A major incident had recently occurred in Heaven Dou City.
The members of the Skywater Academy team were ambushed in a suicidal attack by a group of black-clothed individuals on their way back to the hotel from the Soul Fighting Arena. Dean Shui Ning Bing happened to be delayed by the person in charge of the Soul Fighting Arena with some "trivial matters," arriving a step too late. Fortunately, You Meng Chu, who had nothing better to do while wandering around, followed behind the girls and dealt with all of them in just a few moves.
For a junior with the strength of a Titled Douluo to be attacked by enemies of unknown origin in the most prosperous area of a nation's capital, and for the matter to ultimately be resolved by their own people, was not only an insult to the empire's dignity but also a severe psychological blow.
For such a vicious incident to occur in the capital, so close to the imperial palace, if the Heaven Dou imperial family could not provide a reasonable explanation, they would truly lose a great deal of prestige and support. In any case, these matters were enough to leave the empire's officials utterly overwhelmed and frantic.
It was said that Emperor Xue Ye, whose health was already poor, flew into a rage upon hearing the news. In the end, he became so furious that he couldn't catch his breath and fainted.
The crown prince stayed by the emperor's side all night to attend to him, perfectly portraying the image of a filial son.
At the same time, the Heaven Dou Empire urgently issued a wanted order: anyone providing accurate and confirmed clues could be directly granted a noble title, with no restrictions on who could claim it.
After regaining consciousness, the emperor personally dispatched powerhouses to investigate. The one sent was a seventy-ninth-level Battle Soul Saint, who was also the second-in-command of the Heaven Dou military, the true number-one figure under Marshal Ge Long. He was the general in charge of the empire's cavalry, a person of immense authority and weight.
On one hand, this was to appease Skywater Academy and demonstrate the imperial family's concern for them. On the other hand, the Heaven Dou imperial family was truly lacking in powerful soul masters. Apart from the nominal Dugu Bo, they basically had no one noteworthy. Most of the elders in the imperial family's Worship Hall were elderly Soul Saints and Soul Douluo. Setting aside efficiency, losing even one of them would be a serious hemorrhage for the imperial family.
Meanwhile, Shen Han Yu stared expressionlessly at the seven corpses in front of him. Among these seven were four Soul Kings, two Soul Emperors, and even one Soul Saint. All wore uniform black clothing, with no identifying items or tokens on their bodies whatsoever; dead men tell no tales.
Shui Ning Bing glared at the seven corpses with eyes full of hatred. If You Meng Chu hadn't happened to follow the girls, the consequences of her negligence would have been enough to drive her mad.
Shen Han Yu lightly tapped the iron railing. Instantly, two tall, burly men entered from outside.
He casually tossed them a bag of gold soul coins and said softly:
"Drag these corpses away, chop them into pieces, and feed them to dogs. Remember—choose the filthiest, most rotten stray dogs."
The two burly men excitedly weighed the bag of gold soul coins in their hands, then hurriedly replied:
"Rest assured, sir. My brother and I have done this kind of thing many times. We'll make it clean and thorough."
Shen Han Yu gave a slight nod, then turned and left.
Shui Ning Bing's eyes remained dark and gloomy. She quickly turned and followed him out.
...
Evening.
A group of people sprawled across sofas and carpets on the top floor of the hotel. For a moment, they looked at each other, neither willing to speak first.
When Shen Han Yu and Shui Ning Bing came upstairs, this was the scene they saw.
Shen Liu Yu stood up and gave her seat to Shen Han Yu. He sat down without ceremony and said softly:
"Do you still remember what I told you? Don't leave our line of sight. Who was the one leading today?"
Shen Liu Yu, standing to the side, weakly raised her hand.
Shen Han Yu rapped her hard several times on the head, then said somewhat helplessly:
"There are quite a few secrets about all of you. Those people can't do anything to Aunt Shui, so naturally, they turned their sights on you girls. Every move you make is exposed to countless eyes every day. Do you understand?"
Tears welled up in Shen Liu Yu's eyes as she covered her head with both hands.
The others felt chills run down their backs. The thought of countless pairs of eyes watching them from the shadows made their skin crawl.
Seeing how dejected the girls looked, Shen Han Yu let out a low sigh and turned to You Meng Chu, who was sitting off to the side, eating melon seeds. For once, he spoke with genuine sincerity:
"Thanks a lot this time."
