Strange Martial Souls!

Zhang Qingxuan slowly approached the Hundred-Thousand-Year Life Green Willow, and the sight before him made him suck in a sharp breath.

The main trunk was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, the widest of which nearly tore the entire tree apart.

The countless willow branches that had once hung like waterfalls were all broken and scattered across the ground, some still bearing charred marks from lightning.

Its leaves had long since turned to ash. The life aura that had once been so dense it was nearly tangible had completely dissipated, leaving only the burnt stench of lightning lingering in the air.

"How brutal must that strike have been..."

"Even the Soul Bone was probably blasted away. What a waste."

Zhang Qingxuan could not help clicking his tongue.

He crouched down and carefully searched through the charred trunk and broken branches scattered across the ground.

Hundred-thousand-year willow Lightning-Struck Wood was an excellent material for refining magical artifacts and talismans. Lightning-Struck Wood at the hundred-thousand-year level was even rarer than rare. If he could find one intact piece...

Yet a quarter of an hour later, Zhang Qingxuan straightened up dejectedly and dusted the black ash from his hands.

He had found nothing.

His spiritual power revealed that the inside of the trunk had long since carbonized. With the slightest force, it would crumble into dregs.

Those broken branches were just as brittle and charred, turning to powder at the slightest touch.

"Ah, if it is meant to be, it will be. If it is not, there is no use forcing it."

"I thought I might pick up a treasure, but it was all for nothing."

He shook his head with a bitter smile.

After taking one final look at the Life Green Willow, which had stood tall for ten thousand years only to become charcoal now, Zhang Qingxuan sighed softly and turned toward the edge of the forest.

Not long after his figure completely vanished among the trees—

A faint strand of green light slowly drifted out from a crack deep within the charred trunk.

The green light gathered in the air, gradually taking the shape of a vague humanoid phantom.

The phantom's features could not be made out, only its rough outline. Its entire body was formed from specks of green light, and it vaguely appeared to have a woman's figure.

She "looked" in the direction Zhang Qingxuan had departed. After a long while, the phantom trembled slightly, and a whisper like wind brushing willow leaves emerged.

"That was close... I almost got discovered."

"The aura on that human... was far too terrifying. Those two things within him could even devour the Lightning Tribulation Origin..."

The phantom fell silent for a moment, seemingly still shaken.

"I cannot delay any longer. I must recover quickly."

The green phantom slowly sank down and retreated into the depths of the trunk.

At the very center of the charred, carbonized wood core, there was surprisingly still a palm-sized piece of wood, emerald-green like jade.

Fine silver arcs of lightning coiled across its surface, while green radiance slowly flowed within it.

This was the final fragment of origin condensed by the Life Green Willow after enduring the lightning tribulation—the Hundred-Thousand-Year Wood Core.

The Wood Core trembled slightly and absorbed the phantom in its entirety. Then its radiance withdrew, transforming it into an ordinary-looking piece of scorched wood that fell completely silent.

The outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

As Zhang Qingxuan traveled, he examined the two "full and satisfied" martial souls within himself.

The Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram quietly floated at the center of his dantian, slowly rotating as black and white currents flowed endlessly, radiating an unfathomable Dao aura.

The Green Leaf Sword rested at an angle beside the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram. Green light was contained within its blade, and tiny streaks of sword qi occasionally flashed past.

Most eye-catching of all—

A deep black Soul Ring floated around each of the two martial souls.

The Soul Rings were dark and heavy in color, their light restrained. They were clearly of a quality exceeding fifty thousand years.

"Strange..." Zhang Qingxuan tried to activate the Soul Rings, yet he felt no Soul Skill being triggered.

After quietly contemplating them for a long time, he finally understood.

These two Soul Rings had not come from hunting Soul Beasts. Instead, the martial souls had independently absorbed the lightning of heaven and earth to condense them.

They had not granted Zhang Qingxuan any particular "Soul Skill," but they had caused a fundamental evolution in the martial souls themselves.

The Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram now possessed the power of "Yin-Yang Balance."

This ability seemed ordinary, but to Zhang Qingxuan, who possessed three life martial souls, it was an invaluable treasure—it could perfectly harmonize the different types of energy cultivated by his three martial souls, preventing backlash and qi deviation caused by energy conflicts.

Meanwhile, the Green Leaf Sword had become increasingly pure and sharp.

Zhang Qingxuan could sense that the "essence" of this sword now far surpassed that of an ordinary weapon martial soul. It seemed... closer to the manifestation of some kind of "Dao."

"These two, rather than martial souls, are more like... some kind of existence manifested through martial souls as a vessel?" Zhang Qingxuan mused.

What concerned him most was that these two martial souls seemed to possess intelligence.

Their performance during the lightning tribulation after his awakening clearly showed that they possessed independent awareness.

"Still, since they only feel close to me and harbor no ill intent, there is no need to worry too much."

Zhang Qingxuan tried summoning them several more times, but neither martial soul gave him that same sense of "actively responding" as before. They simply obeyed his commands like ordinary martial souls.

It was as if, after devouring the Lightning Tribulation Origin, they had fallen into some state of slumber or digestion.

Shaking his head, Zhang Qingxuan stopped dwelling on it and quickened his pace toward the forest's edge.

Spirit City, Pope Palace.

Qian Xunji sat upon the lavishly ornamented papal throne, with memorials and account books piled before him.

He rubbed his brow, unable to conceal the exhaustion on his handsome face.

Several years ago, thanks to the reward from the Angel God's Trial, his cultivation had soared. He had broken through to the Soul Douluo realm ahead of schedule, formally assumed the position of Pope, and taken control of Spirit Hall.

Yet only after truly sitting in this position did he understand what it meant to not know how expensive daily necessities were until one ran the household.

"Why does everything cost money..." Qian Xunji looked at the latest financial report and felt his scalp go numb.

As the most powerful Soul Master organization on the continent, Spirit Hall commanded tens of thousands of Soul Masters.

Every item needed for a Soul Master's cultivation was enormously expensive.

The two great empires could maintain their rule with ordinary armies, while Soul Masters were merely a small elite force.

Spirit Hall was different. Its foundation was Soul Masters, and every high-level Soul Master was a "money-devouring beast" that required enormous resources to support.

"Your Holiness."

A respectful voice came from outside the hall. A middle-aged man in white robes strode in. It was Shadow Eye, one of Qian Xunji's trusted aides and Spirit Hall's intelligence chief.

"What is it?" Qian Xunji raised his head.

"A secret report has just arrived. It concerns the Clear Sky Sect and the Li Family of Heaven Dou." Shadow Eye lowered his voice.

"Oh? Let me hear it!" Qian Xunji immediately became interested upon hearing that it concerned the Li Family of Heaven Dou.

The Li Family was truly remarkable. In less than twenty years, it had risen rapidly, and in the commercial world, it was already close to rivaling the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Even Spirit Hall had gained tremendous benefits from its business dealings with them!

Even he himself had extended olive branches to the Li Family many times!

"According to reports from our spies, an hour ago, after Clear Sky Sect's First Elder Tang Zhen returned to the sect, he suddenly convened a meeting of the elders and fiercely accused the Li Family."

Qian Xunji's gaze sharpened. "What exactly did he say?"

"Uh, the details are unclear. But after the meeting ended, Tang Zhen personally went to the Breaking Clan's residence and berated the Breaking Clan's patriarch harshly."

Shadow Eye paused before continuing, "The Breaking Clan's patriarch did not refute him throughout the entire exchange and merely kept his head lowered as he listened. I suspect... some conflict that we do not know about may have occurred between the Clear Sky Sect and the Li Family."