Chapter 172: Rare Relaxation, Subsequent Arrangements, and Su Tong's Worries

The journey was pleasant and smooth.

The warm and humid air of the south blew toward them. Star Luo was almost equally warm all four seasons of the year. Abundant rainfall brought this country fertile land far exceeding the other two empires, and also allowed the Star Luo Empire to lead the way in agricultural development. More importantly, except for the coastal areas that frequently encountered storms and even sea soul beast attacks, almost no natural disasters occurred in other regions of the Star Luo Empire.

It wasn't the first time Su Mingxuan and Ruan Qinyu had come to the Star Luo Empire, and the same went for Su Tong. Having grown accustomed to life by the northern sea, suddenly arriving in the southern land, whether they could adapt didn't matter; it just depended on whether they could live comfortably and happily.

After returning to Star Luo City, the Medicine Immortal Douluo returned to the Imperial Palace's Hall of Worship, and Shu Yan took his parents and sister to meet Xu Jiawei.

Xu Jiawei was exceptionally happy about this. After all, the stronger Shu Yan's family was, wouldn't that logically mean the stronger the Star Luo Empire was?

A full four Super Douluos and nine Title Douluos—such a force was likely something even the so-called Clear Sky Sect couldn't match today. With Shu Yan there, the Su family's stance was clear; even though they were in the Douling Empire, they were undoubtedly heart-set on Star Luo. This was undoubtedly a terrifying force lurking in the darkness; once brought into the light, it would be enough to shock the entire continent.

A banquet was held with guests enjoying themselves. When it ended, Xu Jiawei even invited Su Mingxuan to join the Star Luo Imperial Hall of Worship as a consultant. Su Mingxuan naturally had nothing to refuse, and after thinking for a moment, he agreed.

Currently, the strongest person on the surface in the Star Luo Empire was the level 96 Star-Shattering Douluo. Yes, the Star-Shattering Douluo had received a top-tier heaven-and-earth treasure gifted by Shu Yan, and after absorbing it, he went into seclusion for three months, after which he broke through to level 96 in one fell swoop.

Although the Medicine Immortal Douluo was also level 96, she was a healing-type Soul Master, and her combat power wasn't very strong—it could even be said to be approximately equal to zero.

As for the others, they were basically all Title Douluos, among whom the strongest were the level 94 Mysterious Mechanism Douluo and the Mad Crocodile Douluo.

Mad Crocodile Douluo was a Star Luo Marquis and a sworn brother of the previous Star Luo Emperor. By the way, his daughter was that Countess Inia who had a deep relationship with Xu Jiawei, a legendary woman who almost became the Star Luo Empress. Her beauty was once famous throughout the Star Luo Empire, and to this day, she was still an idol for many people in the entire Star Luo Empire.

It is worth mentioning that during this period, Han Lin, who was already at the level 8.5 Soul Guide Master realm, successfully broke through to the level 9 Soul Guide Master realm, becoming the first level 9 Soul Guide Master in the original three Douluo countries.

As for how he broke through, it was actually quite simple. Last time, Shu Yan had the Ice and Snow Dual Emperors leave behind that level 9 Soul Guide Master from the Sun Moon Empire and had the Snow Empress control him, then sent him to Star Luo City. Afterward, he "diligently and conscientiously" exerted his remaining heat, allowing Han Lin, who lacked experience and guidance, to successfully break through the biggest barrier of his life and enter the level 9 Soul Guide Master realm he had dreamed of.

Just a week ago, he successfully crafted the first level 9 soul tool of his life. He named it the "Star-Quenching Tower." Although there was still a gap between the core array and manufacturing precision of this level 9 soul tool and those produced by the Mingde Hall, from the perspective of its function, this soul tool had indeed surpassed top-tier level 8.5 soul tools and stepped into the level 9 soul tool realm.

Unexpectedly, Su Mingxuan was very interested in this. Surprisingly, he was also a level 8.5 Soul Guide Master, and back in the day, he had dual-cultivated as both a Soul Master and a Soul Guide Master. However, his Soul Guide Master profession was initiated under the guidance of a Soul Guide Master from the original three Douluo countries, so his Soul Guide Master level had always lagged far behind his Soul Master level.

But in the past ten-plus years, because he had been unable to break through the level 95 barrier, he temporarily gave up his obsession with breaking through and instead relied on his formidable strength to delve into the Soul Guide Master field. After exploring for more than ten years, he had forcefully raised himself from the original level 6 Soul Guide Master level to the current level 8.5.

Most of the high-level soul tools Su Tong had on her before were also crafted by him. Having lost one son, he really didn't want to lose a daughter again. Therefore, he had prepared more than a dozen various soul tools for Su Tong. Whether they were useful or not was one thing, but having them on her was always good.

Now that he saw the possibility of breaking through to a level 9 Soul Guide Master, Su Mingxuan naturally couldn't let it go. Once he successfully advanced to a level 9 Soul Guide Master, paired with his formidable ice-attribute martial soul and soul power as high as level 95, he would be enough to face some level 97 Super Douluos head-on. Facing a level 98 Super Douluo like Xuan Zi, although he would still be somewhat disheveled, it would at least be dozens of times better than the original situation.

Ruan Qinyu also couldn't sit still. Having been bedridden for over ten years, besides wanting to stay by her son's side, she also urgently wanted to find something to do in her spare time. Finally, under Xu Jiujiu's recommendation, she decided to go to the Star Luo National Academy to serve as a teacher.

