I've also recently started a new translation, please check it out and show your support! Douluo: Seven Kill Shock the World
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One week later.
In a grand hall of the Star Luo Imperial Palace, more than ten middle-aged and elderly men with golden hair gathered together. The atmosphere in the hall was very somber.
The only person seated, a burly old man with golden hair, asked the elder council's eldest elder, Dai Feng, with a gloomy expression: "What are the specific losses?"
"Old Clan Leader, all these missing cases are related to the royal family.
According to the current statistics, the royal family has lost one Soul Douluo, twenty-three Soul Sages, three external relatives' Soul Douluos, two Soul Sages, and thirteen Soul Emperors."
Dai Feng reported solemnly, paused for a moment, and added: "Princess Tianyue and her husband, the Crown Princess, are also on the list of the missing."
In fact, as early as nine days ago, when Chu Chengzhou was still committing crimes rampantly in the Star Luo Empire, his 'good deeds' almost got exposed.
The reason for the exposure was unexpected but reasonable. A royal elder had brought his wife and grandson to visit their son and daughter-in-law, who were generals in the military legion, for a family reunion and to celebrate the grandson's birthday.
But those people had already been killed by Chu Chengzhou, so naturally, this royal elder couldn't find them.
After asking around, he learned that the couple, along with another White Tiger Soul Sage in the army, had received a secret imperial order and returned to Star Luo City.
At this point, it hadn't been exposed immediately.
But when this royal elder returned to Star Luo City and still couldn't find anyone, and finally asked the emperor, he found out there was no such thing. The matter immediately came to light.
The mysterious disappearance of royal experts naturally drew the attention of the royal family—it was clear they needed to investigate directly.
Joking aside, what did disappearances mean? Everyone knew that finding a corpse wasn't the only proof of a murder.
Without investigating, they didn't know; once investigated, they were shocked. The situation was far from what they imagined.
As time passed, more and more such missing cases were uncovered.
Until today, all the missing people had been confirmed, and the losses were so significant that they severely impacted the royal family.
"Crack—"
A sudden sound echoed through the hall. Everyone turned to see the gloomy-faced royal clan leader, the former emperor of the empire, the sole Titled Douluo remaining in the royal family, White Tiger Douluo Dai Tao, angrily crushing the armrest of his chair.
"Who is it?!"
Dai Tao roared ferociously, his eyes blazing with anger as if ready to burn everything.
You must understand that while the number of royal family members was large, the number of experts was always limited. In the vast White Tiger family, there were less than a hundred Soul Sages. Now, over twenty have disappeared at once, which was a quarter of their total.
And most importantly, among the over twenty lost Soul Sages, although their soul power levels were only at the Soul Sage level, due to the Spirit Fusion Technique: Netherworld White Tiger, more than half of them possessed combat power comparable to Soul Douluos. Not to mention one of them was the Grand Princess of the Empire, his own daughter, Dai Tianyue.
"Old Clan Leader, the murderer hasn't been identified yet, but they must be proficient in mental control, and their spiritual power level, even if not up to par with a Titled Douluo, is at least not inferior to a high-level Soul Douluo."
Elder Dai Sheng of the royal family spoke grimly.
Elder Dai Sheng was the first to discover the missing case among the Star Luo royal elders.
What Chu Chengzhou didn't know, far away in Tian Dou City, was that this White Tiger Soul Douluo is the one who coveted his control method back in the Great Star Dou Forest and wanted to kill him to cover their tracks—now, his child and daughter-in-law died at Chu Chengzhou's hands, a perfect end to an old grudge.
"Killing so many of our royal family members, such blood hatred cannot go unavenged, even if he were Qian Daoliu's son, he must die!
Yutian, if the royal family can't find the murderer, then kill all the suspects!"
Dai Tao stood up abruptly, commanding his good son, Dai Yutian, who stood beside him.
Killing all the suspects wasn't because Dai Tao had completely lost his mind.
