The buildings within the Qianling City Lord's Mansion were intricately complex, especially the core structure at the center of the mansion, which appeared even more majestic up close.
Bright soul guidance lamps filled the area, and every so often, a well-ordered squad of soldiers would pass by.
Xu Zihuang raised his head to gaze at the tallest core building before him while releasing his spiritual force outward, enveloping the entire City Lord's Mansion.
Under the detection of his tangible and substantive-level spiritual force, nothing within the City Lord's Mansion could remain hidden.
Soon, he had a clear understanding of the distribution of soldiers inside the mansion.
Including the alternating patrol squads, there were a total of five hundred men. Among them, one hundred were soul masters, though their cultivations were relatively weak, between two rings and three rings.
This was also quite normal. The vast majority of those willing to join the army were commoner soul masters, with average talent, no background, and it was common for them to stop around the Soul Elder level.
Although soul masters were an elite minority among humans, the reality was that over ninety percent of them ended up like this, achieving little throughout their lives.
How could there be so many geniuses in the world?
What surprised Xu Zihuang somewhat was that among these one hundred soul masters, there were actually ten Soul Kings with five-ring cultivation. Qianling City was, after all, the largest main city in the northeastern part of the Dou Ling Empire; such a lineup would be enough to support a medium-sized soul master sect anywhere on the continent.
He also clearly sensed the soul power fluctuations within Shen Ce and An Lengye. Shen Ce appeared to have just broken through to the six-ring Soul Emperor realm, while An Lengye's soul power cultivation was around level fifty-five. At the age of twenty-four or twenty-five, possessing such cultivation meant they both had the potential to charge toward the Title Douluo realm in the future.
Of course, compared to the inner court elite disciples of Shrek Academy, there was still a certain gap.
After scanning the surroundings, Xu Zihuang's gaze returned to the top floor of the City Lord's Mansion core building. Lights were on in the central room on the top floor, where a vigorous middle-aged man around fifty years old was reading documents at his desk, occasionally showing a thoughtful expression.
In his perception, this middle-aged man had the strongest cultivation, a Soul Douluo-level expert.
Undoubtedly, the middle-aged man was the lord of Qianling City. His powerful cultivation made him appear relatively young, but in reality, he was already over eighty this year. For a Soul Douluo of this age, without some special opportunity, further progress in cultivation was basically impossible.
Not long after, Xu Zihuang arrived outside the central room on the top floor of the core building, led by An Lengye and Shen Ce.
The vigorous middle-aged man seemed to sense something, put down the documents in his hand, and looked toward the door.
The room had a fireplace burning for warmth and needed ventilation, so the door was half-open.
Seeing Xu Zihuang behind Shen Ce and An Lengye, the Qianling City Lord asked in surprise, "Shen Ce, Lengye, who is this?"
With his cultivation and experience, he could tell at a glance that Xu Zihuang was extraordinary.
His aura was steady and condensed, and his eyes held a restrained divine light; staring for even a moment actually caused a daze in the city lord's mind and spirit. He was certain that this youth, who appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, surpassed him in certain aspects.
"Grandfather, he comes from Shrek Academy," An Lengye replied softly. Although she didn't know what Yu Tianhuang was looking for her grandfather about, just the fact that he was from Shrek Academy was enough. Shrek Academy's image on the continent had always been very positive, at least in the eyes of people from the original three great empires of the Douluo Continent.
A trace of realization appeared in the middle-aged man's sharp, gleaming eyes. He quickly stood up and strode forward.
"So it turns out to be a talented student from Shrek Academy. This old man is An Xiong; I have been remiss in welcoming you from afar. It is truly poor hospitality."
In his view, the extraordinary Xu Zihuang was most likely an inner court disciple of Shrek Academy. Only inner court disciples were qualified to represent Shrek Academy.
Whether out of respect for Shrek Academy or to show goodwill toward a remarkably talented inner court disciple from Shrek, he should act this way.
"City Lord An, there is no need for such courtesy," Xu Zihuang replied politely, giving An Xiong a slight bow.
"My name is Yu Tianhuang, an inner court disciple of Shrek Academy. I have come this time because I have a matter that requires visiting City Lord An."
"Please come in, please come in."
An Xiong, beaming with joy, welcomed Xu Zihuang to sit on the sofa opposite the desk. On the surface, he remained composed, but inwardly he was secretly astonished.
At that year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition, the youth who had represented Shrek Academy and single-handedly crushed Shen Ce and his granddaughter An Lengye's team wasn't he called Yu Tianhuang?
