Half a month later.
On this day, a blue-haired youth arrived at Slaughter City.
The Fallen within the inner city had no idea that, following the 'Soul Control Demon' and 'Hell Witch' from half a year ago, another formidable opponent had entered the inner city of Slaughter City.
Meanwhile, in Tian Dou City, Chu Chengzhou was lying on a recliner in his courtyard, basking in the sun while silently waiting for his supreme skill to upgrade.
Not long after, a surge of information and insight abruptly emerged in Chu Chengzhou's mind.
Archery Skill: Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow, quality upgraded to Gold.
After a long while, having digested the insights and opening his eyes, Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but smile.
After upgrading to Gold-Tier, the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow not only significantly increased in power but also added various archery techniques.
It was undeniable that the Red-Tier Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow was powerful, but its shortcomings were also very apparent.
The number of arrows fired at once was very limited. If it weren't for his Absolute Control skill and his high level of soul power control, firing three arrows at once would be nearly impossible.
But now, with the skill upgraded to Gold-Tier, the situation was vastly different.
A single arrow could split into thousands, forming a massive rain of arrows, rather than relying solely on superhuman hand speed to create an arrow storm.
However, this splitting was limited to soul power arrows; physical Flowing Gold Armor Piercing Arrows couldn't do this. But when shooting physical arrows, they could still split into soul power arrows since soul power was infused when firing the Flowing Gold Armor Piercing Arrows.
Of course, due to the conservation of energy, the individual power of each split soul power arrow naturally wouldn't match the original soul power arrow. The more arrows split, the lower the power of each individual arrow.
Due to his current level of soul power control, saying "splitting into thousands" was somewhat exaggerated. At least for now, he couldn't shoot one arrow and have it turn into thousands or even tens of thousands of arrows.
Additionally, the previous Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow was purely for single-target piercing attacks. While the attack power was strong, its destructive capability was lacking.
Because the arrow trajectory was very stable, upon hitting the target, the wound created was a penetration injury.
If it didn't hit a vital spot on the opponent, it often couldn't form a fatal attack.
However, the Gold-Tier Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow could grant the fired arrows a blasting effect, causing the full power of the arrows to explode upon impact with the opponent.
In the future, if an opponent were to be pierced through the chest by one of Chu Chengzhou's arrows, the wound on their chest wouldn't just be a finger-sized bloody hole. Either the person would be blown apart entirely, or a large, gaping hole would remain.
Moreover, the Gold-Tier Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow also possessed a lock-on effect.
Unless the target's spiritual power was stronger than Chu Chengzhou's, the fired arrows would never miss. To avoid being hit, the only options were to intercept them early or block them with other objects.
One could say that with the lock-on effect, the already stealthy Chu Chengzhou became even more suited to being a sneaky attacker.
Opening the attribute panel and glancing at it, Chu Chengzhou removed the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow from the AFK slot and placed the Defensive skill: Instant Bloom onto it.
With offensive capabilities upgraded, defensive measures naturally had to keep up as well. After all, only by staying alive could one deal damage!
That night, dressed in a set of night clothes, Chu Chengzhou climbed over the city wall and left Tian Dou City.
Once far from Tian Dou City, he summoned the Phoenix summon Xiao Hong and headed south.
Just a few days ago, Chu Chengzhou had received intelligence about the external experts of the Star Luo Imperial Family from Qian Renxue.
Don't think that because the competition among the princes of the Star Luo Imperial Family was brutal, with only one winner per generation, and others either dead or useless, that the Star Luo Imperial Family was left with only a few members.
The Douluo Continent valued strength above all else. If the White Tiger Family's member count was as sparse as the Angel Family's, unless every member could become a Titled Douluo, they absolutely wouldn't be able to control such a vast Star Luo Empire.
Emperors ascended through martial prowess, not political cunning. If the ruler was weak and ministers were strong, the Star Luo Empire would have changed dynasties long ago.
Perhaps the main lineage of the White Tiger Family had few members, but considering the collateral branches, their numbers were definitely not less than those of the major soul master families on the continent. In fact, because they were the imperial family, the number of White Tiger Family members was even greater than those of the prominent families.