In this missing persons case, the culprit handled things cleanly, leaving no traces behind, making it unlikely to find the real perpetrator. However, could the royal family just let this matter slide? Impossible!
If they let this slide, the real culprit would take further advantage, intensifying their actions, and other hostile forces might join in.
If you, Star Luo Empire, can't find the real culprit and handle it lightly, why wouldn't others take advantage of your weakness?
It could be said that once this kind of precedent was set, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Yes, Father!"
Dai Yutian bowed his head and responded.
"Old Clan Leader, Your Majesty, I have a major suspect."
At this moment, Elder Dai Feng spoke up.
"Who?"
Dai Tao immediately demanded.
"Chu Chengzhou!"
Dai Feng stated without hesitation.
"Who is he?"
After thinking for a moment and finding this name unfamiliar, Dai Tao asked with some surprise.
Since stepping down, Dai Tao had been quietly cultivating in the Star Luo Palace, rarely participating in imperial affairs, and since Chu Chengzhou was of the younger generation, naturally, Dai Tao hadn't heard of Chu Chengzhou's name.
"Old Clan Leader, this person hails from the Tian Dou Empire and is closely related to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect..."
With a flash of fierce light in his eyes, Dai Feng began recounting relevant intelligence about Chu Chengzhou, then added: "Although this young man is not old and his soul power level is only at the Soul King stage (the Star Luo Empire's intelligence is outdated, as he is actually at Soul Emperors), his strength is very formidable.
The Empire sent top experts twice to intercept him. First, 'Fierce Tiger' and 'Jackal,' two Soul Douluos, led six Soul Sages to ambush him, but Chu Chengzhou instantly killed six Soul Sages with his archery.
Later, the Empire secretly invited six Soul Douluos, including 'Vulture,' to intercept him. The exact details are unknown, but these six Soul Douluos have all perished.
He has the ability and motive, and during the soul master competition, this young man displayed considerable mental prowess. There is a ninety percent chance that he is the culprit!"
Although Dai Feng couldn't guarantee that Chu Chengzhou was absolutely responsible, he felt seventy percent confident.
Of course, even if Chu Chengzhou wasn't the killer, killing the wrong person wouldn't matter much. After all, in his view, Chu Chengzhou deserved to die.
Perhaps the Douluo Continent doesn't have the saying 'Thirty years east, thirty years west,' but the principle of 'Don't belittle the young poor' still applies.
Enemies who have reached their potential aren't scary as long as their strength doesn't exceed the royal family's response range. After all, the Empire has no shortage of enemies—one more or less won't make a difference.
However, outstanding geniuses with great potential are different. Who can guarantee how far they will progress in cultivation?
If Chu Chengzhou becomes like Tang Chen, the 'Unrivaled on Land' supreme powerhouse of the past, by the time he fully matures, it would be a disaster for the royal family.
Put yourself in their shoes—if an opposing faction kept sending assassins after him, and he gained the strength to retaliate, wouldn't he want revenge, possibly eliminating them entirely to prevent future trouble?
"This grave threat, why wasn't he eliminated earlier?"
Upon hearing this, Dai Tao became furious and harshly questioned Dai Yutian.
Even though Dai Yutian was the Emperor of Star Luo, what was an emperor? Wasn't he still his son?
A father scolding his son was natural!
"Father, this young man is very cunning. He usually hides in Tian Dou City and has close ties with the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect..."
Dai Yutian hurriedly explained.
"What about Tian Dou? What about the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect? He is just a junior. Can't the Empire handle a mere Soul King?"
Not mentioning it would have been fine, but Dai Yutian's explanation made Dai Tao even angrier.
On the surface, the Tian Dou Empire's noteworthy experts amount to only Dugu Bo, and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect has only two Titled Douluos, Chen Xin and Gu Rong.
Just these three Titled Douluos, and Dugu Bo's strength is at the bottom level among Titled Douluos. Even if they continuously protected Chu Chengzhou, the Empire still had the strength to eliminate him.
