area51novel Page 113
Page 113
The family's ancestor was one of the meritorious officials who helped establish the country with the first Heaven Dou Emperor. He was a hereditary duke and also belonged to a Soul Master family with a specific martial soul inheritance. Although there have been no Title Douluos since the first generation ancestor, Soul Douluos have continued to emerge generation after generation.
Or rather, every family that has thrived in the empire for so long has been a Soul Master family; martial prowess is the cornerstone of stable inheritance.
Upon hearing Xue Qinghe's question, Duke Fagu's small eyes, squeezed by his fat, narrowed slightly. A sense of foreboding flashed through his mind, but he still answered.
"It's quite appalling. If even a force like the Medicine King Sect can be robbed, then where in the Heavenly Dou Empire will there be any safe places to do business? If this continues, the tax revenue for the empire will be considerable."
"This kind of thing must be resolved thoroughly to deter illegal organizations throughout the Heaven Dou Empire and restore peace and order to the world."
Just after Duke Fagu finished speaking, Mu Ci led Dugu Bo into the main hall.
As Mu Ci walked, he said, "Then, Your Grace, could you explain why the goods stolen from my Medicine King Sect were discovered under your control?"
Duke Fagu was taken aback at first, then his expression changed drastically as he said, "Sect Leader Mu, you must rely on evidence when doing things, you can't just make things up."
Mu Ci looked at Duke Fagu and smiled, "Of course there is evidence! And we have already shown it to His Highness the Crown Prince. We not only found relevant letters in your residence, but also unexpectedly discovered evidence of your treason!"
Duke Fagu's face flushed red upon hearing this. He had never expected the Medicine King Sect to be so audacious, and he angrily rebuked them.
"You, the Medicine King Sect, dare to trespass on the residence of a hereditary duke and an imperial minister? Do you people even respect the imperial laws?!"
“Your Highness, this man’s words are all slander. I beg Your Highness to clear my name.”
After Mu Ci finished speaking, Xue Qinghe also stood up, his face as cold as frost, and said in a cold voice, "Duke Fagu, stop making excuses. Several days ago, we found clues related to your forces in the hideout of that group of soul masters, and we found them during the court session today."
"The Imperial Army, in cooperation with the Medicine King Sect, has taken over your entire family and residence. All the evidence is complete, Marshal Goron!"
"Elder Dugu!"
As Mu Ci and Xue Qinghe shouted at the same time, Ge Long and Dugu Bo, who were already prepared, had their soul light surge and their martial souls instantly possessed them.
Before Duke Fagu could react, the two men instantly pinned him to the ground.
However, Duke Fagu was also a seasoned Soul Douluo powerhouse, and he immediately began to resist. When the Kang Martial Soul possessed him, his muscles swelled several times over, and fangs appeared in his mouth.
But before he could even unleash his soul skill, his face turned black instantly, and a terrifying poison erupted, causing him to faint and lose consciousness, thus dispelling the soul possession.
Dugu Bo removed his hand from the other man's neck, looking relaxed.
As for Golong, who was standing nearby, a deep sense of apprehension flashed in his eyes upon seeing this scene.
"How dare you!"
This sudden turn of events prompted several ministers, whose interests were deeply intertwined, to instinctively shout out in anger.
But before they could finish speaking, the terrifying soul power of the Title Douluo instantly pressed these ministers, who were only Soul Saints, to the ground.
Xue Qinghe also said directly, "Men, cripple these people's martial spirits and lock them up in jail."
"Marshal Goron, please issue an order to the garrisons throughout the Empire to cooperate with relevant Imperial personnel in taking over all property belonging to these individuals in various locations."
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Medicine King Sect, Pavilion.
"Most of the nobles, led by Duke Fagu, have been eliminated, leaving only the military faction led by Goron."
Qian Renxue said earnestly to Mu Ci.
Mu Ci thought for a moment and said, "Golong? That's not a big problem. They rely on force, so they're nothing compared to stronger forces."
Qian Renxue nodded and looked at Mu Ci curiously, asking, "The Empire doesn't have many Soul Masters. Your Wolf Guards played a huge role in successfully taking down these Soul Master families from various places. Where did you get so many Soul Masters with the same type of Martial Soul?"
