Web! Two and a Half Years Later!

Xu Tianchen was left utterly bewildered by what he had heard. They had disbanded the secret guards responsible for protecting the emperor and gathering intelligence just to save a bit of money?

What kind of brain was that?

How had he become emperor? Had Imperial Grandfather gone senile in his later years and chosen someone like that to rule?

Kong Deming seemed to understand what Xu Tianchen was thinking and spoke.

"I don't know what the late emperor was thinking either. But when he disbanded the Bright Dragon Guard, your father was delighted for quite a while. After all these years of development, the force I reorganized has expanded to nearly three hundred people. This man is now the leader of those secret guards, and this token is the symbol of the highest commander."

As he spoke, Kong Deming called over the unremarkable middle-aged man who had been standing to one side. The man dropped to one knee before Xu Tianchen and said,

"This subordinate, Shadow Ghost, pays respects to Your Highness."

Xu Tianchen stepped forward and helped him up. Kong Deming continued.

"I'll leave this newly formed secret guard force to you. I only hope you won't disband them again. From now on, they will be under your command. No matter what you choose to do, I will support you."

After hearing this, Xu Tianchen immediately knelt before Kong Deming and gave him a deep kowtow. Kong Deming hurriedly helped him up, speaking in a mildly reproachful tone.

"What are you doing? I am your great-grandfather, and we are family. There is no need for such formalities. All right, this was the purpose of my visit. Ask Shadow Ghost about the rest yourself."

With that, Kong Deming headed toward the door. But after reaching it, he turned back and looked at Xu Tianchen, who was seeing him off.

"Remember, if there is anything you cannot resolve, come find me. I will always be your strongest support."

With that, Kong Deming left Xu Tianchen's chambers beneath the moonlight. Xu Tianchen bowed deeply once more in the direction he had gone.

After finishing his bow, Xu Tianchen looked at Shadow Ghost and asked, "What is your cultivation level?"

Shadow Ghost immediately dropped to one knee. "This subordinate is currently a level 83 Soul Douluo and a Rank-8 Soul Engineer. My martial soul is Ghost Soul."

"Ghost Soul?"

"It is this subordinate's own soul. I died briefly as a child, but Kong Lao saved me and allowed me to survive. That brush with death transformed my martial soul into Ghost Soul."

Shadow Ghost quickly explained to Xu Tianchen. His tone was exceptionally calm, as though he were not talking about himself at all. Only when he mentioned Kong Deming did a trace of gratitude flash through his eyes.

"What is the organization called?"

"Kong Lao said that Your Highness should name it."

After Shadow Ghost spoke, Xu Tianchen thought for a moment. Then a name suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Then call it Web. A net cast across heaven and earth, reaching everywhere. By the way, how strong are the members?"

"Other than me, the two deputy commanders are also Soul Douluos. However, they have only recently broken through, and they are merely Rank-7 Soul Engineers. Apart from the three of us Soul Douluos, the organization has nine Soul Sages, twenty Soul Emperors, fifty-eight Soul Kings, seventy-eight Soul Ancestors, and one hundred thirty-three Soul Venerables."

That was a respectable force. It could wipe out some second-rate sects on the continent that lacked a Title Douluo.

"What regions are you mainly active in?"

"We mainly operate around Mingdu and only gather important intelligence. Our primary duty is still to protect you."

"Me?" Xu Tianchen was somewhat surprised. Had Great-Grandfather arranged for people to protect me long ago?

"Yes. Kong Lao arranged for people to protect you long ago."

Shadow Ghost nodded, his tone firm.

"All right. Your direction needs to change from now on. You should devote most of your efforts to gathering intelligence, and later, you can recruit some peripheral members. It is late today. Tomorrow, I will give you a plan, and you can reorganize according to it."

"Yes. This subordinate will take his leave. If anything arises, you may summon me at any time. I will be nearby."

With that, Shadow Ghost withdrew. His body gradually faded, eventually turning into a wisp of green smoke and vanishing from the spot.

