When Chen Hong and Chen Xun returned to the palace square, Ximen Rongcheng and the others came over as well. "Uncle Hong, this battle is nearing its end..."
Ximen Rongcheng was of Chen Xun's generation, but more than ten years older than him. He was sixty-two this year and had a good chance of breaking through to Titled Douluo at his age.
Chen Hong shook his head. "We'll see if any more rats managed to slip away."
Suddenly, the sound of wind and thunder, mixed with vast Soul Power, came from the foot of the mountain. Wherever it passed, rocks crumbled and trees were destroyed, kicking up clouds of dust that filled the sky.
Chen Xun said in surprise, "There really are some!"
A voice rang out. "That was inevitable. When the nest is overturned, everyone runs for their own life."
"My Soul Skill is powerful enough, but the area it covered this time was simply too large. High-Rank Soul Masters could find openings to exploit."
"Judging by the commotion, it must be quite a spectacle. Little Hong, who could it be?"
A group came around from behind the mountain. At their head was an old man with a full head of silver hair and a graying beard. His face was ruddy, and he looked hale and hearty. Describing his bearing as "his brushwork soaring with ink, his bold strokes flying free" would not have been an exaggeration.
He wore black-and-white family robes printed with the Heaven Suppressing Mystic Stele, in a lyrical ink-wash style. They were beautiful and elegant, setting him apart and plainly revealing his identity.
He was Fang Yuan, the Heaven-Suppressing Douluo!
Fang Yuan was renowned throughout the Douluo Continent. He had inherited his family's Title, "Heaven-Suppressing," and was nearly one hundred and twenty years old. He was a leading figure of the Fang Family.
On the Douluo Continent, certain major powers and top families had one or two inherited Titles. In other words, powers with inherited Titles were all long-standing forces with Top-Tier Martial Souls.
"Old Fang, Uncle Changhao, that should be Jonah Weiss. He's the only Soul Douluo from the Demon Sheep Sect who's still unaccounted for. But he won't get away. No one can escape Jingxue's arrows."
Chen Hong was already over ninety, yet people still called him "Little Hong." It was a bit irritating.
The old rascal Fang Yuan had been a joker even in his youth. He and Gui Changhao made a fine pair, one active and one still. Even in old age, he was still a shameless old rogue.
But Chen Hong had never been afraid of Fang Yuan, and he wasn't going to show him any courtesy now.
Gui Changhao stood behind Fang Yuan. The hair at his temples had receded slightly, his brows were thick and black, and his eyes were bright. His teeth were even and faintly white. He stood quietly, saying nothing.
At two meters tall, he might not have been especially imposing in height, but if one had to describe the man before them in a single word, it could only be "towering."
He was Fang Yuan's longtime partner, an 89th-level Peak Soul Douluo.
He was no younger than Fang Yuan, but looked far younger, seeming to be only in his fifties or sixties.
In fact, for Soul Masters of their family, that age was equivalent to being in one's fifties or sixties for other Soul Masters, because their lifespan was twice as long.
At that moment, Gui Changhao's aura was steady, like an abyssal pool and a towering mountain. He held the shriveled corpse of an old man in his hand. Bartosz Weiss had died at his hands.
Earlier, Fang Yuan had maintained the Soul Power Seal and had not attacked unless necessary. Gui Changhao had struck alone and killed Bartosz Weiss, the most senior member of the Demon Sheep Sect.
After that, the people from the east and west also arrived.
"Senior Fang, Senior Gui, Senior Chen..."
Xue Tianming and Zhong Kui were nearly sixty, while Ma Zhibin and Long Wenkai were only in their early fifties. They wouldn't dare act out in front of these venerable elders. They were inferior to them in age, seniority, and strength alike.
"You're all here." Yang Jingxue came over with a head in her hand. Her face was a little pale, and a faint trace of blood could still be seen at the corner of her mouth.
At the same time, an extraordinarily special aura rose from within Yang Jingxue. It was both real and ethereal, like a tiny speck of dust and a boundless firmament, as though one could reach out and touch it.
Chen Hong asked with concern, "Jingxue, are you hurt? Are you all right?"
Yang Jingxue replied unconcernedly, "Brother Hong, I'm fine. It's nothing serious. I just need to go back and cultivate in seclusion for a few days."
She had contributed greatly to this battle, especially in her final duel against the Level 88 Jonah Weiss. After she fired the Wind-Whirling Thunderstrike Flower-Burial Arrow, she hadn't completely evaded the Demon Sheep Divine Light, but she hadn't been seriously injured.
Yang Jingxue felt a little unwell, but she was in excellent spirits.
When the Demon Sheep Divine Light entered her body, her Divine Soul had been shaken, and her Phantom Soul had emerged from her Sea of Consciousness. Along with the foundation of her past Cultivation Level, she had comprehended an intent amid the struggle-and it was a spatial intent, exceptionally suited to an Archer.
"Congratulations. It seems the Yang Family will soon have another Titled Douluo!"
Congratulations poured from everyone, and their envy was plain to see.
Becoming a Titled Douluo not only greatly increased one's strength and lifespan, but also greatly strengthened one's family's influence and increased its say in affairs.
Although everyone had top-tier talent and Wuxing, as well as the finest Martial Souls, no one could say for sure who would become a Titled Douluo.
There were plenty of people who had been stuck at the bottleneck of the third threshold to becoming a Titled Douluo for decades. Gui Changhao beside them was one such person.
Chen Hong nodded. "We can say this battle has ended in perfect fulfillment. I hope the changes in the situation afterward will satisfy us."
"An incident like this can happen once, but not twice in a short span..." Gui Changhao, who had always been taciturn, suddenly added.
"In the short term, those powers that have been itching to make a move will probably lie low. It won't be like what happened three hundred years ago every time. Even if they make a fuss, without the major powers joining in, they won't raise much of a storm." Fang Yuan was fairly confident about this.
Yang Jingxue said softly, "The whole story can't be kept secret. The intelligence networks of the major powers are very strong. Besides, if all else fails, they can buy the information from the Heaven-Knowing Tower. The people there have very keen noses."
"We couldn't keep it secret anyway, so there's no need to try. Our strategy of keeping a low profile can only last so long." Ximen Rongcheng's metallic voice always sounded a little grating.
Xue Tianming sighed. "Alas, we only need to deny it. Anyway, this happens once every hundred or two hundred years. The powers that ought to be used to it already are."
Zhong Kui was rather indifferent. "The Seven Great Sects are one thing. There have been disturbances for centuries, but that's all."
Chen Hong glared at Zhong Kui. "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't count. The other six great sects couldn't do anything to us in the first place, and our relationships with them are complicated. The main concern is Spirit Hall!"
Zhong Kui shrank his neck. He didn't dare talk back to this venerable elder.
Ma Zhibin beside them called out loudly, "Spirit Hall can't do anything to us now either."
Chen Hong looked at Fang Yuan. "Old Fang, what do you think?"
Fang Yuan abandoned his usual tone and spoke gravely. "Although Spirit Hall suffered heavy losses in the last Calamity, with only six or seven Titled Douluos left..."
"But its foundations are extremely deep, its Soul Master population is enormous, and it ranks first on the Whole Continent in cultivation resources. It has recovered far faster than we have."
"Over all these years, even at an average of one every five years, the number of Titled Douluos it has should have recovered to at least fifteen."
"Besides, that old bastard Qian Zhongling should still be alive, right?"
Qian Zhongling, once the "Iron-Blooded Pope," was an impassable obstacle in the Soul Master World, an existence impossible to ignore. He was a Level 99 Peerless Douluo and the one who had ended the last Calamity.
Although he had also suffered severe injuries in the last Calamity, fifty years had passed. If he was still alive, he would have recovered by now.
He was already over two hundred years old, but for a Peerless Douluo, it couldn't really be called the end of his lifespan.
Everyone fell silent. Ma Zhibin couldn't help cursing, "When an old man lives too long, he becomes a menace!"
