Indeed, the figure standing by the Five Elements Lake was En Ci, the Grand Tutor of the Star Luo Empire, and also the teacher of Tong Yu, who was imprisoned in the lake.
At this moment, En Ci looked at Mu Ye and Xu Yuan, his face turning slightly pale.
Why had these two come here?
Had they discovered something?
Had they contacted Tong Yu at the bottom of the lake?
Tong Yu's mind had been unstable ever since the events of the past. Over the years, En Ci had painstakingly waited for Tong Yu's emotions to stabilize. He had begun slowly guiding him through those memories, helping him find clarity and peace.
But if, during this critical period, two soul masters from the Douluo Continent were to contact Tong Yu…
En Ci's face darkened, but he suppressed his urge to attack.
The half-divine figure before him, brimming with blood essence, was of unknown origin. En Ci couldn't gauge whether he could stand a chance against him.
Especially given some of his suspicions, which made him even more wary.
The Body Sect—its members were practically invincible among their peers.
The higher their soul power level, the more valuable this peerless status became.
Perhaps a thirty-rank Soul Elder or a fifty-rank Soul King from the Body Sect might be weaker than ordinary soul masters, but once they reached the rank of Title Douluo, Super Douluo, or even Limit Douluo, they were often unmatched at their level.
En Ci knew that if the person before him truly belonged to the Body Sect, then as fellow half-divine beings, he would undoubtedly lose in a fight.
He was well aware of the flaws in his own half-divine strength and four-word battle armor.
"This is the forbidden zone of the Star Luo Empire's imperial family. Though the two of you are here on an exchange mission to the Star Luo Continent, surely you cannot trespass into our forbidden grounds without permission?" En Ci said sternly.
"Forbidden grounds?" Mu Ye smirked.
"I scouted the area earlier. There's no Star Luo military presence nearby. Are you telling me that every place of opportunity we discover during our exchange visit to the Star Luo Continent must be forcibly declared off-limits, and we must be driven away?"
Mu Ye's words left En Ci speechless.
If this escalated to the political level, things couldn't be handled so casually.
"The environment of the Five Elements Lake greatly benefits my disciple's cultivation. Are you, Holy Dragon Douluo, representing the Star Luo Empire in telling us that after coming to the Star Luo Continent, we're not allowed to seek any opportunities? Are we not even guaranteed the basic right to cultivate properly for a year?"
Mu Ye pressed further, leaving En Ci completely tongue-tied.
"Of course, if you're worried that we have ill intentions toward the person imprisoned at the bottom of the lake, you can stay here to keep an eye on us. That way, you can rest assured."
En Ci's pupils contracted as he stared at the two, his martial soul activating. A terrifying wave of holy light pressure swept across the entire Five Elements Lake region.
"Have you met him?" he said coldly.
"Your Excellency can ask him yourself. We haven't done anything," Mu Ye shrugged.
To be honest, if it weren't for Xu Yuan's intelligence-gathering abilities, even if others had encountered Tong Yu, they wouldn't recognize him.
Seeing the two remain unmoved, En Ci snorted, retracted his aura, and dove into the lake, descending to the bottom to check on Tong Yu's situation.
After a while, En Ci emerged from the lake.
"You may cultivate here, but if there's even the slightest issue with the person imprisoned inside, even if you're members of the Federation's delegation, the Star Luo Empire will not let this matter rest."
With that vague threat, En Ci transformed into a streak of light and disappeared.
Neither Mu Ye nor Xu Yuan took it seriously.
In truth, En Ci had just backed down gracefully.
What resistance could the Star Luo Empire possibly muster?
Even Mu Ye alone was someone En Ci, the strongest fighter on the Star Luo Continent, couldn't handle. Even if Tong Yu were released or killed, what could En Ci do about it?
Shaking his head, Xu Yuan held the Heavenly Origin Brush in his right hand. With a sweep, elemental energy gathered, and a wooden cabin instantly materialized on the grassy lakeshore.
"Teacher, I'll enter seclusion for a while to digest my recent gains."
"Alright, go ahead and focus on your cultivation."
"By the way, Teacher, these are some dragon clouds I collected from deep within the Dragon Valley. See if they're of any use to you."
As Xu Yuan spoke, he waved his hand, and a large number of energy clouds appeared out of thin air.
Mu Ye was startled but quickly absorbed the energy clouds, sealing them within his body.
Xu Yuan had collected a substantial amount of dragon clouds. Even after compressing them into energy clouds, it still took Mu Ye a full two and a half minutes to absorb them all.
Mu Ye now looked as though he had overeaten.
"It seems I'll need to digest this as well."
These dragon clouds were effective even for him. Their energy easily integrated into his body's blood essence, nourishing it, enhancing it, and boosting his soul power.
Mu Ye had never been to the Dragon Valley before and had never absorbed such energy, so he had no resistance to it.
Moreover, these dragon clouds came from the true Dragon Graveyard—the innermost valley within the valley. Their quality was the highest in the entire Dragon Valley. With such a large quantity, Mu Ye could make significant progress in his blood essence cultivation.
Thus, master and disciple began cultivating directly by the shore of the Five Elements Lake.
---
Dreamscape
"Your Highnesses."
Xu Yuan summoned the nine dragon souls of the Dragon Kings.
His dreamscape was vast. In previous years, it had been solely his research area, but since he had to resort to this trump card, he began organizing and expanding the dreamscape. He created multiple layers: a research area, a combat-specific zone, and now a resting area for the nine Dragon Kings.
Of course, there were also exclusive domains for Yao Yao and the others.
The nine Dragon Kings rested separately in the dreamscape, each occupying their own region. In just a few days, they had already transformed the illusory world into environments suitable for them.
Xu Yuan gathered the nine Dragon Kings, who now looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"Your Highnesses, in your current state, converting into spirit souls should be relatively easy," Xu Yuan said.
The nine Dragon Kings nodded.
They were now familiar with the current developments in the soul master world and understood the concept of spirit souls that Xu Yuan referred to.
Although they were no longer living soul beasts, their conversion into spirit souls would be comparable in difficulty.
This was thanks to Xu Yuan sharing the power of the Dragon God's dragon soul with them for fusion.
"However, this ease of conversion applies only to the nine of you. For the other dragon souls in the Dragon Valley, converting into spirit souls won't be so simple."
Xu Yuan's shift in tone caused the nine Dragon Kings to become serious.
Yes, they had benefited from the nourishment of the Dragon God's dragon soul, making their conversion effortless. But the Dragon God's dragon soul had already been depleted. According to their plans, tens of thousands of dragon souls in the Dragon Valley still needed to be converted into spirit souls.
Their conversion process wouldn't be so easy.
"Your Highnesses, in life, you were all likely at the god-level. Even though you've only just been introduced to spirit souls, you should be able to deduce more results faster than I can. Therefore, I'll need to trouble the nine of you with this task moving forward."
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