By the Name of the War King, I Grant You the Golden Iron Beast Martial Soul!

Shadow spoke as he prepared to continue forward.

But Dai Yunzhao grabbed him.

"Are you stupid? Who knows how powerful the soul beasts deeper inside are? Besides, there are no Title Douluo by her side anymore. There's no point in following her."

It was still far too difficult for Qian Renxue alone to deal with powerful soul beasts.

Both Dai Yunzhao and Shadow now needed exceptionally powerful Soul Rings.

The two Title Douluo had already left, and Sword Douluo had not followed them. They could part ways now.

What mattered most was for Shadow to obtain the Golden Iron Beast Martial Soul and absorb the Golden-Armed One-Eyed Flood Dragon's Soul Ring.

Ning Fengzhi stared coldly in the direction Xue Qinghe had vanished, his voice sounding out. "Uncle Sword, we cannot let His Highness Qinghe come to harm."

Chen Xin nodded slightly.

But Chen Xin spoke again. "Weren't we supposed to escort Dai Mubai to the Star Luo Empire?"

Ning Fengzhi clenched his scepter with both hands.

"Uncle Sword, you are too straightforward, so there are some things I did not wish to tell you."

"But now, matters have reached the point where I have no choice but to say them."

"Dai Mubai and Dai Yunzhao are both from the Star Luo Empire. They have nothing to do with us."

"Everyone knows Dai Mubai is useless. He lacks both the ability and the drive to compete with his elder brother, Dai Weisi."

"Why would His Majesty have us personally escort him? It is simply because he wants to find Heaven Dou a weaker opponent."

Dai Mubai becoming the Emperor of Star Luo was indeed far better than Dai Yunzhao taking the throne.

Dai Yunzhao was younger, but his methods were stronger.

If he took the throne, enormous friction would inevitably arise between him and the Heaven Dou Empire!

Chen Xin was somewhat confused. "If that is the case, wouldn't Dai Mubai taking the throne be a good thing for Heaven Dou?"

Ning Fengzhi's gaze fell upon the departing Xue Qinghe.

"It is good for Heaven Dou, but not for us."

"Because of Spirit Hall, sects throughout the land have suffered devastating blows. We have no choice but to rely on the Heaven Dou Imperial Family."

"The Heaven Dou Empire also needs Soul Masters from sects like ours to serve as their vanguard."

"But if the Star Luo Empire weakens and Heaven Dou devours Star Luo, how would the imperial family allow so many powerful Soul Masters to exist?"

"The Heaven Dou Imperial Family's Swan Martial Soul can only reach Soul Douluo!"

"When the time comes, will their purge of us be even more brutal than Spirit Hall's? I truly do not know."

Ning Fengzhi's calculations were precise.

Only two evenly matched empires were beneficial to sects like theirs.

That way, Heaven Dou would not cast them aside, and the two great empires could also keep Spirit Hall in check.

If any one of the three sides tilted, it would create a massive disadvantage.

The next emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire would be Xue Qinghe, and the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire had to be someone capable of contending with Xue Qinghe.

At the very least, judging from his past reputation, Dai Mubai was completely unworthy of sitting at the same table as Xue Qinghe to divide the spoils.

The Heaven Dou Imperial Family wanted to preserve the more useless emperor, sending Dai Mubai back to Star Luo and throwing the Star Luo Empire into chaos.

But that was not something Ning Fengzhi wanted to see.

In Ning Fengzhi's eyes, the interests of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect came first. The Heaven Dou Empire came after.

Chen Xin, a master of the sword, fell silent for a moment.

At last, he raised his head and looked at Ning Fengzhi. "Fengzhi, you have always handled matters methodically. I will not interfere in these matters."

The two remained here, supposedly to protect Xue Qinghe, but in truth, they had abandoned Dai Mubai!

If Dai Mubai had Sword Douluo and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect backing him, it would be extremely disadvantageous to Dai Yunzhao.

Dai Yunzhao hid in the shadows, watching the two of them.

Ning Fengzhi truly excelled at calculation. Much of the time, his interests were tied to Heaven Dou's, but whenever his own core interests were involved, he could cast aside the Heaven Dou Empire as well.

Shadow spoke softly. "Master, there should be no particularly powerful people around Dai Mubai anymore."

Dai Yunzhao lowered his head slightly and stroked his chin.

"There are two Soul Sages at the Shrek Academy Dai Mubai attends, both infinitely close to the Soul Douluo level."

"You absorb the Soul Ring first. We'll head deeper into the inner region, hunt the Soul Rings we need, and leave immediately!"

With Sword Douluo nowhere nearby, it truly was the perfect opportunity for him to act.

The two needed to scout the area properly.

Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo continued drawing closer to Xue Qinghe.

An ultimate battle roar erupted from Dai Yunzhao's body!

Dai Yunzhao's arms swelled with muscle.

He raised a hand and pressed it against Shadow's body.

"By the name of the War King of the Machine Beast Race, I grant you the Golden Iron Beast Martial Soul!"

A stream of pure metal energy flowed into Shadow's body.

In the next instant, a current of golden light coursed across Shadow's black armor.

His black armor also turned dark gold.

Shadow's body shuddered, and a Martial Soul manifested!

Golden Iron Beast!

The Golden Iron Beast's innate racial limitations prevented it from growing into a War King.

But beneath the War King level, it could absolutely be considered among the very best.

The instant Sword Douluo's aura faded away, the two emerged from the shadows.

Shadow raised his hand and extinguished the last trace of life in the thirty-thousand-year soul beast before absorbing its Soul Ring.

As a level sixty-nine Soul Emperor, he faced no obstacle whatsoever and instantly absorbed the Soul Ring before him.

After absorbing the Soul Ring, Shadow merely added, "Golden Iron Beast Martial Soul's first soul skill, Mystic Soul Golden Claw!"

They could not cause too much commotion and risk those people returning.

After all, one could not make a fortune in silence right in front of others.

Shadow spoke with some regret. "Unfortunately, because of my innate deficiency, I need to absorb all six Soul Rings before I can completely break through!"

Shadow's Soul Power increased only slightly, failing to push him into the Soul Sage realm.

But Dai Yunzhao did not mind.

Dai Yunzhao looked up at the sky.

"There's still plenty of time. Let's go!"

The two headed directly toward the inner region of the Star Dou Forest.

With Shadow's absurdly powerful Shadow Martial Soul, they fought when they could win and fled when they could not.

After several days, the powerful soul beasts in the inner region began to stir restlessly, more or less.

They had been toyed with countless times by a little thing that could hide in the shadows!

Naturally, that little thing was Dai Yunzhao and Shadow.

Dai Yunzhao was responsible for throwing himself out as bait, while Shadow was responsible for striking and harvesting the prey.

The two worked together with flawless coordination.

The several Soul Rings Dai Yunzhao absorbed afterward were all ten-thousand-year Soul Rings.

The excess violent energy was absorbed by the two War Kings' ultimate skills.

Four days later, Dai Yunzhao sat beside the corpse of a salamander-like soul beast, panting heavily.

"Damn it, I nearly got screwed over in a ditch. That Pea Shooter almost ambushed me!"

Shadow's voice remained calm. "Once you absorb the Flame Salamander's Soul Ring, we can leave."

Over the past few days, the two had killed many soul beasts.

Shadow had long since absorbed all six of his Soul Rings. He had successfully broken through his shackles and reached the Soul Sage realm.

At his own request, Shadow's two Martial Souls had each absorbed a seventh Soul Ring.

Dai Yunzhao, meanwhile, had broken through to Soul Elder after absorbing his second Soul Ring. This Flame Salamander was now his final Soul Ring.

The Flame Salamander could release fireballs from the ear fins on either side of its head, which resembled fish gills.

Besides being fast, the Fierce Tiger King also had a Gatling-like weapon behind it!

"There's movement ahead. I'll take a look. Absorb the Soul Ring quickly!"

Before Shadow's words had even faded, he had already vanished into the darkness!