A day later.
Heaven Dou Imperial City, Dugu Manor.
"Senior Dugu, are you familiar with the Nine Heart Begonia lineage?"
As if something had occurred to him, Dai Tianfeng suddenly asked the question.
"The Nine Heart Begonia lineage?"
Dugu Bo was slightly taken aback. "I am indeed on good terms with the Nine Heart Begonia lineage!"
Speaking of which, the Nine Heart Begonia Ye Family and the Jade Phosphorus Snake Dugu Family were birds of a feather in their misfortune.
Only two Soul Masters with the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul could exist at the same time.
When a third Soul Master with the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul appeared, the oldest of the three would die.
And what about the Dugu Family?
Their Martial Soul was flawed to begin with, and every member of the Dugu Family was short-lived. Only Dugu Bo had lived a long life.
His son had died from the backlash of the Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul's poison.
"Senior Dugu, do you think there's any chance we could recruit the Nine Heart Begonia lineage?!"
Dai Tianfeng immediately asked with a smile.
"The chances aren't great."
After a moment's contemplation, Dugu Bo shook his head. "The Nine Heart Begonia lineage has always remained neutral and never gotten involved in any disputes, but I can give it a try!"
Dai Tianfeng raised an eyebrow, not particularly surprised.
In the original story, Ye Lingling had disappeared from the story after the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament.
No Soul Master with the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul had appeared during the great battle at Jialing Pass either.
Ye Lingling hadn't been strong enough, but her elder had been!
The Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul was extremely special. Only two Nine Heart Begonia Soul Masters could exist at the same time.
With such stringent conditions, Nine Heart Begonia Soul Masters clearly couldn't lack talent.
The most obvious example was the Blue Silver Emperor. Only one would be born in any given era.
Every Blue Silver Emperor Soul Master had astonishing talent.
In other words, aside from Ye Lingling, the other Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master's Soul Power Level presumably couldn't be all that low.
Besides, healing-type Soul Masters didn't need to go onto the battlefield.
If the Nine Heart Begonia lineage never got involved in any disputes, that would explain it.
"Dugu Bo, I'll leave this matter to you. If you succeed, I can promise you another Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone as a reward!"
Dai Xiu gritted his teeth as he spoke.
Even he felt a tremendous pang at the thought of parting with a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.
Although that Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone wasn't suitable for Soul Masters with the White Tiger Martial Soul or the Nether Spirit Martial Soul to absorb, it was still a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone!
It was exceptionally precious!
It was no exaggeration to say it was priceless!
However, at the thought of winning over the Nine Heart Begonia lineage, Dai Xiu felt it would be a tremendous gain.
The Nine Heart Begonia was the most formidable healing Martial Soul on the continent.
Its only flaw was that just two Soul Masters who had awakened the Nine Heart Begonia would appear in a generation.
On the battlefield, healing-type Soul Masters were, in a sense, even more important than support-type Soul Masters.
After all, a person had only one life.
A healing-type Soul Master, on the other hand, could save a life at a critical moment.
With a powerful healing-type Soul Master holding down the fort, not only could casualties be greatly reduced, but the Star Luo Empire's overall war potential could also be greatly increased.
Was there a healing-type Martial Soul on this continent stronger than the Nine Heart Begonia?
The answer was obviously no.
It was worth mentioning that in the current era, neither the Healing Angel nor the Angel of Hope had appeared yet.
"Perhaps I have a way to evolve your Martial Soul or your granddaughter's!" Dai Tianfeng added pointedly.
Among the many female characters in Douluo I, personal preference aside from Zhu Zhuqing, Shui Bing'er, and Qian Renxue, his favorite was Ye Lingling.
Not to mention, Ye Lingling was a super healer.
This was just a casual move.
If it succeeded, he would not only bring a powerful healing-type Soul Master over to the Star Luo Empire, but also be able to develop a relationship with Ye Lingling.
Even if it failed, there would be no loss.
He could hardly lose either way!
He just didn't know whether winning over this female character, who had made so few appearances in the original story, would earn him a lottery draw.
He would presumably have the answer to that question once he met Dugu Yan.
"I'll give it a try!"
A complicated look flashed through Dugu Bo's eyes.
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone was valuable enough to drive any Soul Master mad, and could even whip up a storm of blood and slaughter.
As for the Martial Soul Evolution Dai Tianfeng had mentioned, he paid it no mind at all.
Did he really think a Martial Soul was so easy to evolve?
