Though these two assassination attempts seemed coincidental, in reality, coincidence only occurred once.
The first assassination attempt wasn't a coincidence at all. Chu Chengzhou, an unqualified fisherman, lacked the patience to wait for the fish to bite and didn't follow conventional tactics. Instead, he directly used his Void Illusion World technique to temporarily alter others' consciousness, tracing back and uncovering the assassin squad.
However, this time around, the assassins arrived in the morning and were defeated before sunset. That was truly a coincidence, but there was no issue of internal intelligence leaks.
"Yes, Father!"
Dai Yutian quickly responded.
"Father, the royal high-level strength has suffered significant losses. I plan to allocate some resources to our senior Soul Sages to help them break through as soon as possible."
After some thought, Dai Yutian addressed Dai Tao.
"Mm, if necessary, open the imperial treasury and bestow high-grade soul bones."
Dai Tao didn't refuse and nodded in agreement.
Even after Chu Chengzhou's interference, the royal family still had many experts—high-level Soul Sages or even White Tiger Soul Sages stuck at Level 79. With the help of rare treasures or soul bones, it wouldn't be difficult to create several White Tiger Soul Douluos in a short time.
Of course, relying on so-called rare treasures—consuming herbs far inferior to immortal-grade ones, or high-year plant-type spirit beast cores—would affect their foundation, making future breakthroughs nearly impossible.
However, using soul bones wouldn't have such issues. The role of soul bones wasn't just about providing skills or enhancing physical and spiritual attributes. After absorption, they either boosted soul power or solidified one's foundation.
For soul masters not stuck at a bottleneck, increasing soul power wasn't a big deal—they could simply spend more time cultivating.
But for those stuck at a bottleneck, the help was immense. As long as the soul bone's age was high enough and the soul power increase substantial, it could forcibly break through the bottleneck.
"Old Patriarch, the assassination targeting Chu Chengzhou ended in an unexpected outcome. Should we continue?"
At this moment, Dai Feng asked Dai Tao.
If Dai Sheng and the others hadn't perished, Dai Feng surely wouldn't have asked this question and would've directly arranged the next assassination.
But now that the royal family had lost many strong individuals, the assassination plan needed careful reconsideration. Continuously sending people to their deaths wasn't a viable strategy.
"Continue, of course we must continue. This youth has tremendous potential and is a grave threat to the empire—he must be eliminated!
However, neither the royal family nor the empire should take action again. Take a legacy soul bone from the imperial treasury and issue a bounty! Anyone who brings us Chu Chengzhou's head can claim the reward from the empire!
By the way, spread the word about him. Say he possesses a hundred-thousand-year soul bone!"
Dai Tao answered without hesitation.
A super genius soul master from the enemy nation—and one the empire had already deeply offended—must be completely eradicated to prevent further growth.
Given his considerable strength, sending another group of experts might result in yet another complete annihilation. To avoid further losses of the royal family and empire's elites, Dai Tao decided to change tactics and hire assassins instead.
The continent was never short of desperate individuals. He couldn't believe no expert would be tempted.
After all, the so-called legacy soul bones, though not reaching a hundred thousand years, were still over eighty thousand years old.
Of course, this referred to limb bones. For relatively more precious head or torso bones, anything above fifty thousand years could be considered a major faction's legacy soul bone.
If this plan failed, the royal family wouldn't suffer any loss.
If it succeeded, paying the price of one legacy soul bone to eliminate Chu Chengzhou would be a huge profit.
After all, the value of the soul bones on Dai Sheng and the others far exceeded that of a single legacy soul bone.
Moreover, this was just the bounty. Though uncertain whether Chu Chengzhou possessed a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, given his formidable strength, it was plausible.
Hmm, ideally, after the mission was completed, the royal family could secretly send experts to ambush the bounty hunters, reclaim the legacy soul bone, and possibly make an additional profit.
That day, a message spread from Star Luo City.
