As Xiao Jinchen and his companion drew near, Du Busi finally got a clear look at them.
"Eh? Who is this?" Du Busi asked in confusion, looking at the Ice Empress beside Xiao Jinchen.
"Old man, this is the Ice Empress," Xiao Jinchen said with a grin.
"What! The Ice Empress! Didn't you take her soul?" Du Busi asked, bewildered. The scene of capturing the Ice Empress's soul in the Far North Lands flashed through his mind.
"That's right. Then I brought her back to life," Xiao Jinchen said, waving a hand casually.
Hearing this, Du Busi carefully sensed Xiao Jinchen's aura again. His expression changed at once, and he exclaimed, "You're at level seventy?!"
Xiao Jinchen smiled lightly. "I had a bit of good fortune and managed to break through by sheer luck."
In truth, the Ice Empress had used pills to reach the Limit Douluo level, so naturally he had also taken pills to break through to level seventy. And these pills had no side effects whatsoever.
"Old man, let's head down and talk. We can't stay up here forever." Xiao Jinchen yawned. Two days on the road had left him a little tired.
"And she..." Du Busi pointed at the Ice Empress. After all, she was a Soul Beast, an unpredictable factor. He had to take responsibility for the Body Sect's disciples.
"Old man, Bing'er is with me. There's no need to worry." Xiao Jinchen took the Ice Empress's jade-like hand, savoring its soft touch against his palm as he gave her a tender smile.
The Ice Empress's pretty face flushed faintly, but she didn't resist, letting him hold her hand.
Du Busi's gaze lingered for a moment on their joined hands, and a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes. At his age, he could naturally tell that their intimacy was far from ordinary. He asked no questions, merely curling his lips into a knowing smile before discreetly looking away.
After a light cough, Du Busi turned to the others. "Come on. Let's go to the conference hall first." With that, he swept his sleeve and led Xiao Jinchen and the others toward the depths of the sect.
The way Du Busi and the elders had been on high alert had already drawn the disciples' attention. Now, seeing the sect master personally leading the way, they all cast looks of awe and curiosity.
They soon reached the conference hall. Du Busi pushed open the door, and everyone took their seats. One after another, all eyes turned to Xiao Jinchen and the Ice Empress. Xiao Jinchen led the Ice Empress to the seat beside him.
The elders exchanged glances, their hearts full of questions, but no one spoke first.
"Why so serious?" Xiao Jinchen played with the Ice Empress's little hand and said easily, "I've brought the sect a great gift this time."
"A great gift? Could it be more pills?" Du Busi asked. When Xiao Jinchen had been at the sect before, he had often made pills for the disciples. By now, the Body Sect's overall strength was already a cut above what it had been in the original story.
"Mm." Xiao Jinchen nodded. "Old man, these pills can help you break through to Limit Douluo."
He swept a hand, and several thousand jade bottles instantly covered the table. He had already cleared out the Immortal Herbs and medicinal plants from the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well; only the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts remained where they were.
"These pills can help you break through to Limit Douluo directly. The other elders who haven't reached Super Douluo can break through, while those who already have can advance by two levels," Xiao Jinchen continued. "The pills are divided into grades one through six, and each has a label. Anyone below Soul Douluo must not take pills above grade four."
"Xiao Chen... These pills won't have any side effects, will they?" Jin Peng hesitated for a moment, then asked. The sect's disciples had taken Xiao Jinchen's pills before, but this time there were so many that it was best to make sure.
"Don't worry, Elder Jin. They have absolutely no side effects," Xiao Jinchen said with a smile. "As long as you don't take too many at once and let the medicinal power build up, you'll be fine. The grade-five and higher pills were made with legendary Immortal Herbs."
"What! The legendary Immortal Herbs? The kind the first generation of the Shrek Seven Devils took?" Jin Peng asked excitedly.
"That's right." Xiao Jinchen's lips curved as he nodded.
Immortal Herbs! They were actually Immortal Herbs! Everyone's hearts pounded, and their eyes widened. These legendary treasures truly existed—and had been made into pills with no side effects?
A deathly silence fell. Everyone stared blankly at the thousands of jade bottles on the table.
"Hahaha! Good! Good! Good!" Du Busi was the first to snap out of it. He laughed three times and cried, "Heaven blesses our Body Sect!"
"Xiao Chen, whoever you take a dislike to, I'll be the first to take him on!" said the excited third elder, Su Zhou.
His Martial Soul was his brain, and he was a level ninety-six Super Douluo. His head was large, and right now his face was alight with excitement.
"Xiao Jinchen is the foremost of the younger generation in our Body Sect, and our only hope for rising again! Today, I'm naming him the young sect master!" Du Busi shouted. A terrifying Soul Power pressure swept through the hall.
Originally, he had planned to wait until Xiao Jinchen was older before choosing a successor, but now he had changed his mind completely.
"Exactly! Xiao Chen is the one who should be young sect master!" Jin Peng sprang to his feet and slapped the table.
Xiao Jinchen had done the sect a tremendous service. He had not only found the legendary Immortal Herbs but also made pills capable of helping them break through. Naturally, no one would object.
"Since no one objects, then it's settled!" Seeing that no one opposed him, Du Busi laughed in satisfaction. "From today on, Xiao Jinchen is the young sect master of the Body Sect!"
"Old man, wait."
Just as Du Busi finished his declaration, Xiao Jinchen interrupted him.
"I won't be young sect master. I want to establish a sect of my own and use it to develop Soul Tools."
The conference hall fell so silent that a pin could have dropped.
Du Busi was stunned. His voice turned stern. "Xiao Chen, did you take the wrong medicine today? You've got the position of young sect master right here, and you want to split off?"
"It's not splitting off. It's saving your lives." Xiao Jinchen's smile faded, and his eyes suddenly grew grave. He said in a low voice, "The Body Sect refuses to adapt. It won't last twenty years before it's completely wiped out."
"Xiao Chen! Have you gone mad?!" Du Busi roared furiously. The joy the pills had brought him dimmed, and his Soul Power weighed down the air. "The Body Sect has stood for a thousand years. Who could bring us down?"
The Ice Empress's brows drew together slightly. With a light touch of her jade finger, she blocked the Soul Power pressure Du Busi had let slip as his emotions ran out of control.
Xiao Jinchen understood why Du Busi was so agitated. The Body Sect was his life, his roots. Anyone would fly into a rage if someone declared to his face that it was destined to fall. It was like being about to get married tomorrow, only for someone to suddenly show up and say your wife was a fraud. Anyone would lose their temper.
But he had to say it. According to the original story, the Body Sect's eventual fate was utterly tragic. Du Busi was stubborn to the core. Xiao Jinchen had tried many times before to persuade him to accept Soul Tools, but he simply wouldn't listen.
People couldn't teach people; only hard knocks could teach them. By the time the Du Busi of the original story finally understood, it was already too late. So, to keep the sect from repeating that fate, Xiao Jinchen had to start from scratch and establish a new faction within it, forcing the sect to take a step in the right direction.
Xiao Jinchen stood his ground. "The Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools are developing far too quickly. Once a Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell is deployed, even a Super Douluo can't withstand it."
Xiao Jinchen's gaze swept across the Body Sect's elders. He said gravely, "The times are advancing. If we don't follow the tide of the times, sooner or later we'll be eliminated. We've become too isolated, too stubborn. If we don't want to be eliminated, we have to change."