Gazing at the retreating figures of Huo Wu and the others, Mu Yang couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
At first, Mu Yang had intended to bring Huo Wu, Huo Wushuang, Shui Yue'er, and Feng Xiaotian along when he later journeyed to the Slaughter City to undertake the Asura God's Trial.
After all, in the original story, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Ma Hongjun, and the others were able to achieve the rank of nine-ringed Title Douluo before the age of thirty mainly due to the immortal herbs and riding along on the Sea God's Trial.
It could be said that participating in a divine inheritance trial boosted their cultivation speed far beyond what self-cultivation alone could achieve.
Moreover, if the Asura God wasn't stingy with bestowing God-given Spirit Rings, then aside from Feng Xiaotian whose foundation was still somewhat lacking, the other three all stood a chance of obtaining a hundred-thousand-year seventh spirit ring.
However, upon further thought, Mu Yang decided it would be safer not to bring the four along.
The difficulty of the Asura God's Trial was unknown even someone as powerful as Tang Chen, once hailed as "invincible on land" and one of the strongest in the soul master world, had failed the trial. This alone proved how perilous it was. Mu Yang didn't have absolute confidence he could protect all four of them.
Therefore, Mu Yang gave up the idea of bringing them to the Slaughter City for the Asura God's Trial.
In any case, if they missed out on the Asura Trial, there was still the Sea God's Trial, whose difficulty was already known. When the time came, he could just let them go to Sea God Island and freeload the trial.
Or better yet, achieve godhood himself and uplift everyone along with him after all, there were plenty of gods in the Divine Realm looking to pass on their divine positions. That's exactly what Tang "Buddha" did in the original story.
You could say Tang Buddha had questionable morals, but when it came to taking care of his crew, he was an excellent big brother. Not only did he give them immortal herbs, he even arranged god positions for them.
With such tremendous favors, it wouldn't be too much for "Boss Dai" to be called "Little Bai."
Outside an unknown forest.
"Father, I did it!"
A blue-haired young man walked out from the forest, face flushed with excitement, and spoke to the scruffy, burly man who had been waiting.
As he spoke, five soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, black, black—emerged around him, and a crystal-clear Blue Silver Grass with faint golden patterns sprouted from his right palm.
"Ah Yin…"
Looking at his good son Tang San, whose appearance had drastically changed after awakening the Emperor's Bloodline, Tang Hao fell into a daze.
'Ah Yin, rest assured. I will definitely raise our Xiao San into the strongest expert on the continent, even a legendary… god!'
After a long while, Tang Hao snapped out of his longing and firmed his resolve.
The Slaughter City granted domain power to those who underwent its trials something even his grandfather Tang Chen, once known as "invincible on land" and only one step away from godhood, had failed to achieve.
That meant the Slaughter City was most likely a place of divine inheritance.
With his good son Tang San's innate full spirit power and twin martial souls, it wasn't impossible for him to reach a divine level in the future.
If he could obtain a godhood, how could they possibly fail to destroy Spirit Hall one day?
Spirit City, Pope's Hall.
"Your Holiness, after over a year of searching, the Silent Squads have finally located the traces of two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts within the core area of the Star Dou Forest.
"In addition, at the same location where those two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were hiding, the Silent Squad also discovered a transformed soul beast closely bonded to Tang Hao's son, Tang San."
Ghost Douluo Gui Mei respectfully reported to Bibi Dong, who was seated high on the Pope's throne.
'Two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts and a transformed soul beast?'
Tapping her slender white fingers on the armrest, Bibi Dong's elegant brows raised slightly as she asked, "What species are those two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts? What are the Silent Squads' casualties?"
After Qian Renxue returned to Spirit City and began her Angel God's Trial, Bibi Dong could no longer sit still. A strong sense of urgency welled up inside her.
After all, if Qian Renxue ascended to godhood, Spirit Hall would inevitably sweep across the continent and achieve unification.
At that point, whether she wanted to destroy Spirit Hall or usurp it and transform it into her own Spirit Empire it would all be nothing more than a pipe dream.
Thus, Bibi Dong decisively dispatched the five Silent Squads she had cultivated for years to scour the Star Dou Forest in search of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, hoping to complete her Death Spider Emperor martial soul as soon as possible.
"They are the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Blue Bull Python! Across all five Silent Squads, eleven Soul Douluos and forty-three Soul Sages perished."
As he spoke, a pained expression unconsciously flashed across Gui Mei's face.
"So many casualties? But in your last report, didn't you say only one Soul Douluo and a few Soul Sages had fallen?"
Hearing that so many elite members of the five Silent Squads had been lost, Bibi Dong's expression instantly darkened.
Ever since she rose to the position of Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong had carefully nurtured many high-level soul masters. The Silent Squads were elite teams formed by selecting high-ranking soul masters, with each squad consisting of at least five Soul Douluos and twenty Soul Sages.
Faced with elite squads composed of such powerful soul masters, even a Title Douluo like She Long would have to obediently avoid them upon encounter.
Of course, while the strength of the Silent Squads was indeed formidable, Bibi Dong was also well aware that searching for hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in the perilous Star Dou Forest would inevitably result in casualties. She had long prepared herself mentally for that.
However, what Bibi Dong hadn't expected was that they hadn't even secured a single hundred-thousand-year spirit ring yet, and already more than two-fifths of the five Silent Squads had been lost.
Even with so many experts under her command, Bibi Dong couldn't help but feel an intense heartache.
Gui Mei explained, "Your Holiness, the massive casualties among the Silent Squads were caused by those two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.
To ensure nothing was missed, the five Silent Squads conducted a carpet-style search in the core region of the Star Dou Forest, advancing layer by layer. Each squad was responsible for searching one area per day, and every night, they would regroup to confirm the safety of all teams.
Just a few days ago, one Silent Squad completely went missing during their daily sweep. The remaining four squads regrouped the next day to investigate the cause of their disappearance and discovered the Titan Giant Ape, the Sky Blue Bull Python, and the transformed soul beast.
That Titan Giant Ape has an extremely savage temperament and even possesses a domain ability of the gravity type. Only after suffering considerable losses were the four Silent Squads able to escape."
You have to admit, when facing a powerful entity that controls a gravity domain, weaker opponents often don't even get a chance to flee.
Against two hundred-thousand-year soul beast kings, it was fortunate that the Silent Squads had large numbers and chose to retreat the moment things turned bad. Otherwise, if they had fought to the death, the only outcome would have been complete annihilation.
"Bang—"
'Damn beasts!'
Bibi Dong slammed her hand on the armrest of the throne, cursing inwardly with clenched teeth.
Although the Silent Squads were technically part of Spirit Hall's forces, they were in fact her personal faction true loyalists she had cultivated herself.
Having more than two of the five Silent Squads wiped out was, in Bibi Dong's eyes, far more painful than losing two or three non-Pontiff faction Title Douluos from the Elder Hall.
After a while, collecting her emotions, Bibi Dong opened her mouth and said, "Elder Gui, summon all the Elders. In one hour, convene an Elder Meeting."
"Yes, Your Holiness,"
Gui Mei received the order and withdrew.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
Patreon. Com/ALLISWELL123