Spirit Rings (2)

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The Devil Duke Wolf pack consisted of one 17000-year-old Devil Duke Wolf leading a thirteen Grim Scale Wolves. Ja Sun and others didn't need to be too cautious in their approach as Ja Sun had once again covered themselves in illusion. Before acting, Ja Sun felt the need to understand the tribe a little more because of how different this species of wolf happened to be.

Unlike the cuckoo lending its egg in another's nest, the Devil Duke Wolff was a complete opposite.

The two-meter long and three-meter high grey-furred wolf with a snowy white stomach and inner fur of the ear lied on the ground with its front paws placed on top of each other. Its ears would twitch at times but he rested silently. The group of green-scaled wolves happened to be of the 1000-year-old cultivation category.

The Devil Duke Wolf, once born, would be left to fend for themselves in the wild with the natural instinct of finding weaker counterparts of the same species and further its lineage only to do the same to its own offspring once again. However, these beasts were vicious and thus, weren't easily wiped off despite their practices and traditions asking for it.

"Do we use this chance to train?" Liu Erlong licked her lips, fully knowing that it would be easy to massacre the small pack in front of her.

"Erlong, you seriously need to find other ways to vent," Ja Sun remarked somberly, "No, we're not going to waste time and cause bloodshed to attract more annoying troubles. Jun'er, that guy meets your requirements for spirit ring?"

He looked at the woman and she nodded.

Already knowing that Jun'er had a great sense of battle just like others, there was no need for formalities like: Personally taking down the spirit beast and being less efficient.

At Jun'er's agreement, Ja Sun activated his spirit transformation that instantly made the Clear Phoenix trot around him. Sighing, Ja Sun let out the influence of his martial soul.

In an instant, the wolves in the area seemed to be mesmerized by something. Even the Devil Duke Wolf sat up attentively, its dull red eyes scanning the surroundings but it failed to find the source of such... comfort. The bodies of the wolves felt all their tensions disappear. Their ears perked in attention and they began to look around, sniffing like dogs, too.

"Get the fuck out of here," Ja Sun grumbled and communicated. The effect of the natural aura of his ability depended on two factors. The quality of his martial soul that is determined by the number of spirit rings furthering the evolution and other treasures absorbed, too. And, the second factor in itself was the intelligence of the Spirit Beast. The group of 1000-year-old cultivation level spirit beasts left instantly, disregarding the umbrella of protection that the Devil Duke Wolf had grown to be.

Even though Ja Sun felt that Devil Duke Wolf was affected by his presence, its own intelligence was greater than its counterparts because of its solitary and vicious upbringing. If this kind of species couldn't get smart and more intuitive then the only remaining path is obliteration.

Revealing themselves, Ja Sun inquired calmly, "So, Jun'er, what kind of spirit ring do you want? Complete package with pain and benefits or an incomplete one?"

Jun'er was already imparted with the experience of Liu Erlong's, Xie Xan's, and Ja Sun's breakthrough so she easily accepted the right way. It wouldn't be her first time going through something painful and it wouldn't be the last either so the dark-haired woman exhaled slightly.

"The complete package."

Anyway, the spirit beast wasn't as over the top as the ones Xie Xan, Liu Erlong, and Ja Sun had absorbed so there was a chance that Jun'er might not even need any external assistance. But Ja Sun had understood from Liu Erlong that Soul Shocks can be dangerous so everyone was prepared.

Ja Sun attacked the spirit beast with mental needles. The Death Astral Combatant wasn't present so his force had been lowered but Ja Sun wasn't planning on killing the beast.

*Aaaawwoooooooo*

The Devil Duke Wolf, a beast of prestige, instantly fell on its limbs with eyes and ears bleeding.

"Good luck," Ja Sun patted Jun'er's back as she grew out of her daze. The intensity of Ja Sun's mental energy was already an open secret within the group so he didn't mind using it for a quick benefit. Everyone silently surrounded the area and Jun'er finally stabbed the base of the beast's skull with her dagger, silencing the cries of the beast. Once again, Yuehua was rudely awoken to the harsh realities of the world as she saw Jun'er accept a few tofus from Oscar before keeping them into her mouth in pieces.

Sitting down cross-legged, Jun'er instantly pulled the pitch-black spirit ring upon herself.

"Erlong, teach Yuehua how to search a Spirit Beast for Spirit Bones," Ja Sun spoke a few words. His intention was simple, to make Yuehua accustomed to the gore of the world, and the woman reluctantly accepted such a decision knowing that if her own martial soul wasn't afraid of getting hands dirty then she truly had no qualification of refusing.