Xu Tianchen looked at the moon hanging high outside the window. Web. This great net would spread across the four nations, and he would be its master.

Two and a Half Years Later

Purple Radiance Prince's Manor

Nine-year-old Xu Tianchen sat cross-legged, soul power surging around him like a tide. With a muffled bang, the bottleneck shattered beneath the impact of his immense soul power. An imposing aura burst from his dantian and spread throughout his body. Xu Tianchen opened his eyes, and a glint of gold flashed through them.

Level forty. Success!

After two and a half years of painstaking cultivation, Xu Tianchen had finally broken through to level forty. This was mainly because he had not obtained Shrek Academy's cultivation method for Ultimate Martial Souls. Of course, even if he had, Xu Tianchen would not have dared to use it.

He still remembered how, after the investiture ceremony ended, Long Xiaoyao had gone to Shrek Academy to exchange for Mu En's method of quickly passing from level thirty to level seventy with an Ultimate Martial Soul. But Mu En refused. Even when Long Xiaoyao offered three Soul Bones more than fifty thousand years old in exchange, Mu En still would not agree.

Mu En demanded that Xu Tianchen be sent to Shrek Academy, claiming that if he did so, it would be taught free of charge.

Naturally, the two parted on bad terms. Given Xu Tianchen's status, how could he possibly go study at Shrek?

After Long Xiaoyao returned to the Sun Moon Empire and told Ye Xishui about it, she dragged him into researching the matter with her for nearly a year. In the end, they had Xu Tianchen try actively compressing his soul power.

The reason Ultimate Martial Souls were normally difficult to cultivate was because they required soul power compression. Generally speaking, Spirit Masters with ultimate attributes found cultivation two ranks harder than ordinary Spirit Masters, and their cultivation speed would only return to normal after they broke through to Soul Sage.

The reason Ultimate Martial Soul users were so powerful was their suppressive power against Spirit Masters of the same rank. To ensure that the ultimate attribute could display its effects, their soul power had to be more condensed and abundant than that of others at the same level.

Furthermore, once Ultimate Martial Soul users reached level seventy, they would rapidly catch up. Most importantly, there would no longer be any bottlenecks in their later cultivation. In other words, they could at minimum cultivate to Super Douluo. With proper training, even level ninety-nine would not be an insurmountable hurdle.

That was the innate advantage of ultimate attributes, as well as the top-tier, version-defining martial soul ability of the second Douluo Continent era, Unrivaled Tang Sect.

What Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui had devised was to change Xu Tianchen's martial soul's passive compression into an active process. It had some effect, at least increasing his cultivation speed by around twenty percent.

After all, there was still a difference between passive compression and actively controlling the process himself. This could be considered a solution to the overly slow cultivation speed of Ultimate Martial Souls. Although his cultivation was still slow, he was not an ordinary Ultimate Martial Soul wielder.

During those two and a half years, they had not only resolved the issue with his Ultimate Martial Soul, but also investigated Zhang Le Xuan's family.

Zhang Le Xuan's great-great-grandfather—her grandfather Zhang Huan's grandfather—had been Kong Deming's uncle. When Xu Tianchen discovered this, he had been dumbfounded. He had even gone to Kong Deming to verify it. Kong Deming said that he knew little about his uncle's branch of the family. He only remembered that after his uncle fell out with his grandfather, he left the Sun Moon Empire, and no one knew where he had gone afterward.

But it was fine. Zhang Le Xuan and Xu Tianchen's relationship had long since gone beyond the fifth degree of kinship. Their blood relation was practically nonexistent.

Before Xu Tianchen entered seclusion to break through level forty, Kong Deming had decided to visit them and ask whether they wished to return.

Xu Tianchen calculated inwardly. Given Kong Deming's speed, he should have returned from Heavenly Soul by now. He wondered how things had gone.

As he pondered this, he pushed open the door to his room and saw Shadow Ghost standing outside like a guardian statue. The moment Shadow Ghost saw Xu Tianchen, he immediately reported.

"Your Highness, Kong Lao has arrived. He is currently in the study and says he has something to discuss with you."