On the day Jiang Chen returned to the academy, Mu En learned the full story of the Soul Hunting expedition. He flew into a rage on the spot and convened a Sea God Pavilion meeting to punish Xuan Zi.
As expected, Xuan Zi received a severe punishment at the Sea God Pavilion meeting.
Mu En not only stripped Xuan Zi of every position, but also demoted him to guarding the gate. He went straight from an Elder to an old gatekeeper, and was forbidden to drink for a year.
Of course, if Jiang Chen had died, Xuan Zi might have lost his life.
Everyone could see that, despite his advanced age, Mu En placed great hopes in Jiang Chen. He was waiting for Jiang Chen to grow strong enough to inherit the Pavilion Master's mantle.
To outsiders, being forbidden to eat seemed like a severe punishment. After all, denying food to someone with the godly taotie bull Martial Soul could be fatal.
Yet Jiang Chen was utterly shocked when he heard.
Shrek's punishments really were in a class of their own.
He stopped concerning himself with outside affairs and began cultivating after returning.
On the third day after the Soul Hunting expedition ended.
Jiang Chen came to the Inner Court again. A slender, graceful figure with a familiar back was already standing beside the lake. It was Ling Luochеn.
He had come to go on an assignment with Ling Luochеn.
Just then, Ling Luochеn slowly turned around, worry showing on her face. "I heard everything about the Soul Hunting expedition. Elder Mu said you nearly died in the Star Dou Great Forest. You must have been blessed with incredible luck to make it back alive. I was so worried..."
With that, she threw herself into Jiang Chen's arms, finally feeling much more at ease.
Jiang Chen reassured her, "When is Soul Hunting ever safe? Didn't everyone claw their way back from the brink of death to reach where they are today?"
"By the way, what's our assignment this time? I already spoke to Elder Mu about it beforehand. He didn't stop me, so it doesn't seem particularly dangerous."
Ling Luochеn nodded like a chick pecking at grain, then took out a communication Soul Tool. "Our assignment is to gather information within the Heaven Dou Empire and patrol for any signs of Evil Soul Masters, then record our findings and report them to the academy."
"This Soul Tool is for recording everything. Elder Mu asked me to pass it on to you."
"Since this assignment isn't very difficult, no Elder will be accompanying us. Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao are coming too. We'll work in pairs, so the two of us can keep each other company."
Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes. Something about this assignment felt strange, and he said bluntly, "Isn't the academy reaching a little too far? The Heaven Dou Empire has the Body Sect as its nation-protecting sect, with plenty of powerful experts and even a rank-98 Super Douluo overseeing it. Heaven Dou also has an Offering Hall. No matter how you look at it, Shrek has no business interfering in the empire's internal affairs."
"The Body Sect and the Heaven Dou Empire can handle things themselves. Why waste the academy's resources?"
Ling Luochеn explained, "Strictly speaking, that's true. But ultimately, Shrek Academy still has to intervene in the continent's internal affairs. Otherwise, the continent would descend into chaos. Only Shrek has the ability to change everything, and the Three Great Empires are happy to have us intervene. Those were the Elder's exact words."
Even if they aren't happy, what can they do? With a Limit Douluo looming over their heads, they'll get beaten if they dare disobey... Jiang Chen finally understood why Shrek had been bombed in the Dragon King era, and why everyone had applauded.
They really brought it on themselves.
Once I take over, the first thing I'll do is stamp out these crooked practices.
Rename the Sea God Pavilion the Angel Pavilion, and Shrek the Spirit Hall.
You know me. I've always admired dear Brother Three.
Before long, Jiang Chen and Ling Luochеn met up with the other two at Shrek Academy's entrance: Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao.
When Ma Xiaotao saw Jiang Chen, she couldn't help snorting and turning her head away.
She still refused to accept it!
In short, the better Jiang Chen was doing, the more miserable she felt.
Dai Yueheng was much more cordial. He stepped forward and said politely, "Junior Jiang Chen, heaven truly rewards diligence. I never expected you to be joining this assignment too. We'll have to work together."
Jiang Chen responded without much emotion, "I just hope certain people won't try anything underhanded."
Dai Yueheng caught the implication in his words.
Was Jiang Chen telling me to put away my little schemes?
This junior is quite interesting. He's actually so clever, far better than that useless younger brother of mine. The only pity is that he's too arrogant.
The four chatted briefly, then flew off toward the Heaven Dou Empire to carry out their assignment.
Two days later, Jiang Chen and Ling Luochеn reached the Lingshan Mountain Range in the Heaven Dou Empire. Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng had come along as well.
The mountain range bordered the Dou Ling Empire, making it the boundary between the two empires. A legion of the Heaven Dou Empire's Soul Masters was stationed there.
Places like this often had the most traces of Evil Soul Masters.
Their mission was not to hunt anyone down, only to gather information.
After landing, Jiang Chen and Ling Luochеn visited villages in areas where bandits ran rampant.
With their strength as a Soul King and a Soul Ancestor, they easily gathered plenty of information.
Whether it was useful or not, they would collect it first.
Once night fell, Jiang Chen and Ling Luochеn, who had spent the entire day gathering information, stopped at an inn in a local town and took the opportunity to ask about rumors circulating in the area.
Jiang Chen rested both arms on the table, looked at the innkeeper, and asked, "Have there been any serious incidents around here lately?"
The innkeeper shook his head repeatedly at the question.
He couldn't talk about things like that. He still had an entire family to feed.
Jiang Chen took out a few Gold Soul Coins and said calmly, "I'm just curious about what's happening around here. I'm from the Heaven Dou Empire, and my hometown is in this area too. I'm only asking out of curiosity."
"Tell me something that interests me, and these Gold Soul Coins are all yours."
The innkeeper's eyes lit up, his gaze fixed on the Gold Soul Coins.
A big spender had arrived.
So the innkeeper said, "Our area is very peaceful. We haven't seen an Evil Soul Master in decades. But there have been some strange things lately. A lot of outsiders have come here recently, though nobody knows what they're doing..."
At that, the innkeeper accepted the Gold Soul Coins from Jiang Chen with a broad smile.
That was all he knew, and all he could say. Saying any more could bring trouble down on his head, and it wouldn't be worth it.
Beside him, Ling Luochеn, who had been eating with her head lowered, said, "You let him fleece you. None of that information is useful."
Jiang Chen disagreed.
He had keenly spotted the key detail.
Outsiders?
Outsiders in the Heaven Dou Empire could only be people from the Star Luo Empire or the Dou Ling Empire.
But people from the Dou Ling Empire hardly even counted as outsiders, and the Star Luo Empire was too far away. Outsiders from there would never pass through this place.
That left only one possibility: pure-blooded people from the Sun Moon Empire.
They had noticeably dark skin, and even if they disguised themselves, their strong body odor would still give them away.
Jiang Chen silently committed this piece of information to memory, planning to head out tomorrow and see whether he could run into these supposed outsiders.
Yet while the two were eating, more than a dozen black-clad figures appeared in Jiang Chen's line of sight. They were precisely the outsiders the innkeeper had mentioned.
The man leading them wore a black robe and exuded an icy aura. One glance was enough to tell he was not someone to cross.
The followers behind him were all youths. Though some had concealed themselves very well, Jiang Chen still recognized them.
Disguise techniques on the Douluo Continent really are terrible.
Isn't this that bunch from the Holy Spirit Cult?
The leader was Nangong Wan, while those behind him included Yan Feng and the other members of the Holy Spirit Cult's team, along with cult followers.
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