Du Busi looked at Toji, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
"You brat, you have such a powerful Martial Soul and such immense talent, yet you're fixated on Soul Tools. You should know that Soul Tools are external aids, after all. Relying on them too much will only limit your own growth."
Toji's face remained expressionless as he said, "Without Soul Tools, I can't kill a Soul Emperor."
"True experts rely on their own strength, not external aids." Du Busi frowned. He was deeply opposed to Soul Tools.
"Without Soul Tools, I can't kill a Soul Emperor."
The corner of Du Busi's mouth twitched again. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
After struggling for words, he could only say, "No matter how powerful a force is, if it doesn't belong to you, it still doesn't belong to you."
"Without Soul Tools, I can't kill a Soul Emperor."
Toji repeated himself once more. He had no intention of debating anything with Du Busi; he was only talking about the results.
He had only just joined the Body Sect, and he knew the sect was strongly opposed to Soul Tools. So he had never intended to change their minds. After all, the Body Sect wasn't his home yet.
You can be against them. I don't mind.
But please don't stop me from using Soul Tools to improve my own fighting strength.
Du Busi's facial muscles twitched violently. Then, with a somewhat impatient wave of his hand, he sent out a pulse of Soul Power that instantly enveloped and charged all the Soul Tools and Milk Bottles in Toji's hands.
If this fellow weren't my personal disciple, practically chosen in advance as the next sect master of the Body Sect...
Hmph.
"Thank you, Teacher." Toji put away the Soul Tools and spoke respectfully.
Du Busi waved a hand.
"Go on. The match is about to begin. Remember, this match isn't just to prove yourself. It's also to help you establish a firm footing in the sect. Don't disappoint me."
Toji nodded and started out of the hot spring room.
But just as he stepped outside, Du Busi called him back.
"I've spent these past seven days teaching you about Body Martial Souls, and it made me forget something." A ball of light appeared in Du Busi's hand, and he tossed it to Toji.
"This is a Soul Bone that belonged to the inner court disciple you killed. It's a left leg Soul Bone-your spoils of war."
Du Busi spoke calmly.
"I've examined it for you. This Soul Bone is ten thousand years old and came from a mutated lion-type Soul Beast. It's of excellent quality."
Toji was taken aback. Because of Du Busi, he really hadn't had time to cut off Luo Tian's leg and collect the Soul Bone back then.
"Thank you, Teacher."
"Come back here tonight," Du Busi said. "I'll teach you how to absorb a Soul Bone, since you don't have any Soul Power."
"All right."
After putting the Soul Bone away, Toji stepped out of the hot spring room.
Only now did he truly see the Body Sect's surroundings and its full appearance.
The entire Body Sect was situated high up amid a range of mountains, in an excellent naturally protected location.
The terrain was especially complex. For outsiders to attack their way into the Body Sect was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
The Body Sect's headquarters were easy to defend and hard to attack. Without committing more than three times the sect's total fighting strength, no one could hope to breach it.
But the Body Sect was already one of the most powerful forces on the entire Douluo Continent. Aside from the Sun Moon Empire and Shrek Academy joining forces with the experts of the entire Douluo Continent to besiege it, it was hard to imagine any force capable of attacking its way inside.
Toji glanced at the map in his hand and ignored the strange looks people around him gave him. Following the map, he arrived at the Body Sect's competition platform.
By now, the area around the platform was already a sea of people. Almost all the Body Sect disciples under twenty and below level sixty had gathered there.
They were discussing the newcomer who had recently joined the Body Sect-Toji, whom the sect master had personally recruited.
"I heard his Martial Soul is very unusual, and he doesn't even have Soul Power..."
"They let him in even though he has no Soul Power?"
"Shh, the sect master personally took a liking to this talent. Who knows? He might have some very special gift."
"Yeah, I heard that before he joined, he single-handedly killed a whole squad of our sect's disciples head-on. He wiped out more than a dozen Soul Ancestors and several Soul Kings. Even though none of those disciples had undergone Second Awakening, his fighting strength is still pretty frightening."