Fang Yuan shot him a sidelong glance, and Ma Zhibin quickly shut his mouth. Apart from Ximen Rongcheng, who outranked him in position and Cultivation Level, Fang Yuan was the one he feared most here.
When a young hoodlum ran into an old hoodlum, there was never anything he could do; he could only take a beating.
That was right. Ma Zhibin was also one of the Soul Fighting Legion's deputy commanders. The Soul Fighting Legion had one commander and six deputies. Five had come to attack the mountain this time: Ximen Rongcheng, Ma Zhibin, Zhong Kui, Cheng Nanxing, and Qu Yixiang.
Long Wenkai spoke steadily in his accent. "Uh, Spirit Hall may have a lot of people, but it has a lot of territory to watch over, and its responsibilities are heavy. It also suffers plenty of casualties every year."
"Unlike us, with just one Soul Fighting City. We only have to do a little business and keep our heads down."
"With so many powers across the Whole Continent, they can't keep an eye on all of them."
Zhong Kui chimed in, "There's an agreement in place, so they won't start a fight anyway. We've never been their match, have we?"
Chen Hong picked up the thread. "What do you know? We can't compare in numbers of low- and mid-rank Soul Masters. Our High-Rank Soul Masters may be far fewer than theirs, but we have enough. What matters is the number of Titled Douluos. Jingxue comprehending an intent this time is good news too."
The Yang Family was an Iron Guts Alliance of the Chen Clan. Chen Hong was delighted that their generation would produce a Titled Douluo, and his joy showed plainly.
Fang Yuan asked Gui Changhao, "Old friend, when will you break through?"
If Gui Changhao broke through to Titled Douluo, the power of their combined strength would increase severalfold.
"No rush," Gui Changhao replied slowly.
He really wasn't in a hurry. Compared with the optimal breakthrough age of eighty for other people, his chances of breaking through were still high because of his Martial Soul. Haste made waste; people in their family had always been very patient.
Besides, his Strength and Defense even surpassed Fang Yuan's and Chen Hong's. In other words, he actually had Titled Douluo combat strength.
Like Chen Hong, he was proficient in both offense and defense, combining the Power Attack System and Defense System. He was a Strong Defense Type Soul Master.
If their combat strength were expressed as a ratio, Chen Hong was six parts offense and four parts defense, while Gui Changhao was four parts offense and six parts defense.
Ma Zhibin asked impulsively, "What about the other Neutral Organizations and Trade Guilds?"
Xue Tianming gave him a sly smile. "I reckon they'll clap their hands in delight. They're all itching for someone to stir up some trouble."
Ma Zhibin couldn't stand that look. "Old Xue, keep making that face and I'll beat you up."
Fang Yuan couldn't be bothered with the man and began asking with concern, "How were our casualties this time?"
He had led the operation alongside Chen Hong, so he would need to give an account when they returned.
Cheng Nanxing answered from beside them, "We're still counting. Judging by the situation, excluding minor injuries, there are more than twenty seriously wounded. Aside from a few brothers who lost limbs, the rest should all recover. As for those killed in action, there are only a dozen or so."
He had been arranging the relevant tasks all along, including compiling the figures and checking the headcount.
The steady and composed Cheng Nanxing was usually responsible for such matters. By Blue Star terminology, he would be the executive deputy legion commander.
After all, the Demon Sheep Sect was a top-tier medium-sized sect. When its people fought to the death, they could drag a few others down with them.
"The other places shouldn't have run into trouble, right, Yixiang?" Fang Yuan continued.
Qu Yixiang replied, "There shouldn't be any problems. Over the past month, we've already figured out the Demon Sheep Sect's basic personnel movements."
"At Yier City and Vanguard Town, the strength of two companies from the Second Brigade should be enough to take them down, with Old Fang's family providing the Soul Power Seal and Dean Chen Menglin leading them."
"As for the others outside the area, we've made special arrangements to deal with them too."
He sounded confident. As the former captain of the Second Brigade, he had every reason to be.