As they left, towards the spirit beast, Oscar looked around attentively and Ah Yin activated her domain to keep a check on Jun'er's situation. Ja Sun's mind was divided. A part of him here and the other part, through Death Astral Combatant, explored the forest discreetly. Mental Energy is usually invisible but there are certain exotic species perceptible to this force.

"I couldn't speak of it in the City or when the group is close by but have you noticed the changes?" Ja Sun inquired.

"What do you mean?" Ah Yin questioned without looking at him.

"The first clue was the moment where Master gave Spirit Bone to Hu Lana, and the second clue was him saying that we aren't the only ones who have grown. Coupled with the fact that Qian Xunji's charitable act has provided no evidence of benefit makes me wonder if we all have misunderstood his intentions in the first place.

What if the act of benevolence is not to gain more spirit masters or suppress the two Emperors but to just... look benevolent?"

"You're suggesting that the Supreme Pontiff is somehow related to all of the issues happening in the Star Luo Empire, which also includes us, and the end goal of his actions is to look benevolent? What are you basing this on?"

Ah Yin glanced at him and Ja Sun replied in a whisper, "On the fact that I saw a couple of rogue spirit masters from the bounty list wearing paladin armors?"

"Maybe they turned," Ah Yin smiled.

"I checked the bounty list, their name is still there... and I covered myself in an illusion of a child to strike up a conversation with a few of them. All of them have different names. That led me to think that maybe I'm seeing things... wrong?"

Ah Yin frowned at his words and she suddenly looked at him, more precisely, his eyes.

"One look into mirror showed a completely different face. I guess the illusions reflected through a mirror are one thing I cannot look past. Two different faces, Ah Yin. There was no point raising the alarm in the city, too."

"An illusion that acts as a reality. Wasn't this particular spirit master amnesiac and handed to... oh," many things clicked in Ah Yin's mind. They had faced the spirit master with the Yin-Yang Illusion ability like Ja Sun's and he turned out to be controlled by a member of the Hint of Evil. Bibi Dong handed this particular individual to the Spirit Hall for rehabilitation but this ability was made use of discreetly once again.

"You think the Hint of Evil infiltrated the Spirit City?"

Ja Sun rolled his eyes. Although he didn't like to work his brain much but he was forced to do it once to take down a World Federation. And with such obvious clues, Ja Sun couldn't help but sigh. It only took one mistake from the opponent's side for him to unravel most of the things and this mistake was none other than— lack of information.

Bibi Dong, despite her wicked mind, is sincere. She never revealed the abilities of her group to a greater extent than what has already been revealed. She even kept the information of the Immortal Herbs and its uses to herself at the moment. Being loyal and being stupid were two different concepts and Bibi Dong understood them well. She was fiercely loyal to Spirit Hall, but she also had her own considerations.

"Think harder. Hint of Evil has always been stopped by Spirit Hall somehow. This already induces the suspicion of the two factions being related but due to lack of evidence nothing could be proven. Not only that, it is only because of Hint of Evil that Xunji's reputation is on the rise...

And for some reason, he wanted me dead in the Dragon Rising City. Ground Devil was coordinating with someone back then. I always figured that it would be some figure in the Hint of Evil itself... and maybe that's why Master even decided to intervene. That day, by imparting the inheritance of Essence Tools held by the Spirit Hall, he gave us a foundation to build an organization."

"You could be overthinking. Why would the Supreme Pontiff want you dead? If he had realized your identity, he would have gone public," Ah Yin questioned.

"That's why it's worth investigating," Ja Sun smiled, "A Titled Douluo level opponent was sent after me. That's not something you do out of whim. But this got me thinking, did Qian Xunji knew that Ground Devil was a Beasttaken?"

"And?" Ah Yin inquired curiously.

"And what? It only got me thinking. I don't have all the answers," Ja Sun scoffed, "Look the bottom line is that I am heavily inclined to believe that the Hint of Evil is either a subordinate faction of the Supreme Pontiff of his partner. For whatever reasons, that have incited my curiosity, the Supreme Pontiff wanted me dead but it was maybe because of my combat prowess did he stop when things were still murky and his identity was safe. And, it would seem that looking benevolent is a factor extremely important to Qian Xunji. This is leverage."

"Leverage for what?"

"Whatever that may go wrong," Ja Sun replied.

"Wait, why are you so sure that it's the Pontiff? Maybe it is someone else that wants to help improve the Spirit Hall's image."

"Because I kept a clone to tail them and they answered to Gui Mei every day."

