Night fell.
Under the moonlight, the Star Chasing City gradually fell silent. The pedestrians on the street had long since dispersed, and the main street paved with bluestone slabs was deserted.
Only the occasional sound of orderly footsteps from passing patrols echoed on the stone path, moving from near to far and then back again.
In a room on the third floor of the Clouds Come Inn, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes slightly closed, his Soul Power slowly circulating in his meridians.
The last murmur of noise outside the window dissipated in the night breeze.
But Xiao Yan's senses were sharper than ever before.
The aura of the Soul Douluo was stationed in the Spirit Hall Main Hall remained steadily in place, as clearly visible to him as a burning campfire.
Every few moments, it would fluctuate slightly, a sign that he was releasing his sensory power to scan the surrounding area.
The patrol team heading towards the city gate had just changed shifts, and the new team was conducting a routine patrol on the main street. Their steps were neat, but the routine seemed perfunctory.
Their steps were slow, and their conversation was hushed and interspersed with yawns, clearly indicating that they had become numb to the daily routine of patrolling.
Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes.
A sharp glint flashed in those dark eyes in the dim light of the oil lamp. The time had come.
He had been observing for an entire afternoon, thoroughly understanding the patrol patterns of the Spirit Hall Main Hall, the frequency of the Soul Douluo's aura fluctuations, and the terrain surrounding the City Lord's Mansion.
With a thought, a dark shadow silently emerged from the shadows beneath him.
The shadow was initially just a palm-sized mass of ink, which looked particularly eerie in the dim light of the oil lamp.
It did not emit any energy fluctuations; it simply curled up quietly in the shadows of the bed, like a drop of ink that had Xiao Xin fallen onto rice paper.
It then expanded and took shape at a speed visible to the naked eye, gradually stretching and extending from a chaotic mass of ink into a human-shaped silhouette.
The humanoid figure was similar in build to Xiao Yan, with the same shoulder width and height. Its entire body was as black as ink, making it impossible to see its facial features. It was like a silhouette cut out from the deepest night, with a faint, eerie light flowing across its surface.
It hovered silently in front of Xiao Yan, without breathing, without a heartbeat, without any of the physical signs of a living person, its feet slightly off the ground, its entire body as light as a feather.
Yet it exuded an aura that was identical to Xiao Yan's, yet completely different, like two branches growing in different directions from the same tree.
Soul Division Martial Soul.
Through his trials on the Dou Qi Continent, his mastery of the Soul Division Martial Soul has reached a whole new level.
Back in Black Rock City, he was able to make his Soul Division Martial Soul act independently under the identity of " Elder Tang ".
Now, he has become more proficient in using his Soul Division Martial Soul. He can now sink a wisp of his mind into his clone while keeping his main body conscious, precisely controlling every movement of the clone, just like controlling two bodies at the same time.
The biggest advantage of the Soul Division Martial Soul is that it has no fluctuations in Soul Power.
It is not driven by Soul Power. Soul Power is the core energy of the Douluo Continent cultivation system. Any Soul Master will generate unique Soul Power fluctuations when releasing Soul Skill or circulating Soul Power.
Such fluctuations are easily perceived by Soul Master of the same level, but the Soul Division Martial Soul is centered on Spiritual Soul Power.
Spiritual Soul Power is a more hidden and harder-to-detect form of energy than Soul Power.
For Soul Master in the Douluo Continent, as long as the Soul Division Martial Soul does not actively release an attack, it is equivalent to not existing.
It cannot be detected by Soul Power perception, cannot be locked by aura, and even the soul perception of Titled Douluo has difficulty capturing its trace.
The Soul Douluo currently in the Spirit Hall Main Hall of Star Chasing City clearly doesn't have that ability.
No matter how wide his perception range is, he can only detect traces of Soul Power fluctuations. As for pure Spiritual Soul Power, it's like the blind men and the elephant.
Xiao Yan closed his eyes and focused a wisp of his mind into his Soul Division Martial Soul.
He had experienced this feeling countless times; after a brief sense of separation, his consciousness existed simultaneously in two bodies.
His physical body remained seated cross-legged on the inn's bed, breathing evenly, his Soul Power slowly circulating through his meridians.
Meanwhile, his other wisp of consciousness, through the perspective of his Soul Division Martial Soul, saw the scene on the other side of the room.
