Idle Chat

Xu Qingqing sat cross-legged on the ground, a yellow spirit ring slowly revolving above her head. Her expression was tranquil, and her breathing long and steady.

The absorption of the spirit ring had already stabilized.

Yue Guan leaned against a large tree, his golden hair spreading across the ground behind him.

He turned his head and looked toward Ye Xunhuan, who stood guard not far away.

"Kid, come sit."

Ye Xunhuan walked over and sat on a rock beside him.

Yue Guan did not speak immediately. Instead, he studied him for several seconds.

His golden eyes swept over Ye Xunhuan's face, as though weighing something.

"Her Holiness the Pope said that Ling Yuan brought you back from the Heaven Dou Empire."

Ye Xunhuan nodded. "Yes. My home was Golden Bear Village outside Sky Star City. After Sister helped me awaken my martial soul and obtain my first spirit ring, she brought me to Spirit City."

Yue Guan gave a slight nod.

This matched

what had been clearly stated in Ling Yuan's report: Golden Bear Village, a small village on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire. More than two hundred villagers had been slaughtered by Tang Hao overnight, and Ye Xunhuan was the only survivor rescued.

Yue Guan fell silent for several seconds, carefully choosing his words. "Tang Hao destroyed your village, didn't he?"

Yue Guan's tone was calm when he said this, as if he were merely asking what Ye Xunhuan had eaten for lunch.

Yet his gaze never left Ye Xunhuan's face.

He was observing him.

If Ye Xunhuan showed even the slightest discomfort, he would immediately end the subject.

Ye Xunhuan's expression remained unchanged, as though he did not care.

But Yue Guan's gaze shifted downward slightly.

Beneath the hem of Ye Xunhuan's clothes, his fist was clenched tightly.

His knuckles were white, and his nails dug into his palms.

"Yes."

Ye Xunhuan's voice was calm, as though he were discussing something unrelated to himself.

"Tang Hao said someone in our village had leaked the information that his wife was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, which led to Spirit Hall hunting her down. That was why he massacred Golden Bear Village."

Yue Guan fell silent.

The name was not exactly taboo within Spirit Hall, but neither was it a pleasant subject.

Yue Guan had personally taken part in that incident back then. He had even compiled part of the records from that battle himself.

He knew the truth better than Ye Xunhuan did.

Tang Hao had been a Soul Douluo above level eighty at the time.

What did a Soul Douluo above level eighty represent?

Across the entire continent, as long as no Titled Douluo intervened, fewer than five people could be stronger than him.

Moreover, once one's cultivation reached the Soul Douluo rank, careful observation would reveal a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast transformed into human form before reaching maturity. Tang Hao and the Blue Silver Emperor were also husband and wife.

Yue Guan would never believe that Tang Hao had not known the person beside him was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form.

Even so, Tang Hao had still traveled across the continent with the Blue Silver Emperor, making no effort whatsoever to conceal her.

In the end, the former pope, Qian Xunji, discovered them, and Spirit Hall dispatched a large number of soul masters to pursue them.

What kind of force was Spirit Hall?

It was the largest soul master organization on the continent. The former pope, Qian Xunji, had already been a level ninety-five Titled Douluo, while the Elder Hall had rows of Titled Douluo stationed within it. The Worship Hall also had several old monsters who had withdrawn from worldly affairs.

Combined, those forces could crush any single power on the continent.

The Clear Sky Sect was indeed formidable.

It was the foremost of the Upper Three Sects, with the Clear Sky Hammer as its inherited martial soul, and was said to be capable of breaking all techniques with sheer strength.

But ever since the former former sect master, Tang Chen, disappeared, its high-level combat power had been utterly unable to match Spirit Hall. Even if the Clear Sky Sect deployed all its strength, directly confronting Spirit Hall would be no more than an egg smashing against a rock.

But Tang Hao simply did not care.

He had taken the still-immature Blue Silver Emperor and wandered all across the continent.

Countless people must have seen them along the way: inn attendants, passersby, traveling merchants, even other soul masters.

It had only been a matter of time before the information leaked.

That Spirit Hall eventually discovered them was entirely predictable.

And then?

Spirit Hall sent people to hunt them down. Tang Hao could not win, so Ah Yin sacrificed herself.

Tang Hao survived. He did not seek revenge against Spirit Hall because he knew he was nowhere near a match for Spirit Hall's experts.

If he could not defeat them, then others could only pay the price.

So Tang Hao redirected his rage toward ordinary civilians.

Golden Bear Village.

More than two hundred people. There were elderly people, children, toddlers who had only just learned to walk, and pregnant women.

How many of them even knew what a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was?

How many had ever seen what the Blue Silver Emperor looked like?

Just because one of them had overheard a tiny scrap of information, the entire village had been massacred in misplaced rage.

Was there any justice in that?

Furthermore, another claim circulated among the continent's upper ranks: Tang Hao had long known his wife was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form. He had deliberately traveled across the continent with the Blue Silver Emperor so that Spirit Hall would discover them.

Tang Hao had been close to level ninety at the time. He only needed one more spirit ring to enter the continent's highest ranks.

At that moment, a ready-made Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring stood right before him, and it could even produce a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

How many people could truly remain unmoved?

For that very reason, the more this claim spread, the more credible it became.

If this claim were true, then Tang Hao's image as a devoted husband, built up over decades, was merely a

As Yue Guan thought this, an indescribable anger churned in his heart.

After calming himself slightly, Yue Guan changed the subject.

"So, did you come to study at Spirit Hall only to take revenge on Tang Hao?"

It sounded like a casual question, but after asking it, Yue Guan's eyes never left Ye Xunhuan's face.

Ye Xunhuan was slightly startled.

Was this an ordinary question, or a test?

If it was a test, then his answer had to cover every angle.

Yue Guan had been sent by Her Holiness the Pope. There was a strong chance every question he asked would reach Bibi Dong's ears.

Ye Xunhuan did not know whether Yue Guan would relay his answer word for word to the Pope's Palace or filter it before reporting it.

But regardless of which it was, he had to make his meaning clear.

He pondered for several seconds, then nodded before shaking his head.

"Taking revenge on Tang Hao is my goal. I am still unimaginably far from achieving it. But if you say I entered Spirit Hall only to take revenge on Tang Hao, that is impossible."

Yue Guan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Ye Xunhuan paused, then continued.

"Spirit Hall awakens martial souls for commoners free of charge, giving many families the chance to change their fates. It also provides Gold Soul Coins to soul masters. Without Spirit Hall, who knew how many people would still be living in remote mountain valleys, never learning what their martial souls were for their entire lives? This is something the two great empires are far inferior at."

His voice was neither hurried nor slow, every word filled with sincerity.

"The nobles of the empires bully commoners and commit every evil imaginable—arson, murder, looting, and worse. They squeeze the people dry, then, after commoners finally manage to send their children into an academy, those children must still suffer the nobles' bullying."

"The Upper Three Sects are the same," Ye Xunhuan added.

Yue Guan did not interrupt him.

Ye Xunhuan raised his head and looked toward the sky.

"Therefore, I joined Spirit Hall for far more than revenge. If possible, I hope that in the future, Martial Soul Academy will no longer be limited to Spirit City, but will be established across the entire continent—going among the people, going among the masses."