Chu Chengzhou of Tian Dou Empire possessed strength far exceeding his soul power level and carried something all soul masters dreamed of: a hundred-thousand-year soul bone!
Furthermore, the Star Luo Empire issued a bounty. Anyone presenting Chu Chengzhou's head could claim a precious eighty-thousand-year-old soul bone as a reward from the Star Luo Empire.
With the intentional dissemination by the Star Luo Empire's official channels, this news spread rapidly across the Star Luo Empire and even the entire continent.
In no time, capable independent soul masters and various soul master families across the continent began stirring with interest.
As for Chu Chengzhou's background?
Hmph, though the Tian Dou Empire and Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect were powerful, offending them was one thing. As long as the strike was decisive or the perpetrator operated outside Tian Dou territory, what could they do?
Three days later.
Spirit Hall, Pope's Palace.
"Your Majesty, Chu Chengzhou of the Tian Dou Empire's progress is too alarming, and he supposedly possesses a hundred-thousand-year soul bone. Should our Spirit Hall take action?"
The Shadow Light Hall Master, Omaba, addressed Bibi Dong seated on the Pope's throne.
In Omaba's view, Chu Chengzhou was close to the Tian Dou Empire and Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and had previously rejected the Pope's goodwill. Thus, he was an enemy of the Spirit Hall.
Talented, strong, and an enemy of the Spirit Hall—he needed to be eliminated early to prevent future troubles.
Of course, Omaba's suggestion was partly motivated by the rumored hundred-thousand-year soul bone and the bounty of the legacy soul bone offered by the Star Luo Empire.
"I am aware of this matter."
Looking at the intelligence about Chu Chengzhou from the Star Luo Empire in her hand, Bibi Dong nodded but didn't mention taking action.
She knew Chu Chengzhou was close to Xue Qinghe, the Crown Prince of Tian Dou. Earlier reports from the Tian Dou Spirit Holy Hall mentioned they were good brothers.
Xue Qinghe was her biological daughter, Qian Renxue, in disguise. Since they were close, handling Chu Chengzhou wasn't the Pope's Hall's responsibility—it was up to Elder Qian Dao Liu to decide.
Moreover, this fellow had unclear relations with her beloved disciple, Hu Liena. As his teacher, she couldn't easily harm him.
"By the way, have you figured out the cause of the major battle that occurred outside Tian Dou City some time ago?"
Bibi Dong asked another matter.
The commotion of that battle was significant. The Spirit Hall's influence in Tian Dou City was second only to the Tian Dou Empire and Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, so the battle naturally didn't escape the notice of the Tian Dou Spirit Holy Hall.
And battles among Title-level experts inevitably had far-reaching effects. The Platinum Bishop, Salas, immediately reported the news to the Pope's Hall and sent people to investigate carefully.
"Your Majesty, based on the intelligence gathered by the Shadow Light Hall, the Star Luo royal family dispatched royal elders to assassinate Chu Chengzhou. However, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect preemptively discovered the plot. Sword Elder Chen Xin and Bone Elder Gu Rong laid an ambush, using Chu Chengzhou as bait to successfully counter-kill the Star Luo royal elders.
Previously, the Star Luo Spirit Holy Hall reported that many White Tiger Soul Sages from the Star Luo royal family had gone missing, likely due to Chu Chengzhou's actions. The heavily damaged Star Luo royal family then sent their elders to retaliate."
Omaba respectfully explained.
"Oh? How many Star Luo royal elders died?"
Raising an eyebrow, Bibi Dong asked with interest.
As the Pope of the Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong naturally understood the strength of the Star Luo royal elders. Though they were only Soul Douluos, once they activated the Spirit Fusion Technique Nether White Tiger, their strength reached the Title-level.
"For now, we've only confirmed three Nether White Tigers from the Star Luo side—all presumed dead."
The reason the Spirit Hall only found three instead of four was because the Nether White Tiger controlled by Dai Xu was instantly killed by the unspoken cooperation of Big Bear and Chu Chengzhou at the start of the battle. The few distant witnesses only saw three winged tigers in the sky.