Even his own Martial Soul had only evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor by a stroke of fortune when he broke through to Titled Douluo.
To be honest, Dugu Bo didn't actually want to drag the Nine Heart Begonia lineage into this.
After all, Dugu Bo had made few friends in his life, and the previous head of the Nine Heart Begonia lineage was one of them.
Now, only a mother and daughter remained in the Nine Heart Begonia lineage.
If he left the Heaven Dou Empire, the two of them might find themselves in a very awkward position.
The Nine Heart Begonia lineage had healed quite a few Soul Masters, including a number of powerful ones.
But the trouble was that the human heart was unfathomable.
With Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo whose fearsome reputation was known far and wide, around, naturally no one dared harbor any ill intentions.
Once he was gone, that would be hard to say.
In fact, the Nine Heart Begonia lineage had managed to carry on partly thanks to a rule much like one in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect: their partners had to be Battle Soul Masters.
The previous generation had naturally been no exception.
Unfortunately, that Battle Soul Master, Ye Lingling's father, had met an untimely death.
That was how they had ended up in their current awkward position.
After Dugu Bo left, Dai Tianfeng took the opportunity to start exploring Heaven Dou Imperial City.
Come to think of it, ever since he had transmigrated, he had spent all day in the imperial palace and hadn't taken a proper look at this world.
Before he knew it, Dai Tianfeng had arrived near Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Quite a few people were coming and going here, most of them students of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Since he was already here, Dai Tianfeng decided to go inside and see whether he could run into Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling.
"Out of the way! Out of the way!"
"Don't block this prince's path!"
Just then, a sudden shout rang out, mixed with the rapid clatter of hooves.
Dai Tianfeng turned to look and saw a young man in splendid brocade robes riding a Horned Scale Horse.
He was charging recklessly down the street, having already knocked over quite a few pedestrians, and was galloping toward Dai Tianfeng.
This person had called himself a prince.
Judging by how arrogant and overbearing he was, he obviously couldn't be the eldest prince, Qian Renxue in disguise.
In all likelihood, he was the fourth prince, Xue Beng.
After all, Qian Renxue had long since secretly sent people to kill the Heaven Dou Empire's other princes.
Only the fourth prince, Xue Beng, who looked like a good-for-nothing and truly was one, had been left alive to throw people off the scent.
In the original story, Xue Beng had been nothing but a freeloader carried to victory.
He had kept saying that, because of the threat from his eldest brother Xue Qinghe, he had disguised himself as a wastrel from childhood to protect himself.
That was utter bullshit.
When others slept on brushwood and tasted gall, they at least built up their strength in secret.
But the reason Xue Beng had been able to ascend the throne in the original story was entirely thanks to outsiders.
During the great battle at Jialing Pass, not only had he contributed little, but he had also recklessly pressed forward in pursuit of glory, sending tens of thousands of people to their deaths for nothing.
As the saying went!
Wear a mask long enough, and you can no longer take it off!
More than that, Dai Tianfeng believed Xue Beng was a good-for-nothing to begin with.
He was quite adept at turning his back on people, though.
To stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, Ning Fengzhi had awakened Xue Ye by shortening his lifespan.
After that, Xue Beng had immediately turned to supporting the Tang Sect and given the position of imperial preceptor to that good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang.
Perhaps that was the mutual appreciation shared between one good-for-nothing and another!
In fact, it wasn't just Xue Beng. Xue Ye was utterly pathetic too.
His most highly valued eldest son, Xue Qinghe, had been replaced by Spirit Hall, and he hadn't noticed the slightest thing amiss.
His other sons had died unnatural deaths one after another, and he had simply let the matter drop.
Weren't those two points alone enough to show just how pathetic Xue Ye was?
To be honest, Dai Tianfeng was quite curious how the Xue Family had managed to hold the Heaven Dou throne securely for so long.
Even ten thousand years later, the imperial family of the Dou Ling Empire, which had split off from the Heaven Dou Empire, was still of the Xue Family's direct bloodline.
Even the White Tiger Dai Family, which had produced a god in name, had its Star Luo throne seized by the Xu Family.
The Xue Family's own strength went even further without saying!
With a mere ordinary Beast Martial Soul, the Swan, just how strong could they possibly be?
On this continent, the various empires controlled considerable cultivation resources.
Otherwise, how could those empires have secured the services of those Titled Douluo during the Peerless Tang Sect era?
Among them was even a Level 97 Super Douluo.