Half a month later.
That day, the City of Slaughter welcomed a new blue-haired youth.
The fallen ones in the inner city had no idea—after the "Soul-Controlling Demon" and the "Hell Enchantress" from half a year ago, yet another ruthless figure had entered their midst.
At the same time, back in Heaven Dou City, Chu Chengzhou was lying lazily in a lounge chair in his courtyard, basking in the sun while waiting for his martial skill to advance.
Before long, a torrent of information and insights abruptly surged into his mind.
—Archery Mastery: Divine Arrow of Shooting the Sun, quality upgraded and transformed into Gold.
After absorbing all of the insights, Chu Chengzhou opened his eyes, smiling faintly.
With the quality elevated to gold, the Divine Arrow of Shooting the Sun not only became vastly more powerful but also carried far more refined archery techniques.
He had to admit, at red quality, the Divine Arrow was already extremely strong, but it had glaring shortcomings. Chief among them—the number of arrows he could release in a single shot was very limited. Without his Absolute Control technique and extraordinary mastery over soul power, even loosing three arrows at once had been nearly impossible.
But now, at gold quality, the situation was entirely different.
With one arrow, he could split it into a rain of arrows, no longer relying solely on extreme hand speed.
Of course, only soul-power arrows could split this way; physical arrows like his Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows could not. However, even when firing those physical arrows, soul-power could be infused to generate additional split arrows.
Naturally, energy conservation still applied—the more arrows he split, the weaker each became. At his current level of control, "thousands" of arrows was an exaggeration; splitting into hundreds was already his limit.
Another breakthrough: before, the Divine Arrow was purely piercing, leaving only clean penetrating wounds. Deadly if it struck a vital spot, but otherwise lacking destructive impact.
Now, the gold-quality arrows carried explosive power—when an arrow struck, all its energy burst forth at once. Instead of leaving only a finger-sized hole, a hit might either blow the target apart entirely or leave a gaping wound.
Even more terrifying, the arrows now locked onto targets with his spiritual power. Unless the enemy's mental strength exceeded his own, the arrows would not miss; only by intercepting or blocking them could they be avoided.
This meant that Chu Chengzhou, already an expert at ambushes, was now even more of a consummate "lurker."
He glanced at his status panel, removed Divine Arrow of Shooting the Sun from the active slot, and replaced it with his defensive skill: Instant Bloom.
If offense had been upgraded, defense needed to keep pace. Only by surviving could he keep striking.
That night, dressed in black night-clothes, Chu Chengzhou vaulted over Heaven Dou City's walls and slipped away.
Far from the city, he summoned the Fire Phoenix spirit Xiao Hong and flew south.
Just days before, he had obtained intelligence from Qian Renxue regarding the movements of the Star Luo royal family's external experts.
Don't think that because of the brutal succession battles—where among the royal sons only one survived to rule, while the rest died or were crippled—that the Star Luo royal family had dwindled to a few stragglers.
The Douluo Continent revered strength. If the White Tiger Clan had as few members as the Angel Clan, then unless every one of them reached Title Douluo, they could never have held power over the vast Star Luo Empire.
The White Tiger family had countless side branches, far more numerous than most soul master clans. Every royal daughter married a consort chosen so that their children would still awaken the White Tiger spirit, ensuring the bloodline's continuation. Thus, the Dai family's numbers were immense.
Moreover, not every prince joined the succession struggle. Those of poor talent often abstained, choosing instead to remain supportive brothers rather than rivals. And with so many family members, many naturally served in the empire's military or managed imperial businesses, requiring powerful guards to watch over them.
Chu Chengzhou's targets were precisely these external Star Luo royal experts.
The empire had sent assassins after him twice; now it was his turn to strike back.
And in terms of profession—who better than a mental-control specialist to play the assassin's game?
Chu Chengzhou: Use their own methods, returned upon them!
This was why he slipped out quietly in night garb—Heaven Dou City surely had Star Luo spies. If he had ridden out openly, news would have reached Emperor Dai Yutian's desk in no time.
Do bad things the right way: sneak quietly into the village, no flashy gunfire.
Xiao Hong's flight was swift. By dawn, Chu Chengzhou had crossed the southern border of the Balak Kingdom and entered Star Luo territory.
On the frontier, each side stationed two hundred thousand troops. Among the Star Luo legions were several princes and four royal Soul Saints.
As for Soul Douluo? The Star Luo royal family had many, split into two categories: ordinary White Tiger Contra, and members of the royal elder council. The difference was not level, but whether they could perform the clan's martial fusion skill—the Nether White Tiger.
A Contra who could use it, even at level 81, outranked a level 89 Contra without it. Only reaching Title Douluo could reverse that gap.
Elder-council members were strategic weapons; unless war broke out, they rarely left the capital.
Chu Chengzhou wasn't planning to cause trouble at the border just yet. Better not to alert the empire too early—there would be time to raid them on his way back.
