A thousand leisurely years passed in the blink of an eye.
In the meeting chamber of the Elder Hall in Spirit City, the quarterly meeting proceeded as usual. All the Titled Douluo elders and Super Douluo enshrined were present.
A long rectangular table stood in the center of the Elder Hall, flanked by ten chairs carved from platinum-colored jade. At present, however, only five enshrined sat in them.
Below the rectangular table stood two rows of white jade chairs, with roughly twenty seats in total. More than half were already occupied.
Although the fifteen or sixteen Titled Douluo experts kept their power restrained, the formidable auras they inadvertently released lent the meeting chamber a solemn atmosphere.
Just then, two lean old men with white hair and beards entered the chamber, one behind the other. The one in front headed toward the seat of honor, while the other walked to the seat opposite him.
Once the two old men took their seats, the already solemn meeting chamber grew even more oppressive. The reason was simple: these two were Spirit Hall's current Supreme Pontiff, Qian Bufan, and its Great Enshrined, Qian Chongling.
"We will now formally begin this meeting. Second Grandfather, please preside." Supreme Pontiff Qian Bufan nodded to Qian Chongling.
Qian Chongling said evenly, "First the bitter, then the sweet. Everyone, take a look at these first."
As he spoke, Qian Chongling distributed the stack of blue papers in his hand to the enshrined and elders present.
Each enshrined and elder received a sheet and began reading slowly. The farther they read, the uglier their expressions became.
About ten minutes later, nearly all the enshrined and elders had finished reading. Qian Chongling gave a cold smile, turned toward the enshrined seated first on his right, and asked, "Second Worship, Douluo Youyue, how do you think we should deal with Zhao Yu, Zhao Zhou, and Zhou Hui, the three deacons from Star Moon City listed in the second case?"
"Half a year ago, Zhao Yu, Zhao Zhou, and Zhou Hui colluded with the nobles of Star Moon City to withhold the wages owed to commoners for building the city walls, causing dozens of people to starve to death."
"Under Spirit Hall's laws, they must be executed!" Douluo Youyue wiped away his cold sweat and answered solemnly.
"Very good. I recall that you have two Soul Saint disciples. Let them handle this matter."
"We cannot touch the empire's nobles, but surely we can touch these three?" Qian Chongling said evenly.
"Yes, Great Enshrined," Douluo Youyue replied.
"Lin Fei, the head of the Martial Soul Sub-Hall in Luotian City, in the Star Luo Empire, forced the local commoner Soul Masters to make donations under the pretext that Spirit Hall needed funds for construction! I must say, this young fellow certainly knows how to play the game!"
A trace of a smile appeared on Qian Chongling's face, but his next words were utterly bloody. "Return all those Gold Soul Coins to the commoners. As for Lin Fei, have him flayed alive."
"Leave this matter to the Spirit Hall Main Hall overseeing Luotian City."
After a pause, Qian Chongling continued, "There are many more cases like these. I will not handle them one by one for you. Execute those who deserve execution, and dismiss those who deserve dismissal."
"As it should be. These people deserve death!"
"We must kill one to warn a hundred!"
The enshrined and elders were all indignant. As Titled Douluo, they spent most of their time cultivating in seclusion, hoping to break through their current realms. Ordinary Douluo hoped to become Super Douluo, while Super Douluo hoped to climb another step higher.
As a result, lapses in their management of Spirit Hall were inevitable. What they had not expected was that the situation had become so severe.
The enshrined and elders did not doubt the authenticity of these cases, because Spirit Hall had a Shadow and Shadow Hall that answered exclusively to the Great Enshrined.
The Shadow and Shadow Hall was divided into the Dark Hall and the Shadow Hall. The Dark Hall handled intelligence and information gathering, much like the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Great Ming dynasty. Anyone, from Soul Masters to mat weavers, sandal sellers, pig butchers, and sheep slaughterers, could be one of its members.
The Shadow Hall specialized in pursuing and suppressing Evil Soul Masters, ensuring that they would not rise again from the ashes on the continent.
However, the enshrined and elders, brimming with righteous indignation, failed to notice that an elder seated at the end of the white jade chairs had let out a small sigh of relief.
"We have tasted the bitter. Now comes the sweet."
"Seventh Elder, what was the net profit of the Martial Soul Air Transport project this quarter?" Qian Chongling lifted his gaze slightly toward the Seventh Elder, Douluo Bai Yun, seated below.
Martial Soul Air Transport used airboats to transport goods through the air. Naturally, Qian Chongling had obtained both the materials for constructing these airboats and the fuel formula through check-ins with that rotten system.
Even if the two great empires and the Upper Three Sects copied the design like someone drawing a tiger from a cat, without his fuel formula, their airboats would be nothing more than ornaments, incapable of flying.
Thus, Qian Chongling had no fear of imitators. Martial Soul Air Transport operated out of the Martial Soul Holy Halls, Main Halls, Sub-Halls, and Branches in every city, completely monopolizing the industry.
Aside from airboats, there were also various other things, such as papermaking, glass manufacturing, and high-proof liquor. Qian Chongling had even established a dedicated research laboratory for them.
If he happened to obtain some lost Soul Tool blueprints in the future, there would still be a chance to develop them.
"Great Enshrined, after deducting all costs and compensation for damaged goods, this quarter's profit came to nine million Gold Soul Coins," Douluo Bai Yun said confidently.
"That is a three-hundred-percent increase over last quarter. It seems you took my words to heart," Qian Chongling said pointedly.
"Under the reward system, twenty percent of that, a total of one million eight hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, will be awarded to the branches with outstanding performance. As the person in overall charge, you will receive an additional two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."
Douluo Bai Yun froze for a moment, then hurriedly thanked Qian Chongling. "Thank you, Great Enshrined."
The other elders and enshrined were also somewhat moved. Although they had no shortage of Gold Soul Coins, no one would ever complain about having too many.
"And what about the Martial Soul Bank's Soul Ring hunting program, student aid program, and loan program?" Qian Chongling continued.
Soul Ring hunting program: Soul Masters who felt that obtaining a Soul Ring was too difficult could apply at their local Spirit Hall Branch. In exchange for a set fee, the Martial Soul Alliance would arrange for a high-ranking Soul Master to help them obtain a Soul Ring.
Soul Rings under a hundred years old cost a flat five hundred Gold Soul Coins. Those between one hundred and four hundred years cost one thousand Gold Soul Coins, while those between five hundred and nine hundred years cost three thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Thousand-Year Soul Rings cost five thousand Gold Soul Coins per thousand years, while Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings cost fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins per ten thousand years, following the same scale up to a maximum of fifty thousand years.
Student aid program: Commoner Soul Masters could apply for student aid using certification issued by Spirit Hall. They had three opportunities to apply for interest-free loans, which could be repaid over five years.
Those below rank ten could apply for one thousand Gold Soul Coins, those below rank twenty for two thousand Gold Soul Coins, and those below rank thirty for five thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Loan program: This program did not accept applications from commoners or low-ranking Soul Masters. Only Soul Masters ranked Soul King or above, or nobles, were eligible to apply.
"Great Enshrined, the Soul Ring hunting and student aid programs complement each other and have helped many low-ranking Soul Masters through difficult times. Most low-ranking Soul Masters use these services, so they are developing quite well."
"However, with the loan program, the screening requirements are rather strict, so..."
"Great Enshrined, should we relax some of the screening requirements?" asked the Sixth Elder, Wuyun Douluo.
Before you continue