"As expected of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's sacrifice!"
Long Aotian clenched his fists, feeling the power surging within him until it almost overflowed, and laughed again.
Xiao Wu's bloodline was indeed not strong, but the Soul Skills and Soul Bone Skills she provided were far beyond the norm!
Invincible Golden Body, Nothingness, Teleportation...
Every one was a top-tier Soul Skill, and Long Aotian was extremely satisfied.
Vina was the first to step forward. She reached out and punched his chest, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Not bad. You jumped five levels in one go."
Long Aotian grinned. "Of course. Just look at who your man is."
"Never serious."
Vina rolled her eyes at him.
Standing beside Long Aoyu, Zhu Zhuqing softly said, "Congratulations."
Long Aotian nodded at her, then looked at Long Aoyu. He stepped forward and clapped him hard on the shoulder. "Thanks, little brother."
"We're brothers. Saying that is far too formal."
Long Aoyu smiled faintly.
Long Aotian had always been an exceptional genius. His Martial Soul was only skin, a Body Martial Soul of upper-middle quality, yet in the original story, he had become a Soul Saint at nineteen.
Now he had consumed the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and obtained a hundred-thousand-year Sixth Soul Ring and Soul Bone.
Against the younger generation of this era, he was practically attacking from a higher dimension!
With such talent, he had a very real chance of becoming a god.
Standing a little farther away, Jin Peng and Chen Yuan exchanged a glance and nodded.
Jin Peng said, "Aotian, cultivate diligently once we return. You mustn't slack off because of this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone."
Long Aotian nodded firmly. "Understood."
Once everyone had finished speaking, they all looked toward Tang San.
Tang San was still standing where he had been, his entire body bound by Chen Yuan's Soul Power, unable even to speak.
As Tang San gazed at the blood-red Soul Ring beneath Long Aotian's feet, his eyes dimmed, and he seemed to have been hollowed out.
Xiao Wu was gone...
Her Soul Ring and Soul Bone were on someone else, yet he could do nothing.
Jin Peng glanced at Tang San. Keeping his oath, he did not touch him, merely telling Chen Yuan, "Old Chen, let him sleep."
"Mm."
Chen Yuan nodded slightly, raised his hand, and pointed lightly toward Tang San.
Tang San swayed, then crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
"Although the Martial Soul Oath prevents us from acting against him..."
"I can leave something inside him."
The corner of Chen Yuan's mouth curled upward. He lightly tapped the air with a fingertip, and an illusory thread of pale golden light sank into Tang San's brow.
Deep within Tang San's Sea of Consciousness, it formed an extremely well-concealed Spiritual Imprint!
With this Spiritual Imprint, Chen Yuan could sense Tang San's location and condition through it whenever he wished.
Moreover, this imprint could be detonated!
If Chen Yuan wanted to kill Tang San, he would only need to detonate the Spiritual Imprint.
"You're the man, Old Chen!"
Seeing this, Jin Peng voiced his praise.
Long Aoyu's eyes also lit up. He had thought it somewhat regrettable to let Tang San go so easily, but seeing Elder Chen's handiwork made him feel much better at once.
When dealing with Tang Hao and the Clear Sky Sect in the future, Tang San might prove extremely useful!
After finishing everything, Chen Yuan smiled in satisfaction. "Let's go. Back to the sect."
"Mm."
Jin Peng nodded. With a sweep of Soul Power, he carried Long Aoyu and the others high into the sky and flew toward the Body Sect.
Wulan City.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei returned to the private room on the top floor to conduct their trade with the Body Sect.
Since Jin Peng and Chen Yuan were absent, the people meeting with them this time were Demon Fist Douluo Elder Zhou and Red Heart Douluo Elder Qian.
The four sat facing one another.
Yue Guan placed a list and three Storage Soul Tools on the table and pushed them toward Elder Qian.
"This is a list of those who have awakened Body Martial Souls within the Heaven Dou Empire over the past twenty years, along with the first batch of resources for our cooperation."
Elder Qian took the list and Storage Soul Tools and inspected them.
Then he also handed over a Storage Soul Tool containing the first batch of pills and Soul Tool samples.
Yue Guan accepted it with a smile, then changed the subject. "In addition, Her Holiness the Pope asked us to convey a message-all Martial Souls under heaven belong to Spirit Hall."
As he spoke,
Yue Guan swept his gaze across Elder Zhou's and Elder Qian's faces, observing their reactions.
Elder Qian and Elder Zhou exchanged a glance, and both smiled.
Elder Zhou leaned back in his chair, his thick fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.
"All Martial Souls under heaven belong to Spirit Hall?"
"Elder Yue Guan, I'd like to confirm something first-is this your Pope's opinion alone, or the shared position of the Worship Hall and the Papal Hall?"
Yue Guan fell silent for a moment before answering truthfully, "Her Holiness the Pope's opinion alone."
"Her opinion alone?"
Elder Qian slowly took a sip of tea, then set down his cup. "In that case, sorry for the trouble, Elder Yue Guan, but please take a message back to your Pope for us as well-"
"All possessors of Body Martial Souls are disciples of the Body Sect. That is our Body Sect's bottom line!"
Elder Qian raised his eyes to Yue Guan, his gaze calm. "If she insists on crossing that line, she will certainly regret it."
The private room fell silent for a moment.
Yue Guan looked at Elder Qian's calm face, then at Elder Zhou beside him. After two breaths of silence, he inclined his head slightly. "I will relay those words to Her Holiness the Pope exactly as spoken."
"Every power has its own bottom line. As long as both sides understand where each other's boundaries lie, things will be easy to handle," Gui Mei said, smoothing things over.
"Mm."
Elder Zhou smiled and raised his teacup. "Good, then. Here's to a fruitful partnership."
"To a fruitful partnership!"
Yue Guan and Gui Mei rose and took their leave.
After seeing the two off, Elder Zhou and Elder Qian returned to the private room.
Elder Zhou picked up the list and leafed through it. It was densely covered with names and addresses, along with the corresponding Martial Souls.
A full 167 people!
After all, in the era ten thousand years later, their Body Sect had searched the continent for disciples year after year, even going so far as to forcibly seize them from other powers, yet its total membership had barely exceeded a hundred.
"One hundred sixty-seven people."
Elder Zhou could not suppress the excitement in his voice. "If we bring them all back, the sect will have two and a half times as many members!"
"More than that."
Elder Qian was somewhat more composed, but a smile also lingered at the corners of his mouth.
"These are only twenty years of records from within the Heaven Dou Empire. If we expand the search to the entire continent and extend the period a little, that number will multiply several times over."
"Our Body Sect is finally going to truly flourish on this continent!"
Hearing this,
Elder Zhou nodded and read from the list. "Huo Wu, seventeen years old, Martial Soul: Fire Shadow, level forty-one Soul Ancestor, student of Blazing Fire Academy."
"Jing Ling, seventeen years old, Martial Soul: skeleton, level thirty-two Soul Elder, student of Blue Tyrant Academy..."
Excited, Elder Zhou said to Elder Qian, "These are all fine seedlings! They've simply taken the wrong path, cultivating perfectly good Body Martial Souls as ordinary Martial Souls."
"But it's not too late!"
"Once we return, gather our people and bring everyone on this list back."
"Mm."
Elder Qian was excited as well. "Let's hurry back and tell the others the good news!"
The two rose, and with a flicker, vanished from the private room.
Half an hour later.
Elder Qian and Elder Zhou returned to the canyon where the Body Sect was located.
As the two landed in the sect's square, they happened to see Jin Peng and Chen Yuan descending from another direction with Long Aoyu and the other three.
Before you continue