Wang Rui gently stroked the perfect, emerald-green left arm bone.
A jade-green glow danced beneath his fingertips. It felt cool to the touch—no bitter cold, just a hint of the harmless Ice Jade Scorpion's aura, meaning the soul bone's energy was perfectly sealed with no leakage.
Of course, it was only because this soul bone was in the hands of the Emperor Auspicious Beast's avatar. If it were anyone else, the overwhelming aura of the Extreme North's tyrant and a bone-chilling killing intent like the blade of the frozen north would be radiating from it.
This was a soul beast energy crystal in pristine condition, carrying the skill Ice Explosion—a strange thing, really. Soul beasts could use their innate abilities more freely than humans, relying more on instinct and insight rather than being bound by the martial soul–soul ring–soul skill system. So why couldn't Ice Emperor, the oldest Ice Jade Scorpion, use this move?
Perhaps it was the will of the great cosmos.
The Soul Master Tournament required a reward valuable enough… Wang Rui stared at the flowing light in the Ice Jade Scorpion's soul bone with the focus of a cat fixated on a laser pointer.
He could tell Jing Hongchen was truly pained—understandable, since without knowing that only martial souls of extreme ice could absorb this soul bone, it would've been perfect for Meng Hongchen.
Xi Hongchen's talent in cultivation was clearly inferior to Meng Hongchen's. Her foundation was visibly weak. For Jing Hongchen to pay such a high price to heal her, she must possess some other, more valuable trait.
It had to be her mind.
Jing Hongchen, the Red Dust Family's strongest combatant and political figure within the Sun Moon Empire, had been active on the national stage for years (when was the last time he unveiled an innovative soul device?). Xi Hongchen must have taken on the role of quiet research.
As the "Supreme Sanctuary" in the eyes of all soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire, Mingde Hall shared all the typical shortcomings of human research institutions: academic plagiarism, factionalism, academic monopolies—of which the Red Dust Family was the largest.
But even academic overlords need true talent to back them up.
A powerful martial soul and a physique suitable for cultivation might be inherited by bloodline—but intelligence cannot.
The Beast Sect's intelligence network in the Sun Moon Empire was weaker than in the Three Nations of Douluo. Wang Rui only had vague knowledge of a few key projects involving the Red Dust Family—like ultra-long-range detection soul devices, mass-produced level-6 ranged attack soul tools for military use (pushing the limit of human capability in terms of cost and power), large soul devices for mining operations, and humanoid soul tools. If Xi Hongchen had made real contributions to these projects, then her talent in soul engineering was indeed not to be underestimated.
She might have even played a role in designing the level-9 soul device, the Sealing Altar, which contained the embryo of the Snow Empress.
So, the mysterious figure who brought advanced Mingde Hall soul devices, the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone, and the Snow Empress embryo to the auction in the Star Luo Empire—could it have been Xi Hongchen?
…Not necessarily.
Wang Rui dismissed this guess.
Toss a stone into still water, and ripples spread. What he saw now might be ripples from a stone cast long ago.
Perhaps, before the river of fate had been disturbed, it was Xi Hongchen who had died, and Kong You, entangled in royal strife and forced to defect, who survived. That would explain why the "invisible figure" brought the Snow Empress embryo and other treasures to the Star Luo Empire.
Snap—with a crisp sound, Wang Rui placed the exquisite arm bone into a specially made box and closed the lid.
If Xi Hongchen's talent in soul devices was truly this great, saving someone who harbored such hatred for the Extreme North could pose risks.
But—soul beasts now had their own city.
Indeed, there were very few talented researchers among soul beasts or half-soul beasts. The laws of the world seemed to favor humans with inspiration. But soul beasts had time—endless time to make mistakes, again and again, until they found the optimal solution.
And if Wang Rui's plan was executed swiftly enough, humans and soul beasts would eventually merge into a unified civilization. No matter what Xi Hongchen ended up inventing, it would only become a precious engine for progress.
The Emperor Auspicious Beast naturally wanted her garden to flourish.
A golden-haired woman, radiating menace and majesty, smiled slightly, then vanished from the reception room.
Since she was already here, it was time to deal with the Holy Spirit Sect.
Under the leadership of the great Emperor Auspicious Beast, the resentment of wage slaves fell equally on humans and soul beasts alike.
The Holy Spirit Sect's Saintess, Lan Fozi, was at her wit's end.
Yes, that's right. As a whale from the deep sea, she now found herself in the remote depths of the Mingdou Mountains, far from any coast, pulling her hair out over a bunch of damned evil soul masters.
Who would have thought that just 10,000 years ago, she was still a happy little whale, spending her days eating, sleeping, and playing "flip games" with her parents—until a wicked black flying lizard descended from the sky and fought her father in a brutal battle.
And then?
Then her good days were over.
