"Twelve years old, a rank-fifty Quasi-Soul King!"
Long Aoyu clenched his fists, felt the power surging within him, and grinned.
"Time to head out and see how the Sect Master and the elders' discussion went. How the Body Sect should conduct itself in this era is quite a problem..."
Long Aoyu rose and left the cultivation chamber.
Du Busi and all ten elders were in the Main Hall's council chamber.
More than a dozen simple, hand-drawn maps lay spread across the table, marking the cities of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, the distribution of Spirit Hall Branches, and the locations of the six great sects' mountain headquarters.
Apart from the Clear Sky Sect, all the prominent powers were on these maps.
Of course, only three days had passed, so the intelligence they had gathered was limited, and the maps were fairly rudimentary.
Du Busi stood beside the table with his hands behind his back, his gaze slowly sweeping across the maps. Just as he was about to speak, footsteps sounded outside.
The guard outside called, "Sect Master, the Young Sect Master is here."
The council chamber doors were pushed open, and Long Aoyu strode inside.
All ten elders' gazes landed on him at once. Jin Peng was the first to raise an eyebrow, looking him up and down twice. "You broke through?"
"Yes, I'm rank fifty now."
The council chamber fell silent for half a second.
Elder Wei spoke first. "A twelve-year-old Soul King... I think I was only a Soul Grandmaster when I was twelve."
Jin Peng shot back, "That's because you were useless."
Elder Wei glared. "You weren't much better. Weren't you only a Soul Elder?"
Elder Zhao interjected leisurely, "Enough, enough. Compared to a monster like Xiao Yu, the cultivation speed of us old fellows isn't worth mentioning."
Ignoring their bickering, Du Busi stepped down from the seat of honor, circled Long Aoyu twice, then raised a hand and slapped the back of his head, considerably more lightly than usual.
"Not bad."
Du Busi smacked his lips. "Even fiercer than your older brother back then."
Long Aoyu rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "You flatter me, Sect Master."
"None of that."
Du Busi pulled him over to the table. "Come here. You can look through this intelligence while you're at it."
Long Aoyu looked down.
There were more than a dozen hand-drawn maps and a thick stack of written records. He leafed through them one by one-the intelligence on the major powers was much as he remembered.
Long Aoyu set the intelligence down and glanced up at the ten elders' expressions.
Unlike their grave expressions three days ago, every face now held confidence.
Jin Peng sat with one leg crossed over the other, Elder Wei sipped his tea leisurely, and Elder Zhao was marking something on a map with a pen.
Noticing his scrutiny, Du Busi smiled. "Once you know their strengths, there's no need to panic. Spirit Hall is certainly powerful, but aside from Spirit Hall-"
Elder Wei picked up where he left off. "Even the Upper Three Sects combined wouldn't be a match for us."
"With our Body Sect's eleven Titled Douluos standing there, who on the entire continent besides Spirit Hall would dare bare their teeth at us?"
Du Busi pressed a hand downward, the corners of his mouth rising. "Enough. It's enough that we know where we stand."
"Now let's discuss our next steps. Old Wei, tell us the plan."
Elder Wei put down his teacup, walked up to the table, and pointed at Wulan City. "Step one: sell Body Tempering Pills. I'll personally present three bottles to Spirit Hall in the Body Sect's name."
"Pills are practically nonexistent in this era. Once we give them three bottles of Body Tempering Pills, Spirit Hall won't be stupid. They'll certainly ask where they came from."
"Step two: wait."
Elder Zhao continued, "Once we've given the gift, there's no rush. Given how Spirit Hall operates, they'll certainly send someone to investigate after receiving something this rare."
"We'll simply find a hotel in Wulan City and wait for them to come to us."
Du Busi took over. "Once Spirit Hall sends someone, we'll negotiate. We'll exchange pills for resources, and ideally get Spirit Hall to help find people who have awakened Body Martial Souls."
As he finished, a trace of anticipation and tenderness flashed through Du Busi's eyes.
To the Body Sect, every person with a Body Martial Soul was family, so long as they were not an Evil Soul Master!
Jin Peng nodded. "We have medicinal herbs ready. The sect's medicinal garden has enough stock for six months. Once we understand the medicinal herbs of this era, we can keep refining pills."
"We don't lack pill-refining skills, either. Several sect disciples specialize in it..."
Long Aoyu listened from beginning to end.
There was nothing wrong with the plan, but it left out something extremely important.
Long Aoyu pondered for a moment, then said, "Sect Master, elders, I have an idea."
Du Busi looked at him. "Speak."
"Since this era only has Storage Soul Tools excavated from ruins, with no one able to manufacture them, let alone combat Soul Tools..."
Long Aoyu paused. "I propose that the sect begin researching and manufacturing Soul Tools."
"Xiao Yu."
Elder Zhao frowned. "Our Body Sect has never touched Soul Tools. We rely on our fists and bodies. What use are those lumps of iron?"
Long Aoyu shook his head and explained:
"We didn't touch Soul Tools before because, in our era, the Sun Moon Empire had a head start in developing them. We started too late to catch up."
"But things are different now-the times have changed! No one in this era understands how to manufacture Soul Tools.
"If we can manufacture Soul Tools, even just the most basic offensive and defensive types, they'll sell extremely well. And we'll have a monopoly!"
Long Aoyu paused, emphasizing his words. "If the sect can mass-produce Soul Tools, our bargaining chips with Spirit Hall won't just be pills. We'll be the sole supplier of Soul Tools on the entire continent."
"That way, we can seize the initiative in negotiations!"
Jin Peng looked thoughtful.
Elder Wei and Elder Zhao exchanged a glance, neither rushing to object.
The council chamber remained silent for more than ten breaths.
"That makes sense!"
Du Busi tapped his fingers against the armrest and nodded in approval. "Xiao Yu, you have a point. But there's one problem-who's going to do it?"
"Not a single person in the entire Body Sect knows how to manufacture Soul Tools."
The corners of Long Aoyu's mouth lifted slightly. "I will."
"Give me a month-I'll take a few deft-handed disciples and try making a batch. If we succeed, the sect gains another path. If we fail, we won't lose much."
Du Busi nodded. "All right. Collect the materials from the Storeroom and choose your own helpers. In one month, I want to see results."
"If it doesn't work out, go back to cultivating properly and stop tinkering with these things. Understand?"
"Understood!"
Long Aoyu agreed with a smile.
The moment he finished speaking, a "ding" sounded in Long Aoyu's mind.
[Special mission issued: Within one month, the sect must manufacture one hundred Soul Tools (including no fewer than fifty combat Soul Tools).] [Mission rewards: High-Level Soul Tools ×3, 5,000 Sect Contribution Points.]
Long Aoyu's heart jolted.
A hundred in one month-that was no small number!
"Sect Master, elders, I'll head to the Storeroom now."
Long Aoyu turned and walked out, saying inwardly at the same time, System, open the sect shop, Soul Tool blueprints category.
[Sect shop opened-Soul Tool blueprints category]
A pale golden screen of light instantly unfurled.
There were so many!
The sight left Long Aoyu dazzled.
From class one to class thirteen, from the most basic Soul Guidance Lamp bulbs to stationary Soul Cannons, a dazzling array filled his entire field of vision.
Beside every blueprint were its class, description, required materials, and exchange price.
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