Twenty Years Ago, I Saw You

High above, Hsi Wu circled the valley, surveying the landscape.

The ground was uneven, with towering ancient trees scattered throughout the valley and gnarled, slender trees clinging to the sheer cliffs.

Aside from a group of hundred-year and thousand-year soul beasts, there was not a single soul beast exceeding ten thousand years to be found.

Any soul beast living here that reached the ten-thousand-year mark would see its intelligence greatly increased; at the same time, it would instinctively realize this was no place to remain, prompting it to spontaneously depart for the outside world.

The Titan Giant Ape and the Azure Ox Python were both cases in point.

Hsi Wu landed on the ground, creating a massive crater. He scooped up a handful of dirt and rubbed it between his fingers; it was no different from ordinary soil.

With a roar of his wings, he unleashed several tornadoes that swept across the valley, clearing out all the soul beasts and trees like a vacuum cleaner.

The ground was gouged with deep trenches by his claws, and broken wood and the carcasses of soul beasts flew everywhere; the entire valley was left in a state of utter ruin.

"Ridiculous. There is nothing special here at all. Shendu is truly a waste of space." Hsi Wu tossed aside a piece of broken wood and took to the sky.

However, this place was quite suitable for building his palace.

Zhong Su already had a palace, so he could not be without one; he would build Sky City right here!

It was just that Zhong Su had those lowly humans as servants, and he certainly couldn't be expected to build his own palace.

It seemed he would have to find some servants to attend to him as well.

Hsi Wu flew toward the outskirts of the valley.

In the Star Dou Great Forest, soul beasts were the one thing in abundance. He decided to conquer every soul beast in this forest, making them his servants to build Sky City, which would stand high above the firmament.

Thunder City, a place newly appeared on the Douluo Continent.

It was the seat of real power for the Thunder Demon Zhong Su, and the original Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family lived there, serving Lord Zhong Su.

In the Lightning Plaza, Yu Yuanzhen was cultivating in the sky when he was suddenly called back to decide on the expansion of Thunder City. The people from the Imperial Clan had already arrived; how should they be arranged?

Yu Yuanzhen frowned at his clansman's question and spoke with annoyance, "Isn't my second brother in charge of these things? Where is he?"

The trivial matters of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family had always been managed by Yu Luomian; he only concerned himself with major decisions and focused on his cultivation. This was a habit they had formed long ago.

However, the clansman looked quite innocent. "Elder Yu Luomian has locked himself away and won't answer when we call. We didn't dare to disturb him."

Yu Yuanzhen impatiently signed the relevant documents.

A short while later, Yu Yuanzhen arrived at Yu Luomian's courtyard to have a word with him; he wanted to see what this fellow was doing, locking himself in his room.

Just as the clansman had said, Yu Yuanzhen called out several times, but received no answer.

"Bang—"

He kicked the door open and entered. There was no one in sight, but after a thorough search, he finally found Yu Luomian, who had fainted, in a secret chamber.

"Second brother!" Yu Yuanzhen held him anxiously and carefully checked his condition. "Soul power depletion? How could this happen?"

He was shocked and quickly took out a Dragon Soul Pill, placed it in the other man's mouth, and gripped his chin to make him chew it.

A massive amount of soul power erupted from the pill, surging into every part of his body and gradually replenishing his depleted reserves.

After a long while, Yu Luomian slowly regained consciousness. Opening his eyes to see his elder brother, his gaze was filled with excitement, as if he had something to say.

"How did you end up like this?" Yu Yuanzhen asked with some dissatisfaction.

With the replenishment of his soul power, Yu Luomian had fully recovered. He stood up and said excitedly, "Big brother, I have a hundred-thousand-year soul ring!"

"What!"

Under Yu Yuanzhen's shocked expression, a red soul ring slowly rose from beneath Yu Luomian's feet, with blue lightning flickering within it.

"This is..." Yu Yuanzhen stared at the soul ring in disbelief.

"A hundred-thousand-year soul ring, the real deal!" Yu Luomian gripped his cuffs tightly, never having expected that he, too, would have the chance to obtain a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.

Previously, while cultivating, he had attempted to aggregate his own soul power, relying on himself to condense a soul ring—an idea derived from the transformation of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.

He had learned through certain channels that after a hundred-thousand-year soul beast transformed, it did not need to hunt other soul beasts to cultivate; it could condense its own soul rings.

However, after a soul beast transformed, it should theoretically be no different from a human. Thus, he wondered if it was because humans were inherently capable of condensing soul rings, but most simply lacked the ability to do so.

After all, Lord Zhong Su had allowed him to reach the Title Douluo level without any soul rings; it was only reasonable that he could condense his own.

"I never imagined you were so clever. This is wonderful! Now the other clansmen can all obtain soul rings." Yu Yuanzhen patted his shoulder hard and laughed heartily.

Upon hearing this, Yu Luomian felt a bit unhappy inside and could only manage a forced smile.

A hundred miles outside Heaven Dou City lay the Sunset Forest. Its most secluded, outermost edge was occupied by Spirit Hall; nominally a hunting forest, it was actually Bibi Dong's secret base.

Within this base was an underground laboratory.

In the lab, a scruffy-bearded man stood before a table with the noble Pope Bibi Dong.

The man looked at Bibi Dong from time to time; her exquisite beauty was intoxicating, and her noble temperament stirred the imagination.

"The last time we met must have been twenty years ago."

"Enough talk, Yu Xiaogang. Do you have a solution or not?" Bibi Dong's icy gaze met his.

Yu Xiaogang coughed awkwardly and looked down at the Broken Horn on the table before him.

"Dong'er, you..."

"Do you want to die? Don't call me Dong'er!" Bibi Dong glared at him.

Yu Xiaogang shrank his neck and whispered, "Understood, Your Majesty the Pope."

The two continued their conversation.

"Your Majesty the Pope, how did you obtain this fragment?" Yu Xiaogang looked at the Broken Horn fragment with fanaticism, unable to resist reaching out to touch it.

Even after being separated from the body for so long, it remained somewhat warm.

"You don't need to ask about that. Didn't you say you were the person with the deepest research on soul beasts on the continent? Figure out the power within it for me, and I will grant any request you make," Bibi Dong said indifferently, leaning on her Pope Staff.

"I'm afraid this isn't a soul beast!"

Yu Xiaogang stroked the patterns on the Broken Horn, his expression focused and excited.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't. I'm just asking if you can do it or not." Bibi Dong frowned, feeling a sense of impatience.

"Researching this is certainly possible, but it will take time. In a while, I have to take my disciple to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master League, so I'm afraid I cannot stay here to study this object indefinitely."

Yu Xiaogang reluctantly put down the Broken Horn and looked at Bibi Dong.

"The Continental League? Heh!" Bibi Dong dismissed it with disdain, then turned to leave. "Suit yourself, as long as you finish the research as soon as possible."

Just as she was about to leave, Yu Xiaogang called out to her, "Wait, Dong'er. Do you... still love me?"