Mu Ciming took a sip of tea and smiled, "Similar to the Martial Soul Evolution Pill, you can call it an Evolution Induction Agent. It can be considered a byproduct of the Medicine King Sect's research project, Zizai Xingtai."
These terms left the usually clever Qian Renxue somewhat bewildered. She opened her red lips, unsure of what to say, and asked, "What is this... what is this potion used for?"
Mu Ci explained with a smile.
"It is a potion that can make a lower-level useless martial soul steadily evolve into a higher-level martial soul of the same type. For example, a cat-type martial soul can be induced to evolve into a tiger, such as the Vajra Tiger or Ghost Tiger, and a dog-type martial soul can evolve into a Netherworld Wolf or Howling Moon Wolf."
"However, due to reasons such as reducing costs and increasing stability and safety, it usually takes about three to five injections of the drug to complete the evolution."
This time, Qian Renxue understood a bit more, and gasped in shock: "So, if you want, you can make everyone a Soul Master?"
Mu Ci nodded and said, "Yes, but the environment is not yet ripe for releasing this. There are still many prerequisites that need to be met, otherwise it will only cause the ecosystem to collapse."
Qian Renxue also understood this principle to some extent; the Spirit Hall and the Empire's Soul Hunting Forest were doing roughly the same thing.
Only Soul Masters who have obtained the warrant can hunt Souls, which to some extent ensures that Soul Beast resources are not over-hunted.
With tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people becoming Soul Masters, the first thing that will be affected is the Soul Beast crisis. This is something that cannot be done now, nor is it feasible.
"Aci!"
At this moment, Dugu Yan, leading Ye Lingling, jogged over and called out anxiously, but when she saw Qian Renxue in front of Mu Ci, she paused for a moment.
"Yanyan, Lingling, is something wrong that you're in such a hurry?"
Mu Ci looked at them with some doubt, while Qian Renxue nodded kindly to the two of them.
"Aci, uh, Sister Xue."
“Osro and Yufeng from my team were suddenly captured by the Imperial army. The Empire has been making quite a fuss these past few days, and I wanted to ask what happened?”
Instantly understanding the reason, Mu Ci stood up, pulled the two women to sit down, and began to explain the events of the past few days.
"So that's how it is. Well, it's good that you caught these two. I didn't expect that after spending so much time together, I didn't know they were playing such dirty tricks in private. You can know a person's face but not their heart." Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling expressed their extreme disgust at the way these nobles played in private.
Qian Renxue smiled at her two sisters and said, "We won't condemn all nobles. After a thorough investigation, nobles without any bad records can be let off the hook, but if they do, then none of them will be let off the hook."
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling both nodded in understanding.
Having understood the reason, Dugu Yan was no longer in a hurry. She looked at Mu Ci and Qian Renxue with a scrutinizing gaze, scanning them back and forth.
"Aci, what is your relationship with Sister Xue?"
Dugu Yan speaks her mind directly and asks questions on the spot.
She had seen the two of them many times. Qian Renxue didn't seem like someone close to Xue Qinghe at all; she seemed more like someone close to Mu Ci. Sometimes they were as intimate as if they were with Mu Ci.
"Of course I'm the same as you, but I won't tell you Sister Xue's identity for now. You'll find out in a while."
Mu Ci and Qian Renxue looked at the two women, then smiled at each other.
Chapter 154 The Funeral, Tang San's Changes
When Tang San returned to Shrek Academy covered in a faint, indelible scent of blood, he was suddenly startled by the scene before him.
Even his usually cool and aloof demeanor, which he had maintained for many days, began to falter.
At this moment, Shrek Academy was filled with white mourning banners, and there was even a funeral procession in the academy's open space, singing funeral music characteristic of Douluo Continent.
Seeing this, Tang San was completely bewildered, not knowing why.
He remembered that even Zhao Wuji, who was the most seriously injured, was out of danger before he left.
"What happened? Did that good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang commit suicide because he couldn't handle it?"
Just then, Ma Hongjun, who came out of the house, saw Tang San and quickly turned around and called out to him.
"Dean, Master, Tang San is back!"