"Three?"
Upon hearing this, a playful smile appeared on Bibi Dong's lips. She chuckled and instructed, "Omaba, your Shadow Light Hall's next task is to incite conflicts between the Tian Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire as much as possible."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Omaba immediately complied.
The Pope's move was brilliant!
The Star Luo royal family suffered heavy losses, and the domineering Dai Yutian must be burning with anger.
In anger, even a shrewd person might lose their rationality, let alone someone like the domineering Star Luo Emperor Dai Yutian.
If the Spirit Hall added fuel to the fire and subtly provoked them, it wasn't impossible for a fierce conflict between Star Luo and Tian Dou to erupt!
When two tigers fight, one will surely be injured. Naturally, the Spirit Hall would benefit from the situation!
On the other side, in the inner city of Slaughter City.
On a street flowing with blood and littered with dismembered corpses, Tang San stood holding a hammer, his body glowing blue as he quickly recovered from the injuries sustained in the previous battle.
He had won this fight, crushing over forty fallen ones of varying strengths. But Tang San's heart was filled with bitterness.
There was no other reason—the number of fallen ones in the inner city of Slaughter City had decreased significantly after this battle.
After the havoc wreaked by the "Soul Control Great Demon" half a year ago, the fallen ones in the inner city hadn't replenished in time, and their numbers plummeted. When Tang San came to train in Slaughter City, there were only about a thousand left.
And after the lesson from last time, even without a leader, the fallen ones still banded together to deal with powerful individuals like Tang San, who had the potential for a hundred consecutive victories in the Hell Slaughter Arena.
On the tenth day of arriving at Slaughter City, Tang San achieved four consecutive victories in the Hell Slaughter Arena, but over two hundred fallen ones had already died by his hands.
Because of his blue clothes, blue hair, and preference for using a large hammer to crush heads, Tang San was dubbed the "Blue Skull Crusher" by the fallen ones in the inner city.
At first, being called the "Blue Skull Crusher" didn't bother Tang San. It was just a title, nothing more, even if it sounded unpleasant.
And since these fallen ones were seeking death, exterminating them was justified.
But gradually, Tang San realized something was wrong. The streets of the vast Slaughter City were almost deserted!
Currently, he had only achieved ten consecutive victories in the Hell Slaughter Arena and needed ninety more matches to qualify for the Hell Road. And for ninety matches, he needed at least nine hundred more heads.
But the question was, were there still nine hundred fallen ones in the vast Slaughter City?
Even if there were, it was impossible for all of them to become his opponents!
If he kept killing like this, by the time his consecutive victories reached thirty or forty, there might not be any fallen ones left in the inner city!
But not killing wasn't an option either. Everyone was coming to take his life—how could he hold back?
He absolutely couldn't afford to slip up because of hesitation—that would be a huge joke.
"Damn it!"
Cursing under his breath, Tang San put away his hammer and returned to his temporary residence.
What could he do? There was no solution!
All he could do was pray that more evildoers would enter the inner city to provide him with opponents in the Hell Slaughter Arena.
Bringing three wives back home, Chu Chengzhou saw a servant handing him a letter as soon as he entered the door.
The surface of the letter bore no writing, but in the corner, there was a small fox emblem.
Seeing this and glancing at Xiao Wu and the others who hadn't noticed, Chu Chengzhou immediately stored the letter in his storage soul tool.
No need to say, the fourth branch in the Spirit City had sent him a letter.
Although he hadn't visited Spirit City to meet Hu Liena since their parting, correspondence was still frequent.
Opening the letter in his room, as expected, its contents were filled with the scent of decadent love.
However, the tone shifted at the end, mentioning a major upcoming event in the Spirit Hall.
"A little over a month later, the Holy Maiden Enthronement Ceremony?"
Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow.
For Hu Liena, being enthroned as the Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden was no less significant than the princes of the two empires being named crown princes. Both were first-in-line successors.
Only the Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden inherited the position of Pope, while the crown prince inherited the position of emperor.