He was already very familiar with this dual perspective, and he no longer felt the initial dizziness and discomfort.
The next moment, the dark figure shot out through the crack in the window like an arrow.
The gap in the window frame was only half a finger's width, but the Soul Division Martial Soul was not a physical entity; it was merely a highly condensed mass of soul energy that could freely change its form.
It silently blended into the night, as swift as a breeze and as light as a leaf.
The Soul Division Martial Soul traversed the night sky at high speed.
The rooftops of the Star Chasing City sped past beneath its feet, the dark blue tiles gleaming with a cold, Youyou light under the moonlight.
Beneath my feet are rows of rooftops and crisscrossing alleyways of the Star Chasing City. From above, the entire city looks like a giant chessboard, with the streets as the lines and the houses as the squares.
Xiao Yan's senses spread out through his Soul Division Martial Soul, taking in all the movements within a radius of several hundred feet.
They flew towards the city lord's mansion, following the route they had observed during the day from the inn.
The entire process was completely silent, like a gentle night breeze sweeping across the Star Chasing City, without disturbing anyone.
The City Lord's Mansion is located in the central area of Star Chasing City, only two streets away from the Spirit Hall Main Hall.
From the air, the city lord's mansion is a sprawling estate, its vermilion gates tightly shut, the copper studs on the doors reflecting a dim light in the moonlight.
Two stone lions stood in front of the gate, their eyes gleaming with a cold, eerie light under the moonlight. The carvings were exquisite and lifelike.
It is said that this is one of the few belongings that Dai Wusi brought from the capital of the Star Luo Empire to Star Chasing City.
The courtyard wall was two zhang high, covered with vines. The leaves of the vines swayed gently in the night breeze, making a soft rustling sound.
It looked no different from any other mansion of the powerful and wealthy.
It was even more shabby than a typical city lord's mansion, with some paint peeling off the walls and the stone steps in front of the gate worn smooth.
However, Xiao Yan's Soul Division Martial Soul keenly sensed that the mansion's defenses were much weaker than they appeared.
There were no guards at the gate. According to the regulations of the Star Luo Empire, there should be at least four guards on duty in front of the city lord's mansion. But at this moment, the two sides of the gate were empty, with only the shadow of the stone lions cast alone on the wall.
Only a few old servants were dozing in the corridor of the courtyard. One of them was still holding half a pot of wine in his hand, snoring evenly. He was obviously fast asleep.
The entire mansion exuded a lazy and lifeless atmosphere, completely different from the heavily guarded and brightly lit atmosphere of the Spirit Hall Main Hall.
This is consistent with Dai Wusi's situation; he is a marginalized city lord with a sinecure, and even the guards in his mansion are probably just for show.
In addition, his own strength was weak, and in the Star Luo Empire, a country that revered martial prowess, he was just a figurehead despised by everyone.
A mansion that is merely for show naturally does not require serious guarding.
The Soul Division Martial Soul silently slid over the courtyard wall like a wisp of black smoke.
It has no physical form, so the spikes on the courtyard wall pose no obstacle to it.
It moved silently through the courtyard, moonlight filtering through its translucent body, casting no shadow on the ground.
Walking through the long corridor, you see wooden pillars carved with the thorny patterns unique to the Star Luo Imperial Family, but the paint is peeling and has clearly not been maintained for a long time.
Xiao Yan quickly found his target in the study.
The study window was half-open, letting in a dim, yellow light.
The Soul Division Martial Soul slipped in through the window crack, like a dark feather caught in the night wind, landing without making a sound.
The study was small, with several rows of bookshelves standing on the four walls, neatly stacked with various documents and files. A faint scent of ink and the musty smell of aged paper filled the air.
A bronze oil lamp burned in the corner, half of the oil gone, casting a dim, soft light that illuminated the area around the desk.
A man in his early thirties sat behind a desk, holding a scroll of documents in his hands, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were pondering some thorny problem.
He wore a dark blue robe embroidered with the thorn pattern unique to the Star Luo Imperial Family.
That was the only mark he could use to prove his Imperial Family lineage.
He had delicate features, a straight nose, and a hint of the air of a member of the Star Luo Imperial Family.
