Chapter 34: Star Luo's Number One Soul Master, A Sane Madman

Early the next morning, a luxurious carriage engraved with the Star Luo royal totem slowly drove out of the palace gate, heading into Star Luo City.

Shu Yan lifted a corner of the curtain on the carriage window to observe the streets outside. Various sounds clearly entered his ears: the clatter of horse hooves, the hawking of vendors by the roadside, and the laughter of passersby...

Just as Shu Yan was a bit distracted, Xu Jiujiu beside him tugged at his hand and said softly:

"A-Yan, what I said yesterday wasn't very detailed. Today, I'd better tell you properly about Old Han. His temperament is really too strange, and I'm afraid something unexpected might happen."

Shu Yan came back to his senses and nodded.

Xu Jiujiu cleared her throat and then began:

"Old Han's original name is Han Lin. He is now over eighty years old, almost the same age as Grandma Manyi. While being an 8.5-level soul master, he is also a rare Title Douluo powerhouse, with a soul power level of 91. His martial soul is the Golden Thread Ghost Snake, a rare snake type carrying potent poison. This martial soul belongs to the same level as the famous Green Phosphorus Snake martial soul on the continent, only their focus is a bit different."

"In his early years, Old Han once apprenticed under an 8th-level soul master who defected from the Sun Moon Empire, inheriting that soul master's mantle. Later, for unknown reasons, he had a great battle with his teacher and accidentally killed him. Old Han's personality thus became capricious. Daily, apart from locking himself in his room to craft soul tools, he had almost no social life. Sometimes he would even become insane, often hurting people indiscriminately."

"On the other hand, don't look at Old Han as a Title Douluo-level powerhouse; in reality, his Title Douluo status is ridiculously inflated, entirely piled up by taking drugs. Under these circumstances, Old Han can only barely exert the combat power of a Title Douluo by combining it with his soul tools. Moreover, the side effects of the drugs he took in his early years are great, greatly affecting his lifespan. Now, I'm afraid he has less than ten years left to live..."

After Xu Jiujiu finished speaking, Shu Yan rubbed his temples and then summarized:

"In other words, this Old Han is a sane madman?"

Xu Jiujiu seemed interested in this term and nodded in agreement.

"Pretty much. Old Han is a madman obsessed with soul tools. It is precisely because of this that he was able to step by step reach the level of an 8.5-level soul master. My Imperial Brother once joked with me that if Old Han were allowed to study in the Sun Moon Empire for a period of time, he might be able to successfully break through to a 9th-level soul master."

"But unfortunately, Old Han seems to detest the Sun Moon Empire. Of course, the above was actually a joke, don't take it seriously!"

As she spoke, Xu Jiujiu chuckled twice.

Shu Yan shrugged, seemingly having found a way to break the deadlock. A fanatical lover of soul tools, right? How to handle him? Doesn't that become easy all of a sudden? After Xu Jiujiu briefly recounted two more things related to Old Han, she didn't say anything more. The carriage drove steadily all the way and soon arrived at a street that was much quieter than the outside. Xu Jiujiu spoke again to introduce it:

"Most of the residences in the south of Star Luo City belong to the Empire's powerhouses and officials, so the security in this area is much better than elsewhere. Even during the day, there is no noise, and very few people dare to cause trouble in this vicinity."

Shu Yan gave an "en," and the carriage continued forward, then stopped at the deepest part of the street. Shu Yan hugged Xu Jiujiu and jumped off the carriage. Xingyun Douluo appeared behind the two, and the three walked up the steps together, then knocked on the heavy metal door.

After a long time, the door was opened from the inside. A middle-aged man with somewhat messy hair poked his head out. After taking the visiting card from Xu Jiujiu's hand and flipping through it, his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly opened the entire door, then bowed and saluted: "Han Xin greets the Princess, greets Senior Xingyun Douluo, greets this young master..."

Xu Jiujiu glanced at him and said directly:

"Take us to see Old Han. There is an urgent matter that cannot be delayed."

Han Xin hurriedly stepped aside and said: "Three distinguished guests, please come in. The Master just finished his seclusion yesterday and is currently resting in the mansion. Three distinguished guests, please follow me."

Xu Jiujiu nodded and led the two to follow Han Xin into the Han mansion.

Shu Yan observed the layout of the surroundings, his gaze lingering for a while on several somewhat abrupt decorations before moving away. He sensed it: those were existences similar to detection soul tools. In this mansion, soul tools with similar functions were arranged almost everywhere. The layout technique was not exquisite, but these soul tools did indeed have some merit.

To be honest, Shu Yan knew nothing about soul tools. He had no interest in crafting them and was currently stuck at the stage of knowing how to use them but being too lazy to learn. If nothing unexpected happened, he estimated it would be like this in the future.

For him, learning to craft soul tools was purely a waste of time. Cultivation for an extreme-attribute soul master between level 30 and 70 was already difficult. If he were to split his time to learn to craft soul tools, in Shu Yan's view, that would be purely brain-dead.

Compared to wasting time crafting them himself, he preferred to let others craft them so he could use them directly. It saved time and effort and didn't cause hair loss. Anyway, that was the logic. Whether it was right or not, Shu Yan was too lazy to care, nor did he care.

Walking into the backyard of the mansion, the surrounding vegetation increased, and the sound of flowing water could be heard. A small pavilion came into view, and in the center of the pavilion, an old man with white hair and beard was sitting on a lounge chair, dozing off. Even with the arrival of the four, the old man didn't even lift his eyelids, as if he had entered a deep sleep.

Xingyun Douluo snorted coldly, starlight flickering in her hand. The next moment, the lounge chair the old man was sitting on instantly shattered, and the old man was instantly startled awake. The expression on his face became visibly ferocious. Nine soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black, black, black—appeared at his feet. Several huge cannon barrels appeared beside him, and terrifying soul power began to condense. Han Xin was so scared that his scalp went numb, and his messy hair stood straight up in an instant. The next moment, Han Xin almost subconsciously flipped over the wall several times and disappeared without a trace, leaving only a shrill cry:

"The Master is going crazy again again again again again again!! Run!"

Veins bulged on Xingyun Douluo's forehead. The next moment, she shouted sharply: "Old Ghost Han! Open your dog eyes and see who I am, and then look at who is beside me! You are bold!"

A sharp shout, like a clap of thunder, resounded through the surroundings in an instant. Han Lin suddenly woke up from his scarlet-eyed state. He was confused for a while, then his gaze shrank suddenly upon touching Xingyun Douluo and Xu Jiujiu. Looking at the nine soul rings at his feet and the soul-guided cannon barrels ready to fire beside him, Han Lin felt for a moment that the sky was about to collapse...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 35 =====