Currently, Tianlin's flying sword was much faster than most agility-type Soul Douluo or even weaker agility-type Titled Douluo. At full speed, it took him less than half a day to reach a spot three miles from Spirit City.
He wasn't so arrogant as to fly straight into the city—that would be a direct challenge to Spirit Hall's authority. He came mainly to stir up trouble, but it was more literary than martial.
Walking into Spirit City, he was impressed by its prosperity. Last time he came, he was focused on competing and hadn't really visited. In terms of liveliness, it far surpassed Heaven Dou City.
Even the commoners' spirit and soul were better than those in Heaven Dou.
Oppression of ordinary people by soul masters existed everywhere, and Spirit City was no exception—class differences were insurmountable.
But Spirit Hall was founded by the Angel Clan, who needed faith. True faith only came from the heart, while hegemony only bred fear. Thus, though this was a holy land for soul masters, it was also the place with the strictest control over them.
Ning Fengzhi was actually learning from Spirit Hall's management to govern the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Although he saw Spirit Hall as an enemy, he didn't blindly deny their methods.
He believed that soul masters, as a privileged class, deserved rich and free lives—but too much freedom turned into wantonness, so freedom must be restrained—by law.
Tianlin never liked the two empires because their laws were too weak in restraining soul masters and nobles.
If Spirit Hall weren't after his sect, he might have helped Qian Renxue unify the continent, just to save himself trouble.
"I have to find a way to contact Sister Xue." Tianlin walked along, thinking.
"Xiao Tian, your wife just left, and you're already looking for Qian Renxue? That's pretty scummy!" Skydream Ice Silkworm teased, thinking Tianlin was secretly meeting his old flame.
It was also annoyed—such valuable cultivation time, and he wasn't focusing!
"Brother Skydream, after I finish this, I'll go into secluded bitter cultivation, don't worry. Otherwise, if Bibi Dong is manipulated and falls into darkness, things will get troublesome." Tianlin insisted he wasn't here for fun, but to thoroughly ruin the enemy's scheme.
"Oh right, the Golden Crocodile Douluo's token." Suddenly, Tianlin remembered something and pulled out a pure gold token from his pocket, carved with a crocodile. This was a higher-level worshipper's token than the Elder Token.
He had a way in, and could quietly find Qian Renxue.
…
At that moment, inside Spirit Hall, Golden Crocodile Douluo had returned. He didn't appear publicly, but secretly found Qian Daoliu and handed over the Fallen Angel.
They wanted to torture information about the mastermind out of him, but the man seemed to be under a restriction—he couldn't say anything related to his master.
Qian Daoliu even tried to read his soul directly with spiritual power, but the man self-destructed his soul in advance, leaving them with nothing.
Golden Crocodile Douluo was furious. He had spent so much effort capturing a Titled Douluo-level key figure, but the guy didn't care about his life and self-destructed to keep his master's secret.
This also proved how scary the man in the shadows was. Either he had immense charisma, willing to make subordinates die for him, or he could completely control his followers. Either way, he was a tough opponent.
"Big Brother, the Titled Douluo we caught is now useless. The trail is broken. Should we try a different approach?" Golden Crocodile Douluo said. "According to my investigations, one source of this is Slaughter City. Only by going there can we know the truth."
Qian Daoliu shook his head. "You're right, but if either of us goes in, all our martial soul abilities will be sealed. We'd be lambs to the slaughter for the Slaughter King."
"That's why I thought, maybe we should ask Bibi Dong for help. She passed the Hell Road in Slaughter City and has the Deathgod Domain. Even there, she can use martial soul abilities. With her strength, investigating would be easy." Golden Crocodile suggested.
In reality, Qian Daoliu hadn't told Bibi Dong about the joint investigation with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Golden Crocodile thought now was not the time to keep hiding things.
"No. Bibi Dong hates my Qian Clan too much. I can't fully trust her," Qian Daoliu refused sternly. Though lately, under Qian Renxue's influence, Bibi Dong's personality had improved.
But that didn't mean she'd let go of her hatred. If it were so easy, she wouldn't be Bibi Dong.
She could accept Qian Renxue because she didn't really hate her daughter, knowing she was innocent in all this. In fact, she'd never realized how much she loved her real daughter.
But accepting Qian Renxue didn't mean she could accept the entire Qian family. Every time she saw Qian Daoliu, she looked at him with hatred. Her dream of destroying the Angel Clan's legacy on the continent hadn't faded.
Once Qian Renxue became a god and ascended to the Divine Realm, there'd be no more need for angels on this continent—so Bibi Dong thought.
Qian Daoliu couldn't let her know about this, or she might even join forces with the enemy against him.
After hearing Qian Daoliu's reasoning, Golden Crocodile Douluo didn't argue further. He'd just made a suggestion, but the final decision was Qian Daoliu's.
Qian Daoliu frowned. After so long, they still knew nothing about the enemy. It was frustrating.
Actually, Qian Daoliu's wisdom was no less than Ning Fengzhi's—he just lacked information. If he knew what Ning Fengzhi did, he could guess more.
At this moment, Tianlin had already entered Spirit Hall. With the Golden Crocodile's worshipper token, he could go anywhere.
Tianlin attached a concealment talisman to himself. With his perception, as long as he avoided all Titled Douluo-level experts, ordinary Soul Douluo wouldn't notice him at all.
He soon saw three familiar faces: Yan, Hu Liena, and Xie Yue—the Golden Generation trio.
They were training on the battle arena.
Tianlin was pleased. Even if he couldn't find Qian Renxue for now, Hu Liena would do.