"Don't you think so, Little Tiger?"
"Roar! Roar!"
The little tiger let out cheerful low growls, its tail wagging rapidly.
"Ye Guyi… Angel Martial Soul… the Angel God position…"
Jiang Jue muttered softly to himself.
In the great war ten thousand years ago, the Angel God position—originally a first-class godhood—was shattered by Tang San. The likewise first-class Rakshasa God position had vanished without a trace.
"Where would the fragments of the shattered Angel God position have scattered to? Jialing Pass, or…?"
Jiang Jue reined in his drifting thoughts, raised his hand, and drew the little tiger back into the Soul-Refining Banner. He then turned around, returned to the bed, crossed his legs, and continued cultivating.
As for the little tiger, upon returning to the Soul-Refining Banner and seeing the Dark Devilgod Tiger that had long been waiting there, its heart instantly skipped a beat.
It seemed it had forgotten to tattle!
It ran.
It chased.
There was no escape, even with wings.
…
The eastern dawn slowly rose, and the bustling Mingdu also reined in its wild nocturnal side.
Bang bang bang!
A crisp knocking sound came from the door.
"Young master, Elder Xu and the others are here."
Lang Ya's voice came from outside.
Jiang Jue, who was seated cross-legged on the bed, slowly opened his eyes, a streak of icy blue flashing deep within them.
"Alright, I know."
He stopped circulating his soul power. His body trembled slightly, and a series of crackling sounds like firecrackers went off inside him.
With his current state, even while bearing two extreme attributes, Jiang Jue's cultivation speed had not slowed much.
That was because within his soul bones lay the origin powers of the Ice Empress and the Dark Devilgod Tiger, continuously supplying him with energy.
After getting up and tidying himself, Jiang Jue walked out of his room and entered Lang Ya's room.
The several elders led by Elder Xu, who had dispersed the day before, were already there.
"Xiao Jiang is here. Then let's first go take a look at the tunnel our Body Sect has already dug. We'll familiarize ourselves with it in advance and see if there's anything that needs adjusting."
Elder Xu stood up and said.
Everyone nodded in agreement—there was naturally no objection.
After all, this was precisely what their advance team was meant to do: lay the groundwork for the actions to come.
Immediately afterward, the group got up, left the hotel, and headed toward a small courtyard on the outskirts of Mingdu.
Before long, they arrived one after another at the courtyard with white walls and gray tiles.
When Jiang Jue and the others reached the gate, the Body Sect disciple in charge of reconnaissance inside had already opened the door and ushered them in.
"Elder Xu, you've come."
"After you left, I've been on edge every day, walking on thin ice, terrified of being discovered."
The somewhat skinny Body Sect disciple closed the courtyard gate and looked at Elder Xu, speaking with a delighted expression.
"Alright, alright—Xiao Chen, you're the one with the slickest tongue."
Elder Xu waved his hand, though the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise. In his gaze toward the disciple he called "Xiao Chen" was full of care for the younger generation.
This was because Xiao Chen was also a spiritual-attribute soul master, with his martial soul being his own eyes, and possessed the cultivation of an eight-ring Soul Douluo.
"Tell us—how's the progress now?"
Dragon Arm Douluo asked in a somewhat rough voice.
"Elder Xu, Elder Long, at present we've already precisely determined the location of Mingde Hall's underground core area. And just as expected, the place where Mingde Hall stores its treasures is also within that core area."
"At our current pace, we'll definitely be able to completely break through within two months."
When it came to business, Xiao Chen's expression turned serious, a glimmer of wisdom flashing in his eyes as he reported carefully.
"Very good. Well done. When we return, this old man will apply for merits on your behalf."
Elder Xu nodded in satisfaction and said softly.
"It's all thanks to your excellent command, Elder Xu—and to the hard work of our fellow disciples below. I'm just standing watch here, at most helping with direction and scouting."
Xiao Chen scratched his head and smiled shyly.
"You rascal—clever as ever."
Elder Xu laughed and tapped Xiao Chen lightly.
A glint of light flashed through Jiang Jue's eyes. On the surface, Xiao Chen credited everything to his fellow disciples, but he still clearly stated all the work he himself had done—without missing a thing.
"Second Brother, Chen Gou is really putting on a show. I really want to give him a couple of punches."
Yu Tao stood sideways behind Lang Ya and whispered sneakily.
"Behave yourself."
Lang Ya shot Yu Tao a glare.
"Let's go. We'll take a look at how things really are."
Dragon Arm Douluo nodded slightly and spoke.
"Everyone, please come in."
Xiao Chen didn't dawdle and led them inside. All the adjoining partition walls in the house had been broken through.
On the ground was a massive circular hole, pitch-black inside, with no visible bottom at a glance.
Xiao Chen gestured to everyone, then jumped in first.
"Let's go down together."
Elder Xu said softly, and everyone followed, jumping in.
Jiang Jue also leapt down. As his falling speed increased, just as he was about to unfold his wings, he suddenly felt as though he had stepped onto solid ground.
At that moment, Dragon Arm Douluo appeared beside Jiang Jue, his rough voice sounding out.
"Little friend Jiang, let me take you down."
The soul power condensed beneath Jiang Jue's feet was clearly Dragon Arm Douluo's doing.
Jiang Jue's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of surprise appearing.
As Dragon Arm Douluo was an elder of Long Aotian, even if he didn't speak harshly to Jiang Jue, he should have been extremely cold toward him. Why would he take the initiative to come over like this?
"Could it be he's playing some kind of undercover game with me here?"
Jiang Jue thought to himself. But regardless of Dragon Arm Douluo's intentions, he could always find a chance to interrogate him later.
"Thank you, Elder Long."
Jiang Jue smiled slightly and expressed his thanks.
"It's nothing—no big deal."
Dragon Arm Douluo waved his thick arm dismissively, speaking as if it were nothing, while a trace of astonishment flashed through his eyes as he looked at Jiang Jue.
"Such a strong physique, and his soul power has already reached Soul Emperor. What does Aotian even have to fight him with? His head?"
Dragon Arm Douluo thought silently, offering a few seconds of silent mourning for his nephew.
"Maybe I should just surrender too. There's basically no hope at all."
"I'm sure Aotian won't blame me… probably."
As everyone continued descending, Jiang Jue could feel that they had already gone down at least two hundred meters, with several dozen meters still to go.
And this was only the downward tunnel. The passage leading to Mingde Hall in the eastern part of Mingdu was nearly a hundred times longer. It was hard to imagine that this had been dug by human hands.
After landing, everyone followed Xiao Chen forward while observing the tunnel's structural stability. In the wide, thick tunnel, rows of bright white lamps hung overhead.
"Young master, see? I told you—I wasn't wrong. The tunnels dug by our Body Sect are the real deal."
Yu Tao walked beside Jiang Jue, speaking with obvious pride.
"They really are solid."
Jiang Jue nodded slightly and praised.
At the same time, Jiang Jue noticed that the farther they went, the more the tunnel split from one into several, branching off in different directions.
Soon, Jiang Jue and the others arrived at the active construction site.
"Elder Xu, dig forward another two kilometers, and right above our heads will be Mingde Hall. At that point, we'll act on multiple fronts as planned—one group draws attention, another seizes the opportunity to steal the treasures, and then we withdraw safely!"
Xiao Chen's eyes gleamed as he pointed at the ceiling ahead, speaking with excitement.
"When the time comes, our tunnel will go straight to Mingde Hall!"
(End of Chapter)