough to support the consumption required to deduce the cultivation method for the Sword Spirit.

"Is there something else?" Sword Douluo asked.

Xu Bai pondered for a moment, organizing his thoughts: "I would like to collect some Soul Beast samples to assist with my research. Aside from finding a suitable Soul Beast to tame, my purpose for coming to the Sunset Forest this time was also to collect some samples."

"You actually have time to research Soul Beasts?"

Sword Douluo asked in surprise. In his view, the fact that Xu Bai could reach the level of a Soul Venerable at this age might be partially due to his unique Martial Soul, but it was surely built upon diligent cultivation.

He had to remember that when he was ten years old, he was only a Great Soul Master, still quite a distance away from being a Soul Venerable—and that was only the result of his own relentless, grueling training.

It seemed now that this kid's talent was even higher than he had imagined.

Hearing this, Xu Bai wore an appropriately shy expression:

"Well, Senior, you also know my Martial Soul is special. Because of it, I only need to increase the age of my tamed beasts to raise my own soul power level, so I don't really cultivate much on a daily basis."

Since he had already decided to leverage the resources of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to make himself stronger, there was no point in hiding his light.

Displaying his excellence and increasing his value in the eyes of Sword Douluo—and by extension, the eyes of the yet-to-be-met Sect Master Ning—was exactly what he needed to do now.

Of course, the matter of the Manual could never be exposed; he absolutely could not let outsiders know he had a cheat.

If asked, he would simply claim he was naturally gifted, and that "all the achievements I have today are entirely due to my own hard work."