Founding the Core Team

After leaving the academy, Xiao Yu immediately met up with Hui Huo and Miao. The three raced all the way to a remote, uninhabited mountain valley before finally stopping.

Xiao Yu calmed his mind and opened the system panel. With Hui Huo and Miao protecting him over the past few years, and the academy's upper ranks looking after him as well, he had never performed any summons after completing his tasks.

As Xiao Yu issued the command, the system panel in his mind instantly opened, and lines of information appeared before his eyes:

Name: Xiao Yu

Martial Soul: Underworld Apostle

Soul Power Level: Level 34

Soul Ring Configuration: First Soul Ring (508 years), Soul Skill: Purgatory Body Protection;

Second Soul Ring (1,398 years), Soul Skill: Shadow Gale Bursting Bullet;

Third Soul Ring (4,587 years), Soul Skill: Gale Piercing Shadow.

Diamond: 3,680

Summoning Privileges: 1 Red Grade Summoning Card, 3 Black Grade Summoning Cards, 5 Purple-level Summoning Cards.

Soul Bones: None.

Special Items: Sanctuary Legion Card, "Immortal Herb Compendium," "Advanced Meditation Technique."

Pending Tasks:

1. Establish a sect (rank determined by the sect's influence; rewards may be claimed multiple times, with Gold-level as the highest rank.)

2. Establish an academy (rank determined by the academy's influence; rewards may be claimed multiple times, with Gold-level as the highest rank.)

3. Gold-level Task: Steal Tang San and the other Shrek Seven Devils' opportunity, seize the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the Immortal Herbs.

4. Red-level Task: Recruit Dugu Bo.

5. Black-level Task: Recruit one of the four major affiliated clans of the Clear Sky Sect. (Note: Recruiting two clans upgrades the reward to Red-level; recruiting all four upgrades it to Gold-level. Rewards may stack.)

Xiao Yu had broken through to Soul Elder nine months ago. With Miao and Hui Huo's help, he absorbed a Shadow Demon Wolf with more than four thousand years of cultivation, obtaining the single-target burst skill Gale Piercing Shadow. It could increase his speed by 50% in an instant, allowing him to unleash his power in a full-force charge. Combined with the Underworld Sword innate to his Martial Soul, it had let him defeat Gao Jue, the dean of instruction at Mingjing Academy, who possessed Soul Ancestor cultivation, despite the gap in rank. Its only flaw was that it was a straight-line skill, making it difficult to hit agile attack-type Soul Masters who moved about constantly.

Xiao Yu had spent 500 Diamonds to exchange for the Immortal Herb Compendium from the system. Its purpose was naturally to steal the greatest opportunity belonging to the Shrek Seven Devils led by Tang San—the Immortal Herbs.

Xiao Yu was not Tang San and had never studied the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, so naturally he could not recognize Immortal Herbs. That was why he had prepared in advance. The moment he learned that the system store carried books on Immortal Herb knowledge, he had exchanged for one early on, lest he reach the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the future and still know nothing, like Dugu Bo, sitting atop a treasure mountain without knowing how to use it.

However, knowledge of Immortal Herbs was dry and difficult to memorize, with complicated and ever-changing details. Xiao Yu had spent tremendous effort studying it, and this was precisely why his Soul Power cultivation progress had fallen somewhat behind over the last two years.

The Sanctuary Legion Card was a reward he had obtained after dominating an exchange tournament held by the academy and achieving ten consecutive victories. Using this card would grant him 200 reserve Saint Seiya like Cassios, without Sacred Cloths. After being converted into Soul Masters, their Soul Power Levels would range from Level 20 to Level 40.

This unexpected reward had filled Xiao Yu with ecstatic delight. He had originally been troubled by how the system could only summon people one at a time, and how those it summoned were mostly powerful Soul Masters, leaving him unable to fill the vacancies at the middle and lower levels. With this card, his initial core team could finally be considered complete.

"Use the five Purple-level Character Summoning Cards first."

