Shendu's cold gaze fixed on the people below.
No one knew how much time had passed before Dai Xieyue finally finished enduring his painful punishment. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he dropped to his knees. "Thank you, Master!"
Shendu paid no attention to the formalities. "Get up!"
Only then did Dai Xieyue slowly rise.
"Your strength is still too weak." Shendu struck him with another beam of light. Dai Xieyue instinctively covered his face.
But the next moment, he felt the Soul Power within him rapidly increasing, growing more and more immense.
Until he broke through the barrier, Soul Power +1.
Soul Power +1.
Crack—
He had actually broken through the level 40 barrier, becoming a Soul Ancestor—and that wasn't all.
A black Fourth Soul Ring slowly rose beneath his feet. The genuine pressure of his Soul Power left Bibi Dong stunned.
Shendu actually had the ability to directly increase a Soul Master's strength!
She stared at the Soul Ring in disbelief, but a trace of excitement stirred in her mind.
Perhaps if I find the Talismans, I really can obtain the power of demons.
Beneath Dai Xieyue's feet, a Fifth Soul Ring and then a Sixth Soul Ring rose in turn. They kept appearing until the Seventh Soul Ring emerged, and only then did they stop.
Dai Xieyue slowly opened his eyes, overwhelmed with excitement. His strength had changed so drastically that it was like heaven and earth had been turned upside down.
"Thank you for your reward, Master!" He dropped to one knee, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Enough. Go bring my Talismans back. The Dragon Talisman has appeared, so ask around." Shendu impatiently sent him away.
"Yes!" Dai Xieyue respectfully withdrew from the secret chamber.
With the rank of a Soul Saint, and the mask's aid, Dai Xieyue was now strong enough to deal with most Soul Douluo. Yang Wudi was an exception.
With strength like this, he could handle most situations.
"Bibi Dong, what do you want?" Shendu looked at her.
Bibi Dong still hadn't recovered from her shock. Seeing her stunned expression, Shendu was satisfied. It seemed he had achieved the desired effect.
Bibi Dong composed herself and raised her head. "That old man Qian Daoliu relied on his strength to force his way into the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Now the whole continent knows about Spirit Hall's conspiracy, and my people are finding it difficult to speak freely across the continent."
"I know." Shendu's mind was elsewhere.
Ever since the Soul Masters summoned by Qian Daoliu had failed to cure Qian Renxue, he had felt that the chaos in this world had grown even worse.
"Forgive me. I have never encountered such a strange illness. The young lady's condition completely defies my understanding," the chief healer of Spirit Hall had said.
It was precisely the impact of the Sheep Talisman on this world that had caught his attention.
He hadn't expected the Talismans' influence on the world to be so subtle. It seemed he would have to stockpile more divine power for safekeeping from now on.
That way, he could repair things promptly if an emergency arose.
Shendu gave Bibi Dong a few perfunctory replies, then sent her away.
"The power of demons is worth studying carefully." Remembering the small piece of Hsi Wu's Horn she had kept, Bibi Dong could hardly wait to study it.
"Looks like I need to start making patches for the Talismans, and fast. Using divine power to repair the flaws would be a terrible waste."
"And I need to hurry with the masks, too. I might as well make them together."
Shendu began pondering the Talismans and masks. What kind of origin should he give them?
Star Dou Great Forest.
The enormous demon spread his wings and soared through the sky, pursued by a dense tide of beasts below.
Hsi Wu looked down with disdain. Mere bugs were hardly worth his interest.
He sped up and soon reached the Lake of Life. There, two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts who clearly didn't welcome him came into view.
"It's you! You actually dared to come back?" Seeing him approach, the Titan Giant Ape angrily swung a fist, but Hsi Wu easily dodged it.
Hsi Wu veered around and lunged straight at the ape's head. The powerful impact made the Titan Giant Ape stagger back several steps, lose his balance, and crash to the ground.
"Rumble!"
The Titan Giant Ape's massive body slammed into the earth, triggering an earthquake that felt like a magnitude ten. The entire Lake of Life shook violently.
"Little monkey, I didn't come here for you. Come back out later and I'll play with you." Hsi Wu tossed the taunt over his shoulder, then disappeared into the depths of the forest.
"Wait, where he's going is..." The Titan Giant Ape stared toward the horizon, deeply wary.
"Let him go. That's not something we can interfere with."
The Sky Azure Bull Python glanced toward the horizon, then sank back to the bottom of the lake. The Titan Giant Ape carefully rubbed his chin alone. He thought he might have twisted his neck just now.
Lately, the continent had been going through its strangest days yet. One bizarre event after another had taken everyone by surprise.
First, Spirit Hall announced it was hunting demons. Then the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan resurrected a demon. And right after that, the Heaven Dou Empire's Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe, turned out to be Qian Renxue, the daughter of Spirit Hall's Pope?
"That can't be right. Why is Pope Bibi Dong's daughter called Qian Renxue? Could it be—"
"Yikes—a student-teacher romance!"
"Could it be a grandparent-grandchild romance?"
Soul Masters and even ordinary people were all discussing the matter. At the same time, they sensed something was wrong, as if the end of the world were drawing near.
"The continent is about to be turned upside down." At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi sighed.
Nearby, Sword Douluo Chen Xin sat wrapped in bandages, his body covered in wounds. He leaned against a cushion, and every movement sent a needle-sharp pain through him.
"Uncle Jian, are you all right?" Ning Fengzhi couldn't help worrying.
It was all because he had previously sent Chen Xin to deal with the people from Shrek. He hadn't expected that Tang San would be the son of Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao, leaving Uncle Jian badly injured.
Chen Xin had only just drawn his sword when a hammer sent him flying.
"I'm fine. Don't let how badly I'm hurt fool you. Tang Hao's injuries were even worse. If he hadn't detonated his rings, I might not have lost." Chen Xin gritted his teeth through the pain.
"Come on, Sword Bone, still pretending you're fine? If I hadn't realized something was wrong and rushed out, he'd have smashed you to death with that hammer." Gu Rong clutched his waist and rolled his eyes at Chen Xin.
"All right. The important thing is that you're both safe," Ning Fengzhi said, trying to smooth things over.
He had never expected Tang Hao to show up. When he heard the news, he had been stunned too.
"Now, let's discuss what to do with this fellow." Ning Fengzhi set down the document on the table, Joint Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Operation to Capture the Masked Man, then looked ahead.
Shui Bing'er, wearing a mask, was suspended in the air, unconscious.
If Gu Rong hadn't had some means of sealing off space, she would have escaped underground long ago.
"This person calls himself General Samor. Yesterday, he led a group of shadows into the sect and said he wanted to establish the Ghost Shadow Empire. But I've never heard of that country." Ning Fengzhi tapped his fingers on the table, thinking.
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