While gesturing for An Lengye to prepare tea, he asked,
"Little Brother Yu, you must have come for that matter. Half a year ago, Dean Yan of your esteemed academy personally visited, and I am truly ashamed that I could not provide any help."
He spoke these words without avoiding Shen Ce and An Lengye. Hearing this, both showed puzzled expressions.
Shen Ce stood not far behind Xu Zihuang, arms crossed and frowning. What kind of matter could make the dean of Shrek Academy take it so seriously?
An Lengye carried a tray and placed two steaming, fragrant cups of black tea before Xu Zihuang and An Xiong. This was a specialty tea from the Qianling City area, with an extremely low annual yield. It had the special effects of refreshing the mind, enhancing spiritual force, and improving memory.
However, for the current Xu Zihuang, it basically had no effect; he was just tasting it for the flavor.
An Lengye handed the last cup of black tea to Shen Ce. The two exchanged a glance and prepared to leave the room. Curious as they were, they also knew how to read the situation; this matter was clearly not something they should know about.
But An Xiong stopped them first.
"Shen Ce, Lengye, stay for now."
Then, he turned back to Xu Zihuang and said with a wry smile,
"Ever since Dean Yan personally visited, I have deliberately instructed people to pay attention and inquire about the whereabouts of that student from your academy, but until now, we have found nothing. However, about four months ago, an incident occurred in the Extreme North. I'm not sure if it is related to that student from your academy. According to soul masters who went to the Extreme North to hunt soul beasts at the time, many powerful soul beasts suddenly seemed frightened by something and migrated from the core area of the Extreme North toward the periphery. The disturbance lasted nearly a month, and during that time, even in the fringe areas of the Extreme North, hundred-year soul beasts frequently appeared, with thousand-year soul beasts occasionally straying out."
"Indeed," Shen Ce understood why An Xiong had kept him and An Lengye.
"During that period, Lengye and I took the academy students to hunt soul beasts on the edge of the Extreme North and had quite a bountiful harvest. Many powerful soul beasts that normally only live in the core area of the Extreme North appeared."
The academy he referred to was naturally Qianling Advanced Soul Master Academy; after graduating, both he and An Lengye had become teachers there.
Xu Zihuang's gaze focused slightly as he asked,
"Besides that, were there any other unusual events?"
After a moment of silence, Shen Ce seemed to recall something and suddenly said, "Not long ago, when I went out to sea with the dean and several teachers from the academy to obtain my sixth soul ring, I did encounter a strange matter."
"In the sea area about two hundred kilometers northeast of our Qianling City, there is an isolated island. On the island lives a group of extremely powerful flying-type soul beasts called Golden Flame Birds, said to possess a trace of the bloodline of the Three-Legged Golden Crow."
"Golden Flame Birds? Three-Legged Golden Crow bloodline?" Xu Zihuang's right hand gripping the teacup unconsciously tightened.
Legend had it that the Three-Legged Golden Crow, like the phoenix, was an ancestral bird-type soul beast with numerous descendants.
Wu Ming's martial soul was called Golden Crow, but in reality, it was merely a firebird with a trace of Three-Legged Golden Crow bloodline. In comparison, Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul was much stronger; the Evil Fire Phoenix was a phoenix with an impure bloodline.
And these Golden Flame Birds, which also possessed a trace of Three-Legged Golden Crow bloodline, were undoubtedly qualified to rank among the top-tier soul beasts.
Shen Ce nodded and continued, "At the boundary between the near-sea and deep-sea areas northeast of our Qianling City, there lives a type of sea soul beast suitable as a soul ring for my martial soul. My original target was that sea soul beast, but just as the dean and the others arrived in that sea area with me, we happened to encounter a severely injured and isolated ten-thousand-year Golden Flame Bird. This ten-thousand-year Golden Flame Bird ultimately became my sixth soul ring, but when I absorbed its soul ring up close, I discovered that some of its feathers were scorched. In this sea area, there should be no soul beast with fire attributes strong enough to suppress a Golden Flame Bird. The dean and the others speculated that this Golden Flame Bird was severely injured by a powerful fire-attribute soul master."
"The person you're looking for is a soul master with a powerful fire-attribute martial soul?"
Xu Zihuang's mind stirred slightly; he basically had the answer in his heart. This was Qianling City, near the Extreme North, where fire-attribute soul masters were extremely rare, let alone one with a top-tier fire-attribute martial soul.
Then, seeing the confusion in An Xiong's eyes, he felt quite speechless.
It seemed that Yan Shaozhe had deliberately not told An Xiong about Ma Xiaotao's martial soul abilities, at most describing her appearance and figure.
