"Twelve."
The corner of Du Busi's mouth twitched.
"A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor with a Divine Aspect Rank Body Martial Soul, who also controls the two powers of origin, life and destruction." He let out a breath, as though he wanted to laugh but couldn't. "You're more gifted than any genius in our Body Sect. So gifted that you hardly seem real."
Xu Jingyao smiled and pushed the jar of candied fruit toward Du Busi. "Would you like one, Sect Master Du? I bought them in Qingya City. They taste pretty good."
Du Busi glanced down at the jar of candied sour plums, picked one up, and put it in his mouth. After chewing twice, he nodded. "Not bad."
Then he looked back at Xu Jingyao, his tone growing somewhat more serious. "You didn't come to the Body Sect just to bring Tie Hu back, did you?"
"Half and half." Xu Jingyao made no attempt to hide it. "Bringing Tie Hu back was just along the way. I'd already planned to visit the Body Sect. I just didn't expect to run into him on the road."
"What for?"
Xu Jingyao picked up his fan and tapped it lightly against his palm twice, considering his wording.
He needed a plausible reason to give for coming to the Body Sect, one that wouldn't arouse suspicion.
"You should know that my Martial Soul is life and destruction, Sect Master Du." He raised his head and looked Du Busi in the eye. "These two powers are balanced within me, but that balance is fragile. The faster I cultivate, the stronger the two powers become, and the harder it is to maintain that balance. I need a method, one that will allow these two ultimate powers to coexist stably within my body. The Body Sect has spent centuries studying Body Martial Souls and the circulation of Soul Power. In that respect, I doubt anyone on the entire Douluo Continent knows more than you do."
Du Busi fell silent for a while, his fingers tapping slowly against the table, once, twice, at a very leisurely rhythm.
"You're right," he said. "The Body Sect studies the body and trains it, forging the human body into a vessel. Your situation has no precedent among the Body Martial Souls I've seen, but the foundation of your Martial Soul is the body itself. As long as you push your body's tolerance and the resilience of your meridians to their limits, allowing your body to withstand the impact of both powers, the problem of balance can be resolved."
He paused and looked at Xu Jingyao. "But the Body Sect never shares this method with outsiders."
Xu Jingyao nodded, showing no disappointment.
He had known it would turn out this way. There was no free lunch under heaven.
"I can join the Body Sect," Xu Jingyao said with a smile.
Du Busi froze for a moment.
"Join the sect?" He frowned. "You, the Pavilion Master of the Carefree Pavilion, want to join the Body Sect?"
"Being the Pavilion Master of the Carefree Pavilion doesn't conflict with being a Body Sect disciple." Xu Jingyao opened his fan, half covering his face as his eyes curved in a smile. "I'll join the Body Sect, learn its cultivation methods, and follow its rules. If the Body Sect needs me, I'll lend my strength. That way, the methods won't be going to an outsider, and I'll have solved my problem."
Du Busi stared at him for a long while, then suddenly gave a laugh.
It was a rough laugh, like stone grinding against stone.
"You slippery little rascal." He shook his head. "A Soul Ancestor wanting to join the Body Sect? Normally, I wouldn't even bother lifting an eyelid. But with that Martial Soul of yours, and you yourself, I really can't bear to let you go. Fine, I agree to let you join. Just give me a moment to think."
"Rest assured, Sect Master Du." Xu Jingyao interrupted him, snapping his fan shut as his tone grew more serious. "I won't pass them on to outsiders."
Du Busi stood and brushed the dust from his trousers. "All right. Get some rest today, then."
He took two steps toward the door, then suddenly stopped and glanced back at Xu Jingyao. "Right, that Evil Soul Master you killed on the road. What rank was he?"
"Soul Emperor."
The corner of Du Busi's mouth twitched. "That stupid brat. He actually dared chase after a Soul Emperor alone. I'll have to throw him into confinement in the back mountain for three months."
With that, he left, his footsteps thudding. He pulled the stone house's door shut behind him, shaking loose a few chips of stone.
Sitting in the stone house, Xu Jingyao picked up the last piece of candied fruit, put it in his mouth, and chewed.
Shadow Douluo poked half his head through the doorway. "Pavilion Master, are you really going to join the Body Sect?"
"Of course." Xu Jingyao brushed the sugary residue from his hands and stood up. "With an opportunity this good, I'd be a fool not to. The Body Sect's cultivation methods might not matter that much to other people, but they're just what I need to stabilize the balance between my two Soul Cores. Besides, without the Body Sect, I think the Heaven Dou Empire would be no different from clay chickens and pottery dogs."
He walked to the window and glanced outside.
Disciples were still training on the practice grounds in the valley, their shouts mingling with the sounds of fists and feet in a lively bustle.
"But..." Something suddenly occurred to him, and he tilted his head to glance at Shadow Douluo. "That stubborn old mule Du Busi probably won't be so easy to budge."
Shadow Douluo said expressionlessly, "Titled Douluo at this level tend to be stubborn. This one in particular is rather famous for it."
Xu Jingyao's face fell.
The Divine Realm.
Tang San stood before the Divine Realm Center, one hand pressed against the slowly rotating silver orb of light. His other hand traced rapidly through the air, sending strand after strand of divine sense shooting from his fingertips into the orb.
His brows were tightly knitted, and a thin sheen of sweat had even appeared at his temples.
"I can't find it." He withdrew his hand and stepped half a pace back, a rare agitation in his voice. "The Douluo Continent's fortune has shifted several times over the past few years, and I haven't been able to find the source of a single shift. It's as if something is deliberately blocking my probing."
He paced back and forth a couple of steps, then abruptly turned and strode back to the Divine Realm Center. Pressing both hands against it, he poured in divine power in a wild surge, trying to forcibly tear through that veil.
But only a ripple spread across the orb's surface before it became still again.
"Where exactly did things go wrong?" he murmured, his voice full of bewilderment and a faint hint of panic. "In theory, nothing on the Douluo Continent should be able to shield itself from the Divine Realm Center. Unless..."
He didn't finish what came after "unless," but his expression grew visibly uglier.
Xiao Wu entered from outside the hall, concern on her face.
She walked over to Tang San and gently laid a hand on his arm. "Third Brother, you've been investigating this for the past two days. What's going on?"
Tang San took a deep breath and barely suppressed the agitation on his face. Turning, he squeezed Xiao Wu's hand. "Something has changed on the Douluo Continent, and I can't find the source for now. Wutong is still down there. I'm worried..."
Xiao Wu frowned as well. "Could Wutong be in danger?"
"She shouldn't be, for now." Tang San shook his head. "Although I can't find the source of the shifts in fortune, the divine sense I left on Wutong is still there. She isn't in danger. But that only makes me more uneasy. Nothing has happened, yet the fortune keeps shifting. That defies reason."