Putting aside Dai Mubai's request for the time being, Xiao Lin agreed.
After chatting with Gu Rong along the way, Xiao Lin arrived at the residence of Xue Qinghe.
"Xiao Lin, since that's the case, then it's settled. We'll act according to the plan."
"Count on it."
After confirming that Xiao Lin had temporarily set aside his hatred, Gu Rong nodded in satisfaction.
The next second, Gu Rong's figure vanished like an illusory mirage, disappearing so cleanly that Xiao Lin was left staring in stunned disbelief.
This was the most mysterious and unfathomable of them all—the Bone Douluo.
The legendary spatial techniques.
Xiao Lin didn't know how many spatial-attribute soul skills Bone Douluo possessed, but to be able to come and go as effortlessly as Gu Rong did meant he had surely reached the level of creating his own soul skills.
That was far stronger than the vast majority of soul masters, even compared to other Title Douluo.
And this also served as a reminder to Xiao Lin: he had to develop a self-created soul skill of his own.
Although the hundred-thousand-year soul skills given by Lei Lei were very powerful, once one reached the god level, those soul skills would seem extremely weak. At that point, everything relied purely on the inherent strength of the Dragon-Taming Rod.
He too needed a powerful self-created soul skill.
The Disorderly Wind Splitting Staff Technique that Tang San taught him wouldn't work. Although it was an extremely strong self-created soul skill, it still belonged to the mortal realm of the Douluo world and was far inferior to true god-level soul skills.
Techniques like Sea God Tang San's Unfixed Wind Wave—those were truly good soul skills.
But thinking about that now was still too early. Later on, he could ask the two Dragon Kings whether they had any powerful soul skills suitable for him to learn.
He remembered Lei Lei mentioning that Di Tian knew something called the Dragon God Claw.
He didn't ask the two Dragon Kings to teach him Dragon God Claw—after all, he didn't fight with claws.
But a move like Dragon God Staff, surely they had to teach him at least one, right?
And there was also the cultivation method practiced by the Dragon God.
Xiao Lin had long felt that this world was excessively warped—there weren't even proper cultivation techniques.
The Vajra Indestructible Divine Art he used now, derived from a variation of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, was already considered a top-tier cultivation method in the soul master world.
As for qi and blood cultivation techniques, they were more like passive abilities. He wanted to learn an active cultivation method.
Some kind of Dragon God Art, Dragon God Transformation, or something along those lines—he absolutely had to learn one from the two Dragon Kings.
They were the primordial Dragon Kings, after all. There was no way they didn't know such things, right?
Lost in these thoughts, Xiao Lin arrived at the entrance of Xue Qinghe's residence. After asking the servants at the gate to announce him, he somehow found himself already thinking about creating a divine technique of his own.
Unfortunately, he really had no talent for martial arts creation. Aside from having a bit more physics knowledge than ordinary people, he was utterly lacking.
Maybe in the future he could create a physics-based divine technique instead.
Like… magnetic field rotation?
That actually seemed feasible.
While Xiao Lin was letting his thoughts run wild, Xue Qinghe had already come out to greet him, with a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes.
"Xiao Lin! Come, come—whatever it is, let's talk inside."
Qian Renxue clearly hadn't expected Xiao Lin to come looking for her on his own. At first, she even thought she had misheard.
After confirming that Xiao Lin had indeed arrived, she became extremely enthusiastic.
Qian Renxue led the way, one hand gripping Xiao Lin's arm as he followed behind.
The two walked through the vast residence, which was exactly as Xiao Lin had guessed—there were hardly any people inside.
Even the number of attendants and maids was extremely small.
Only after they reached a place with no one around did Qian Renxue finally begin talking to Xiao Lin.
"Xiao Lin, what brings you to see me?"
"I've already had Porcupinefish Douluo take action regarding that Laibing Black Gang matter."
"And as for the thirty-thousand-year soul bones you wanted, I've already written to my grandfather. He said he'll have someone deliver them."
As Qian Renxue spoke, her beautiful eyes swept over Xiao Lin, making him feel a bit awkward.
After all, to the naked eye, Qian Renxue was still wearing Xue Qinghe's appearance.
"It's not about those trivial matters. I trust you."
Xiao Lin hadn't come for such small things. Just as he was about to explain his purpose, Qian Renxue interrupted him.