Moreover, the royal family alone had enough strength to forcefully kill Chu Chengzhou under the protection of these three Titled Douluos.
Furthermore, Titled Douluos weren't idle. No matter how close the relationship, they couldn't always follow a junior around.
It could be said that sending any two Titled-level experts from the royal family would be enough to resolve the issue forever.
"Old Clan Leader, my son fell in Chu Chengzhou's hands. This enmity cannot be reconciled. I, Dai Sheng, request permission!"
Elder Dai Sheng stepped forward, requesting to personally handle the matter to eliminate the threat.
"Hmm, I'll trouble Elder Sheng. Once this junior leaves Tian Dou City, eliminate him!"
Dai Tao nodded, but after some thought, he looked at three middle-aged men in the hall and said: "Elders Seven, Eight, and Nine, you three should accompany Elder Six to avoid intervention from Tian Dou and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."
Tian Dou City was, after all, the capital of the Tian Dou Empire. Setting aside whether the Tian Dou Empire had other Titled Douluos besides Dugu Bo, the numerous Soul Douluos alone posed a significant problem. If trapped in an ambush, even the Netherworld White Tiger at the Titled Douluo level might not escape.
Dai Tao wanted to eliminate Chu Chengzhou to resolve the threat, but he didn't want the royal family elders to sacrifice themselves for Chu Chengzhou. However, outside Tian Dou City, they basically wouldn't face ambush situations.
Sending four royal elders, this array was equivalent to four newly minted Titled Douluos. At that time, even if secretly protected by a Titled Douluo, Chu Chengzhou was surely dead.
Moreover, since the ones going were all strong individuals, they could retreat safely after succeeding.
Four Elders, equivalent to four Titled Douluos assassinating a mere Soul King-level junior, presumably Chu Chengzhou would consider that dying gloriously?
Dai Tao: All enemies of the Empire, go to hell!
Chu Chengzhou didn't pay attention to the Star Luo Empire's reaction.
As long as he stayed in Tian Dou City, his safety was basically assured.
As the capital, perhaps Soul Emperor, Soul Sage, or even Soul Douluo 'small fry' dared to cause trouble in Tian Dou City, but experts at the Titled Douluo level absolutely wouldn't dare cause trouble in Tian Dou City.
Because as long as they caused a disturbance, the Tian Dou Empire would certainly intervene. And if the troublemaker didn't have time to flee, unless they were a world-class powerhouse capable of subduing the entire Tian Dou, they would definitely lose their lives.
Back when Salas of the Tian Dou Holy Spirit Hall sent Cang Xiong and others to cause trouble at Lanba Academy, they had already prepared for complete annihilation.
After all, the Spirit Hall was large and powerful. Losing a Soul Douluo and two Soul Sages wasn't much. As long as they could eliminate a potential threat, it wouldn't be considered a loss.
But the Star Luo Empire's foundation wasn't as solid as the Spirit Hall's. Sending a Soul Douluo wouldn't work; only sending Titled Douluo-level experts might succeed in assassinating Chu Chengzhou.
However, Titled Douluos were the backbone of the nation. Losing one would be extremely painful. To eliminate threats, deploying Titled Douluos was acceptable, but losing Titled Douluos was absolutely unacceptable.
Perhaps he would encounter Titled Douluo-level assassins in the future, but it was impossible to meet them inside Tian Dou City.
Forget about the Star Luo Empire; even the Spirit Hall, with its numerous Titled Douluos, wouldn't spend such a huge cost.
In between cultivation, with nothing to do, Chu Chengzhou planned to tinker with the soul core that would appear on the continent in the future.
He was well aware of his most obvious shortcomings.
His summoned spirits were of too high a rank, while his own soul power level was too low. With just his current Soul Emperor level soul power reserves, it wasn't enough to sustain prolonged battles with Big Bear and Big Black.
The low soul power level was something he couldn't solve—after all, his cultivation time was a hard limit, and he couldn't ascend overnight.