Having children naturally produces both boys and girls, not all sons. Princes needed to compete for the throne, but princesses did not.
To ensure that the White Tiger martial soul of the imperial family wasn't leaked, these princesses' consorts naturally needed to marry into the family.
As a top-tier beast martial soul, the White Tiger martial soul—if the groom's martial soul quality was inferior to the White Tiger—their offspring would mostly awaken the White Tiger martial soul.
Since they awakened the White Tiger martial soul, they naturally became part of the White Tiger Dai family. Regardless of their original surname, it would be changed to Dai.
This way, the number of collateral branches of the White Tiger Family naturally increased.
Additionally, not every prince of the Star Luo Imperial Family needed to participate in the competition for the throne.
The purpose of this competitive mechanism was to select an outstanding successor for the empire. Forcing princes with poor talent and destined for limited achievements to compete—wasn't that just setting them up for failure?
Moreover, they were all brothers. For brothers with insufficient talent who posed no threat to oneself, instead of committing fratricide, it was better to maintain friendly relations. At the very least, it left a good impression on the emperor and empress.
Given the large number of White Tiger Family members, naturally, they wouldn't all stay in Star Luo City.
As royalty, personal martial prowess was one aspect, and economic strength was another. Without substantial wealth, how could they support a family with numerous members?
The security on the Douluo Continent wasn't great, so important industries under the imperial family naturally required sending experts to oversee them.
Similarly, to better control the empire's military power, many royal experts also joined the military department of the Star Luo Empire, serving as generals in the army.
And Chu Chengzhou's targets were these externally stationed experts of the Star Luo Imperial Family.
It's only polite to reciprocate. The Star Luo Empire had sent two waves of assassins, and now it was Chu Chengzhou's turn to act as an assassin!
Moreover, Chu Chengzhou felt that, professionally speaking, he, who was skilled in mental control, was even more suited for the task.
Chu Chengzhou: Repaying evil with the same coin!
As for why he wore night clothes and left the city at night?
There were undoubtedly spies from the Star Luo Empire in Tian Dou City. If he left openly, it wouldn't take long before news of him leaving Tian Dou City would reach Emperor Dai Yutian of the Star Luo Empire.
Doing bad deeds, no gunfire, sneak into the village quietly!
The flying speed of the Phoenix summon Xiao Hong wasn't slow. Heading south, just past dawn, Chu Chengzhou crossed the southern border of the Balak Kingdom and entered the territory of the Star Luo Empire.
Balak Kingdom bordered the Star Luo Empire, and both sides stationed two armies of 100,000 men each along the border.
Among these two armies of 100,000 men of the Star Luo Empire, there were four Soul Sages from the royal family.
As for Soul Douluos from the royal family?
Unlike other forces, the Soul Douluos of the Star Luo Imperial Family came in two types: ordinary White Tiger martial soul Soul Douluos and members of the imperial elder council.
The difference between the two wasn't in their soul power levels but in whether they could activate the Spirit Fusion Technique: Netherworld White Tiger.
A Soul Douluo paired with a six or seven-ring soul master, upon activating the Spirit Fusion Technique, their strength would basically reach the level of a Titled Douluo. The difference in strength was significant, and their status within the royal family naturally differed too.
Even a Level 89 White Tiger Soul Douluo who couldn't activate the Netherworld White Tiger held less status within the royal family compared to an Level 81 Soul Douluo who could activate it, unless their soul power level could break through to 90, advancing to Titled Douluo.
As the backbone of the nation, unless encountering large-scale warfare, generally, the members of the Star Luo Imperial Elder Council wouldn't appear in the army.
However, Chu Chengzhou didn't plan to cause trouble in the border troops of the Star Luo Empire. It wasn't that he feared the Star Luo army; he wanted to avoid alarming them prematurely, intending to deal with them later upon his return.
At nightfall, a figure flashed across the land at high speed.
Climbing to the top of a small hill and looking down at the endless rows of tents below, Chu Chengzhou nodded in satisfaction.
Here, twenty miles north of one of the main cities in northern Star Luo Empire, Sariel City, was the campsite of the Star Luo Empire's Fourth Legion.