A few breaths after Ma Hongjun finished shouting, Xiao Wu was the first to run out of the wooden house and immediately saw Tang San standing at the academy gate.
"Third Brother!"
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up when she saw Tang San return. She displayed the speed of a speed-type Soul Master to the fullest, running towards the door like a blur.
For the past two weeks, she had been incredibly bored at the academy. She couldn't fit in with the boys, and her relationship with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing was rather distant. Aside from cultivating, she would just stare blankly at the grove outside the academy.
When Tang San saw that Xiao Wu was the first one to rush out, his heart was filled with warmth and tenderness. With the world against him, Xiao Wu was still there for him. How wonderful!
A slight smile appeared on Tang San's somewhat stiff face. He closed his eyes, opened his arms to Xiao Wu, and waited for the moment when the two would embrace.
Half a day passed, but Tang San still hadn't seen Xiao Wu's soft, delicate body rush into his arms.
He opened his eyes with some confusion and found Xiao Wu standing three steps away, frowning and pinching her nose, not daring to approach him.
"Third Brother, why...why do you smell so much blood?"
As Xiao Wu spoke, she lifted and lowered her feet, her voice growing weaker and weaker.
Upon hearing this, Tang San's face immediately stiffened.
How could he forget that soul beasts are naturally much more sensitive to the aura of killing than humans? And in these past few days, he had completely corrupted his Blue Silver Grass martial soul, turning it into Dark Blue Silver Grass.
Moreover, as long as he kills enough, the Dark Blue Silver King's realm won't be too far off.
However, after becoming an evil soul master, the death aura of countless soul beasts condensed and could not be dispersed, not to mention that many soft bone rabbits were killed and devoured by him, so it is not surprising that Xiao Wu had a subconscious instinctive reaction.
However, seeing Xiao Wu like this still pained Tang San's heart. He hurriedly explained, "Xiao Wu, my martial soul mutated when I returned home these past few days, which affected my body as well. That's why I have some special aura on my body."
"Xiao Wu, believe me, I am still your Third Brother, still the same Tang San as before."
Hearing Tang San's explanation, Xiao Wu visibly breathed a sigh of relief, a slight smile appearing on her face. She quickly took two steps and hugged Tang San.
However, the pungent smell of blood lingering around his nose grew stronger and stronger, and it became clearly audible the moment he embraced Tang San, causing him to unconsciously furrow his brow.
"Third brother, could you please not leave for so long in the future? I'm so bored by myself."
Hearing Xiao Wu's words in his ear, Tang San hugged her even tighter and whispered a promise: "Don't worry, Xiao Wu, we will never be separated again."
At this moment, Flander and a somewhat hesitant Yu Xiaogang led their students over.
After watching the two embrace and separate, Flander spoke up, "Tang San, you've come back just in time. I have something to say to you both."
However, at this moment, Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San with his hoarse and high-pitched voice and asked, "Xiao San, what happened to your hair and eyes? How did they become like this after you went out for a while?"
It was only then that everyone noticed that Tang San's hair and eye color were slightly different from before. Even Xiao Wu only noticed it after ignoring the bloody smell and being guided by Yu Xiaogang.
If viewed from a dark place, Tang San looked no different than before, but now, in the open space of the academy, bathed in sunlight, Tang San's hair appeared a dark red, like congealed blood.
The same is true of the eyes, except that beneath the dark red base, there are occasional flashes of eerie purple.
Tang San smiled calmly at everyone and repeated what he had said to Xiao Wu earlier.
"Of course, it's because my martial soul mutated under the guidance of the sect. Otherwise, how could such a change have occurred?"
As he spoke, Tang San summoned his Dark Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
Countless hideous and twisted terrifying Blue Silver Grasses sprouted from the ground. After endless slaughter and devouring, the originally purplish-black leaves finally turned blackish-red, much like Tang San's hair. At the tips of the barbs, the highly poisonous purple shimmered with an evil intent in the sunlight.
The thick, foul-smelling venom that was originally on the grass blades now really looked almost exactly like flowing, viscous blood.
Not only are the colors similar, but the smells are also similar, making them almost indistinguishable from the real thing.