This was indeed very much in line with Yan Shaozhe's character.
As Elder Mu had once commented, Yan Shaozhe's personality always lacked a certain magnanimity. Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul had a hidden danger, and she had displayed astonishing talent and powerful individual strength in the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition.
Yan Shaozhe clearly did not want An Xiong to deduce from the martial soul abilities that the person he was looking for was Ma Xiaotao, thereby creating a potential risk of information leakage that could allow Shrek Academy's hostile forces to target her.
In short, he simply could not fully trust An Xiong.
On the Douluo Continent, when identifying a soul master, the martial soul was often given higher priority as a reference. Appearance could be changed through various means, but martial soul abilities were difficult to conceal.
For example, Ma Xiaotao, her Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul, was unique on the continent. Once someone knew or had seen her martial soul abilities, confirming her identity was all too simple.
However, on the surface, Xu Zihuang still shook his head in feigned disappointment.
Although Yan Shaozhe seemed overly cautious, it was not without reason. There was no need for him to deliberately reveal Ma Xiaotao's identity.
Both Shen Ce and An Lengye had participated in the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition; with just a little recollection, they could connect it to Ma Xiaotao. After all, Ma Xiaotao had been the nominal captain of the Shrek team back then.
"City Lord An, thank you for your trouble today." Xu Zihuang stood up and nodded to An Xiong, Shen Ce, and An Lengye in farewell before turning to leave.
If the fire-attribute soul master who severely injured that ten-thousand-year Golden Flame Bird was indeed Ma Xiaotao, then she had likely encountered trouble. That was an entire flock of Golden Flame Birds; there were probably not a few at the ten-thousand-year level or higher. Moreover, the island where the flock lived was two hundred kilometers deep into the sea, meaning it was constantly at risk of attacks from surrounding powerful sea soul beasts.
Although he did not particularly like Ma Xiaotao's personality, with her cultivation talent, she could at least play some role in the future against the Sun Moon Empire led by Xu Tianran. And even just to repay Elder Mu's favor, he needed to take action to help.
An Xiong sighed lightly, thinking Yu Tianhuang was in a hurry to inquire elsewhere, and understandingly did not try to detain him. He simply asked Shen Ce and An Lengye to see him off on his behalf.
At the entrance to the City Lord's Mansion, Shen Ce and An Lengye stopped.
Shen Ce watched Xu Zihuang's departing back with a dejected expression.
"Lengye, I originally thought that over these four years, my strength had improved significantly. But my intuition tells me that the gap between him and me seems to have grown even larger. It was also for this reason that I forcibly suppressed the urge to challenge him."
...
After leaving the City Lord's Mansion, Xu Zihuang headed straight toward the port on the eastern side of Qianling City. Because of Ma Xiaotao's matter, he planned to set sail that very night to investigate the northeastern sea area.
With a soul core stationed in his brow, two days of travel would not leave him fatigued, so there was no need to rest.
Moreover, he had prepared all the necessary supplies for going to sea in advance at Shrek Academy, including detailed sea charts for sailing around the continent from north to south.
Xu Zihuang exited the east city gate, and before him was a wide road carved out on the reefs, extending all the way to the port. The port had at least fifty massive docks, each hundreds of meters long, extending into the sea, with hundreds of cargo ships and fishing boats moored there.
Qianling Port, as the largest port in the northern part of the Dou Ling Empire, was a huge source of revenue for Qianling City.
Soul guidance lamps illuminated the entire port area brightly. Even though it was currently night, many workers were gathered here moving goods back and forth; it was even livelier than inside the city.
The thick salty and fishy smell of the sea, carried by the howling sea wind, assaulted him head-on, bringing waves of bone-piercing chill. The temperature at sea was indeed a bit lower, though only relatively so. Mixed with the damp and cold air, ordinary people could hardly endure it.
Most of the workers handling cargo here were sturdy in build, with physical constitutions far superior to average people.
But for Xu Zihuang, this was nothing.
At an unoccupied edge dock, he released the Demon Whale Vessel. Standing at the front of the Demon Whale Vessel, he injected soul power through the grooves under his feet. As four clusters of blue flames sprayed from the rear, a layer of white light membrane enveloped the entire Demon Whale Vessel, and then it mysteriously vanished into the night's sea darkness.
This white light membrane was a special level-six soul guidance protective shield attached to the Demon Whale Vessel. In addition to resisting wind and waves as well as attacks from sea soul beasts, it could distort light to achieve an invisibility effect.
Of course, from inside this special level-six soul guidance protective shield, one could still see the outside situation.
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