But his total soul power reserves were something he could improve, such as by forming a soul core.
Soul Cores were a major invention in the future soul master community and standard equipment for powerful soul masters.
Soul Cores didn't directly increase a soul master's cultivation level, but after forming a soul core, they could purify the soul master's internal soul power, enhance its quality, significantly speed up recovery, and store large amounts of soul power since the core itself was formed from soul power.
Improved soul power quality indirectly increased total soul power reserves, and the soul core could act as a second mana bar, effectively solving the problem of insufficient internal soul power.
Additionally, improved soul power quality could greatly assist soul masters in breaking through bottlenecks.
It could even be said that the emergence of the soul core system contributed significantly to the flourishing era where Titled Douluos were commonplace.
Although Chu Chengzhou hadn't seen Soul Land 2, 3, or 4—who knows, maybe there was even 5, 6, or even 7 in his previous life—but he was somewhat familiar with soul core.
Forming a soul core carried significant risks, and many had accidentally killed themselves. But as long as one's spiritual power was strong and their soul power control was high, the risks of forming a soul core were controllable.
A soul master could form up to three soul cores, respectively condensing them in the lower dantian (below the abdomen), middle dantian (chest), and upper dantian (between the eyebrows). Moreover, multi-soul core formation methods were divided into two types.
One was the Resonance Method, and the other was the Yin Yang Complement Method.
The difference between the two wasn't the number of soul cores formed but rather the direction of rotation after formation.
Being self-aware of his cheat-like abilities, Chu Chengzhou naturally planned to form three Yin Yang Complementary soul cores.
Although when the soul core system peaked, most soul masters in the future started attempting to form their first soul core only after reaching the Soul Sage stage, with his top-tier True Spirit Flag martial soul and Gold-Tier Nine Breath Qi Absorption Meditation Method, in terms of soul power quality and quantity, even at the Soul Emperor level, he wasn't necessarily inferior to ordinary Soul Sages.
Forming the first soul core shouldn't be a problem.
Moreover, there were no fixed requirements for a soul master's soul power level when forming a soul core. Lower soul power levels meant less total soul power required, so it shouldn't reach a point where his internal soul power ran out halfway through.
Besides, if his internal soul power did run out, he could simply discard the incomplete soul core.
As long as his control was sufficient, there were no safety concerns before the soul core fully formed and integrated into his body.
Subsequently, he calmed his mind, cleared all distractions, adjusted his mental state, extended his right hand, and began gathering strands of blue soul power, forming a small pool of liquid soul power above his palm.
Thanks to his Absolute Control skill, Chu Chengzhou's soul power control was exceptionally high. The liquid soul power in his palm was firmly controlled, without any leakage.
Gradually, as more blue soul power gathered above his palm, under the control of his spiritual power, it floated upward, hovering above his palm, and began rotating clockwise.
Forming a soul core mainly involved control, compression, and rotation.
Far surpassing the control abilities of soul masters at the same level, Chu Chengzhou didn't need to be overly cautious, directly increasing the injection and rotation speed of soul power.
As the soul power began to rotate faster, Chu Chengzhou noticed that the floating liquid soul power above his palm was slowly being compressed, gradually becoming thicker.
Everything was progressing well—compression, rotation, more compression, more rotation...
The rotation speed of the liquid soul power grew faster, and the compression level increased. Soon, within the already thick liquid soul power, a needle-tip-sized blue crystal suddenly appeared.
Clearly, the soul power was transitioning from liquid to solid.
As time passed, the needle-tip-sized blue soul power crystal grew larger.
After a long while, all the liquid soul power disappeared, replaced by an egg-sized solid soul power resembling a sapphire.
At the instant of completion, a small clockwise-rotating vortex abruptly formed around the solid soul power.
The moment the vortex appeared, it immediately produced a powerful suction force, starting to madly absorb the ambient elemental energy.
'No, the commotion is too big. This is Tian Dou City—I can't form a soul core here!'