Though Hu Liena didn't explicitly state he had to attend, Chu Chengzhou felt it was a big event for his wife, and it wouldn't be appropriate to skip it.
But going to Spirit City—wouldn't that be like throwing meat at dogs, er... going with no return?
After all, the Spirit Hall had so many experts; capturing him would be effortless.
Of course, there shouldn't be any danger to his life. At worst, he might be detained and live off soft rice for a while.
Just as he was pondering this, a turning point occurred three days later.
Early that morning, Ning Fengzhi arrived with Gu Rong.
"Boy, the Spirit Hall has announced that the Holy Maiden Enthronement Ceremony will be held in a month, inviting various forces across the continent to witness. Are you going?"
Ning Fengzhi asked Chu Chengzhou.
"Holy Maiden Enthronement Ceremony?"
Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but show a look of surprise.
It was just a Holy Maiden Enthronement Ceremony, not the coronation of a new Pope. Was the Spirit Hall putting on such a grand display?
Inviting various forces across the continent to witness—were they bored?
Seeing Chu Chengzhou's confusion, Ning Fengzhi explained, "The Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden is the first-in-line successor to the Pope's position and also the most outstanding genius of the Spirit Hall.
The invitation to various forces is nothing more than the Spirit Hall showcasing the strength of the younger generation—it's not out of boredom."
If they hadn't received an invitation, Ning Fengzhi certainly wouldn't have gone voluntarily. But since the Spirit Hall sent an invitation, out of courtesy, as the leader of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, he had to attend.
And Ning Fengzhi's decision to bring Chu Chengzhou along wasn't without reason.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's intelligence network wasn't lacking. Ning Fengzhi knew that the Holy Maiden to be enthroned was Hu Liena, the direct disciple of Pope Bibi Dong.
The younger generation represented the future. Attending the ceremony in Spirit City, if the various forces across the continent couldn't produce a young disciple better than Hu Liena, it meant that the Spirit Hall's current strength would continue to surpass other forces in the future.
But bringing Chu Chengzhou was different. After all, during the soul master competition, Hu Liena was defeated by Chu Chengzhou.
The Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden was a subordinate defeated by Ning Fengzhi's son-in-law. Although this didn't directly mean the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect would surpass the Spirit Hall, it could still dampen the Spirit Hall's prestige and boost the morale of the "Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance."
Though the "Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance" hadn't been established yet, it didn't matter. Over the years, the Spirit Hall's power had been swelling. In Ning Fengzhi's view, the formation of this alliance was only a matter of time.
"Alright, just count me in when the time comes!"
Without hesitation, Chu Chengzhou agreed.
He originally wanted to check it out but was worried about being detained in Spirit City, which made him somewhat hesitant.
But traveling with Ning Fengzhi eliminated that concern.
The Spirit Hall might be domineering, but they were very particular about appearances. Under public scrutiny, they wouldn't dare detain guests.
For example, during the last soul master competition, if Tang Hao hadn't pulled a major move in the Star Forest—slaughtering numerous high-level spirit beasts and killing a Spirit Hall elder—the Spirit Hall wouldn't have openly tried to detain Tang San after the competition.
Perhaps they would send experts to assassinate him afterward, but they definitely wouldn't make it public.
For this Holy Maiden Enthronement Ceremony, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was on the Spirit Hall's guest list, as was the Tian Dou Empire.
However, Emperor Xue Ye wouldn't go to Spirit City, so he delegated Crown Prince Xue Qinghe to represent the Tian Dou Empire.
Ten days later, under the escort of a thousand royal knights, the Tian Dou Empire's delegation departed from the southern gate of Tian Dou City, heading toward Spirit City in the center of the continent.
Half a month later, four days before the Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden Enthronement Ceremony, four figures set out from Tian Dou City, traveling at a speed far surpassing the delegation's pace toward Spirit City.
Chu Chengzhou took Qian Renxue and Ning Fengzhi on the fire phoenix summon Little Red, while Chen Xin flew solo on his sword.
