The dim, damp cave fell into silence, with only the faint sounds of breathing from the father and son pair.
After a long while, Tang San gently plucked a young Blue Silver Grass by his leg and played with it. "Father, rest assured—I naturally understand this principle."
"But human capability has its limits, Father. Given the current situation, isn't leveraging external forces our best option?"
If he had the ability, how could he not want to crush Li Xun and the Spirit Hall beneath his feet, avenging his mother and Xiao Wu?
Yet, as his cultivation advanced, he increasingly felt the gap between them.
The thought that the Sky Blue Bull Python might have already become a Spirit Ring under Li Xun's feet filled Tang San with a sense of powerlessness.
A 100,000-Year Soul Ring!
Envy and desire surged in Tang San's heart.
Through continuous devouring and the blessing of the Rakshasa God Trial, his level had now reached 82. With Bi Ji's assistance, his eighth Spirit Ring had reached an astonishing 75,000 years.
As long as he obtained a 100,000-Year Soul Ring when he became a Titled Douluo, he was confident he could stand before Li Xun again.
But how rare was a 100,000-Year Soul Ring? Although there were still a few Soul Beasts in this place, given the energy contained within those creatures, even if they died before him, Tang San felt he wouldn't dare absorb them.
And with the temperament of these Soul Beasts, a Sacrifice was even more difficult...
A Soul Douluo at nineteen, with Spirit Rings surpassing the optimal configuration—if only Li Xun didn't exist!
"Xiao San, I know what you're feeling right now. There was a time when thoughts of the Spirit Hall overwhelmed me with that same powerlessness, but I don't want you to end up like me."
Hearing the emotion in Tang San's tone, Tang Hao realized he had dampened his son's confidence and quickly reassured him, "You are far stronger than I was back then..."
As Tang Hao launched into another lengthy tale about him and Tang San's mother, Tang San sighed inwardly and tossed the Blue Silver Grass in his hand aside.
He was indeed stronger than his father, but what did it matter? Wasn't he still hiding like a rat in this dark, damp corner?
It seemed the only thing that could change their current situation was the God Trial.
The fifth trial is to kill the Seventh Elder? That suits me just fine. A cold, vicious glint flashed in Tang San's eyes.
In recent years, the Heaven Dou Empire had been thriving. The continuous stream of victories from the front lines greatly inspires the people of Heaven Dou.
Now, many firmly believed that if not for the Spirit Hall's interference, Heaven Dou might have already unified the continent.
It couldn't be called the Spirit Hall anymore—it was now the Spirit Empire, a change many viewed with dissatisfaction.
In the capital, Heavenly Dou City, a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere prevailed. Laughter and joy filled the air, with the calls of street vendors rising and falling.
Over the past few months, a wooden sculpture named "True Several Thousand Hands" released by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School had been selling quite well.
Li Xun's deeds had long spread throughout Heavenly Dou City.
Champion of the Soul Master Competition, holder of the fastest records at every Soul Master level, the one who single-handedly breached the Star Luo battlefront as a Soul Douluo to kill a Titled Expert of the Clear Sky Sect, not to mention his 100,000-Year Soul Rings and the terrifying speed at which he reached the Titled Douluo rank at eighteen—it was like a shot of adrenaline, stirring the fighting spirit in everyone's hearts.
Li Xun and Sword Douluo walked along the street, holding a wooden carving of his own Martial Soul. He noticed the craftsmanship was quite refined, with meticulous attention to detail:
"It seems this is the work of the Seven Treasure factory."
When Li Xun first established the factory, he had gathered twenty thousand artisans to decipher Tang San's Hidden Weapons. Among them, five thousand were carpenters alone.
If including the apprentices' children, the number would likely reach around seven thousand.
Although so many people were no longer needed after the Hidden Weapons were deciphered, Li Xun did not dismiss them. Instead, he set up a handicraft branch factory to provide a livelihood for those who were phased out.
However, in this world, aside from Soul Masters, ordinary people could hardly afford to spend recklessly. Since its establishment, this handicraft factory had been operating at a loss.
But Li Xun didn't care.
He was now one of the wealthiest people in the world. It's said that the accomplished should benefit all under heaven. If he were to abandon his principles for such trivial gains at this point, how could he ever qualify to become the strongest?
Without his approval, although those under him complained that the carpenters weren't profitable, they didn't dare to make the decision to lay them off.
"Isn't this getting better?" Li Xun smiled as he stored the wooden carving in his Soul Guiding Device.
No one dislikes being praised by others, and he was no exception.
Watching a child holding his wooden carving being admired by other children, while feeling satisfied, Li Xun had another idea.
It would be a shame not to popularize such a good thing.
Li Xun hadn't seen the world's prosperity for a long time, so he walked this path very slowly.
But all roads must end. As evening approached, the two arrived at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's headquarters.
After several years of changes, the headquarters had expanded to several times its previous size.
Since both major and minor matters in the Heaven Dou Empire now required decisions from Ning Fengzhi and various levels of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, this place had effectively become the empire's central hub.
Although it was getting dark, many officials were still coming and going, creating a busy scene with all sorts of activities.
Thinking that Ning Fengzhi might be quite busy now, Li Xun didn't interfere. After parting ways with Sword Douluo, he entered the backyard.
"Brother, you're back!"
In the pavilion of the separate courtyard, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Dugu Yan were sitting together around a table with some tea and snacks, as if celebrating something.
Seeing Li Xun enter, all three showed delighted expressions.
"You all look like you're celebrating. Is there something happy going on?" Li Xun hugged Ning Rongrong as she rushed toward him, smiling.
"Today is my nineteenth birthday!" Ning Rongrong pouted and punched Li Xun's chest.
"Another year older?" Li Xun chuckled, weighing her in his arms. "It seems you haven't grown for nothing."
"Rongrong, he probably even forgot his own birthday," Zhu Zhuqing said with a laugh from the side, seeing that Ning Rongrong still seemed somewhat displeased, which also helped Li Xun out of a tight spot.
"I did forget, but it's not off by many days. Let's take this opportunity to celebrate together."
Putting Ning Rongrong down, Li Xun squeezed Zhu Zhuqing's hand and then took a seat in the pavilion.
Perhaps due to their brief separation, the atmosphere among them quickly became lively.
"How has Teacher been recently?" Li Xun suddenly thought of Ning Fengzhi during their conversation.
"What?" Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing looked puzzled, not quite understanding this abrupt and incomplete question.
Dugu Yan's eyes lit up instead, and she said with a smile, "Much better, though he might still be a bit gloomy."
Her grandfather had told her about Ning Fengzhi, so she immediately understood.
"Then it seems we should let Teacher calm down a bit more. Come on, let's go back and rest. Tomorrow we'll head to Seagod Island." Li Xun laughed heartily, wrapping his arms around the three of them as he led them toward the house.
By now, Ning Fengzhi already knew Li Xun had returned, but with all matters big and small in Heavenly Dou passing through his hands, he simply had no time to meet him.
"That kid is back, and he doesn't even come to see me first?"
"Xiao Xun is clever—he's probably already figured out your current state of mind," Sword Douluo said with a chuckle.
Ning Fengzhi shook his head with a wry smile. "Well then, I'll have to see what he plans to do tomorrow."
Early the next morning.
Li Xun waved cheerfully at Ning Fengzhi, then stepped into the carriage with the three women, leaving Ning Fengzhi standing stiffly in place.
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