And the commander of the Star Luo Empire's Fourth Legion, Dai Yi, was an eight-ring White Tiger Soul Douluo from the royal family.
Of course, Dai Yi wasn't a member of the Star Luo Imperial Elder Council. His wife had died early, passing away before he became a Soul Douluo. According to the intelligence provided by Qian Renxue, this was an ordinary Level 85 Soul Douluo with the optimal spirit ring configuration.
Eliminating Dai Yi, although it wouldn't result in the loss of a Titled-level fighter for the Star Luo Empire, an eight-ring expert wasn't a trivial matter and was worth Chu Chengzhou taking action.
Immediately, Chu Chengzhou concealed his presence and infiltrated the campsite of the Fourth Legion below.
With Chu Chengzhou's strength, the soldiers on night duty and patrol naturally couldn't detect him.
Releasing his spiritual power to scout the central area of the campsite, Chu Chengzhou quickly sensed Dai Yi's location.
There was no helping it; in the vast Fourth Legion, he was the only Soul Douluo, making him easy to find.
Subsequently, he activated the illusion supreme skill: Void Illusion World, and his spiritual power surged out. In an instant, Dai Yi, who was meditating inside his tent, became Chu Chengzhou's loyal temporary servant.
After giving instructions through soul power transmission, a flicker of understanding passed through Dai Yi's eyes, and he stood up and shouted outside the tent: "Someone, summon the five commanders for a meeting!"
"Yes, Commander!"
The soldier standing guard outside the tent responded.
Not long after, the five Soul Sage commanders of the Star Luo Empire's Fourth Legion, each leading 20,000 soldiers, gathered in Commander Dai Yi's large tent.
"I just received urgent news and need to attend to important matters temporarily. During this period, the legion will be under your command. Do not make any mistakes!"
Dai Yi sternly instructed the five.
'Urgent news?'
The pupils of the five commanders contracted, and they dared not ask further questions, immediately agreeing.
Subsequently, Dai Yi left the Fourth Legion campsite alone.
More than half an hour later, in the wilderness outside Sariel City, Chu Chengzhou killed Dai Yi, who had just handed over his property, with a single Flowing Gold Armor Piercing Arrow.
"Over three million gold soul coins, a 20,000-year soul bone from the left leg, impressive!"
Looking at the newly acquired spoils in his storage soul tool, Chu Chengzhou nodded in satisfaction.
The soul bone was stripped from Dai Yi, and the over three million gold soul coins weren't all of the assets of this commander from the royal family. Chu Chengzhou merely had Dai Yi hand over a small portion of his liquid assets, as he didn't have time to deal with more valuable real estate.
In relief, Chu Chengzhou dug a pit in the wilderness and buried Dai Yi's body.
Killing Dai Yi directly in the Fourth Legion campsite was not feasible, otherwise, it wouldn't take long for the Star Luo royal family to know that a bold assassin appeared in the empire.
But after controlling Dai Yi, letting him find an excuse to leave might not fool them for long, but it was fine for the short term, and he could confiscate part of his assets in the process.
Two hours later, Chu Chengzhou rushed overnight to Heishui Town, a key town in the central Star Luo Empire.
Outside Heishui Town flowed a large river, and on the riverside was a super-large open-air iron mine: Heishui Iron Mine. Over half of the raw materials for the equipment of the Star Luo Empire's million elite troops were supplied by the Heishui Iron Mine.
To ensure the safety of the Heishui Iron Mine, the Star Luo Empire stationed a Soul Sage from the royal family who could activate the Spirit Fusion Technique: Netherworld White Tiger.
A Soul Sage capable of displaying eight-ring level combat power was sufficient to protect the Heishui Iron Mine. After all, iron ore was worthless in the eyes of experts. Even if some experts were short on cash and thought about moonlighting as robbers, they wouldn't come here to rob iron ore.
Using the same method, Chu Chengzhou released his spiritual power to find the target White Tiger Soul Sage and Netherworld Spirit Cat Soul Emperor, controlled their consciousness, made them find excuses to leave temporarily, and brought whatever portable assets they could.
Then, confiscating their assets, ending their lives, digging pits to bury the bodies—one-stop service.