However, upon closer inspection, one can see that his complexion is paler than that of an average person, and there are two faint bluish marks under his eyelids.
Those are the traces left by years of blocked meridians and poor blood circulation.
It was also an indelible mark of shame, branded upon him by fate.
This person is Dai Wusi, the city lord of Star Chasing City.
Xiao Yan instantly discerned the opponent's cultivation level through the perception of his Soul Division Martial Soul.
Level 49, peak Soul Ancestor, only one step away from Soul King.
But this seemingly insurmountable distance was an insurmountable chasm that Dai Wusi.
Xiao Yan could clearly sense the state of the Soul Power within the other party's body.
Like a river blocked by silt, it had clearly accumulated enough power, and its Soul Power reserves had long reached the standard to break through to the Soul King level, but it still could not break through that obstacle.
Every time he tried to break through the bottleneck, his Soul Power would get stuck at those damaged meridian nodes, preventing him from forming a complete breakthrough cycle.
This is a sequela of the serious illness he suffered in his childhood. His meridians and foundation were damaged, and ordinary pills could only replenish his Soul Power, but could not repair the damage to the meridians themselves.
Even the most powerful Qi Gathering Pill is like adding water to a silted river, making the water accumulate, but it cannot clear the silt from the riverbed itself.
The more water there is, the greater the pressure on the dam, yet it can never break.
The Soul Division Martial Soul silently emerged from the shadows and slowly landed on the ground.
It made no attempt to hide its presence, standing openly in the center of the study, with moonlight filtering through the window and falling on its jet-black form.
Dai Wusi was looking at a report on the tax revenue of Star Chasing City, but when he saw the dark figure suddenly appear in the study, he was startled.
The document in his hand fell to the table with a thud.
He looked up and saw the dark humanoid silhouette in front of him.
The silhouette was entirely black, its features obscured, yet it exuded an aura that instinctively instilled a sense of danger.
His pupils suddenly contracted, his lips parted slightly, and a fleeting look of panic crossed his face.
But to Xiao Yan's surprise, he neither screamed nor pressed the alarm under the desk. Instead, he quickly calmed down after a brief moment of shock.
He pressed his hand on the edge of the table to steady his slightly trembling fingertips, took a deep breath, and then raised his head, staring at Xiao Yan with a wary yet calm gaze.
"What brings you here so late at night, sir?"
Dai Wusi's voice was low, tinged with a hint of probing, but without the slightest fear.
He spoke slowly and clearly, clearly indicating that he was deliberately controlling his emotions.
His reaction was quick; it only took him two breaths to go from shock to calm, indicating that this was not the first time he had been visited by uninvited guests late at night.
His gaze swept quickly across the Soul Division Martial Soul Division Martial Soul, examining it from top to bottom, before settling on its deep, unfathomable eyes.
Xiao Yan did not answer.
The Soul Division Martial Soul raised its right hand, the movement slow and composed.
A green flame silently ignited in the palm of his hand.
The scorching heat of the Green Lotus Core Flame suddenly spread throughout the small space of the study, the air was distorted slightly by the heat, and the edges of the pages began to curl, making a faint crackling sound.
The flame wasn't large, only about the size of a fist, and it burned quietly in the palm of the Soul Division Martial Soul, yet it exuded a terrifying aura that made even the soul tremble.
Dai Wusi changed drastically when he saw the flames in Xiao Yan's palm.
His pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints in that instant, and the color drained from his face at a visible speed.
He instinctively took a step back, his lower back slamming against the edge of the bookshelf with a dull thud.
Several scrolls of bamboo slips fell from the shelf to the ground, scattering bamboo pieces all over the floor, making a crisp yet chaotic sound in the quiet study.
Xiao Yan keenly noticed that the light in Dai Wusi's eyes had changed from wariness to an extremely complex expression.
There was fear, there was surprise, but more than anything, there was a long-suppressed anticipation.
That expectation flickered uncertainly in his eyes, like a drowning person suddenly seeing a bamboo pole reaching towards him, but not daring to reach out and grab it, afraid that it was just a reflection in the water.
Just as Xiao Yan was about to explain his purpose, Dai Wusi broke the silence first.
" Xiao Yan..."
Dai Wusi's voice trembled slightly.
His voice carried more of a long-suppressed excitement.