That night, he reached the northern outskirts of Sril City, one of Star Luo's main northern cities, near the encampment of the Fourth Legion.
There, he set his sights on Dai Yi, the legion commander—an eighth-ring White Tiger Contra of the royal family.
Dai Yi wasn't part of the elder council; his wife had died before he reached Contra level. According to Qian Renxue's intel, he was merely an ordinary level-85 Contra with standard spirit ring distribution.
Not a Title Douluo, but still worth eliminating.
Silently, Chu Chengzhou slipped into the camp.
Ordinary soldiers on patrol couldn't detect him at all. Releasing his spiritual power, he quickly located Dai Yi's tent—the only Contra in the legion made him easy to find.
Then, activating his Illusion Mastery: False Realm, Chu Chengzhou's mental force surged out. In an instant, the meditating Dai Yi became his temporary slave.
Through soul-voice transmission, Chu Chengzhou issued instructions.
Moments later, Dai Yi opened his eyes with sudden clarity, rose, and called out:
"Guards! Summon the five legion commanders to council at once!"
"Yes, Commander!" came the reply outside.
Soon, the five Soul Saints who each commanded twenty thousand men entered Dai Yi's command tent.
"Urgent news has come," Dai Yi declared, "I must leave on important business. Until I return, the legion will be under your command. Do not fail me!"
Dai Yi's expression was stern as he gave orders to the five commanders.
"Urgent report?"
The five commanders' pupils shrank. They dared not ask further and immediately obeyed.
After that, Dai Yi left the Fourth Legion camp alone.
Half an hour later, in the wilderness outside Sril City, Chu Chengzhou held a Liu Jin Po Jia Arrow and killed Dai Yi, who had just handed over part of his fortune.
"Over three million gold soul coins, plus a twenty-thousand-year left leg soul bone—not bad!"
Looking at the newly acquired loot inside his storage soul tool, Chu Chengzhou nodded in satisfaction.
The soul bone came from Dai Yi's body, while the three million gold soul coins weren't even Dai Yi's full fortune as a royal-born corps commander—just the liquid assets Chu Chengzhou forced him to hand over. After all, Chu Chengzhou didn't have the time to deal with fixed properties of greater value.
Satisfied, Chu Chengzhou dug a pit in the wilderness and buried Dai Yi's corpse.
Killing Dai Yi directly in the Fourth Legion camp would have been reckless—before long, the Star Luo royal family would know a brazen assassin had appeared.
But by controlling Dai Yi and making him find an excuse to leave, the truth might be revealed later, but for the short term it worked—and he could seize some of Dai Yi's fortune along the way.
Two hours later, Chu Chengzhou rushed overnight to the central Star Luo stronghold of Heishui Town.
Outside Heishui Town ran a great river, and beside it lay the massive open-pit Heishui Iron Mine, which supplied more than half the raw material for Star Luo's million-strong army's equipment.
To secure the mine, the Star Luo Empire stationed a seven-ring Soul Sage of royal descent—one who could unleash the martial soul fusion skill, Netherworld White Tiger.
A seven-ring Soul Sage capable of exerting Contra-level combat strength was more than enough to guard the mine. After all, ore wasn't valuable to top experts, and even those short on money wouldn't bother robbing raw iron.
Using the same method as before, Chu Chengzhou extended his spiritual power to find the White Tiger Soul Sage and the Nether Cat Soul Emperor paired with him. He seized control of their minds, had them come up with excuses to leave with what property they could carry, then stripped their wealth, killed them, and buried their bodies.
At dawn, outside Torluvis City, Chu Chengzhou buried a White Tiger Soul Sage and a Nether Cat Soul Emperor.
By late morning, outside the military hub of Silverwing Town, he buried two White Tiger Soul Sages who served as commanders of the Star Luo Sixth Legion.
That afternoon, outside Harvik City, he buried another White Tiger Soul Sage and Nether Cat Soul Emperor.
By nightfall, under a moonless sky outside the military hub of Sax Town, Chu Chengzhou buried a White Tiger Soul Sage and a Dragon Spear Soul Douluo.
Notably, that White Tiger Soul Sage was the younger sister of the reigning Star Luo Emperor Dai Yutian—the Star Luo Empire's eldest princess and deputy commander of the Eighth Legion.
The Dragon Spear Soul Douluo was her husband, the legion's commander. Barely in his early fifties, he had already reached level 87. According to Qian Renxue's intelligence, he was a prodigy born with innate level 9 soul power, expected to become a Titled Douluo in the future.
Fortunately, Chu Chengzhou had never abandoned cultivating Eternal One Thought. Without it, even his Xu Mi Illusion Realm might not have controlled them.
In just five sleepless days of roaming across Star Luo territory, Chu Chengzhou amassed an impressive record.
