Hidden Circumstances

"Ha ha ha! The next one! I'll leave the next promising seed to you to teach."

Du Busi laughed heartily, but his words immediately made Jin Peng grumble inwardly.

How could it be so easy to run into a genius with a Body Martial Soul... Could it be that Body Martial Soul geniuses were all gathering together and appearing in droves?

"Come. Follow this old man to the Heavenly Soul Imperial Palace!"

As he spoke, Du Busi strode toward the exit of the Heavenly Soul Orphanage, not even sparing a glance for the terrified, silent crowd.

Long Aotian hesitated for a moment before following behind Ye An and Zhang Lexuan.

Seeing this, Ye An chuckled and patiently explained to Long Aotian, "We're going to the Heavenly Soul Imperial Palace first to attend the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony for the Heavenly Soul Empire's princess, then we'll return to the Body Sect."

Hearing that, Long Aotian cautiously asked, "Don't... don't we need to hunt for a Soul Ring first?"

"Of course not. If you obtain a Soul Ring now, you can only acquire one at around the four-hundred-year limit. But if you return to the Body Sect first and temper your body with the Body Sect's secret methods and Whale Glue, the age limit of your Soul Ring can be raised. Senior Sister Lexuan and I went through the same thing."

Long Aotian noticed Ye An and Zhang Lexuan's clasped hands. He nodded gently and silently committed those words to memory.

Catching a glimpse of Ye An and Long Aotian behind him, Du Busi's lips curled slightly.

It seemed Xiao An had truly taken the Body Sect's unity to heart. He even knew to look after a junior disciple who had just joined.

That being the case, he could finally rest easy and publicly announce Xiao An's status as the Body Sect's young sect master.

Heavenly Soul Imperial Palace, Martial Soul Awakening Hall.

In truth, before Vina awakened her Brain Martial Soul, the connection between the Body Sect and the Heavenly Soul Imperial Family had not been as close as it was in the original work. More accurately, the Body Sect's status within the Heavenly Soul Empire was still lofty, but it had not officially become the empire's guardian sect. At most, the two sides could be considered partners.

But after today, another bond would be added between them.

Ye An's gaze swept across the magnificently decorated hall before finally settling on the delicate little girl dressed in a long palace gown.

This was Vina, the Heavenly Soul Empire's emperor's only daughter, who had been granted the title of princess from the moment she was born.

Yet compared to Vina, Ye An was more interested in Wei Tiance, the Heavenly Soul Empire's emperor, who barely had any presence at all in the original work.

An eighty-fifth-ranked Soul Douluo, with a Snow Lotus Martial Soul and an auxiliary-type Soul Master.

In fact, the Snow Lotus Martial Soul was of no low quality. At the very least, it was far stronger than the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's Swan Martial Soul from ten thousand years ago. Its unique healing abilities were also entirely different from those of other healing-type Martial Souls.

Recalling the knowledge Du Busi had taught him, Ye An gradually gained a clearer understanding.

Only then did Ye An notice that Long Aotian's gaze had remained fixed on Vina, the Heavenly Soul princess.

Seeing this, Ye An's lips curved slightly.

So Long Aotian had fallen for Vina the moment he saw her?

However, Long Aotian's ending in the original work had not been good.

After the Sun Moon Empire launched its war and invaded the Heavenly Soul Empire, Long Aotian was struck by a ninth-grade soul tool while protecting Vina and died fighting for the Body Sect.

Now that he had become the Body Sect's young sect master, he would never allow such a thing to happen again!

"Sect Master Du, it's been a long time! Ha ha ha."

Noticing Du Busi's arrival, Wei Tiance, who sat in the seat of honor, brightened slightly. He actually rose directly from his seat and walked over to greet Du Busi, while the surrounding imperial clansmen all turned their eyes toward him.

Du Busi!

Although Shrek Academy was also located within the Heavenly Soul Empire, it was an aloof power independent of the empire and had nothing to do with the Heavenly Soul Empire. Thus, Du Busi, the Body Sect's sect master, was the Heavenly Soul Empire's strongest man.

Only by drawing such a powerhouse to their side could they truly feel at ease.

"Your Majesty."

Du Busi answered blandly, his tone not particularly respectful.

But Wei Tiance did not mind. Instead, he wore a beaming smile and did not look like a dignified emperor at all. "It's been three years, yet Sect Master Du's bearing remains as impressive as ever!"

"These three are..."

Noticing Ye An, Zhang Lexuan, and Long Aotian behind Du Busi, Wei Tiance put on an expression of surprise.

But in reality, he had long been fully informed about what had happened at the Heavenly Soul Orphanage and naturally knew that Long Aotian was Du Busi's newly accepted disciple.

"These three are all disciples of mine, Du Busi: Ye An, Zhang Lexuan, and Long Aotian. In addition, I have already named Ye An the Body Sect's young sect master."

Du Busi gave a simple introduction before revealing an amused smile. "Speaking of which, Xiao Xuan also has some connection to the nobles of your Heavenly Soul Empire."

"Oh?"

This time, Wei Tiance was genuinely surprised. His gaze paused on Ye An for a moment before shifting to Zhang Lexuan, a trace of confusion flashing across his face.

"This child has ties to the nobles of my Heavenly Soul Empire? Sect Master Du, could you elaborate?"

Du Busi glanced at Zhang Lexuan. Seeing no change in her expression, he paused slightly before saying, "Does Your Majesty still remember the Moonwatch Viscount whose entire family was exterminated three years ago?"

Moonwatch Viscount!?

This girl was actually from the Wangyue Viscount Family?

Wei Tiance's expression changed slightly.

But as if he had not seen Wei Tiance's reaction, Du Busi continued, "It was also the last time Your Majesty attended the princess's birthday banquet. On my way back to the Body Sect after leaving Heaven Dou City, I happened to discover Xiao Xuan, who had survived that massacre. So I brought her back to the Body Sect. In the future, Xiao Xuan will become the Body Sect's young sect master's wife."

"Your Majesty, don't you think that's quite a coincidence?"

The extermination of the Wangyue Viscount Family had been especially strange.

When Wei Tiance first learned of the matter, he had been furious. The reason was simple—the Wangyue Viscount Family was not actually a native noble family of the Heavenly Soul Empire. In truth, the family's origins were quite extraordinary. The late emperor had valued the Wangyue Viscount Family greatly during his reign, and after Wei Tiance ascended the throne, he had intended to entrust the family with important duties.

Yet the Wangyue Viscount Family had been wiped out overnight!

Although Wei Tiance had investigated the matter thoroughly from top to bottom, he had never found the culprit, nor had he discovered any surviving descendants of the Wangyue Viscount Family...

Who would have thought that the sole survivor had been taken back to the Body Sect by Du Busi and had even become the Body Sect's young sect master's wife?

Three years ago...

Three years ago!?

Wei Tiance suddenly thought of something, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

Since the sole surviving descendant of the Moonwatch Viscount's family had been brought back to the Body Sect by Du Busi, then... did Du Busi already know who the true culprit behind it all was?