"Old man, don't forget about the Sun Moon Empire. Their Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannons can threaten even Super Douluo."
"A Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon might not amount to much against a powerhouse of your caliber." Xiao Jinchen toyed with a wisp of Child Flame from the Emperor Flame between his fingers and said slowly, "But most of the sect's disciples are still just ordinary Soul Masters."
"Bullshit!" Du Busi snapped. "The disciples of the Body Sect rely on Soul Power they've cultivated step by step with their own effort! And now you want to go outside and establish another sect, just to fiddle around with that scrap metal? If word gets out, where will that leave my dignity?"
Xiao Jinchen was utterly speechless. He'd talked himself hoarse, yet the other man hadn't taken in a word.
Du Busi glared at Xiao Jinchen. "Do you think I'm so old I'll let you change the sect's rules on a whim?"
But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the frail figures of low-ranking disciples patrolling outside the window. Du Busi's throat bobbed. Those children might not even have reached Soul Emperor, and if the Sun Moon Empire launched a war—if they were truly swept away by Soul Cannons...
"Old man..." Xiao Jinchen sighed helplessly. "I'm only going to establish a sect of my own. It's not like I'm leaving the Body Sect. I'm sure you know the trend Soul Tools are taking. I'll set up a sect outside, provide intelligence and pills to our sect—that's mutual development."
"How about this, then, old man? I promise I'll develop Soul Tools only in my own sect. I absolutely won't have the Body Sect's disciples learn to use them," Xiao Jinchen added hastily.
Getting the Body Sect to accept Soul Tools right away was probably impossible. Even if Du Busi agreed, the disciples would likely still resist. They'd have to take it slowly.
"Hmph!"
Du Busi fell silent for a long while. In the end, he gave an annoyed snort. "Fine! Build it if you want! Go build it yourself. Don't expect the sect to help you. Let this old man see what tricks this so-called sect of yours can come up with."
Xiao Jinchen was about to speak, but Du Busi raised a hand and cut him off.
"Get out and handle your business! Stop standing there and offending my eyes!" Du Busi said irritably. Then he scooped up the several thousand jade bottles on the table and left the meeting hall with the elders.
"Jinchen, you acted too impulsively," Jin Peng said, coming over to pat Xiao Jinchen on the shoulder.
"Elder Jin, don't worry. I'll always be a disciple of the Body Sect," Xiao Jinchen said with a smile.
Jin Peng wanted to say more, but when he saw the determination in Xiao Jinchen's eyes, he could only sigh helplessly. "Have you thought of a name for your sect?"
"In this world, everything revolves around souls. Soul Masters, Soul Beasts, Soul Power, Soul Tools—they all have the word 'soul' in them."
"So my sect will be called..." A playful curve tugged at Xiao Jinchen's lips. "The Soul Hall."
"The Soul Hall?" Jin Peng murmured, furrowing his brows. "Why does that name sound a little strange... It has a sinister ring to it."
"Ke ke ke! Elder Jin, isn't the Body Sect's way of doing things both righteous and wicked? The name fits perfectly." Xiao Jinchen deliberately lowered his voice and let out a strange cackle.
"The Soul Hall..." Ice Empress repeated quietly at Xiao Jinchen's side, her beautiful eyes shifting as if she were savoring the name's deeper meaning.
"What do you think, Bing'er? Does it sound good?" Xiao Jinchen turned his head and asked with a smile.
"I think it sounds strange too," Ice Empress said, frowning slightly. "It doesn't sound like a sect. It sounds more like an evil organization that specializes in collecting souls."
"Huh?" Xiao Jinchen asked, puzzled. "Wait, Bing'er, why would you think that?"
Ice Empress shook her head. "I don't know. I just feel like your sect ought to be doing something like that."
Xiao Jinchen was astonished. Looking at her breathtakingly beautiful face, he thought to himself, A woman's intuition really is sharp—so sharp it's almost ridiculous.
"Elder Jin, I still have to prepare for the founding of my new sect, so we'll be going now." With that, Xiao Jinchen left the Body Sect's meeting hall with Ice Empress.
"We really are getting old. The world belongs to the young now," Jin Peng said with a sigh, watching the place where Xiao Jinchen had disappeared.
"Hmph! Let's see if that kid comes crawling back after he stumbles," Du Busi said, appearing beside Jin Peng at some point.
"Master, do we really not need to help him?" Jin Peng asked. "Jinchen doesn't seem to have much money. Starting a sect might be a little difficult for him."
"Who cares?" Du Busi said irritably. "It'll do him good to have his pride knocked down a peg."
"Ah Chen, what are we doing now?" Ice Empress asked as they walked along.
"Starting a sect takes money, doesn't it? And I'm broke." Xiao Jinchen smiled. "We're going to borrow some."
"Borrow money? Where from?" Ice Empress asked curiously.
Xiao Jinchen's lips curved slightly as he looked toward the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect. He said slowly, "From the richest sect, of course."
Nine Treasures City lay within the Heaven Dou Empire and was one of the empire's undisputed economic centers.
The city nominally belonged to the empire, but in reality, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect held complete control over it.
Towering buildings lined the city, and shops crowded the broad streets. Countless Soul Guidance Lamp signs shimmered with dazzling colors at night, making the city as prosperous as the Sun Moon Empire's Ming Capital.
A symbol of wealth, the Nine Treasures Pavilion stood proudly at the city's heart. It gathered the finest rare treasures in the Heaven Dou Empire and was also the center of Soul Tool trading.
The main headquarters of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect stood in the very center of Nine Treasures City.
Yet amid all this prosperity, a terrifying pressure of Soul Power suddenly enveloped the entire city.
In an instant, every brilliant Soul Guidance Lamp sign in the sky went dark.
The entire city fell silent. Only the high-level Defensive Soul Tools deep within the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect erupted in brilliant golden light, forming a vast curtain of radiance that struggled to withstand the terrifying pressure and shield the sect's heart.
"Ah Chen, this is clearly robbery! How is this borrowing money?" Ice Empress hovered above the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect and complained.
"Heh heh, Bing'er, I'll be counting on you in a moment." Xiao Jinchen hovered beside Ice Empress and smiled.
Just as the curtain of light began to teeter, an angry shout suddenly rang out from deep within the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect:
"What madman dares bully the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect as if we have no one to defend us?"
Before the words had even faded, four figures shot out like meteors and hovered before Xiao Jinchen and Ice Empress.
Three men and one woman had come. Judging by their auras, they were three Super Douluo and one Soul Saint.
"L-Limit Douluo!" The middle-aged woman at the head of the group felt the terrifying aura radiating from Ice Empress and cried out in panic.