At this stage, within the territory of the Tiandou Empire, the top combat powers were Chenxin, Yu Yuanzhen, Tang Xiao, and Tang Hao—these four Title Douluos.
At this moment, among these four Title Douluos, only Tang Hao had reached level 95, while the other three were all at level 96.
Among them, Tang Hao, due to a serious injury, could only reach the threshold of a Title Douluo without triggering his injuries. If he fought at full strength, there was a high risk of his old wounds flaring up, which could potentially lead to his demise.
As a result, Tang Hao's combat ability was limited and could only reach the threshold of Title Douluo under normal circumstances.
Given this, the old butler, whose soul power had reached level 96, was now one of the top four soul masters in the entire Tiandou Empire.
However, this was still because the old butler's soul power had surged too quickly in a short period, and he had not fully mastered this newfound power.
Currently, he was ranked fourth, but once the old butler fully adapted to his power, his abilities—bolstered by a 100,000-year soul ring and a 100,000-year soul bone—would likely put him in a better position. Aside from Tang Xiao, who possessed the "Exploding Ring" technique, no soul master in the Tiandou Empire would be able to rival the old butler.
Thinking about this, Lin Rong's mood was exceptionally relaxed.
"With such a powerful expert by my side, I can rest easy for a long time to come!"
…
Inside the carriage, Lin Rong was sitting with a pen in his hand, sketching and writing on an open map.
The entire continent.
The Tiandou Empire lay to the north, and the Xingluo Empire was situated to the south.
Between the two great empires were several kingdoms and duchies, each governed by either Tiandou or Xingluo. Among these, there was the Wuhun Hall, located in Wuhun City.
In the map of the Tiandou Empire, Tiandou City, the imperial capital, and Hanhai City in the west were nearly aligned in a straight line.
As for the Frozen Forest, where Lin Rong and the old butler were located, it was situated to the northwest of Tiandou City.
Thus, the Frozen Forest, Tiandou City, and Hanhai City formed a triangular region.
In the original story, the wolf bandits, who encountered Tang San and his group on their way to Hanhai City, were roaming within this triangular area.
The wolf bandits were a hybrid creature, half-human and half-wolf, born from the mating of the Wind Demon Wolf soul beast and a human woman.
They inherited the physical strength, speed, and some abilities of the Wind Demon Wolf, but also possessed human intelligence. Their nature was bloodthirsty and lecherous, frequently raiding, pillaging, and even eating people.
For the common folk of the empire, the wolf bandits were a great menace.
However, dealing with the wolf bandits was a difficult task.
With just 500 of them, they could defeat an army of tens of thousands. The group of wolf bandits operating in the northwestern region of the Tiandou Empire numbered over 300.
To eliminate them, a military force of at least several tens of thousands would be needed.
However, the local military leaders were unwilling to take on this thankless task, so the eradication of the wolf bandits had been delayed, leaving the problem unresolved.
This negligence from the local authorities, coupled with the indifference of the higher-ups toward the lives of the common people, allowed the wolf bandits to continue their rampage.
The Frozen Forest.
After the old butler absorbed the soul ring and soul bone from the 10,000-year Nine-Petaled Ginseng King, Lin Rong and the old butler rode in the carriage, looking for the wolf bandits within the area covered by the triangular region. Once they found them, they would eliminate them.
However, Lin Rong's goal was not out of a great sense of justice or to protect the people.
One of the three wolf bandit leaders possessed a soul bone, which was at least 10,000 years old.
Lin Rong's true aim was to acquire that soul bone. Eliminating the wolf bandits was merely an unnecessary yet convenient task for him.
Since they were already hunting down the wolf bandits, Lin Rong was also willing to help the old butler deal with them, as it would be an easy task for the old butler.
The soul bone of the wolf bandit leader was called Bloodthirsty Frenzy—Hurricane Right Leg.
Its soul bone skill was called Bloodthirst, which, when activated, would put the user into a berserk state. During this time, the user's attack, defense, and speed would increase by 100%.
The downside was that, during the skill's activation, the user could not use any soul techniques. Furthermore, if the user's mental power was insufficient, they would lose their rationality.
Undoubtedly, this soul bone was a perfect fit for assault-type or defense-type Beast Martial Soul battle soul masters.
One of Lin Rong's subordinates, Captain Xu Pan of the guard squad, had a Beast Martial Soul, the Rock-Horned Bull, which was an assault-type soul.
Xu Pan was nominally the personal bodyguard of Ma Hongjun, but Lin Rong's true intention was to keep Xu Pan close to Ma Hongjun and instill loyalty to Lin Rong in him.
Over the past two years, Xu Pan had done an excellent job of influencing Ma Hongjun's thoughts, aligning them with Lin Rong's.
As a ruler, it was essential to balance both rewards and punishments, and Lin Rong decided to reward Xu Pan for his excellent work.
For a soul master, increasing one's strength was the best form of reward.
The three ways to increase strength were soul rings, soul bones, and secret techniques.
Soul rings required a significant breakthrough in soul power before they could be absorbed. Xu Pan had only just broken through to level 60, so it would be a while before he reached level 70.
As for secret techniques, apart from the Washing Marrow Scripture, Lin Rong had no other techniques like the Nine Heavens of the Haotian secret technique.
So, the only option Lin Rong could offer was soul bones.
However, the three ancestral soul bones in his family could not be given to outsiders. Therefore, Lin Rong set his sights on the soul bone of the wolf bandit leader mentioned in the original story.
The Bloodthirsty Frenzy—Hurricane Right Leg soul bone was a perfect fit for Xu Pan.
As for the downside of losing rationality during the berserk state, Lin Rong was not worried. He could find another 10,000-year soul bone for Xu Pan's head, such as the 10,000-year Gem-type head soul bone from Shinian.
Of course, if Shinian were to recognize the situation and choose to ally with him, Lin Rong might even spare his life.
Shinian's Martial Soul, Remnant Dream, was helpful to one of Lin Rong's plans, but it wasn't crucial.
If Shinian chose to submit, Lin Rong would not kill him just for the soul bone.
However, if that happened, the target for the head soul bone would have to be changed.
The original story made clear that there were two more head soul bones available for Lin Rong: one was from the Elephant Armored Sect's Hu Yanli, of unknown age, and the other was from the Medusa head soul bone of Dugu Bo, which was at least 10,000 years old.
As for Oscar's 20,000-year-old Mirror Shadow Beast head soul bone, it was still an uncertain matter.
Lin Rong had no idea which Mirror Shadow Beast had dropped that soul bone, and even if it did, there was no guarantee it would drop again in a different timeline or with another person.
Similarly, the situation with Tang San's Eight Spider Spears soul was the same.
In the original timeline, the original place, the original character, and the original battle all affected whether the Eight Spider Spears would appear.
Thus, Lin Rong could not snatch the external soul bone Eight Spider Spears from Tang San, but as long as Tang San didn't acquire the Human Face Demon Spider as his third soul ring, he would miss the opportunity for it.
Moreover, Tang San was currently seeking plant-type soul beasts for his soul rings.
Unless fate dictated otherwise, Tang San would only make a foolish choice if he went after the Human Face Demon Spider for his third soul ring.