To be honest, even though Chen Xin's soul power level wasn't low, in the past, he wouldn't have been able to fly all the way to Spirit City in one go.
Though Titled Douluos could indeed hover in the air, flying such a long distance would deplete their soul power. Only high-level flight-type Titled Douluos could manage thousands of miles nonstop.
But Chen Xin, having formed a soul core, was different. The soul core could automatically absorb ambient energy to restore soul power. Ignoring physical and mental fatigue, and considering only travel rather than intense combat, Chen Xin could practically achieve infinite endurance.
Of course, the four didn't directly head to Spirit City but arrived at the city closest to Spirit City within the empire, joining the delegation that had departed half a month earlier. They rested for a night and then traveled to Spirit City by carriage.
Though the delegation and royal knights seemed somewhat redundant, as one of the two empires and one of the three great sects on the continent, merely showing up wasn't enough—their presence and grandeur couldn't be neglected.
Early the next morning, the large group continued their journey toward Spirit City, which was only half a day's journey away.
Inside a luxurious carriage, Chu Chengzhou, having nothing to do, erected a layer of soul power barrier to isolate the sound inside and out. He turned to Qian Renxue, who was traveling with him, and said, "We still have half a day's journey to Spirit City. My little angel, shouldn't we do something meaningful?"
"Like what?"
Qian Renxue glanced at Chu Chengzhou and asked.
"A man and a woman alone in a carriage—why don't we explore the profound ways of Yin and Yang? It'll positively contribute to human reproduction!"
Chu Chengzhou straightened his posture and tentatively suggested.
Qian Renxue: "…"
Glaring at Chu Chengzhou, Qian Renxue didn't respond and simply turned her head away.
Qian Renxue: I treat you as a brother, and you want to sleep with me?
"You call me a good brother, yet you don't even give me face~"
Seeing this, Chu Chengzhou pouted.
Hearing this, Qian Renxue retorted, "Don't get any funny ideas. Have you heard about the bounty issued by the Star Luo Empire?"
Chu Chengzhou paused, "Bounty? What bounty?"
"What else could it be? It's about you!
The Star Luo Empire spread your information across the continent, saying you possess a hundred-thousand-year soul bone. Anyone who brings your head can claim an eighty-thousand-year soul bone as a reward from the Star Luo Empire.
If I didn't consider you a brother, I might have sent people to claim the bounty by now!"
Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at Chu Chengzhou.
"Tsk, looks like the Star Luo Empire doesn't learn from their mistakes. The lesson wasn't enough! Sooner or later, I'll wipe them out!
But isn't the Star Luo Empire being too stingy? Am I, Chu Chengzhou, only worth an eighty-thousand-year soul bone?"
Chu Chengzhou clicked his tongue.
"It's already quite generous! An eighty-thousand-year soul bone would tempt most Titled Douluos, let alone the fact that you supposedly have a hundred-thousand-year soul bone."
"Nonsense, I only have one soul bone, and it was given to me by the Star Luo Empire!"
"You expect me to believe that? Forget about me—no one else will!
You're able to kill Soul Douluos at the Soul Emperor level. If you ask me, one hundred-thousand-year soul bone is too little. Who knows, you might have a whole set!"
Qian Renxue laughed.
Honestly, Chu Chengzhou's strength surprised even her.
But thinking carefully, if even Miss Innate Level 20 Soul Power couldn't match him, then his strength being a bit higher was normal?
Clearly, the Star Luo Empire didn't know that Chu Chengzhou's strength had already reached the Titled Douluo level. Their intelligence and messages were incorrect.
"Believe it or not, my strength comes from family heirloom ultimate techniques and a mutated martial soul."
This statement wasn't false. Since absorbing the soul bone, he hadn't made a move yet!
"I'm curious, where did those ultimate techniques come from?"
Qian Renxue narrowed her eyes and asked.
Family heirloom ultimate techniques? What family heirloom ultimate techniques!
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