He slew nearly twenty White Tiger Soul Sages of the royal family, along with four eight-ring Contras. From them, he obtained over twenty limb soul bones ranging from a thousand years to under thirty thousand years, plus more than thirty million gold soul coins.
Of course, apart from Dai Yi at the start, the other three Contras didn't possess the White Tiger martial soul—they were sons-in-law or husbands married into the Dai royal family.
After this five-day spree, Chu Chengzhou decided to stop. If Star Luo reacted by mobilizing large numbers of experts, even he might stumble.
That night, after burying four more White Tiger Soul Sages outside the border camps of the First and Second Legions, Chu Chengzhou crossed into the Balak Kingdom and rushed back to Heaven Dou City.
The next afternoon, Chu Chengzhou arranged to meet Qian Renxue in a teahouse.
"You've come back already? Or are you about to head out?" Qian Renxue asked in a private room on the third floor.
"I'm back! Seems my cover-up work wasn't bad, right?" Chu Chengzhou said with a smile.
"Not necessarily. Maybe what you did has already been exposed—only the reports haven't arrived yet."
Killing left corpses, and missing people would always be noticed—it was only a matter of time.
"That's not important. I'm already back."
Chu Chengzhou waved dismissively. He had cleaned up well, leaving no evidence, and he was safe in Heaven Dou City now.
Of course, eliminating more than twenty Soul Sages and Contras from the Star Luo royal family would pain them bitterly. They wouldn't care about evidence—any suspects would face retaliation.
But that retaliation would most likely come as assassination attempts. Chu Chengzhou wasn't afraid of that.
Still, he resolved not to leave Heaven Dou City soon, lest Star Luo dispatch multiple Titled Douluo after him.
Though Xiong Da and Da Hei both possessed Titled-level strength, they could only fight one decisive battle. If multiple Titled Douluo came, even he might fall.
"How did it go, exactly?"
Excitement flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes.
The Star Luo Empire was her enemy-to-be; the more losses they suffered, the better. If Star Luo turned its rage toward Heaven Dou, even better—the two empires at war would benefit Spirit Hall greatly.
She could then insert her secretly trained loyalists into Heaven Dou's military. With control of the army, her claim as heir, and the old emperor Xue Ye's convenient demise, the empire would fall into her hands.
She would ascend as Empress of Heaven Dou, topple Bibi Dong from her Pope's seat, then unite Heaven Dou and Spirit Hall to crush Star Luo and all who opposed her. The whole continent would be hers.
"Not much. Just twenty-odd Soul Sages and four Contras."
Chu Chengzhou spoke with modesty.
"Not bad, Xiao Zhouzi. Well done!"
Hearing that, Qian Renxue smiled and patted his shoulder.
One couldn't underestimate such a result. Even a great sect like the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect only had two Titled Douluo, a dozen Contras, and fewer than a hundred Soul Sages above level 70.
"Xiao Zhouzi? What did you just call me?"
At that, Chu Chengzhou's face darkened.
Before, she always called him "younger brother." Now she wasn't even calling him "dear," and instead gave him a eunuch's nickname?
"Xiao Zhouzi. What's wrong with that?" Qian Renxue asked in puzzlement.
"If you're Xue Qinghe, then call me younger brother. If you're Qian Renxue, then call me dear!"
After a pause, Chu Chengzhou smiled. He had nearly forgotten—this world had no eunuchs.
In Heaven Dou Palace, even male servants weren't castrated; places like the harem used only maids.
"In your dreams!"
Rolling her eyes, Qian Renxue snapped, "Anything else? If not, I'm leaving. Star Luo won't take these losses lying down—our empire must respond."
"I do have something. Help me sell these soul bones."
With that, Chu Chengzhou pulled out a pile of soul bones from his storage tool and laid them on the table.
Nineteen thousand-year soul bones, seventeen ten-thousand-year ones—thirty-six in all.
As expected of the Star Luo royals, the Dai clan was wealthy. Since he had targeted high-level experts, the chance of them carrying soul bones was high.
Not all came from this trip—some were gains from Slaughter City and from killing "Vulture" afterward.
But none exceeded thirty thousand years, and all were just limb bones of relatively low value. Chu Chengzhou wasn't interested—he wanted them sold.
"So many soul bones?" Qian Renxue exclaimed.
"What's so many? Not even enough for a betrothal gift!" Chu Chengzhou said with feigned regret.
"Huh? My teacher demands that much?"
Qian Renxue widened her eyes. She never realized her teacher Ning Fengzhi was that black-hearted.
"The betrothal gift for Rongrong, I already gave. I mean for Spirit Hall."
Chu Chengzhou said meaningfully.
Yes—he still owed two: one for the little fox, and one for the great angel.
Good thing he was good at making money—otherwise, with so many women, he couldn't afford the gifts.
Qian Renxue said no more. Against Chu Chengzhou's tongue, she would only suffer losses. With a glare, she gathered the soul bones and left the teahouse.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on most of my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle