Yang Xiong had a faint smile on his face. "Teacher Lin, how are things within the Body Sect now? Is the sect running normally?"
Lin Gong chuckled. "You brat, weren't you already prepared for this? I'm an old man living alone, while the four elders each have their own families. Over the years, with the support of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, they've made quite a bit of money."
"Of course, just as you said before, part of that money has been invested into building the sect, and another part into the Body Academy, without much being kept for themselves."
"But you need to be clear about one thing , each family earns different amounts, and their contributions vary. If they continue to invest in the Body Sect, there may be conflicts in the future over unequal contributions."
Yang Xiong shook his head. "I'm not worried about that. They're only together because of mutual interests, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect happens to provide benefits they can't refuse. They won't find such good returns anywhere else, nor will they be valued as much as they are here."
Lin Gong nodded. "That's true. If it weren't for your identity, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect wouldn't have paid such a high price to cooperate with the Body Sect. You should know that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect operates more like a business than a traditional sect."
Yang Xiong immediately asked, "How's the Body Academy now?"
Lin Gong laughed. "Looks like you care more about the students with Body Martial Souls you recruited than us old folks, huh?"
Yang Xiong shook his head. "It's not the same. The Body Sect is basically on track now, but it still lacks heritage and foundation, which can only be built over time. Those students with Body Martial Souls are the real future."
Lin Gong nodded. "The academy is doing well. The families are getting along fairly peacefully. We now have eighteen children with Body Martial Souls, though their talents are generally average. Lately, I've been focusing on training them."
"But strangely enough, while their talent is below average, after rigorous cultivation , or what you call body tempering , their training speed isn't slow at all. It seems you really have found a method suited for cultivating the Body Martial Soul."
Yang Xiong said with a hint of self-mockery, "This is just the beginning. Training a Body Martial Soul isn't easy. The basic body tempering may speed up early cultivation, but talent gaps can't be completely overcome."
"Teacher Lin, you know very well that students with Body Martial Souls usually have very low innate soul power, and that's the real headache."
After thinking for a while, Lin Gong asked, "Xiao Xiong, do you know the true secret of the Body Martial Soul?"
Yang Xiong replied, "I've learned a bit after so many years of cultivation, though it's still incomplete. Teacher Lin, you must have noticed the changes in my martial soul. The biggest difference between the Body Martial Soul and ordinary martial souls is that, since the body itself is the martial soul, it can grow along with the body."
Lin Gong shook his head. "It can't be that simple. I've witnessed your martial soul change twice , once in Dugu Bo's medicinal garden, and once in the City of Slaughter. I didn't see the process myself, but I suspect you went through extreme pain and danger each time."
Yang Xiong nodded. "Exactly. The Body Martial Soul starts off too ordinary, with very low innate soul power, but after training and transformations, it can rival top-tier martial souls. That's the real secret behind founding the Body Sect."
Lin Gong sighed. "Alright, as long as you have a plan. The Body Sect is doing well so far. I just hope you know what you're doing."
Yang Xiong suddenly thought of something. "By the way, Teacher Lin, why haven't I seen Teacher Zhao Wuji living in the inner sect?"
Lin Gong looked at him strangely. "Don't you know Zhao Wuji's personality? Ever since you, Oscar, and Qin Shuang left, he's been bored. Recently, he went to Yunwu Mountain to give the students with Body Martial Souls combat training. Those kids have been suffering under him."
Yang Xiong was speechless. "That teacher of ours sure has energy. My parents should be fine, right?"
Lin Gong sighed. "Zhao Wuji said that just training your family was too boring, so he moved to Yunwu Mountain most of the time. Still, he gives your parents combat training daily."
"Your judgment of him was right. His strength is increasing rapidly , his soul power is already at level 84. He might even break through to Titled Douluo before Bai He does."
"Half a year after you left, he broke through to level 80. Yang Wudi and I helped him hunt a soul ring in the Star Dou Great Forest."
The two talked for a long time about sect matters and development plans.
Currently, the Body Sect has over a thousand soul masters, all of them strong in combat, with good coordination between them. Their strength has already surpassed that of the so-called Lower Four Sects.
The Body Sect has remained low-profile, to the point where outsiders don't know that Lin Gong and Dragon Duke have reached Titled Douluo level. Most people only know that the families of Yunwu Mountain have some cooperation with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect , no one knows of the Body Sect's existence.
Lin Gong frowned slightly. "Xiao Xiong, Yunwu Mountain is nice, but its terrain is nothing special, and it has no natural defenses. It's not enough if you want to establish a top-tier sect."
Yang Xiong smiled. "Teacher Lin, you're a bit impatient. I've already decided on the new location for the sect. Within three years, we'll move there, and it'll be perfect for everyone's cultivation."
Lin Gong was helpless , this brat loved to keep secrets. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't guess the location.
According to Yang Xiong, the new location would not only have natural defenses but also be ideal for disciples' training. Yet, even with his wide experience, Lin Gong couldn't think of such a place.
Yang Xiong asked, "Teacher Lin, do you remember where we got my third soul ring in the Sunset Forest?"
Lin Gong thought for a moment. "Of course. The terrain there was very strange, with a huge abyss. Even I didn't go deep into it , I felt it was extremely dangerous."
Yang Xiong said, "Do you remember the loud sound we heard when leaving? It was like both a bull's roar and a dragon's cry. You rushed to take me away, but did you sense what kind of soul beast it was?"
Lin Gong pondered. "I'm not sure. But even if it wasn't a 100,000-year soul beast, it must have been close."
Yang Xiong quickly asked, "From your feeling back then, was it fire-attributed?"
Lin Gong recalled carefully, then nodded slightly. "It might have been fire-attributed, but living in that abyss means it likely had a strong darkness attribute as well. Why do you ask? You're not planning to make it your sixth soul ring, are you?"
Yang Xiong nodded. "I want a top-tier fire-attributed soul beast for my sixth soul ring. I've searched all the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's records , there are no high-aged fire-attribute soul beasts on the continent, especially no 100,000-year ones."
Lin Gong was shocked. "Are you crazy? Do you know what a 100,000-year soul beast means? Even for a ninth soul ring, many soul masters can't absorb one. My own limit was an 85,000-year beast. And you're only at your sixth soul ring."
Yang Xiong smiled. "Teacher, I have confidence in my body. My fifth soul ring was already over 43,000 years. Absorbing a 100,000-year one for my sixth should be fine."
Lin Gong stared at him like he was a monster. "Xiao Xiong, you're overestimating yourself. I admit your physique is strong , the strongest I've seen, not weaker than top-level Soul Sages. But you must understand, every major age leap in soul beasts brings a qualitative change."
"For example, between thousand-year and ten-thousand-year beasts, the latter have soul shock, which the former never have, no matter how strong. Between ten-thousand-year and hundred-thousand-year beasts, there's another leap , not just in energy, but something more."
"If this were your eighth soul ring, I'd support you, maybe even your seventh. But the sixth is far too early."
Yang Xiong thought about Lin Gong's words but still felt confident. The Body Sect's past sect master, Du Bushi, also had a Body Martial Soul and managed a 100,000-year seventh soul ring. Many in the sect had done so.
With all his training , from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to the blood river in the City of Slaughter , Yang Xiong's opportunities far exceeded Du Bushi's. His greatest advantage now was the Shura Body he had forged in the blood river, which made him certain he could handle the energy of a 100,000-year ring.
Yang Xiong finally said, "Teacher Lin, test my body. You'll see I can handle it."
Lin Gong hesitated but eventually said helplessly, "Alright, let's test it. I want to see just how tough your body really is."
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