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**
"Hehe." Chrysanthemum Douluo chuckled softly.
Savoring the aroma of his tea, he continued, "When it comes to the strength of the Elephant Armored Sect, it is actually greater than you think."
"Although they are merely one of the Lower Four Sects among the current Seven Great Sects and are not listed within the Three Upper Sects, you must not underestimate them—or any other sect among the Lower Four Sects, for that matter—just because of the word 'Lower'."
"Even if we disregard those hidden clans and secluded sects, and leave aside the soul master clans that have not established official sects, the continent's soul master world is still teeming with numerous organizations."
"For a sect to stand out from so many and be hailed by the world as one of the Seven Great Sects, there is naturally a reason for it. Their strength truly surpasses that of other common sects. Take well-known soul master sects like the Fire Leopard Sect, Wind Sparrow Sect, Vajra Sect, and Mountain River Sect, for instance."
"Although every single one of them possesses an eight-ring Soul Douluo level expert, they still fall short of any sect among the Lower Four Sects, whether you look at their strongest expert or the hidden foundation of the sect itself."
"Even the Ghost King Sect, which ranks at the very bottom of the Lower Four Sects in most people's eyes, possesses a strength that cannot be slighted and is far from what an ordinary soul master sect can compare to."
"Furthermore, Ling Xiao, there is something you do not know. In recent years, due to the rapid advancement and substantial growth of the Elephant Armored Sect, their overall power has increased significantly."
"On top of that, several outstanding students with exceptional talent and strength have graduated from the Elephant Armor Academy and joined the sect. In the future, they are basically guaranteed to reach at least the Soul Saint realm, and even becoming a Soul Douluo is not out of the question."
"The development potential of the sect is glaringly obvious. By now, the Elephant Armored Sect has already subjugated the White Elephant Sect and the Fire Elephant Sect—both highly renowned in the soul master world—as their subordinate sects. Their overall strength has skyrocketed, and their scale is grander than ever before."
Chrysanthemum Douluo's words caused Ling Xiao to startle inwardly.
Neither the White Elephant Sect nor the Fire Elephant Sect were minor organizations.
The master of each sect was an eight-ring Soul Douluo level expert. Although experts of this caliber were rare, and each sect only possessed one, high-level soul master experts were hard to come by to begin with.
An ordinary sect with a single Soul Saint was already considered a mid-tier sect; for these two major sects to each possess a Soul Douluo expert meant they had already crossed the threshold into becoming large-scale sects.
After all, didn't the Four Single Attribute Clans, who used to be the strongest subordinate forces of the Clear Sky Sect, currently only possess a single Soul Douluo expert each as well?
Moreover, the inherited martial souls of these two major sects—the Six-Tusked White Elephant and the Blazing Fire Elephant—were both high-grade tool/beast martial souls. Their might was formidable, by no means inferior to the Power Clan's Vigorous Orangutan or the Defense Clan's Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceros.
The same could be said for their sects' foundational legacies.
It could be argued that the Elephant Armored Sect's successful subjugation of the White Elephant Sect and Fire Elephant Sect as subordinate forces—whether in terms of strength growth or strategic value—was absolutely not inferior to taking the Power and Defense clans under their wing.
No wonder that in the later stages, the Elephant Armored Sect would want to take things a step further and try to subjugate the Power and Defense clans as well to serve as their vassals.
To be perfectly honest, to err on the side of caution, he had already tried his best to overestimate the Elephant Armored Sect previously. However, he had never expected their actual strength to be even greater than his calculations.
Counting the three Soul Douluo level experts of the Huyan clan, plus the masters of the White Elephant Sect and Fire Elephant Sect acting as subordinate forces, they possessed a total of five Soul Douluo level experts!
The number of Soul Saint experts among them was bound to be substantial as well.
When bundled together and placed out in the soul master world, this absolutely constituted a terrifying force. One had to realize that even the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy only possessed three Soul Douluo level educational directors.
Disregarding the backing of the Heaven Dou Royal Family and the power of the Heaven Dou Empire, the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy alone might not necessarily be a match for the Elephant Armored Sect. Let alone minor players like Blazing Sun Academy or Shrek Academy.
Even if the Golden Iron Triangle gathered together to unleash their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the Golden Saint Dragon, they would likely only be able to barely contend against the Elephant Armored Sect—and that was assuming the Elephant Armored Sect didn't deploy all of its top-tier experts.
