Seeing this, Federation Secretary General Pan Wen was about to ask what was happening when Soul Calming Douluo suddenly said in a low voice, "Please excuse us for a moment, Secretary General. We need to discuss matters regarding the upcoming trip to Xingluo."
Pan Wen was startled, but he quickly understood and nodded, leaving without asking further.
Let the professionals handle professional matters.
Seeing Soul Calming Douluo suddenly becomes so solemn, Duoqing Douluo and the others could not help but grow serious as well.
Was there something wrong with this pill?
It was a prize for Huo Yuhao and the others. Surely it could not be that bad.
"The two of you made the right choice by dancing. If we had only learned of this item after entering the Xingluo Federation, it might have been too late."
Soul Calming did not first speak about the pill. Instead, he looked at Huo Yuhao with admiration. "And for you to notice something wrong with the pill the moment you touched it, this keenness is truly admirable."
He paused halfway through, then spoke the second half of the sentence.
Actually, that was not what he had wanted to say. But there were outsiders present, so he could not delve into the reason why Huo Yuhao had detected something wrong with the pill. Otherwise, he would certainly have asked.
After all, based on his observation, others, including Nanaly, would not have been able to immediately discover the problem with this pill without consuming it. Among those present, only he, due to his martial soul's characteristics, could immediately detect the secret within: the faint traces of blood energy and soul power hidden deep inside the pill.
Clearly, the refiner had gone to great effort to make the pill's ingredients less obvious.
"What exactly is wrong with this pill?" Dark Phoenix Douluo asked with a frown. "Surely they would not dare to poison Yuhao and Na'er? If so, I will apprehend them right now."
Soul Calming Douluo shook his head and sighed. "It is not clear what is wrong with the pill itself, but the ingredients used to refine it are problematic. This is a Blood Pill, or to be precise, a Human Pill. A pill refined from a person's blood energy, spirit power, and soul."
Duoqing Douluo and the others' expressions changed dramatically.
A Human Pill? A pill refined from a human being?
Knowing their shock, Soul Calming Douluo used his spirit power to draw out the energy within and let the others examine it.
This kind of pill essentially turned a human's entire power into something like a spirit ring, so it could naturally increase a spirit ring's age.
Duoqing Douluo examined it carefully for a moment, his expression heavy. "Is this... the work of evil soul masters?"
Turning people into great pills, the first thing that came to mind was evil soul masters.
If that were the case, the current situation in Xingluo might not be optimistic.
Soul Calming Douluo, seeing everyone's gradually solemn expressions, continued, "I still need to further investigate whether this pill has any side effects. But I can confirm that if someone with an evil martial soul consumes this pill, the consequences would undoubtedly be dire."
"After all, the ingredient itself is a human being. For an evil martial soul possessor to consume it is equivalent to tempting them to devour their own kind. It would likely completely excite their Evil Nature, causing them to fall into the demonic path."
Nanaly frowned. "That is not all, is it? Since pills that can increase spirit ring age can be refined, then pills that increase spirit power can certainly be refined as well. And compared to pills that increase spirit ring age, they would be easier to refine. After all, evil soul masters excel at this."
Upon hearing this, Leng Yulai said quietly, "If such pills exist, even non evil martial soul possessors, after consuming them for a long time, would probably find it difficult to extricate themselves from the pleasure of such rapid enhancement. This is practically a tool for cultivating evil soul masters."
Like taking an Addictive Drug. Once Withdrawal Symptoms set in, even a soul master with a firm resolve might resort to any means to pursue power, eventually degenerating into another kind of evil soul master.
Or rather, that would be an evil soul master.
After all, the definition of evil soul masters in their Federation had already changed.
On the Douluo Continent, in the past, evil soul masters referred to those who possessed evil martial souls. Even evil martial soul soul masters who did not use evil methods to enhance themselves were still classified as such.
Nowadays, evil soul masters refer to those who resort to any means to enhance their power, devouring souls and flesh. Whether one possesses an evil martial soul is secondary.
If, and Dark Phoenix Douluo said if, ordinary soul masters, in order to obtain these pills that enhance themselves, went to kill people, to plunder the life essence and souls of others to refine pills, then what difference would they have from evil soul masters?
The air around the high table seemed to freeze for a moment. Everyone understood Dark Phoenix Douluo's implication.
The current Federation was no longer an era that simply judged good and evil based on martial soul attributes. True evil was never the martial soul itself, but the human heart.
If a single pill could allow an ordinary soul master to easily obtain power that years of penance might not achieve, and if the price were minimal, then how many people would be willing to kill for it?
At least in Soul Calming's view, if the past he had consumed that kind of pill, he would not be Soul Calming Douluo now, but rather the Dark Blood Demon of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Soul Calming, Soul Calming. The true meaning of this title was not that his ability could suppress others' souls, but to constantly remind himself to suppress his own bloodthirsty soul.
But these pills could try people to fall into the abyss.
Soul Calming Douluo took a deep breath and glanced at the Xingluo delegation members around them.
"These delegation members do not seem to know the details of the pill. First, send this intelligence back to the Federation. We still need to carefully examine just what the situation in Xingluo is."
"And do not forget, some members of the Xingluo delegation are still in the Federation, discussing trade cooperation and other matters. If they let these pills flow into the market..."
Nanaly's eyelid twitched. She immediately stood up and left. "I will go make contact."
If these pills flowed into the Douluo Federation's market, the consequences would be no joke.
Duoqing Douluo also left with a heavy expression, intending to exchange intelligence with Shrek Academy.
Soul Calming Douluo then instructed Huo Yuhao, "Remind your companions as well. If they receive these pills from the Xingluo side, do not consume them."
Huo Yuhao nodded, did not disturb them further, and left with Gu Yuena.
Watching them walk away, Soul Calming Douluo looked toward the Xingluo Continent and said quietly to Dark Phoenix Douluo, "Blocking is not as good as channeling. The Spirit Transmission Tower and the Federation spent countless years continuously narrowing the definition of evil soul masters, winning over the evil martial soul possessors they could, thereby reducing the number of evil soul masters in the Douluo Federation's environment."
"If things are as you suspect, then Xingluo is the opposite. They have spent who knows how many years, instead Expanding the definition of evil soul masters."
"How many people are involved in refining these Human Pills? How many have consumed them? What difference is there between those who know the truth and evil soul masters?"
Leng Yulai was silent for a moment, then said, "If that is the case, then we may be facing the strongest evil martial soul organization in history, because this is a nation that is Breeding evil soul masters."
...
After that day's banquet, two months passed in the blink of an eye.
The silhouette of the Xingluo Continent quietly appeared before the eyes of everyone on the Xingluo Hao.
***
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