Spirit Hall's Two Enforcers

The air in the Star Luo Imperial City seemed clearer than it had been a few days before.

Dai Xuanyu stood on the second-floor gallery of his residence, watching his Personal Guard practice Soul Skills in the training ground below. His fingertips tapped lightly against the railing.

"Not bad." Dai Xuanyu gave them measured praise.

Since the imperial family's sweeping purge, seventy to eighty percent of the spies planted by the city's various factions had been rooted out.

Those who remained had either drawn into their shells, afraid to make a move, or fallen under the Star Luo Military's covert watch.

At last, the imperial city had returned to the solid, unbroken fortress it ought to have been.

Dai Xuanyu and his party, meanwhile, had lingered in nearby cities for more than half a month before slipping back in under cover of night.

Everything seemed to have settled back onto a steady course.

But peace had always been an illusion before the storm.

That day, after finishing his inspection, Dai Xuanyu was reading in his study.

Then, without waiting to be announced, Wang Hao, commander of the deathsworn guards, pushed open the door.

He strode to Dai Xuanyu's side with a grave expression and whispered a few words in his ear.

Dai Xuanyu's hand stopped turning the page.

A fierce clash of Soul Power had erupted a hundred li outside the city.

The energy released was so powerful that any Soul Master with keen senses within dozens of li could detect it. Several groups of experts had already gone to investigate.

According to reports from hidden sentries outside the city, both sides possessed the strength of Titled Douluo.

One side was naturally the imperial family's people, using their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

The other side's identity was unknown, but the Soul Power they emitted bore an unusually distinctive signature.

Cold, uncanny, and thick with the scent of death.

"Ghost Douluo?" Dai Xuanyu put down his book, his gaze sharpening.

Wang Hao nodded. "Your Highness, it should be Ghost Douluo of Spirit Hall."

"And the ones fighting him are our imperial family's Elder Long and Elder Xuan."

Dai Xuanyu rose and walked slowly to the window. Hands clasped behind his back, he looked toward the horizon beyond the city.

His inborn Evil Eyes and Double Pupils had undergone a new enhancement after his Martial Soul Awakening.

That let Dai Xuanyu see with extraordinary clarity.

Clouds churned there, and beneath them, flashes from colliding Soul Power flickered in and out of sight.

Even from a hundred li away, Dai Xuanyu could sense both sides' Soul Power fluctuations directly through his Evil Eyes and Double Pupils.

"That woman Bibi Dong couldn't hold back forever."

Dai Xuanyu spoke softly, his voice calm with the relief of having expected this.

Such a bold move from Spirit Hall was hardly surprising.

Given Spirit Hall's ambitions and methods, it would never let even the faintest clue slip past.

And across the entire Douluo Continent, only the lavishly resourced Spirit Hall could casually send a Titled Douluo to gather information.

Ghost Douluo had probably been lurking in and around Star Luo City for more than a day or two.

He had likely begun probing the palace itself, and that was when his movements were discovered.

Good thing they found him. Otherwise, who knew how long Ghost Douluo would have stayed hidden?

"Your Highness, shall I prepare a horse?" Wang Hao asked.

Dai Xuanyu waved a hand. "No need. Elder Long and Elder Xuan are strong enough to handle Ghost Douluo."

"Besides, this battle is bound to begin like a tiger and end like a snake."

Dai Xuanyu was not speaking idly.

Dai Long and Zhu Xuan were both Soul Douluo.

Together, their Martial Soul Fusion Skill was more than enough to hold off Ghost Douluo.

What was more, they were fighting on the Star Luo Imperial Family's home ground.

Ghost Douluo had infiltrated alone. Once discovered, he was at a disadvantage from the start.

If he had any sense, he would flee as the fight wore on.

If he dared drag it out, the Star Luo Imperial Family had the power to make sure he never left.

"And a battle between Titled Douluo isn't something I can involve myself in yet."

The son of a wealthy house did not sit beneath a precarious roof. Dai Xuanyu always kept that lesson close to heart.

"As you command, Your Highness." Wang Hao then left the study.

After hearing that news, Dai Xuanyu had no heart for reading.

All his attention was now on Ghost Douluo.

And the mention of Ghost Douluo naturally brought Chrysanthemum Douluo to mind.

Those two poor devils. A nearly imperceptible smile touched Dai Xuanyu's lips.

Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, Spirit Hall's two enforcers, could be called talents blessed by heaven.

But in their youth, their origins and limited horizons had led them down many wrong turns in cultivation, leaving their foundations unstable.

Even after they attached themselves to Spirit Hall and came under Pope Bibi Dong's command, they were treated as tools, never truly nurtured or valued.

Individually, their strength as Titled Douluo ranked near the bottom of their peers.

Their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, however, was powerful enough to defy heaven. It alone had kept their standing in Spirit Hall reasonably high.

But if either one of them fell, the other's standing would plummet.

Those circumstances had given Dai Xuanyu an idea.

Chrysanthemum Douluo. Ghost Douluo.

If he could bring those two under his command, they would be an asset of incalculable value.

They were unlike the members of Spirit Hall's Offering Hall or the Titled Douluo Spirit Hall had raised within its own ranks.

Those people were fiercely loyal to Spirit Hall and extremely hard to turn.

Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, however, had no deep affection for Spirit Hall or Bibi Dong.

All Bibi Dong had given them was the treatment of tools to be ordered about and used.

She had never shown them real kindness. She had not even treated their heaven-defying Martial Soul Fusion Skill as a treasure.

That woman Bibi Dong was simply too foolish and too arrogant.

Chrysanthemum Douluo is the key! Dai Xuanyu identified his opening without hesitation.

He knew exactly what it would take to win Chrysanthemum Douluo over.

Chrysanthemum Douluo's Martial Soul was itself a kind of Immortal Herb.

If Dai Xuanyu produced the corresponding Immortal Herb, Chrysanthemum Douluo would find it impossible to resist.

Offer him suitable rewards and standing on top of that, and winning him over would be as easy as reaching out a hand.

And once Chrysanthemum Douluo was persuaded, Ghost Douluo would come join Dai Xuanyu of his own accord.

The bond between those two ran far deeper than anyone imagined.

Persuade one and gain a pair. For Dai Xuanyu, that was a bargain well worth making.

There were only a handful of publicly known Titled Douluo on the Douluo Continent, and each was a force capable of shaking the balance of power in a region.

Dai Xuanyu's own forces were still thin. His greatest reliance was the Star Luo Imperial Family as his trump card.

But at this stage, the imperial family's power was not his to command.

He still had far too few capable people under him whom he could deploy freely.

So until he grew strong enough to sweep the world by himself, he had to recruit, gather, and build his strength wherever he could.