"I didn't expect the Elephant Armored Sect's foundation to be so profound. I truly underestimated them. No wonder earlier when you spoke with Huyan Zhen, Elder Chrysanthemum, you conversed with him as an equal."
"With the Elephant Armored Sect's current strength, Huyan Zhen, as a sect master, does indeed possess the qualifications to speak on equal terms with a Titled Douluo."
Hearing Ling Xiao's remark, Chrysanthemum Douluo smiled gently and shook his head.
Although Ling Xiao possessed an extraordinary martial soul aptitude and a strength that far surpassed his peers—making him arguably the most outstanding member of Spirit Hall's younger generation—he was still young after all.
There were still many things in the soul master world that he needed time to slowly understand and grow from.
"Ling Xiao, you are mistaken on this point. Huyan Zhen can converse with me as an equal not because of his identity as the Elephant Armored Sect Master, but because of his strength."
"His strength?" Ling Xiao found it a bit hard to believe.
Wasn't Huyan Zhen's cultivation merely at the high-level Soul Douluo rank? How could his strength compare to a Titled Douluo? Could it be that Huyan Zhen was another ruthless character like Yang Wudi of the Breaking Clan?
According to his understanding from his past life, the future clan chief of the Breaking Clan, Yang Wudi, would disregard his own life and charge forward with an indomitable will at the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
Relying solely on his Soul Breaking Spear, he fought a Titled Douluo to a standstill while only possessing a Soul Douluo cultivation, shocking everyone present. That combat record had truly earned his deep admiration back then.
It was far more impressive than Tang San—who was also at the Soul Douluo level—relying on that Sea God Trident of his to launch a sneak attack, utilizing elemental counters to instantly kill Ghost Douluo.
After all, Yang Wudi relied purely on his own martial soul. He didn't rely on all kinds of one-hundred-thousand-year soul rings, soul bones, and divine artifact cheats like Tang San did, nor did he benefit from an intelligence-lowering aura.
He fought a stronger opponent as the weaker party purely through his own capability.
How could anyone not admire that? At that time, even though Snake Lance Douluo She Long had lost face as a Titled Douluo by being fought to a draw by a mere Soul Douluo, he must have highly respected Yang Wudi as well.
However, based on the impressions from his past life, Huyan Zhen didn't seem that powerful, did he? Of course, in the content he knew, Huyan Zhen—despite being a powerful Soul Douluo—hardly ever fought, completely lacking any imposing prestige.
His only notable action was being instantly killed by the Sea God Trident thrown by Tang San, which seemed utterly farcical and absurd.
Come to think of it, ever since Tang San obtained the Sea God Trident, his battles had less and less to do with the Blue Silver Emperor or the Clear Sky Hammer. He relied on that divine artifact every day to crush and suppress others.
His own cultivation level never seemed to matter much; because of the Sea God Trident, he could always exert a suppression on his opponents. No matter how high the enemy's cultivation was, he could fight them.
At Rank 80-something, he could fight the Rank 96 Falling Devil Douluo, and at just over Rank 90, he could clash with the Rank 98 Bibi Dong.
He had really wanted to ask back then: didn't this Sea God give Tang San way too much help? He provided a divine artifact and even unlocked so much of its power permissions.
Reasonably speaking, a divine weapon like the Sea God Trident should have certain restrictions on its usage, right? If one's cultivation wasn't high enough, they shouldn't be able to unleash its true might, unless the weapon's artifact spirit took action themselves to drive it.
Looking at Tang San's situation back then, it felt as though the raw power erupted by the Sea God Trident was far stronger than his own strength.
Could it be that the artifact spirit of the Sea God Trident had been secretly helping him all along? Or perhaps a strand of the Sea God's divine sense was directly embedded inside, constantly cheating for him like a professional booster?
If that were the case, then people like Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue were truly too tragic.
Yue Guan had no idea that within these brief few breaths, so many thoughts had flashed through Ling Xiao's mind. He spoke indifferently, "Ling Xiao, you must understand that strength is always respected above all else in the soul master world."
"For a soul master, their own strength is their greatest source of confidence and their ultimate reliance. The faction behind you is nowhere near as reliable as your own power."
"Forget about the sect masters of soul master organizations; even if it were the emperors of the two great empires, if they do not possess strength matching a Titled Douluo."
"I might address them as Sect Master or Your Majesty out of courtesy to show respect, but they would still have to return the greeting with equal reverence. Otherwise, it would be deemed a provocation against a Titled Douluo."
**
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