Building the Imperial Fighting Team?

"A Ten-Thousand-Year third Soul Ring... I really wonder just how great a storm you'll stir up in the Soul Master world in the future."

Dugu Bo looked at Xia Yuan and sighed faintly.

"The record for the youngest Title Douluo was broken by Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect. He became a Title Douluo at forty-four."

"Perhaps you can be the one to break his record."

Xia Yuan neither confirmed nor denied it.

If anyone had broken Tang Hao's record, Bibi Dong had been the first.

After all, she was a ruthless figure who had reached rank ninety-nine, becoming a Peerless Douluo in her thirties. She had achieved the Title Douluo rank more than a decade earlier than Tang Hao.

"By the way, what is your Soul Power at now? Can you sense it?" Dugu Bo asked.

Once a Soul Beast's energy became a Soul Ring, it was divided into two parts. One part was purified energy that had been filtered.

There was very little of that energy, and it simply helped a Soul Master advance to the next level.

The other part was what condensed into the Soul Ring and formed Soul Skills, accounting for the overwhelming majority of the energy.

Although Dugu Bo did not know that Xia Yuan had actually accumulated a year's worth of Soul Power before obtaining his third Soul Ring, Xia Yuan had absorbed a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring after all. There would always be a small surplus of purified energy.

Xia Yuan briefly sensed his Soul Power cultivation and considered it before saying, "Rank thirty-five."

Of course, Xia Yuan's actual increase in Soul Power was far beyond rank thirty-five, but there was no need to tell Dugu Bo that.

Even brothers settled accounts clearly. Though his relationship with Dugu Bo had grown closer, he could not lay all his secrets bare.

"Kid, what are you going to do next?" Dugu Bo asked.

"Are you going back to my estate?"

"Not for now." Xia Yuan shook his head.

He had already moved the Immortal Herbs into the Wishful Treasure Pouch beforehand.

At the same time, he had identified for Dugu Bo some herbs whose properties he could distinguish using his Martial Soul.

Dugu Bo's little herb garden had also received a round of expansion.

If he could later get the portion of the secret manual concerning herbal records from Tang San, that would be even better. He could teach it directly to Dugu Bo as a small repayment.

"Fine. If anything happens, come find me in Sunset Forest." Dugu Bo said seriously, "No matter what trouble you encounter, so long as it is within my capabilities, I will stand up for you."

"Since it is Senior Dugu's kindness, I'll gladly accept." Xia Yuan smiled.

Having absorbed his Ten-Thousand-Year third Soul Ring, with his second Soul Ring officially entering the ten-thousand-year level as well, Xia Yuan was in excellent spirits.

If he continued cultivating step by step like this, he would sooner or later reach the Title Douluo rank.

Only then would he truly have control over his own life.

Heaven Dou City.

Dugu Bo had already returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Xia Yuan had come to Heaven Dou City first rather than returning directly to Heaven Dou Royal Academy because he had promised Xue Qinghe that he would personally report his safety to him first.

Xia Yuan did not particularly mind.

After all, the other party was quite likely counting on him to defeat Spirit Hall's team led by her bargain-bin mother, Bibi Dong.

Naturally, she needed to keep track of his condition. There was nothing strange about that.

With the token Xue Qinghe had given him, Xia Yuan passed through without obstruction and, led by a guard, arrived directly at the East Palace.

Xue Qinghe had received word in advance and was waiting in the East Palace.

The moment he saw Xia Yuan, his eyes lit up, and he walked over.

"Brother Xia Yuan looks full of energy and radiant. It seems your cultivation has borne fruit."

"Now I can rest easy."

Xia Yuan clasped his hands. "Thank you for Your Highness's concern."

"No need, no need." Xue Qinghe smiled and waved his hand, then grew serious. "Brother Xia Yuan, do you remember what I told you before?"

"In private, just call me Brother Xue. Why use such a distant title as Your Highness?"

"Brother Xue." Xia Yuan promptly changed his form of address. "I am younger than you, Brother Xue, so you may simply call me by my name as well."

Hearing that, Xue Qinghe smiled again. "Good. In that case, how about I call you Little Yuan?"

"Uh..." Xia Yuan nodded. "All right."

"By the way, Little Yuan, what is your Soul Power cultivation now?"

Xia Yuan said, "I only just broke through rank thirty and have already asked Senior Dugu to help me obtain my third Soul Ring."

Xia Yuan did not hide the fact that he had broken through to the Three-Ring level.

He had been a Heaven-Tier student when he first entered the academy. A year had passed, and though reaching the Three-Ring level was somewhat fast, it was not beyond acceptance.

But he needed to conceal his exact Soul Power cultivation.

In any case, whether it was a Soul Power-testing crystal ball or an expert personally injecting Soul Power to examine him, neither could detect it beneath his Blue Silver Domain after it had evolved once.

It was not merely his Soul Power, either. The same was true for his two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.

It could be said that unless a Title Douluo on the level of Golden Crocodile, Bibi Dong, or Qian Daoliu personally examined his body, no one would discover anything unusual about him.

"You've already broken through to Three-Ring?" There was a hint of delight on Xue Qinghe's face.

"Little Yuan, Heaven Dou Royal Academy is about to form a new generation team for the Soul Master Tournament. You've returned at just the right time."

"Since you have already broken through to Three-Ring, I can recommend you as the team captain."

"Let's head to the academy now."

As he spoke, Xue Qinghe took Xia Yuan's hand and called outside, "Someone, prepare the carriage."

As the crown prince of an empire, Xue Qinghe's travels were naturally arranged in every possible detail.

Not only were the horses pulling the carriage fine horned horses with Soul Beast bloodlines, but the carriage itself also incorporated some Soul Tool technology, making the ride extremely smooth.

Xia Yuan got to enjoy some royal treatment alongside Xue Qinghe.

However, after boarding the carriage, Xia Yuan occasionally felt that Xue Qinghe—or rather, Qian Renxue—seemed to be secretly studying him.

Though Xia Yuan was confident that Qian Renxue could not possibly see through anything about him, he still found it very strange.

On the other side of the carriage, Qian Renxue did not know how to begin the conversation and secretly glanced at Xia Yuan again.

"Even if it mutated, how could Blue Silver Grass possess the power of light?" She could not make sense of it no matter how hard she thought.

"Moreover, what is truly drawing me in does not seem to be the power of this Blue Silver Grass."

"How strange." Qian Renxue could not stop herself from looking Xia Yuan up and down several times.

Unable to endure Qian Renxue's wandering gaze any longer, Xia Yuan asked directly, "Brother Xue, is there something strange about me?"

"Ah?" Qian Renxue nearly let her voice slip out and hurriedly coughed twice.

"Ahem, ahem." Qian Renxue cleared her throat. "Nothing. I was merely struck by your extraordinary bearing, Little Yuan. I cannot compare."

If you hadn't come here to be some undercover agent, you'd have become a god long ago. What chance would Tang San have had?

Xia Yuan grumbled inwardly.

"What are you saying, Brother Xue? As the saying goes, everyone has their own specialty. When Brother Xue rules the Heaven Dou Empire in the future, you will surely become a wise ruler of your generation."

"Everyone has their own specialty?" Qian Renxue's eyes lit up. "Well said!"

"Little Yuan, you truly possess extraordinary bearing!"