Her mother began urging her every day: Train! Train! Train! The once pampered little whale suffered terribly but her strength skyrocketed.
And then?
Then her father was killed by humans.
The little whale lived in hiding for thousands of years. Her father's former allies—powerful sea soul beast clans—were either wiped out by the Sea God's sharks or surrendered and helped hunt down those who resisted.
During one desperate chase by the Bloodsucking Giant Squid King, a purple-black portal opened before her and her mother.
Her mother had been expecting it.
They passed through the ominous portal to an unknown land.
On the other side was a narrow waterway nestled among trees—her first time seeing such a thing: a river winding through a forest.
Lan Fozi never imagined the same evil flying lizard who had once fought her father would end up saving their lives. Then, a terrifying black four-legged land beast (she later learned it was a tiger) leapt past them through the portal, dragging their pursuers back with it.
Mmm. Grilled squid is better than raw.
The sea was now under near-total control of the Sea God. Only the Devil Orca Clan, fueled by vengeance and large numbers, still resisted. The Deep Sea Devil Whale Clan was reduced to just two. Returning to the sea was too dangerous, so Lan Fozzi and her mother remained on land.
Her mother, strong and mobile, soon left. Lan Fozzi, left behind, wandered the narrow, whale-unfriendly freshwater river. Though local freshwater soul beasts claimed it was the widest waterway on land, it could never compare to the vast ocean.
Countless times, she drifted through the Star Dou Forest, missing the rough sea-floor rocks as she swished her tail through muddy riverbeds. Other times, she swam upstream, longing for the endless starlit sky above the sea instead of the moon peeking through tree branches.
Eventually, she realized—just like she'd never see her father again—she could never return home.
So why not embrace the land entirely?
She was just about to reach the 100,000-year cultivation mark. She still had a choice… why not become truly human?
Maybe she could become a god—travel to the divine realm and take revenge on her father's killer.
The Demon Empress argued with her fiercely.
Lan Fozi gave in.
What choice did she have? Her father was dead, and her mother only had her left.
But thirteen years ago, her mother suddenly returned, allowed her to reshape herself into human form and start over, even gifting her a precious pill that boosted cultivation and hid the aura of a reborn 100,000-year soul beast.
Lan Fozi had been overjoyed, thinking her mother finally understood her.
The human body was small. Time passed slowly.
She quickly adapted to this fragile new body. The Demon Empress took her across human lands to the depths of the Mingdou Mountains.
There, she learned what her mother had done in her absence—she had gathered countless powerful and wicked humans and founded the Holy Spirit Sect to take revenge on the Sea God.
Lan Fozi accepted this just fine. Humans called the Deep Sea Devil Whale evil for being big eaters—so it was only right for the evil whales and evil humans to band together against the so-called righteous Sea God.
But her curiosity about the human world had barely begun when the Demon Empress thrust a baby named Lan Lingtong into her arms, saying this shark-scented infant was her little brother.
Little whale was confused. Deeply shocked.
Wasn't it a bit too ambitious to expect a newly humanized six-year-old whale, barely able to walk on two legs, to raise a toddler!?
Good news: the baby was human, not the reincarnation of their mortal enemy, the Demon Soul Great White Shark. Bad news: he was some even more wicked creation with a monstrously evil martial soul.
The Demon Empress arranged a human teacher for them, then vanished again.
Before meeting the teacher, Lan Fozi thought—I've lived for so long, what can a mere human teach me?
Then she met Di Feng.
The now-powerless Lan Fozi burst into tears upon sensing Di Feng's aura.
She later learned that Di Feng carried the bloodline of the Ancient Dragon God—naturally suppressive toward any soul beast.
Di Feng taught Lan Lingtong how to cultivate, even letting him use her bloodline soul tools. But she never taught Lan Fozi how to cultivate.
Instead, she taught her how to think like a human—or even something beyond human: about morality, emotion, gain and loss…
Lan Fozi: Wisdom increased!
Once her lessons were complete, the Demon Empress reappeared and dumped her and Lan Lingtong into the Holy Spirit Sect. She declared them the Saintess and Saint Son respectively… and vanished once more.
Thus began Saintess Lan Fozi's survival struggle in the Holy Spirit Sect—a place where the strong devour the weak. She clawed her way from a figurehead to someone with real power, striving to hold together the church her mother had founded, trying to keep it from falling apart.
As for Lan Lingtong—just being able to stay conscious after awakening that terrifying martial soul, and not involuntarily draining the life from everything within ten meters, already made him an iron-willed little hero!
A vanished mom, a closed-door teacher, a chaotic little brother, and a shattered self.
And now…
Faced with several Titled Douluo elders eyeing her like prey, Lan Fozi—barely at Soul Saint level—was utterly panicking.
My position as Saintess is in real danger… Mom, where are you!? Save me!
(End of Chapter)