Realizing that the surrounding elemental energy was rushing madly into the solid soul power, Chu Chengzhou immediately realized he shouldn't attempt to form a soul core at home.
Otherwise, any soul master in Tian Dou City, unless dead, would sense the disturbance on his side.
Instantly, his spiritual power surged forth, isolating the solid soul power from the external environment. Under his control, the already formed solid soul power gradually reverted to liquid and dissipated into the air.
After pondering for a moment, Chu Chengzhou extended his spiritual power to sense his surroundings, then rose and left his courtyard, knocking on the door of his 'next-door neighbor' Dugu Bo.
Making a big commotion in Tian Dou City wasn't suitable, but finding a secluded place to form a soul core without disturbance required protection from a powerful expert.
Chu Chengzhou immediately thought of his father-in-law, but the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect undoubtedly had spies from other factions. Creating a disturbance would inevitably lead to probing from various forces across the continent. It was better to ask Dugu Bo and head to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to form it.
Owing Dugu Bo a tremendous favor, teaching him the soul core formation method after creating it was natural.
Using spirit bones to transfer toxins inside his body was merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause. But forming a poison attribute soul core would absolutely treat both symptoms and root cause, permanently resolving Dugu Bo's potential hazards.
Additionally, it was time for Dugu Bo to learn about the effects of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and Black Jade Divine Bamboo in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Taking so many immortal herbs from Dugu Bo, leaving a couple for him and his granddaughter was appropriate.
Previously, Chu Chengzhou didn't tell him because he feared Dugu Bo might turn against him—after all, anyone whose priceless treasures were taken advantage of would naturally be displeased.
However, times had changed. While he couldn't defeat powerful Titled Douluos, Dugu Bo, with a soul power level of only 92, shouldn't be able to harm him now. He didn't need to worry about Dugu Bo harming him.
Though it may seem like 'judging a gentleman by the standard of a villain,' concerning his own life, Chu Chengzhou had to be cautious.
Two hours later, Chu Chengzhou and Dugu Bo arrived at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Little Chu, is this so-called soul core really that miraculous?"
Dugu Bo hesitantly asked Chu Chengzhou.
"Senior, rest assured. You'll know once I form it!"
Chu Chengzhou smiled and said.
"Alright, I'll keep watch."
Clicking his tongue, Dugu Bo nodded.
Subsequently, Chu Chengzhou found an open space near the ice and fire spring, sat cross-legged, and attempted to form the first soul core again.
Once is difficult, twice is easier. Not long after, an egg-sized, sapphire-like solid soul power formed in front of Chu Chengzhou again.
Instantly, a vortex formed, and the steadily clockwise-rotating solid soul power began madly devouring the ambient elemental energy.
Meanwhile, Chu Chengzhou clearly sensed that while the solid soul power devoured the external elemental energy, it also actively absorbed the soul power within his body.
Considering his relatively low soul power level and limited internal reserves, Chu Chengzhou maintained a continuous output of internal soul power while using his spiritual power to control it, reducing the absorption rate.
Anyway, while the solid soul power absorbed his internal soul power, it also absorbed external elemental energy. His internal soul power compared to the external elemental energy was like a drop in the ocean. Even if his soul power output frequency decreased, it wouldn't affect the formation of the soul core.
Moreover, retaining more internal soul power prevented a subsequent insufficiency.
Of course, forming a soul core wasn't just about injecting soul power. Chu Chengzhou needed to constantly use his spiritual power to maintain the stable operation of the solid soul power.
Otherwise, if it went out of control, the formed solid soul power would become a highly explosive soul power bomb.
Although far from matching the endless light and heat emitted by mushroom clouds, if it went out of control during the final stages of soul core formation, the destructive power wouldn't be weaker than a high-powered conventional missile.
After all, as time passed, the proportion of Chu Chengzhou's own Soul Emperor level injected soul power within the solid soul power would decrease, with more being absorbed from the abundant external elemental energy.
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