["Facing a powerful foe, draw your sword..."]
["Show your valor to the Blood God, to the supreme being upon the Brass Throne..."]
["Offer eight heads you have personally severed in slaughter, and you shall receive His first blessing."]
["Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the throne!"]
[In that battle, Li Shaobai drew his sword.]
[Even now, Li Shaobai could still feel that, with those eerie whispers bearing down on him, the moment he swung his sword had been a peak he had never managed to reach since.]
[Eight seconds later, Li Shaobai lost.]
[Dugu Feng, Spirit Hall's greatest genius, had shattered the Sword Techniques Li Shaobai took such pride in with nothing but the back of his blade.]
[The Swordsmanship he had practiced since childhood seemed to have become a joke at that moment.]
[It was also after that battle that a measure of hesitation crept into Li Shaobai's every summoning of his Martial Soul.]
[Li Shaobai admitted that he was afraid.]
[Afraid of hearing those whispers that pierced straight into the heart again.]
[And afraid of that fleeting glimpse of... the figure seated upon the Brass Throne.]
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the real world, Chen Xin stared at the Celestial Screen, his face solemn.
"That girl Xiao Wu is right. Shaobai lacks some of a genius's pride."
"It looks like, in the future, that child Shaobai fought Dugu Feng and had all the spirit beaten out of him."
"He even seems a little..."
Chen Xin weighed his words before finally saying, "He even seems a little as though he was scared witless."
"Hey, you old sword bastard! For all you know, the boy might have fought Dugu Feng for the sect's sake."
"With Dugu Feng's talent, even you and I probably couldn't have matched him in our youth. You haven't even taken the boy as your disciple, and you're already finding fault with him."
"A Soul Ancestor at thirteen or fourteen! You would have struggled to become a Soul Elder at thirteen."
"If you don't want him, give that disciple to me."
Gu Rong pointed at Chen Xin's nose, laughing as he scolded him.
Even if Li Shaobai had lost his match against Dugu Feng, one still had to consider whom he had fought.
Who was Dugu Feng? An eight-year-old Soul Elder, unprecedented in history and never to be equaled.
At that rate, heaven only knew what his Soul Power Cultivation had been when Li Shaobai fought him.
"No, I'm not saying Shaobai was frightened by Dugu Feng." Chen Xin shook his head, his expression grave. "I'm referring to those faint whispers in Shaobai's memories."
"In other words, Li Shaobai was scared witless by those whispers."
"If I'm not mistaken, the Celestial Screen probably weakened how those whispers came across, or perhaps they targeted Shaobai alone."
"Uncle Jian has a point." Ning Fengzhi joined in from beside him.
"If Shaobai and Dugu Feng really were to spar, I believe it would certainly take place with Uncle Jian and Qian Daoliu watching."
"And from the looks of it, neither Uncle Jian nor Qian Daoliu noticed the whispers affecting Shaobai."
"That figure that flashed past for an instant was anything but simple!"
"An inexplicable invasion by a force of Sea Soul Masters, a world-ending plague, and that blood-colored figure deliberately targeting that child Shaobai."
"The future truly is an autumn of troubles."
I don't even know which way our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect should turn...
That last thought passed only through Ning Fengzhi's heart.
At least for now, he truly did not know how the sect should develop in the face of those future circumstances.
The continent's balance of power was shifting like wind and clouds.
Internally, a plague within the Heaven Dou Empire would inevitably diminish its national strength.
Meanwhile, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had its Twin Stars rising with unstoppable momentum, and judging by what the Celestial Screen suggested-
Even if Yu Tiansheng, the younger of the Twin Stars, was not a powerhouse on the path of a Soul Master, he at least possessed exceptional talent for business, and might even have extensive theoretical knowledge.
Then there was Spirit Hall. Dugu Feng, the Great Enshrined's disciple, was most likely the strongest of the younger generation.
There was also Bi Shuo, the Pope's younger brother, who would at least become a Titled Douluo.
Not only could Li Shaobai alone not hold everything up, he also seemed mired in the knot in his heart.
"Alas! We need people!"
"I wonder whether Rongrong can lead the sect onward."
"That child Xiao Wu looks promising. Though she doesn't measure up to Li Shaobai, becoming a Soul Grandmaster at her age is already quite good."
After being put through the baptism of such monstrous talents as Li Shaobai, Dugu Feng, and Xie Guhong, Ning Fengzhi's standards had risen as well.
[On the Celestial Screen, Li Shaobai did not answer Xiao Wu's words directly.]
[He merely walked on in silence.]
["Huh? Sister Xiao Wu was kind enough to show concern for you! How dare you ignore me!"]
[Watching Li Shaobai suddenly turn into a sealed gourd, Xiao Wu stood where she was and kicked the bare ground hard several times.]
["Forget it. Since you helped me, and you're so pitiful, Sister Xiao Wu will be merciful and forgive you."]
[The profile of Li Shaobai's face when he had held her around the waist earlier flashed through her mind, and she looked at the somewhat dejected boy before her.]
[Xiao Wu gritted her teeth and eventually followed him.]
[...]
[Meanwhile, in a blacksmith's shop in a corner of Suotuo City.]
[The young blacksmith was not forging iron. Instead, he sat quietly before the furnace, staring blankly at the firestones within.]
["Tang Zhao, it's been a long time. It looks like your cultivation has improved quite a bit again."]
[Hearing the familiar voice, the young blacksmith raised his eyes to glance at the newcomer.]
[The two were precisely the pair who had watched Dai Mubai making trouble earlier.]
["Dai Tianxuan, it has indeed been a long time." Tang Zhao stood up, his gaze sweeping over the woman wearing a bamboo hat behind the newcomer, but he merely asked indifferently:]
["Did you bring what I wanted?"]
["I never write pointless letters."]
[Brushing his hand across his waist, the blond man named Dai Tianxuan casually took a wooden box out of the Storage Soul Tool at his waist.]
["Heavenly meteoric iron. Feel its weight yourself."]
["..."]
[Tang Zhao said nothing, merely reaching out calmly to lift the wooden box and heft it.]
["It's enough. Thank you."]
["No need for thanks. Do you need help hunting a Soul Ring? It would be a perfect chance for us to have a proper reunion."]
["It's been ages since we parted in the Far North."]
["To get this to you, I tried every means to find your whereabouts and send you a letter, and in the end I even delivered it in person."]
["Surely you won't deny an old friend this little bit of face?"]
["..."]
[Tang Zhao stood up and simply hoisted the wooden box onto his shoulder.]
["Come on. Restaurant. My treat."]
[As those crisp words fell, Tang Zhao led the way out of the blacksmith's shop. Watching his retreating figure, Dai Tianxuan gave an easy smile and followed.]
["Why don't you leave it with me for now? Carrying it like that is inconvenient. By the way, should I lock the door for you?"]
["No need. It's not tiring. No need to lock up, either. I borrowed the shop temporarily. Someone looks after it."]
["I'm not worried about you getting tired. You're really conspicuous like that! I'm embarrassed to be seen with you!"]
["..."]
[The girl in the bamboo hat watched the blond boy talking and laughing so freely with Tang Zhao. She clenched her fists, but eventually followed them.]
[Along the way, their conversation drifted into her ears like the wind.]
["That woman. Who is she?"]
["Met her on the road. A noble young lady fleeing trouble. No one important."]
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