You Meng Chu gave an "oh," then said through gritted teeth:
"Then give me back the tea leaves from the Cloud Star Tea Tree, and we'll call it even…"
When You Meng Chu looked at Shen Han Yu again, he had already turned his gaze elsewhere, acting as if nothing had happened.
You Meng Chu: "..."
Shui Ning Bing, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke:
"The main problem this time lies with me. If this old lady finds out who the son-of-a-bitch without balls was behind this, I swear I'll… hmph!"
Shen Han Yu stood by the window and looked down at the streets below, where the number of patrolling soldiers had clearly increased. Then he said:
"No matter who orchestrated this attack, they have undoubtedly placed themselves in opposition to us. They should consider themselves lucky that they left no clues…"
"We don't want to get involved in these undercurrents of power, but that doesn't mean we'll allow others to bully us. The forces on the continent capable of mobilizing such resources can be counted on one hand. After ruling out some suspects, the only one left with enough wealth and audacity to pull this off is Spirit Hall…"
Shui Ning Bing nodded and said gravely:
"But I'm very curious, what exactly was their purpose? Was it really just to eliminate the root and branches?"
Shen Han Yu rubbed Shen Liu Yu's head and said:
"Maybe. Spirit Hall is full of lunatics. They don't think before acting—they're simply a bunch of idiots who follow their delusions…"
After comforting everyone once more, the group dispersed to rest. Only You Meng Chu remained lazily lounging on the sofa.
You Meng Chu gave Shen Han Yu a fierce eye-roll, then took out a thick, ancient-looking book from the necklace-like soul guide device around her neck and tossed it to him.
"This is the medicinal canon passed down in my family for a thousand years. Consider it a bargain for you…"
Shen Han Yu opened it and casually flipped through a couple of pages, then said:
"A copied version?"
You Meng Chu nodded and said helplessly:
"With something this precious, who would carry the original outside? Don't worry, the content is basically the same…"
Shen Han Yu gave an "mm," then stored it in his soul guide device. From the corner of his eye, however, he caught a flash of metallic gleam beneath the sleeve of You Meng Chu's right arm.
"What's this?"
You Meng Chu touched her right arm, then casually lifted the covering sleeve, revealing the strange metal equipment underneath.
It was a set of arm-guard-like metal armor that seemed capable of contracting. The metal surface emanated a deep, cold aura like the ocean, along with a unique soul power fluctuation.
"Can I take a look?"
Shen Han Yu raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Sure—"
You Meng Chu didn't refuse. She pressed lightly at her wrist, detached it, and tossed the now-compact metal block to Shen Han Yu.
Shen Han Yu caught the seemingly small, fist-sized metal lump and was somewhat surprised when he weighed it.
He found it astonishing that such a small piece, barely the size of a child's fist, actually weighed at least a hundred jin.
A wisp of extreme cold appeared at Shen Han Yu's fingertip and fell onto the metal surface. The freezing power capable of easily sealing soul force left almost no effect on the metal—only a layer of frost formed on the surface.
After knocking on it a few times, Shen Han Yu tossed the metal block back to You Meng Chu.
You Meng Chu caught it casually and threw it back into her soul guide device, then explained:
"This is a special, rare metal unique to Abyss Island. We call it Abyssal Ink. As you've seen, its defensive power and weight are astonishing, and it's also an excellent choice for forging weapons. It's very popular back home."
"Mine is different. In addition to the metal, it also incorporates the hardest and sharpest body materials from an Imperial Extreme Falcon…"
Shen Han Yu leaned against the railing, raised an eyebrow, and said with a light smile:
"A weapon? Don't you think it's a bit redundant for a soul master to use a martial soul?"
If these were soul guide devices, Shen Han Yu wouldn't have minded. But these weapons were simply forged from ordinary metal.
Soul masters rarely had to use weapons. Tool martial soul users could simply use their own martial soul. Auxiliary system soul masters generally did not need for them. And beast martial soul users possessed powerful beast-transformed bodies that were already the best weapons.
You Meng Chu glanced at Shen Han Yu and said:
"None of your business. Go find your woman. I'm going to sleep."
With that, she stood up and went straight back to her room.
Shen Han Yu shrugged, unconcerned, and returned to Snow Emperor's room.
As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder—Snow Emperor had become extraordinarily clingy lately…
...
Due to such a vicious incident, early the next morning, Shui Ning Bing had already begun preparing to return to Elemental City and make the necessary arrangements.