Xiao Yu intended to use the Character Summoning Cards he had accumulated over the past four years, starting from the lowest grade and working upward.

"Ding. Purple-level character selection complete. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained SS Era Bronze Saint Unicorn Yabu. Martial Soul: Unicorn. Innate Soul Power: Level 7. Current Soul Power Level: 28."

"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained SS Era Silver Saint Perseus Algol. Martial Soul: Medusa. Innate Soul Power: Level 7. Current Soul Power Level: 65."

"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Sea General Sea Beast Iao. Martial Soul: Sea Beast. Innate Soul Power: Level 6.5. Current Soul Power Level: 24."

"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained SS Era Underworld Fighter Heavenly Hero Star Lune. Martial Soul: Fire Vine Whip. Innate Soul Power: Level 7.5. Current Soul Power Level: 75."

"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained God Warrior Miyi Mei of the Shaking Light Star. Martial Soul: Harp. Innate Soul Power: Level 8. Current Soul Power Level: 28."

"Continue. Use the three Black Grade Summoning Cards as well."

"Ding. Black Grade character selection complete. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Omega Era Gold Saint Libra Genbu. Martial Soul: Genbu. Innate Soul Power: Level 8.5. Current Soul Power Level: 86."

"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Zilong of the SS Era Five Bronze Saints, the Dragon Saint. Martial Soul: Azure Dragon. Innate Soul Power: Level 9. Current Soul Power Level: 31."

"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Omega Era Bronze Saint Orion Eden. Martial Soul: Thunder and Lightning Master. Innate Soul Power: Level 10. Current Soul Power Level: 32."

Xiao Yu closed his eyes and focused before continuing to issue commands. "Use the last Red Grade Summoning Card."

"Ding. Red Grade character selection complete. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained SS Era Gold Saint Mu of Aries. Martial Soul: Aries. Innate Soul Power: Level 9.5. Current Soul Power Level: 95."

"A Titled Douluo-level powerhouse has finally arrived to hold the fort."

Xiao Yu let out an excited cry. In the era of Douluo One, Titled Douluo were rare and important figures. Even Dugu Bo, the weakest gatekeeper among them, was a highly respected guest elder in the Heaven Dou Empire. It was unlike the era of Douluo Two, where Titled Douluo were everywhere, Super Douluo filled the streets, and only Peerless Douluo were rare.

With a Titled Douluo holding the fort, Xiao Yu felt much more confident. The reason the Upper Three Sects were the Upper Three Sects was because they possessed Titled Douluo-level powerhouses. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, ranked last among the Upper Three Sects, had only its clan leader, Yu Yuanzhen, as a Titled Douluo. His Soul Power was likely around Level 95, on par with Mu.

Xiao Yu also had Hui Huo and Genbu, two high-level Soul Douluo, under his command. In terms of top-level combat strength, even if they were still inferior to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the gap was no longer great.

However, that did not mean Xiao Yu now possessed the strength to contend directly with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Apart from top-level combat strength, a sect's foundation also mattered—things like Soul Bones, wealth, prestige, and personnel.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was, after all, an old-established sect that had been famous for many years. In these respects, Xiao Yu could not compare to them at all.

The most obvious example was manpower. According to the original work, when Spirit Hall launched the Soul Hunting Operation, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan suffered a devastating blow, with more than 1,800 people killed. Adding the clan members who had luckily survived elsewhere, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan must have had over 2,000 people at its peak. That was only because the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon itself was a powerful assault-type Martial Soul, so they did not need to cultivate and recruit powerful attack-type Soul Masters from outside the clan as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect did.

If the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had also recruited affiliated clans and disciples from outside the family like the Clear Sky Sect and Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, its numbers would likely have long surpassed three thousand, perhaps even four thousand.

"The road to developing a sect is long and arduous!"

Xiao Yu knew full well how vast the gap was between himself and those old-established sects. After muttering to himself, he used the final legion card he had kept in reserve.