At dawn, outside one of the main cities of the Star Luo Empire, Toluvis City, Chu Chengzhou buried a White Tiger Soul Sage and a Netherworld Spirit Cat Soul Emperor.
In the morning, outside the military stronghold of Yin Yi Town of the Star Luo Empire, Chu Chengzhou buried two White Tiger Soul Sages serving as commanders in the Sixth Legion of the Star Luo Empire.
In the afternoon, outside one of the main cities of the Star Luo Empire, Harwick City, Chu Chengzhou buried a White Tiger Soul Sage and a Netherworld Spirit Cat Soul Emperor.
In the evening, under a moonless and windy night, outside the military stronghold of Sax Town of the Star Luo Empire, Chu Chengzhou buried a White Tiger Soul Sage and a Dragon Halberd Soul Douluo.
It's worth noting that this White Tiger Soul Sage was the younger sister of the current Star Luo Emperor Dai Yutian, the Grand Princess of the Star Luo Empire, and also the deputy commander of the Eighth Legion of the Star Luo Empire.
And that Dragon Halberd Soul Douluo was also Dai Yutian's brother-in-law, the commander of the Eighth Legion of the Star Luo Empire, aged just over fifty, with a soul power level as high as Level 87 Soul Douluo.
According to the intelligence provided by Qian Renxue, he was also a genius with Innate Level 9 soul power, and barring accidents, he would likely achieve the rank of Titled Douluo in the future.
Fortunately, Chu Chengzhou hadn't neglected the cultivation of Eternal Thought, otherwise, the Void Illusion World might not have successfully controlled him.
For five consecutive days, traveling around various parts of the Star Luo Empire without rest, Chu Chengzhou achieved quite a lot.
In total, he consecutively killed nearly twenty White Tiger Soul Sages and four Soul Douluos from the Star Luo royal family, acquiring more than twenty limb-position soul bones ranging from thousand-year to thirty-thousand-year levels, and over thirty million gold soul coins.
Of course, except for the initial Dai Yi, the remaining three Soul Douluos didn't possess the White Tiger martial soul but were either in-laws or son-in-laws who married into the royal family Dai.
After five days of rampant activities, Chu Chengzhou decided to stop. Otherwise, if the Star Luo Empire reacted and sent a large number of experts to surround him, he might really stumble.
After nightfall, outside the campsites of the First and Second Legions stationed in the northern border, after burying four more White Tiger Soul Sages, Chu Chengzhou crossed the border into the Balak Kingdom and hurried back to Tian Dou City overnight.
The next afternoon, Chu Chengzhou met Qian Renxue at a teahouse.
"Are you back, or are you preparing to set off?"
Inside the private room on the third floor, Qian Renxue asked Chu Chengzhou.
"I'm already back! It seems my confidentiality work was quite effective?"
Chu Chengzhou smiled and said.
"Not necessarily, perhaps your misdeeds have been exposed, but the intelligence might still be on its way."
Chu Chengzhou went to kill people, and the disappearance of live individuals would certainly be noticed—it was only a matter of time.
"It doesn't matter, I'm already back."
Chu Chengzhou waved dismissively. He had handled the start and end of his operations cleanly, leaving no evidence, and he had safely returned to Tian Dou City.
Of course, losing more than twenty Soul Sages and Soul Douluos was enough to hurt the Star Luo royal family. They wouldn't care about evidence or not; anyone suspected would face the Star Luo Empire's iron-fisted retaliation.
But such retaliation wouldn't exceed sending experts to assassinate him. How could he possibly fear that?
However, Chu Chengzhou had made up his mind. Unless necessary, he wouldn't leave Tian Dou City recently, to avoid the heavily damaged Star Luo Empire sending Titled Douluo-level experts.
Although Big Bear and Big Black had Titled-level combat power, they could only fight in one intense battle. If the opponent had more than one Titled-level fighter, the possibility of him stumbling wasn't zero.
"How were the specific results?"
A trace of excitement flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes.
The Star Luo Empire was her future enemy. She hoped the losses of the Star Luo Empire would be as great as possible.
Even better if the heavily damaged Star Luo Empire turned their anger towards the Tian Dou Empire.