"What do you mean 'small matters'? These are not small matters at all."
Qian Renxue said seriously.
Thirty-thousand-year soul bones were considered trivial?
Even Title Douluo-level powerhouses would fight over such things.
In fact, even if a Title Douluo saw a ten-thousand-year soul bone, they would still fight for it.
It was only Xiao Lin and his group who looked down on them.
"Alright, if you say so. This time I came to look for books. Does the Spirit Hall have books about continental geography?"
"I'm worried that the books at the Tiandou Royal Academy aren't comprehensive enough."
Xiao Lin added an extra reason at the end.
"Geography books… I'm not really sure about that, but I can have the Spirit Hall compile them and send them to you together with the books you requested last time."
Qian Renxue thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"Sigh, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about unifying the continent instead."
Qian Renxue quickly led Xiao Lin into her room and spoke with great seriousness.
"Ever since listening to what you said last time, I've had a sudden realization. I now roughly understand how the future Spirit Empire should move forward."
"But I still want you to take a look and give your opinion."
As she said this, Qian Renxue frowned. Her current plan had already changed, but this new plan would inevitably put her in a life-and-death struggle with Bibi Dong.
She didn't know whether she should really do this.
"You said last time that I need to know who our friends are, and who our enemies are."
"I've thought about this question for a long time. The Spirit Hall's original plan had problems—for example, the plan to wipe out the Upper Three Sects. We had no personal grudges with them, and doing so would only push other forces to stand against us."
"Even if we launched a surprise attack with overwhelming force, we'd probably only be able to destroy the weakest, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. As for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, while they might not be able to preserve their foundation, with two Title Douluo present, Ning Fengzhi and the other direct relatives could still escape very easily."
"And even if our Spirit Empire unified the continent in the future, as long as these Upper Three Sect forces still have Title Douluo-level powerhouses alive, my Spirit Empire would never truly be at peace."
Qian Renxue had already thought this far ahead. This was something she wouldn't be able to solve even if she became a god.
After all, if individual Title Douluo chose to hide, the continent was so vast that she truly wouldn't be able to hunt them all down.
"So, Xiao Lin, what should I do?"
Qian Renxue's eyes were filled with confusion. This plan had been devised by Bibi Dong. If she didn't continue with it, then she would have to confront Bibi Dong directly.
Could it be that right from the start, she would have to personally kill Bibi Dong before unifying the continent?
Hearing Qian Renxue's words, Xiao Lin pondered for a moment.
"I've already said it before—you must know who your friends are."
"Our friends are the common people, and the commoner soul masters. Our enemies are the nobles of the two great empires."
"These sect forces are not our friends, but they aren't our enemies either. They can be won over and given certain benefits."
"As long as you deal with the nobles of the two great empires, afterward the Spirit Hall can establish a top-tier academy across the entire continent, attracting talent from everywhere to enroll."
"This top-tier academy will eventually replace those sects. In the future, those sects will only be known as powerful families."
Xiao Lin's move could be said to directly dig out the very foundation that those sects relied on—cutting the ground out from under them.
Qian Renxue's eyes lit up upon hearing Xiao Lin's answer. This was indeed a good solution.
However, over time, some of those talents would also become new nobles, and as time passed, the number of nobles would still continue to grow.
Qian Renxue voiced the doubts in her heart to Xiao Lin, hoping to find a once-and-for-all solution.
"There is no such once-and-for-all solution. But you can reward them—on the condition that they must contribute to the Spirit Empire."
"Have them work for the Spirit Empire, then go open up new continents and obtain resources elsewhere."
Xiao Lin's solution was essentially to send them off to conquer the Sun and Moon Empire, or even other planets and the like.
As long as there were benefits, these forces would become the sharpest blades.
As long as the Spirit Empire always maintained opportunities for commoners to rise, it would basically never decline—unless resources ran dry.
"Alright, I think I more or less understand now. I still have one more request, and I hope you'll agree to it, Xiao Lin."
Qian Renxue nodded thoughtfully. She truly seemed to have grasped a great deal, and even a glimmer of intelligence—no, ambition—flashed in her eyes.
"Go on."
As Xiao Lin finished speaking, Qian Renxue clenched her teeth and said:
"I want you to become the Sea God, and then kill Bibi Dong."
(End of this chapter)