The somewhat ancient-looking longsword hovered quietly behind Zhao Su.
Terrifying waves of sword intent radiated from it. Even though it had only just awakened, it sent chills down one's spine.
Once the Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul had fully awakened, Zhao Su slowly opened his eyes.
He turned to look at the Seven Kill Sword hovering there.
He could clearly see mountains and rivers carved into one side of its blade, and birds and beasts carved into the other.
Five characters were engraved on its hilt, which was a little over a foot long: Emperor Seven Kill Sword!
Those five characters were not written in the script of the present age, but in the ancient script from Douluo's earliest days.
The overwhelming pressure radiating from those five characters alone surpassed every other sword martial soul.
That included the Seven Kill Sword of Sword Douluo, whose title itself was taken from the sword.
"Congratulations on awakening another powerful martial soul, Master!"
Just then, a black-clad figure appeared behind Zhao Su, bowing her head slightly as she spoke with exceptional respect.
"Well? Did you find anything?"
"I found some leads, but nothing has been confirmed yet."
Her name was Shadow, and she was a powerful expert Zhao Su had personally trained over the past few years. She obeyed his commands without question.
The members of the Shadow Squad all possessed uncanny martial souls that excelled at concealment.
The leader of the Shadow Squad in particular had a shadow for his martial soul. Once he merged with it, not even a Titled Douluo could detect him.
What was more, she herself was now a level ninety-seven Titled Douluo.
However, she was not registered as a Titled Douluo anywhere.
Even Spirit Hall was unaware that such a Titled Douluo existed.
Under Zhao Su's orders, she had infiltrated the major sects, clans, and the two great empires.
One purpose was to monitor the next moves of those sects and clans.
The other was to complete the hidden quest issued by the system.
[Hidden quest: Find the Nine Guardian Dragons lost by the Divine Realm on the Douluo Continent!]
Not only did this hidden quest offer no rewards, it even came with a special requirement.
Until he found the Nine Guardian Dragons, he could not break through level one hundred and become a god.
In other words, unless he found all Nine Guardian Dragons, Zhao Su could never become a god.
"Tell me!"
"Just as you suspected, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's martial soul may well be the Golden Sacred Dragon, one of the Nine Guardian Dragons. Their constitutions are simply too weak to withstand its descent!"
"There is also the Bone Dragon martial soul of Gu Rong, the Titled Douluo who guards the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Those are the only two leads we have so far."
Shadow was entirely shrouded in a black robe, and her voice sounded somewhat hoarse.
Standing there, she seemed to have merged completely with heaven and earth.
"Understood. Keep searching. Also, do not make a move against either of them without my orders!"
"Yes." Shadow nodded respectfully, but seemed to have something else she was reluctant to say.
"If you have something to say, say it. Don't hem and haw."
"Yes. I sensed a trace of a soul beast's aura from the young girl you met today, Master. She may well be a hundred-thousand-year soul beast."
Zhao Su had been holding a watering can, watering the flowers and plants he grew to pass the time when he was bored. A powerful surge of soul power, mingling sacredness with the aura of death, suddenly poured from his body and enveloped Shadow.
Under the pressure of that tremendous soul power, even she, a level ninety-seven Titled Douluo, could not help feeling fear.
The black robe covering her body fell to the ground under that immense soul power.
Shadow's true appearance was revealed.
She was a woman with a voluptuous figure.
At first glance, she was not exceptionally beautiful, but her figure was practically unrivaled. She had curves everywhere she should, without an ounce of excess flesh anywhere she should not.
Who could have imagined that such a nearly perfect, blood-stirring body lay hidden beneath that black robe?
"I did not deliberately spy on you, Master. I only came to report the results of my investigation and happened to encounter her."
Shadow silently lowered her head, her entire body trembling slightly beneath the overwhelming pressure of his soul power.
"Remember, do not try to test my limits again!"
"Yes. I will remember." Feeling Zhao Su withdraw his powerful soul power, Shadow breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly changed the subject. "Master, I also uncovered another piece of information."
"Oh? What information?"
"Gu Rong doesn't seem to belong to this world."
"Hmm?"
Shadow's words took Zhao Su somewhat by surprise.
He could not help wondering inwardly, Could there be another transmigrator besides me?
"His background is extremely mysterious. Before he became a Titled Douluo, no one had ever heard of him. Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't know exactly where he came from!"
Shadow continued.
No one having heard of him before he became a Titled Douluo seemed rather unlikely.
Although there were quite a few soul masters on the Douluo Continent, their numbers were by no means vast.
Soul masters beyond the level sixty Soul Emperor realm were particularly scarce.
Keeping a low profile was understandable, but being unable to uncover even a trace of his past was rather strange.
"Get to the bottom of it. Dig right down to his roots, starting with where he was born!"
"Yes, understood."
Zhao Su waved a hand, dismissing Shadow.
Shadow bowed again. The black robe on the ground flew up on its own, wrapping around her perfect figure before she gradually vanished.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect... In that case, I'll go have some fun at Shrek Academy!
After Shadow left, Zhao Su sat down on a reclining chair beneath a ginkgo tree in the courtyard, rocking gently as he considered his plans.
He chose Shrek Academy because he knew Ning Rongrong, the most gifted and beloved young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, would be going there too.
Ning Rongrong was the one Gu Rong pampered most-spoiled most, even. Perhaps he could learn something about Gu Rong through her.
"System, where's the shop?"
After deciding what to do next, Zhao Su resumed examining the rewards the system had given him.
"You'll see it once you summon the status panel."
As the system spoke, his status appeared.
All of Zhao Su's attributes were displayed before him.
Host: Zhao Su. Martial souls: Twelve-Winged Holy Angel, Emperor Seven Kill Sword. Soul skills: Twelve-Winged Holy Angel's first soul skill, Heaven and Earth Manifestation; second soul skill, Heaven-Destroying Palm; third soul skill, Ninefold Sword Art; fourth soul skill, Holy Angel True Body. Emperor Seven Kill Sword: None. Level: Level forty-two Battle Soul Master, power attack system. Spiritual power: 23,200 points, spirit domain realm. Energy Points: 95,000 points. Fortune Points: 23 points. World-Guarding Divine Dragon: None. System Shop: Open?
"Open the System Shop!"
With a thought from Zhao Su, the System Shop vanished from the status page and appeared in the upper-left corner of the system's home page.
The System Shop then opened automatically.
Rows of soul rings in various colors were displayed there, along with all kinds of soul tools.
Zhao Su gave them a cursory glance: the Silent Sleeve Arrow, Dragon Whisker Needle, Sand-Containing Shadow Needle, and Yama's Invitation.
It even offered devastating weapons of mass slaughter such as the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles, Guanyin's Tears, and Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus.
Zhao Su had little interest in these hidden weapons, however.
Instead, his attention was drawn to six soul bones glowing crimson-gold in the soul bone section.
Those six soul bones were called the Twelve-Winged Holy Angel Set, and together they covered every body part capable of absorbing a soul bone.
The attributes of every single bone made Zhao Su look like a ravenous wolf that had spotted its prey.
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