As a half "black household" on the continent, You Meng Chu naturally wanted to visit Skywater Academy, the institution known across the continent as the "second academy under heaven," a women's academy. She also wanted to see if she could learn anything useful. She had plenty of time anyway, and she also needed to spend some time properly neutralizing the poison in her body.
Shen Han Yu and Snow Emperor had other plans. The young couple was already preparing for Shen Han Yu's seventh soul ring.
The seventh soul ring had no attribute restrictions; it only required finding a sufficiently powerful soul beast.
Their gazes settled on the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King in the ocean.
With nearly a million years of cultivation, it was already close to transforming into a dragon and could even materialize soul power into armor. If not for that final barrier that it could never break through, it would likely have become a true deity long ago.
Judging from the current situation, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was at least at the peak of quasi-god level, one foot already stepped into the divine realm.
On Shen Han Yu's side, Snow Emperor, due to various reasons, could at best be considered a demigod. As for Shen Han Yu himself, it was hard to say. Since he began cultivating, opportunities for him to go all out had grown fewer and fewer, especially as time went on.
In the end, relying solely on the two of them didn't give them much confidence. And who knew, halfway through the fight, Bo Saixi might show up with the Titled Douluo of Sea God Island to "mediate." That would be the real trouble.
Sea soul masters already enjoyed attribute advantages on the sea, holding the home-field advantage. Hunting the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King could not possibly be done silently; it would inevitably alarm Sea God Island. No matter how one looked at it, this was an impossible challenge.
Snow Emperor leaned against Shen Han Yu and said softly:
"The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King is practically invincible on the sea. Di Tian once fought it and, relying on the Dragon God Claw, barely managed a draw. Both sides suffered serious injuries…"
"If I hadn't sacrificed myself back then, I could have fought it head-on. But with this current body, my strength is limited. Fighting it… will be very difficult…"
Shen Han Yu furrowed his brows tightly, also feeling somewhat helpless. After a long silence, he said in a low voice:
"We'll take it one step at a time. For now… let's sleep first…"
Snow Emperor was stunned. The next moment, she was pinned beneath him…
...
The pleasant night passed quickly.
Today was the day the Skywater Academy group prepared to return to Elemental City.
Early in the morning, Shui Ning Bing had already sent a message to Emperor Xue Ye. Although he had intended to keep them longer, after thinking about the incident from two days ago, he ultimately had no choice but to reluctantly let them go.
After careful consideration, Shen Han Yu still asked You Meng Chu to stay behind. Although he didn't explicitly state what he planned to do, You Meng Chu could more or less guess that it was something extremely challenging.
Shen Han Yu had his reasons for this. Elemental City had Shui Ning Bing and Xiao Bai guarding the place; there would be no problem. Snow Emperor would stay by his side. Old Dugu Bo was also close to breaking through to the Super Douluo level, and Shen Han Yu decided to give him a push. That way, they would have a bit more assurance.
As for You Meng Chu, Shen Han Yu still hadn't asked what her martial soul was, but judging purely from her aura, it was in no way inferior to his Cold Sky Spear.
And although Dugu Bo wasn't particularly strong in single combat, taking him along was like carrying a massive, intimidating nuclear bomb. If anything happened, no one would walk away unscathed.
Watching the Skywater Academy convoy depart, Shen Han Yu sighed softly and walked back toward the hotel with Snow Emperor.
"Have you decided?"
Snow Emperor asked softly.
Shen Han Yu looked up at the sky and said:
"A choice must be made. We just have to consider the causes and consequences carefully. At the very least, I have to take responsibility for our lives and safety."
Snow Emperor gently held Shen Han Yu's hand and said:
"No matter what you want to do, I will always stay by your side…"
Shen Han Yu patted Snow Emperor's hand reassuringly and said:
"It'll be fine. It might just be a bit troublesome, that's all…"
...
When they arrived at Dugu Bo's residence, the same old man opened the door.
From him, Shen Han Yu learned that Dugu Bo was still in seclusion.
After being beaten by You Meng Chu last time, although he had suffered a blow to his pride, it had also led to an epiphany. Upon returning, he had chosen a piece of soul bone to absorb while attempting to break through to the Super Douluo level.
Shen Han Yu wasn't surprised. After wandering around with Snow Emperor for a while, they sat in the small pavilion and drank tea.
You Meng Chu had no appetite for dog food, so she stayed at the hotel to neutralize her poison. If used properly, the immortal herb's effects were enough to significantly boost her cultivation within the ninety-fifth level range in a short time.
The saying that every part of an immortal herb was a treasure… seemed to hold some truth after all…
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