If the two great empires went to war, although the Tian Dou Empire would inevitably suffer losses, possibly even severe ones, from the perspective of the Spirit Hall, it was highly beneficial.
Moreover, if the Tian Dou Empire's military experts suffered losses, she could secretly place trusted subordinates cultivated by the Spirit Hall into the army. If done well, controlling the Tian Dou Empire's military wouldn't be difficult.
Controlling the empire's military power, coupled with the title of crown prince, and arranging an accident for Xue Ye, the vast Tian Dou Empire would fall into her hands!
Ascending to the throne as the Tian Dou Emperor, then overthrowing Bibi Dong, the bad woman, from the position of Pope of the Spirit Hall, and combining the forces of Tian Dou and the Spirit Hall to destroy all non-compliant forces like the Star Luo Empire, the entire continent would eventually belong to her!
"Not much, I targeted the Star Luo royal family—just over twenty Soul Sages and four Soul Douluos."
Chu Chengzhou modestly said.
"Not bad, not bad, Little Zhouzi, you're capable!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue patted Chu Chengzhou's shoulder with satisfaction.
One shouldn't underestimate experts. Take the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, one of the three great sects on the continent. Counting the soul masters above level 70, they had only two Titled Douluos, a dozen or so Soul Douluos, and eighty to ninety Soul Sages.
And this was the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. As for the Xiangjia Sect, one of the four lesser sects, four Soul Douluos and over twenty Soul Sages constituted most of the Xiangjia Sect's high-end combat power.
"What did you call me?"
Hearing 'Little Zhouzi,' Chu Chengzhou's expression darkened, and he said menacingly.
Before, you called me virtuous brother. Now, not calling me dear was acceptable, but giving me a eunuch name?
"Little Zhouzi? Is there a problem?"
Qian Renxue asked, puzzled.
"If you're Xue Qinghe, call me virtuous brother. If you're Qian Renxue, call me dear!"
Pausing momentarily, Chu Chengzhou laughed and said.
I almost forgot, the Douluo Continent doesn't have the noble profession of eunuchs.
Take the Tian Dou Imperial Palace, for example—even male servants didn't need castration, and places like the harem used female servants.
"You wish!"
Qian Renxue gave him a glare, "Anything else? If not, I'll be going. The Star Luo Empire has lost so many royal experts—they definitely won't let it slide. The empire must respond."
"There actually is something. Can you help me sell these soul bones?"
Saying this, Chu Chengzhou took out a large pile of soul bones from his storage soul tool and placed them on the coffee table in front of him.
Nineteen thousand-year soul bones, seventeen ten-thousand-year soul bones, totaling thirty-six.
As part of the Star Luo royal family, the White Tiger Family was quite wealthy, and the people he killed were all experts, so the probability of them possessing soul bones wasn't low.
Of course, these thirty-six soul bones weren't all obtained during these days; they also included the spoils from Slaughter City and the counterattack against 'Vulture' and others after leaving Slaughter City.
However, the age of these soul bones wasn't very high. The highest one was below thirty thousand years, and they were all relatively low-value limb soul bones, not catching his eye, so selling them directly was fine.
"So many soul bones?"
Looking at the numerous radiant soul bones on the coffee table, Qian Renxue couldn't help but exclaim.
"Not enough? These aren't even enough for a dowry!"
Chu Chengzhou said with regret.
"Huh? My teacher demands so much?"
Qian Renxue's eyes widened.
She hadn't expected it! Her teacher Ning Fengzhi was so greedy—so many soul bones weren't enough for a dowry?
"I've already given Rongrong's dowry. I'm referring to what's for the Spirit Hall."
Chu Chengzhou hinted meaningfully.
Mm, for the Spirit Hall, two portions were needed—one for little fox and one for the Great Angel.
Good thing he had a knack for making money; otherwise, with so many girlfriends, he wouldn't be able to afford the dowries.
Qian Renxue didn't respond. When it came to verbal sparring, she couldn't match Chu Chengzhou. If they continued this topic, she would be at a disadvantage. Glaring fiercely at Chu Chengzhou, she collected the soul bones and left the teahouse.
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