Chapter 276: The Culprit Who Triggered the Disaster

"Spirit Beasts are being slaughtered on a massive scale; has it been discovered who is doing it?" Xun Yu asked. Even for him, it was impossible to immediately deduce the truth from such headless and tail-less intelligence.

Ye Lingling shook her head. "I don't know. The depths of the Sunset Forest are rarely visited by people. The Title Douluo sent by the Spirit Hall into the Sunset Forest is Gui Douluo, and only a powerhouse like him, who can hide himself within the shadows, could move freely inside the Sunset Forest, which is filled with Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts."

"He only saw many corpses of Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts, all over thirty thousand years old, that had died in exactly the same way. He found about twelve of them, including two high-level Spirit Beasts of seventy thousand years. This is very unusual, because these twelve Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts were clearly killed by the same person. But who would need to hunt twelve Spirit Beasts over thirty thousand years old in such a short time? Even if it were to help family members hunt, a Spirit Ring of over thirty thousand years would require at least a Spirit Saint powerhouse. Which family has promoted twelve Spirit Saints in one go? If such a family exists, then they are too terrifying."

"Therefore, Gui Douluo deduced that this is by no means a normal hunt, but someone slaughtering them wantonly for the sake of soul bones."

"The Pope, as well as the two Great Emperors of Heaven Dou and Star Luo, were furious and ordered a thorough investigation of this matter. This incident not only violated the Spirit Beast Hunting Convention jointly issued by the Spirit Hall and all nations, but also completely enraged the Spirit Beasts of the Sunset Forest, triggering a beast tide that caused a massive disaster, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties and boiling public resentment."

The so-called Spirit Beast Hunting Convention is a treaty jointly negotiated and issued by all forces on the continent: the Spirit Hall, the Seven Great Sects, the Two Great Empires, seven kingdoms, and three duchies.

No person or force is allowed to engage in indiscriminate killing of Spirit Beasts for the sake of soul bones.

As people at the top of the continent, they are not unaware of the consequences of wantonly slaughtering Spirit Beasts. Spirit Beasts are not easy to grow; for every one killed, there is one less. Perhaps there will be no impact in the current generation.

But what about future generations? I fear that sooner or later, they will reach a point where there are no rings to add, and at that time, the profession of Spirit Master will also completely disappear.

For this reason, the Spirit Hall even specifically cordoned off small Spirit Beast forests, forbidding people from entering at will.

If one wishes to enter, one must apply at a nearby Spirit Hall branch, prove that one has indeed reached the level for advancement, and needs a Spirit Ring, in order to take a one-time pass token from the branch.

The purpose of doing this is to prevent Spirit Beasts from being slaughtered indiscriminately.

"I actually have a suspect. Lingling, you said there were two strange things; what is the other one?" Xun Yu said, stroking his chin.

"The other one is actually good news. On the edge of the continent, someone is clearing out wolf bandits. Witnesses claim it is a Spirit Master who uses a hammer. Many people think it might be Tang Hao performing acts of chivalry, and they have praised him, saying the name of the Haotian Twin Stars is well-deserved. Others say he is just atoning for his son, since the incident caused by Tang San killing Zhu Zhuyun was not small. In any case, the wolf bandits being cleared out is ultimately a good thing," Ye Lingling laughed.

This was the best news she had heard recently. Regardless of what Tang Hao's purpose was, fighting wolf bandits was always the right thing to do.

Wolf bandits are different from Spirit Beasts; they are purely bloodthirsty creatures. Except for a few with higher cultivation, most have no reason and take pleasure in killing and eating people. It can be said that every wolf bandit has plenty of human lives on their hands.

People on the continent loathe wolf bandits even more than Evil Spirit Masters.

Their combat power is extremely strong; one hundred wolf bandits can rival an army of tens of thousands. They usually live in dark, deep valleys and have the advantage of favorable timing and terrain. Even if the empire sends a large army to exterminate them, they mostly return without success.

This time, Tang Hao broke into the deep valley alone and killed most of the wolf bandits, which brought a great sense of security to the people living near the edge of the continent.

"So that's it. I understand. It seems the one killing the Spirit Beasts is indeed him," Xun Yu realized in an instant.

The person hunting the wolf bandits and the person slaughtering the Spirit Beasts are definitely Tang Hao; there is no mistake. His purpose in doing this is for soul bones.

The hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone he originally possessed was taken away by my lord. To allow Tang San to cultivate his Second Martial Soul, he must possess a large number of soul bones.

Killing wolf bandits is neither for justice nor to atone for Tang San; it is because wolf bandits usually rely on hunting wild Spirit Beasts to obtain soul bones, or they rob other Spirit Masters for a living. Perhaps they even have some stock.

"What? Ah Yu, you're saying those Spirit Beasts were also killed by Tang Hao?" Ye Lingling covered her mouth in surprise. She had originally held the Haotian Douluo's chivalrous actions in high regard, but if the beast tide was triggered by Tang Hao, then the evil he did was even greater than the good he performed.

That was a beast tide; which time does it not cause a massive disaster once it starts?

"It's him with high probability. At least he still has a bit of a brain, choosing the Sunset Forest instead of the Star Dou Great Forest. Otherwise..." Xun Yu felt a bit fortunate that Tang Hao was not completely blinded by greed. If he had chosen to start a massacre in the Star Dou Great Forest...

At that time, once he angered my lord and the true kings within the Star Dou Great Forest that he spoke of, the disaster caused might have been much greater than it is now.

There have been no Ten-Thousand-Year Level Spirit Beasts in the Sunset Forest so far. Even if a beast tide descends, as long as the Title Douluo provide timely support, it can always be resolved in time.

"I wonder how many soul bones Tang Hao has obtained now. According to my guess, it should be at least two or three," Xun Yu calculated in his heart. If Tang Hao hadn't "exploded" a single one in the Sunset Forest, he wouldn't have left so easily.

And as for the wolf bandits, he didn't think he hadn't gotten any there either.

However, to achieve a full set of six soul bones, he estimated there was still some distance to go. Only a Full Spirit Bone set can better ensure the cultivation of Twin Spirits, especially the Head Bone and the Torso Bone. These two—one boosts spirit the most, the other boosts physique the most—Tang Hao must be very selective.

"Besides slaughtering Spirit Beasts and hunting wolf bandits, what other ways are there to get soul bones as quickly as possible?" Xun Yu thought for a moment.

There are actually other methods. One is to change from hunting Spirit Beasts to hunting Spirit Masters, and "exploding" them from Spirit Masters who have soul bones. But this method was immediately passed over by Xun Yu. It's not that Tang Hao is too kind to do it, but that it is very difficult to execute.

For one, killing Spirit Beasts can be done in desolate places, and there is no need to limit the target; as long as the age is high enough, it works. But when killing people, he cannot guarantee that he won't leave any traces.

Secondly, how would he know which Spirit Masters possess soul bones? Most Spirit Masters try their best not to expose their own soul bones in the early stages, and as long as a soul bone is not used, it is very difficult for others to discover that you possess one. The few who actively expose them all have strong backers.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration. "Right, there is one more way. I know now. Tang Hao might go there next. Very good, I can use his own strategy against him. Even if I can't kill Tang Hao, I can take this opportunity to subdue a force."

(End of chapter)