The Road Ahead

It was clear enough from Spirit Hall's successive Popes: apart from Bibi Dong, they had all belonged to the Qian Family.

Even the reasons Bibi Dong had become Pope were connected to the Qian Family.

First, Bibi Dong was the Saintess and the previous Pope's only disciple, giving her a legitimate right of succession.

Second, Bibi Dong was Qian Renxue's birth mother, so in a sense, she could also be considered a member of the Qian Family.

Third, Spirit Hall really had no suitable candidate at present. The position of Pope was bound to pass to Qian Renxue eventually anyway, so there was nothing more natural than a mother temporarily managing Spirit Hall for her daughter.

Besides, even as Pope, Bibi Dong still couldn't command the Worship Hall or the Douluo Hall. She still had to defer to the Qian Family.

If the Qian Family said yes, it was yes. If they said no, it was no.

Spirit Hall publicly proclaimed that it protected the interests of commoner Soul Masters and belonged to all of them.

But in truth, the Qian Family had long since held absolute sway over Spirit Hall.

Spirit Hall belonged only to its upper ranks, not to commoner Soul Masters.

So Spirit Hall and commoner Soul Masters were definitely not one and the same.

Commoner Soul Masters could represent Spirit Hall, but Spirit Hall couldn't represent commoner Soul Masters. In fact, Spirit Hall mostly used them.

Chen Mo could even foresee that, not long after the Spirit Hall Empire truly unified the Douluo Continent, Spirit Hall would quickly become the enemy of commoner Soul Masters.

Chen Mo had repaid his debt to Spirit Hall.

He had already taken care of a powerful enemy for them without them knowing. He no longer owed them anything.

So taking down Tang San had really been a massive windfall!

First, he had repaid his debt to Spirit Hall. Second, his thoughts were clear and unburdened. And finally, he had gotten a transformed Soul Beast for free. It felt great!

As for the future?

Chen Mo wouldn't get involved in the future affairs of Spirit Hall, the two great empires, and Tang San again.

As long as the fire didn't spread to him, Chen Mo planned to keep lying low.

It wasn't that he was afraid of them. He just couldn't be bothered with the trouble.

Stay near vermilion and you'll turn red; stay near ink and you'll turn black. If he spent too long playing with noobs, he would become a noob himself.

The world clearly had a seventh-tier ceiling, yet its strongest person was only fifth tier.

How embarrassing. Damn embarrassing.

Was there any need for him to keep playing with this bunch of scrubs?

Chen Mo knew perfectly well that the Douluo World was only his starting point, not his destination.

In the future, he was bound to travel to the myriad worlds. If he spent too long playing with this bunch of bronze-rank players, he would eventually grow accustomed to their pace.

Then how would he face the king-rank players of the myriad worlds?

They'd probably smash his head in.

Rely solely on the system?

Chen Mo had always understood that he could count on the system, but he must never become dependent on it.

In the future, his battlefield ought to be a Middle Thousand World at the very least, or even a Great Thousand World.

A Middle Thousand World had a ceiling of the sixth to seventh tier, while a Great Thousand World's ceiling was at least the eighth tier.

He had a chance to obtain a sixth-tier Experience Card by signing in once every ten years at most. Even then, it wasn't guaranteed; he only had a one-in-ten chance of drawing one every ten years.

As for the seventh through tenth tiers, the intervals were a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years, and a hundred million years respectively.

Yes, a tenth-tier card really did require a hundred million years.

Apart from the first time, when the card was face-up, every draw afterward was face-down, with only a one-in-ten chance.

In a Middle Thousand World, a sixth-tier Experience Card couldn't even be called a trump card. At most, it was a fairly precious card.

And in a Great Thousand World, how could anything below the eighth tier have the nerve to call itself a trump card?

Apart from the first time, there was only a one-in-ten chance of drawing an eighth-tier Experience Card every thousand years!

So, in the end, he had to rely on himself. Trump cards were precious, and he shouldn't use them unless he had to.

It might look as though he already had plenty of trump cards, enough to run roughshod over the entire Douluo World without a care.

But that was only because his peers made him look good by comparison.

If this were any other Middle Thousand World, no matter how loathsome or revolting the protagonist was, or how weak they currently were...

Chen Mo had this to say: if he came out of seclusion within a hundred years, he lost.

Without a few trump cards capable of taking on the strongest person in the world, forget coming out of seclusion-he wouldn't even be able to sleep soundly, for fear that the world's strongest person would show up one day and squash him to death.

In a sense, Chen Mo really did have to thank the system for finding him a world so well suited to him.

The world's tier was high, but its power system was lousy.

Wonderful!

In another four years, he could perform his first ten-year sign-in. The first draw was always face-up, which meant he was guaranteed a sixth-tier Experience Card.

What was more, Chen Mo was certain it would be an Experience Card from another world. The strongest person in the Douluo World was only fifth tier; surely the system couldn't just invent a sixth-tier Douluo World expert out of thin air?

Its value might not be all that high, but at least it couldn't be worse than the xuanhuan sewer, right?

Once a sixth-tier expert appeared, never mind the God King Tang San-even if all the gods of the Divine Realm came out together, Chen Mo could slaughter them all the same.

Besides, in this life, never mind becoming a god; whether Tang San could even destroy Spirit Hall was still in question.

The reason was simple: Chen Mo was determined to get the Immortal Herbs!

Without the Immortal Herbs, what would Tang San use to rise?

If Tang San could still develop and destroy Spirit Hall under those circumstances, then Chen Mo could only say that the world's will was too powerful: Spirit Hall was destined to fall, and Tang San was destined to rise.

But why bother with any of that now?

Chen Mo thought to himself.

He had repaid all the debts he needed to repay, and his thoughts were clear and unburdened. Once he obtained Dugu Bo's Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he would shut himself off from worldly affairs and cultivate in peace. After reaching the Golden Core Stage, he would visit other worlds.

It had been over six years, and he had already collected six worlds: one Great Thousand World and five Small Thousand Worlds.

He would never set foot in a Great Thousand World before reaching the sixth tier.

Likewise, he would never set foot in a Middle Thousand World before reaching the fourth tier.

The Golden Core Stage corresponded to the third tier, making it just right for visiting a Small Thousand World.

There would be some danger, but none of it would be too great. He could handle it even without relying on Experience Cards. A world of that level was best suited to him.

He could hone himself and reap benefits at the same time. It was a win-win.

Meanwhile, Tang San, Tang Hao, and the others...

Because Tang Hao had left a Soul Imprint on Tang San, no matter how secretive Yu Xiaogang's route was, Tang Hao still found the two of them with ease.

"Whoa!"

Seeing a mysterious black-robed figure suddenly appear and block the road ahead, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly stopped the carriage.

Yu Xiaogang looked at the black-robed figure before him, his face grave.

Had Spirit Hall come after them?

He hadn't expected them to catch up so quickly. He had thought he was already fast enough, but it turned out he was still too slow.

Yu Xiaogang took out his Honorary Elder's token and said, "Are you from Spirit Hall? This is my Elder Command Token. Withdraw at once."

A deep voice sounded.

"There's no need to be so tense. It's me."

With that, Tang Hao slowly removed his black robe, revealing his true appearance.

Seeing that the newcomer was Tang Hao, Clear Sky Douluo, Yu Xiaogang was startled, then breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought an enemy had caught up to them.