Shrek, Flender's dilapidated office.
"Xiao San, what His Majesty Boxuan said is indeed true. While the first person with twin martial souls met a miserable end, the second one in history truly succeeded. Still alive and well." Turning his back to Tang San, Master Yu Xiaogang looked out of the window as he spoke with a melancholic tone.
Tang San didn't pay much attention to his master's mood. When he heard that the second person was still alive, he was mostly sure of his conjecture. That person must be the reason behind Xiao Wu's bad mood... To find out who dared to make Xiao Wu angry and hateful, Tang San pressed his question.
"Teacher, can you tell me that person's identity..." Tang San asked calmly, but his heart was turning cold.
Once Xiao Wu's well-being or her wishes were involved, he wouldn't care about anything else. Being reasonable would not be his style at that time. Anyone who dares to upset Xiao Wu will find a way to die.
Yu Xiaogang, unaware of Tang San's growing killing intent, with a dreamy, reminiscent tone gave Tang San the answer he wanted.
"The current Pope of Spirit Hall, also the first woman to hold that title in history — Bibi Dong." Saying that, Master Yu Xiaogang let out a deep sigh. As for what he sighed for, only he knew.
Hearing the name, Tang San froze for a moment. The current Pope of Spirit Hall? Also a woman? Could she be Xiao Wu's family member? Did I misunderstand something?
Tang San's current impression of Spirit Hall was relatively good. Being the Pope of that organization and holding such a high position, Tang San couldn't think of a reason why someone like her could make Xiao Wu unhappy. So upon hearing the name, he first doubted whether Bibi Dong could be Xiao Wu's mother.
"Maybe it was a family issue? Was she abandoned? Is that why she said she was an orphan?" Tang San started thinking of possibilities.
"But who would not want someone like Xiao Wu? Xiao Wu also had innate full soul power..." In the end, Tang San couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation and made up his mind to ask Xiao Wu directly once she returned. If it was just some family drama, that would be fine. But if it was anything else — even if it was the Pope of Spirit Hall — they would have to pay a price.
"Teacher, what are her martial souls? Is she also a Titled Douluo?" Tang San continued.
Yu Xiaogang, still lost in the memories of his past, spoke without hiding anything.
"Both of her martial souls are spiders. And considering her talents, she should have reached Titled Douluo level... or at least, be very close to reaching that level..."
Yu Xiaogang spoke and looked into the distance, in the direction of Spirit Hall City.
Tang San also noticed something in Yu Xiaogang's tone, so he stood silently with a thoughtful look.
After a while, Yu Xiaogang shook his head and turned around to look at Tang San with hope and fervor.
"Tang San... if there's another person who can rival you in talent, then in this world, it's only her. Teacher will find a way to solve the problem with your two martial souls. You only need to concentrate on cultivating your Blue Silver Grass martial soul and stop worrying about anything else. Do you understand?"
"And, you must get close to His Majesty Boxuan and learn from him well. It will benefit you greatly."
"To know about Bibi Dong's secret of having twin martial souls and be sure that she has successfully cultivated both, he must have a formidable background... After all, the secret of Bibi Dong having twin martial souls is not known to many people on the mainland. I became one of them by coincidence, otherwise I wouldn't have known either," Yu Xiaogang instructed Tang San seriously.
In the past few days, Yu Xiaogang had also tried to recall whether he had heard of someone named Boxuan or seen the portrait of someone like him, but in the end, he couldn't remember. He even discussed it with Flender and Zhou Wuji, but none of them had ever heard of a Titled Douluo named Boxuan. As for seeing him before? They had never met many — or any — Titled Douluos. Only Yu Xiaogang had met some.
In the end, the conclusion they came to was that Salas might be a hidden Titled Douluo who cultivated in seclusion. They also didn't rule out the possibility of him coming from the Upper Three Sects or even Spirit Hall. But considering how Ning Rongrong didn't recognize him, he likely wasn't from her sect. Since Yu Xiaogang also didn't recognize him, then he likely wasn't from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan either. That's as far as they could narrow it down.
Hearing his teacher say this, Tang San nodded obediently. He also believed that Xiao Wu's teacher must be formidable… after all, who could come up with something that could increase the soul ring age limit — something that had been set in stone for generations?
---
Days passed… nearly two weeks later.
