The Envoy Arrives, Boundless Book and Primal Crocodile

Mu Tian'en didn't know what Old Master Ma was muttering about.

But from what the old man had just said, he knew his meals were about to get even better.

Beaming, he took out another piece of beef jerky, stuffed it into his mouth, and continued chewing.

Unlike Elder Ma, however, Mu Tian'en wasn't particularly worried.

He could indeed feel the restriction on his Soul Power.

Every time he finished replenishing his Soul Power, his Martial Soul would appear and swallow half of it.

As the cycle repeated, Mu Tian'en's Soul Power had been renewed several times over the past few days.

It had become denser and more powerful.

At the same time, Mu Tian'en could feel that the Soul Power pond inside him, which had once been no more than a puddle, had begun to expand.

It had grown deeper than before.

And thanks to the expansion of the pond, Mu Tian'en's physical condition had improved tremendously.

He had a feeling that if this continued, the amount of Soul Power he could store would keep growing until no one could match him.

So he even hoped that the so-called envoy from the Spirit Hall's main headquarters would arrive a little later, utterly unaware of the danger he was in.

But Old Master Ma had seen it.

A child whose Soul Power surged constantly within him, even stimulating his growth to a degree and causing his body to develop muscles that shouldn't belong to someone his age, would sooner or later develop a tendency toward self-destruction because of his excessive power and unbalanced physique.

The only way to resolve this predicament now was to remove the restriction on his Soul Power level.

But with the Spirit Hall's envoy still yet to arrive, it would be improper for old men like them to overstep and hunt Little Tian'en's first Soul Ring for him.

That was something only the elders at the Spirit Hall's main headquarters could decide.

Looking at Mu Tian'en's oblivious smiling face, Old Master Ma took a deep breath.

For the first time, he considered going to ask Old Xiu Nuo about the Spirit Hall headquarters' envoy.

As he saw it, the little fellow couldn't hold on much longer.

After all, finding a suitable Soul Beast at sea that could help the little fellow store more Soul Power would take time.

Even though their Spirit Hall branch had been established in Vast Sea City for many years, they didn't know the surrounding seas very well.

But...

Old Master Ma also knew that, as a mere library caretaker and vice dean of the Spirit Hall's junior Soul Master Academy in Vast Sea City, he couldn't afford to rush.

He could only pin his hopes on old Suolong's dishes, which were capable of strengthening the body.

At that thought, Old Master Ma suddenly found that the books he had always been able to enjoy reading had lost some of their flavor.

After gesturing for Mu Tian'en to read, Old Master Ma pretended he was going to the restroom and stepped out of the library.

But the moment he was outside, his Soul Power flared into action.

The old man's Martial Soul began to manifest as well.

He swiftly completed his Martial Soul Possession, suppressed the fluctuations of his Soul Power, and hurried toward the center of the Spirit Hall's main hall in Vast Sea City.

He needed to tell Xiunuo about the little fellow's condition and have him press the envoys from the Spirit Hall headquarters, who might still be out sightseeing.

But as soon as he reached the Angel Hall, Old Master Ma withdrew his Martial Soul.

It wasn't out of any respect for Old Xiu Nuo, but the most basic respect for the Spirit Hall's rules.

Old Master Ma straightened his robes and, under the calm gazes of the surrounding guards, pushed open the door. "Bishop Xiunuo, I have something to report."

But the next moment, he noticed that Old Xiu Nuo, who usually sat beneath the divine statue in the Angel Hall, was now seated off to the side, his eyes lowered as though he were paying homage to someone.

A big shot?

Old Master Ma closed his mouth after uttering only a few words. Lowering his head, he surveyed his surroundings out of the corner of his eye.

Until...

The old man who had been standing in the light for a long time slowly turned around and looked at Old Master Ma, who was a few years older than Old Xiu Nuo and qualified to enter the Spirit Hall's Martial Soul Research Laboratory, yet had remained here in Vast Sea City as an ordinary library caretaker.

Old Xiunuo's eyes lit up at the sight of old Ma.

The pressure this lord envoy gave off was simply too great. Just when he needed someone to help him shoulder it, old Ma had arrived.

"Old Ma, come over here. The lord envoy from the Spirit Hall has arrived."

Even as he said this, Old Xiu Nuo didn't want old Ma to offend the lord envoy sent by the headquarters to bring Mu Tian'en back because he hadn't warned him.

For no other reason than that he wouldn't be able to cover for him.

But before Old Master Ma could say anything to the envoy, the envoy, who had been wearing a mask all along, removed it.

"I've heard about you from my teacher. You have some unique insights into the characteristics of Martial Souls and the study of Soul Power."

"But you have always refused to go to the Martial Soul Research Laboratory at the Spirit Hall headquarters, saying that the Martial Souls found around Vast Sea City are stranger than those inland."

As he spoke, the envoy slowly walked up to Old Master Ma and studied him with an almost calm gaze. In a sense, once Old Xiu Nuo was gone, Old Master Ma could be called the backbone of the Spirit Hall in Vast Sea City.

"Level seventy-three support-type Soul Emperor, Boundless Book, Ma Chengyuan."

Watching the old man's gaze suddenly turn sharp, the envoy began to give off a faint light.

It was an almost gentle light, but in Old Master Ma's eyes, it was no different from savagery and the primordial wilderness.

A Beast Martial Soul?

And it gives off a light like this.

A trace of nostalgia flickered in Old Master Ma's eyes.

But the next moment, under Old Xiu Nuo's gaze, he slowly cupped his hands and bowed to the envoy.

To his surprise, he had only bent halfway when the envoy, now unmasked, caught him with both hands.

"The path you devised for my father to hunt Soul Rings for his Martial Soul opened another path to becoming a Titled Douluo for my Yellow Golden Crocodile line. This time, my father, Primal Crocodile Douluo Jin Yuan, has sent me here especially to pay you a visit, senior."

As he spoke, the envoy's Soul Power emerged.

A primordial, wild presence rose from his body.

Dragon scales even began to grow on the man.

But to Old Master Ma, who had seen a Yellow Golden Crocodile with a purer bloodline, the envoy's scales were rougher. He looked less like a Yellow Golden Crocodile and more like a variant of another kind of crocodile, albeit one with Yellow Golden Crocodile blood mixed in.

But one thing was certain: it was larger and more ferocious than a Yellow Golden Crocodile.

"Yellow Golden Crocodile..."

Nostalgia filled Old Master Ma's eyes.

"That wild idea I had back then... My brother was actually willing to try it."