Her current soul power level was only at the Soul Emperor level, enough to become a homeroom teacher-level instructor at the Star Luo National Academy. However, because she was personally recommended by Xu Jiujiu, and Xu Jiujiu's attitude toward her was too respectful and enthusiastic, the dean of the Star Luo National Academy, an old fox who had been mixing in the upper echelons of Star Luo for decades, keenly sensed that Ruan Qinyu's identity was absolutely extraordinary. In the end, he arranged a position for her specifically responsible for teaching theoretical knowledge. The daily courses weren't many, but they were easy, leisurely, and extremely free.

Su Tong stayed at the Princess's Mansion. When the Ice Empress guided Ling Luochen in cultivation, she would also bring her along. Especially since her martial soul was also the Ice Sky Snow Maiden, the Ice Empress had a natural fondness for her, so she was naturally extremely willing.

Shu Yan was busy figuring out the domestic situation, spending his days either discussing matters with Xu Jiawei or accompanying the women at the Princess's Mansion. Life quickly settled down, but on this day, Shu Yan unexpectedly encountered two acquaintances.

……

As the largest auction house in the entire Star Luo City, the lowest level of people who could appear here were wealthy merchants from various places with assets exceeding ten million gold soul coins. But even such wealthy merchants could only be considered the lowest-level guests at the Starlight Auction House. After all, anyone with a brain could deduce something from the name of this auction house—yes, this auction house belonged entirely to the Xu Imperial Family.

And the items that could appear at the Starlight Auction House were all rare treasures unseen in the outside world. To formally obtain an auction quota, one not only needed asset verification but also needed to be evaluated by the auction house's upper management before the items could be formally auctioned. The Starlight Auction House was graded from one to five, with one being the highest specification. Only level-one auctions would be held in the main auction hall, and Shu Yan happened to arrive just in time to encounter a level-two auction.

Level-two auctions were considered relatively rare at the Starlight Auction House, occurring no more than ten times a year. The lowest-level items that could appear in this auction were things like top-tier level 7 soul tools or top-tier ten-thousand-year soul bones. Anything more precious was not something ordinary guests could hope for; those great nobles or powerhouses would never allow such treasures to fall into the hands of others.

After walking through a corridor so magnificent it was jaw-dropping, at a corner, three gazes collided. For a moment, all three were stunned on the spot.

About a year had passed, and Tian Ling's golden long hair, which had originally reached her waist, now reached her buttocks. Her already voluptuous and full figure was now even hotter. Even though she was wearing a loose golden long dress, she was still incredibly eye-catching.

And Luo Qinghan, sitting in her wheelchair, was still breathtakingly beautiful. Her three thousand strands of green silk hung down, and she seemed to have a bit more vitality than when Shu Yan last saw her, and her overall aura had also changed somewhat.

"Boss! You're back!"

Tian Ling was stunned at first, and then a hint of excitement and joy appeared on her face. Inside the Starlight Auction House, guests needed to wear special masks to avoid unnecessary trouble. But because they had left the auction hall early, their masks had already been removed, and their appearances were naturally exposed. Shu Yan, however, was completely indifferent to this; the Emperor was on his side, and if anyone dared to cause him trouble, he feared that the earthworms of that family would be split in two by that very night.

Shu Yan smiled, looked at the two women's stunning faces, and then asked:

"Long time no see. I didn't expect to run into you here. But the auction shouldn't be over yet, right? Why did you come out early?"

Tian Ling twisted her waist and approached Shu Yan, a rich fragrance wafting over, carrying a magic that bewitched the mind.

Her full, hot body suddenly hugged one of Shu Yan's arms. The soft sensation made Shu Yan gasp at Tian Ling's scale.

Good heavens, at this scale, let alone feeding one in the future, I'm afraid three or four wouldn't be a problem...

Tian Ling pouted her tender red lips and then said somewhat aggrievedly:

"Every item in a level-two auction is priced at a sky-high price. Even if I sold Qinghan, I'm afraid I couldn't scrape together a fraction of it. I originally just brought Qinghan here to look around; I never thought about being able to bid for any treasures..."

Shu Yan pinched Tian Ling's soft cheek without hesitation, then looked at Luo Qinghan and said softly:

"You've increased your soul power by five levels in over a year, and your spiritual power has also made a significant leap. Did you absorb a head soul bone?"

Luo Qinghan wasn't surprised but nodded gently, then said: "My father prepared a 10,000-year Illusion Butterfly head bone for me, and I finished absorbing it half a year ago."

Hearing this, Shu Yan frowned. Although soul beasts like the Illusion Butterfly sound like they belong to the spiritual system, they are actually agility-type and can only rely on their unique wing patterns to hypnotize opponents to complete assassinations. Their status in the soul beast world is slightly higher than the Soft-Bone Rabbit, but they are still at the bottom of the food chain. The quality of the soul bone they produce can be imagined.

Thinking of this, Shu Yan's frown deepened. Among the group from the Southern Region, the ones he thought most highly of were Luo Qinghan and Qian Gu Yueyin. Among them, Qian Gu Yueyin was the direct granddaughter of Elder Qian, and her talent could absolutely be considered excellent among the excellent. It was an absolute certainty that she would steadily cultivate and break through to Super Douluo in the future.

And Luo Qinghan was a rare spiritual and wind dual-attribute Soul Master. Even though she lost the advantage of the wind attribute due to her paralyzed legs, her mutated Green Luan martial soul had already barely stepped into the realm of super martial souls, and her spiritual attribute was even more formidable. In the future, if she could receive proper medical treatment and even a top-tier spiritual-attribute head bone, she might even have the hope of going further than Qian Gu Yueyin.

And now that Luo Qinghan had absorbed such a mediocre, or even inferior, head soul bone, Shu Yan really suspected that her brain had been smashed by a hammer, and a rare trace of anger surged in his heart.

……

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 173 =====