"Apparently, he also killed one of Shrek's inner court disciples head-on. That person had to be at least a Soul Emperor."
"That really is a little frightening. Even though we're stronger than Shrek's people, their inner court disciples aren't easy to deal with either."
Listening to their discussion, Toji was surprised. Aside from a few who were hostile toward him, most showed him little contempt. Some even admired him.
That made sense. In the world of Soul Masters, the strong had always been respected. If you were stronger than someone, there was naturally nothing more to say.
But that rumor... was a bit much.
He had indeed killed Luo Tian head-on, but only after Luo Tian had been poisoned, gotten drunk, and been gravely injured in a beating by two Soul Emperors. He had killed him only when he had a whole pile of debuffs.
Under normal circumstances, he would have had to give an elite Soul Emperor like that a wide berth.
"You're Toji?"
An elder came over to Toji and looked him up and down.
"Mm."
"The match is about to begin. Get on the platform."
The elder led him onto the platform. As soon as Toji stepped up, he drew the attention of everyone present, and all eyes turned to him.
The disciples who had been murmuring among themselves fell silent, their gazes filled with curiosity, hostility, and even a touch of anticipation.
The elder stood in the center of the platform and announced loudly, "The rules are simple. Disciples under twenty and below level sixty may participate. Anyone who defeats Toji in one-on-one combat will receive a generous reward from the sect. The competition will last one month. If no one defeats Toji within that time, he will officially become a core disciple of our Body Sect."
As soon as he finished speaking, an uproar broke out below the platform.
Many disciples rubbed their fists eagerly, battle intent flashing in their eyes. To them, this was not only a chance to prove themselves, but also a chance to openly and honorably avenge their fellow disciples.
Toji stood on the platform, gazing calmly straight ahead.
Not a trace of Soul Power fluctuated from him, but his intangible presence made many people's hearts tremble.
"I'll go!"
Many disciples scrambled to be the first.
In the end, though, a quick-footed man made it onto the stage.
He looked to be only around 1.8 meters tall and was rather slight. One of his feet was small and the other large, giving him an extremely peculiar appearance.
It didn't take much thought to know that his Body Martial Soul had something to do with his feet.
"Body Sect disciple Li Dong, level forty-two Soul Ancestor."
He stared fixedly at Toji, brimming with battle intent.
"Toji, level thirty-nine."
"Begin!"
The elder announced it in a loud voice, and the moment his words fell, Li Dong charged straight at Toji.
He activated his Martial Soul, displaying a perfect Soul Ring Configuration of two yellow and two purple rings. Behind him appeared a black silhouette with a metallic sheen.
It reminded Toji of what Du Busi had told him about the Second Awakening of Body Martial Souls.
The Second Awakening of a Body Martial Soul was divided into four grades: Black Iron Grade, Bronze Grade, Silver Grade, and Gold Grade.
Most Body Sect disciples who underwent Second Awakening reached Black Iron Grade. Only around one in ten reached Bronze Grade, making it rare.
Even in the Body Sect, there were no more than a dozen or so at Silver Grade. Every one of them had immense potential and would be a future pillar of the sect.
As for Gold Grade, only the successive sect masters of the Body Sect had possessed it.
Du Busi had said that Toji had the potential to awaken at Gold Grade.
If his future Second Awakening truly reached Gold Grade, he would become the next sect master of the Body Sect and receive a preferential share of the entire sect's resources.
Toji stood where he was without making a move. Just as Li Dong was about to reach him and sharply raised his leg to sweep it forward, Toji's body suddenly swayed slightly, and he easily dodged the attack.
Immediately afterward, he found an opening with ease and closed in on Li Dong, reaching his face. He grabbed Li Dong's entire face with one hand, leaving him unable to move.
His other hand clenched into a fist and punched out fiercely.
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Li Dong's body flew backward like a kite with its string cut. He crashed heavily outside the stage and could no longer get up.
The entire crowd fell silent.