Understanding flickered in Ah Yin's face, "And the Ghost and the Chrysanthemum Douluo happen to be the Seraphim Douluo Qian Xunji's close confidantes."

"Yep."

"And what has any of this got to do with me? The Supreme Pontiff was after your life, not mine. Worst case, you can just fake your death and I'll revive you," Ah Yin shrugged coolly and Ja Sun smiled. She was right.

"What about Bibi Dong?" Ah Yin inquired.

"What about her?"

"Please, I have seen her look at you. Maybe we can use that to our advantage, too, if things turn south in the Spirit City?" Ah Yin queried and Ja Sun looked at her. His heart full of emotions.

"You're so fucking deviant," Ja Sun leaned down to peck the top of her head as she huffed and he continued, "It's just beautiful."

"What about Master?" Ah Yin sighed. Qian Daoliu had been good to them and this made her feel a little complicated.

"What about him? I'm not dead, so I have no reason to antagonize the Pontiff... no, wait, maybe I do have a reason to antagonize him," Ja Sun's eyes revealed a strange emotion that Ah Yin caught accurately— Greed.

"Ehm, anyway, intentional or not, Master has been hinting us all along. However, even he must have known that we don't have any evidence to connect the dots so his actions could be characterized as making himself feel less guilty. Still, he himself hasn't made a move, it also means that whatever the problem was, it's between me and Xunji directly. Killing a Titled Douluo is enough deterrent in the first place... but I haven't personally experienced the difference between the levels of Titled Douluo so I can't be too complacent, too. One thing is for sure. If someone from Xunji's side does attack me, he would either be weaker than a Titled Douluo or stronger than Master."

"That still leaves one thing unsolved," Ah Yin traced her chin thoughtfully, "Master's promise isn't an empty one. Even his son would understand this much. So why would he still send a Titled Douluo after you... and if he knew about Ground Devil's origin, why didn't the Supreme Pontiff plunder a 100000-year-old bone?"

Ja Sun shook his head, "No clues regarding this... maybe only Qian Xunji knows what he wants. Anyway, we might not get private time often from now on. I plan to start 'planting' our fortunes and increase our cultivation at a quick pace. And..."

Ja Sun whispered something to which Ah Yin nodded with a rare moment of amusement flashing in her eyes.

---

"Good," Xunji nodded with a smile. He looked at the bowing Yue Guan and continued, "The negotiations with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan are completed. With the Ground Devil Douluo's untimely and sudden loss of contact, Patriarch Ning is lacking sufficient protection for his massive enterprise. Especially these few months, with the constant relief of commoners, the spirit masters attached to such families feel compelled to join the Spirit Hall, leaving the Treasure Clan with even more need of manpower.

Yue Guan, you will take a squadron of Holy Knights and assist Bone Douluo to move their assets from the Beast Valley back to their clan estate."

Yue Guan agreed and took his leave immediately.

Once he left, Qian Xunji leaned back and took out a palm-sized angel statue entirely gold in color.

"Worthy of holding the greatest treasures of the continent. But even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan is merely a collector who fails to understand the value of most of the treasures in its vault.

Hehe... Ground Devil's sacrifice was worthy for this artifact."

Xunji never trusted Redstar enough, just like the latter never trusting the former.

True, Qian Xunji wanted Ja Sun dead, but he wouldn't have personally informed Daoliu of Ground Devil, too. In fact, this confused Daoliu greatly, too. To this date, aside from the general objective of his son, Daoliu has been unable to see through his son.

There were too many factors at play. Qian Xunji would have expected Ja Sun to get seriously injured before Daoliu intervened but he never expected Ground Devil to die by Ja Sun's hands with Bibi Dong's assistance.

This greatly curbed Xunji's interest in killing the youth. To him, Ja Sun had become valuable enough. Meanwhile, the objective of Ground Devil dying had a two-fold effect, to weaken the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan enough to get himself this deal, and to lower Redstar's influence.

It was true that Xunji controlled the man but everything had limits. Redstar's influence had grown over the years and Xunji himself isn't confident in leaving Redstar this independent. He wanted his slave to also rely on him to keep a firm grasp around his collar without resorting to distasteful means.

In the end, Xunji himself remained unaware that he had lost a 100000-year-old spirit bone in the process while the Titled Douluos on the opposite side— Qian Daoliu and Redstar— still remain unaware that everything Xunji did, was to attain the small dharma figure of the winged seraphim in front of him.

"I can already feel the faith enhancing," Xunji sighed in relief as he was finally able to mark improvement at such a quick pace that would shock the continent.

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