During the past two weeks, Salas waited for Tang Hao to arrive. But to his disappointment, Tang Hao didn't come.
That was understandable. Probably now Tang Hao was still mindlessly searching for the culprit who took away his wife.
But how could he ever know that his wife had been eaten by someone? Not just eaten — she had become part of someone, merged with his body.
If Tang Hao knew that his wife had merged with another man… how would he feel? Will he feel like wearing green hat? Only time would tell.
During this time, the Shrek Seven Devils also became increasingly close to Salas. His amiable smile and kind approach earned their respect and trust. Now they treated him like a guide and mentor in their lives.
"Your Excellency Boxuan, I'm really curious — what level of Titled Douluo are you?"
Sitting on the grass bed while listening to Salas share his cultivation experience, Ma Hongjun, the fatty, asked the question that everyone had long wanted to ask.
Although over the past week they had grown closer to Salas, they never dared to ask anything out of line. Although Salas seemed approachable, they also knew that he was someone they could never offend. In the soul master world, asking someone about their soul power level or the effects of their soul skills was considered taboo — they knew that very well. If they offended or displeased him by asking an ignorant question, they'd have nowhere to cry.
But now that Salas was talking about Titled Douluos and their possible current levels, Ma Hongjun found that it was the best chance to seemingly ask Salas about his strength.
Dai Mubai and Tang San, who were sitting to the side, gave Ma Hongjun a look, but in the end, they didn't say anything.
Hearing the question, Salas — who was sitting in front of them on the futon like a wise man— smiled and spoke:
"I won't tell you my exact soul power level. But I can say this—if a fight breaks out, no one in this world can harm me if I choose not to be harmed."
As he finished speaking, a quiet breeze passed by, lifting his white hair which held a hint of gold, giving him a mysterious and unfathomable aura.
Hearing what Salas said, everyone froze...
The meaning behind Salas's words was self-evident. After all, just yesterday they had learned from him that there were three Limit Douluos who had reached the peak of level 99 and were still alive in the world. Although Salas had refused to reveal their identities or even say which factions they belonged to, they knew those three stood at the pinnacle of power in the current era.
"To think that even they can't harm him… Is His Majesty Boxuan one of the three Limit Douluos? Probably not. Maybe he's level 98 or 97 with a rare martial soul…"
"But didn't His Majesty Boxuan say that he's no older than 50? And he also said the youngest person known to reach the Titled Douluo level in recent history only did it at 44?"
Each of them had doubts and questions rising in their hearts. Salas simply smiled inwardly upon seeing their expressions shift.
Of course, he had bluffed… That statement — "No one can harm me if I choose not to be harmed" — was pure bravado.
Even if he used his first soul skill, the three Limit Douluos would still be able to find and overwhelm him. After all, while he had reached the level of Limit Douluo in terms of spiritual power and entered the Spiritual Domain realm, he was still at the early stage with just over 20,000 points (according to the settings from Douluo Dalu 3). Meanwhile, those three who had dwelled at level 99 for who knows how long likely had more than 40,000 points — nearing the peak of the late-stage Spiritual Domain. In front of them, Salas's first soul skill was nearly useless.
"Hmm… But I didn't completely lie either. No one below level 99 can hurt me — even Golden Crocodile Douluo, despite being level 98. And as long as I don't provoke or run into the three Limit Douluos, I won't be harmed. So if I say 'no one can harm me if I choose not to be harmed'... that's still kind of true, right?" Salas thought to himself with amusement.
Of course, beings like the Silver Dragon King were not part of his considerations — he was only referring to humans.
Xiao Wu looked at Salas proudly... This was her master. Someone incredibly powerful. Naturally, she understood the hidden meaning behind his words, unlike her ignorant teammates who couldn't grasp the deeper truth in his statement.
After a while, everyone snapped out of their daze and looked at Salas with even greater reverence. By now, they didn't care whether his claim came from actually being level 99 or from possessing some special soul skill or martial soul. Even if it was due to his martial soul, based on what Salas had taught them about Limit Douluos, they understood one thing: without at least level 96 or higher, it was impossible to survive against such beings.
And considering Salas said he was no older than 50... the man before them was unimaginably gifted. Even if he wasn't level 99 now, he was someone who would definitely reach that level in the future. How many in the world could truly hope to do the same?
Among the Shrek Seven Devils, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, and Oscar looked at Salas with increasingly shining eyes.