"Creak—"
The door opened.
Jiang Jue stepped out of the room.
Seeing this, Lang Ya and Yu Tao hurried over.
"Young Master!"
"I have something to take care of and need to head out for a while. You two stay here. If Elder Xu comes asking, just answer the same way as before. Understood?"
Jiang Jue looked at the two of them and spoke softly.
"Understood!"
Lang Ya and Yu Tao answered in unison.
"Young Master, you don't need to worry too much. Elder Xu said that in order to avoid exposure, he'll only notify us before departure. He won't come at other times."
Yu Tao scratched his head and chuckled.
"Mm, still better to be cautious."
Jiang Jue nodded slightly.
After Du Busi led the Body Sect disciples in a breakout, the remaining Body Sect members stayed behind under Elder Xu's lead, waiting for their eventual departure.
Jiang Jue lifted his gaze to the moon in the sky. Ripples spread through his eyes—next, he would finally meet the master from whom he had been separated for a long time.
"You two stay here properly. Don't go wandering around."
As his words fell, the intent of wind and thunder emerged. The external soul bone—Evil God Wings—spread open, and Jiang Jue beat his wings and rose into the sky.
Immediately after, the Eye of Fate in the center of his brow opened. A dazzling golden light enveloped him, and his figure vanished from the air in an instant.
"Second Brother, it feels like the Young Master has a lot of things to do in Mingdu. It doesn't seem like what's recorded in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's files at all."
As Jiang Jue's figure disappeared, Yu Tao slowly came back to his senses and spoke hesitantly.
"Why think so much about it? At this point, it's certain the Young Master can secure the position of Young Sect Master. The two of us brothers made the right bet."
Lang Ya patted Yu Tao on the shoulder, shrugged, and spoke in a relaxed tone.
He still remembered how he once said Jiang Jue was a peaceful, friendly person—wasn't that view overturned just the same?
Since they couldn't change anything, they might as well enjoy it.
…
Jiang Jue continued ascending through the air. The night sky grew increasingly silent, to the point that even Mingdu's dazzling neon lights had become blurry.
Surrounded by darkness and cold, Jiang Jue's heart remained calm like still water. He had already reached an altitude of over three thousand meters—essentially the upper limit of the sky that a Titled Douluo could reach.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted.
All around him were high-altitude soul-guided monitoring devices. Red indicator lights flashed continuously, scanning the surroundings and the ground below.
These were the Sun Moon Empire's latest high-altitude soul-guided monitoring devices. From such heights, they could observe the ground below with crystal clarity, leaving virtually no blind spots. If deployed in warfare, they would be an exceptional tool for gathering intelligence.
Back then, one of the four Beast King legions under Wang Yiheng—the Evil Eye Legion—had relied on these very devices to firmly occupy the Mingdou Mountain Range. If not for Huo Yuhao, Ye Xishui's Death God Tower wouldn't even have needed to come into play.
After carefully observing them, Jiang Jue continued flying upward. After ascending several hundred more meters, a faint blue barrier appeared before him.
This was the linked soul-guided defense system activated in Mingdu after the attack on Mingde Hall. In a sense, Mingdu's city walls and defenses were precisely this blue barrier.
Moreover, this barrier was interconnected—pull one part and the whole responded. Once any area was attacked, the linked soul-guided devices would activate instantly, focusing the firepower of several or even dozens of soul-guided devices on a single point.
Jiang Jue released his vast spiritual power, sweeping over the pale blue barrier and sensing it carefully before letting out a soft sigh.
"As expected of a linked soul-guided system. A barrier of this level—ordinary Titled Douluo wouldn't be able to break it."
But in the next moment, the Eye of Fate in his brow suddenly flared with light. A ripple spread outward. A sense of distortion filled the air, and everything around him froze as if trapped in a domain of stillness. Even the moonlight above could no longer shine into this area.
Jiang Jue waved his hand toward the blue barrier. In an instant, it melted open into a large hole, and his figure passed through effortlessly.
After he went through, the blue barrier restored itself completely, without producing the slightest fluctuation. The surrounding monitoring devices issued no alarms at all.
"So this is what control feels like…"
Jiang Jue reflected on what had just happened, gently touching the Eye of Fate on his brow.
After refining the spiritual origins of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, this world's affinity toward him had reached an entirely new level.
Now, possessing both the fortune of a Child of Destiny and part of the fortune of the soul beast race, the strange fusion of the two allowed Jiang Jue—within a certain area—to link with the surrounding environment and control a portion of space itself.
Everything within that space entered a brief state of stillness, while Jiang Jue could freely merge into it and manipulate all within.
Though it was not a domain, it surpassed one.
However, its current range was limited to only about three cubic meters.
"What a marvelous feeling. For now, I'll call you 'Control of Order.'"
A slight smile curved Jiang Jue's lips. If the range of Control of Order could continue to expand, it would undoubtedly become a divine-level technique. As for the trigger to expand it, Jiang Jue suspected it would still be tied to fortune.
After all, when he activated Control of Order, what he drew upon was the fortune contained within his Eye of Fate.
Shaking his head lightly, Jiang Jue cast aside his stray thoughts. The Evil God Wings behind him beat powerfully as he shot toward the distant Evil Demon Forest.
He had long since learned through Zhang Peng that his master, Zhongli Wu, would be returning to the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters today.
…
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Two figures clad in black robes swept through the air and entered the pitch-black Evil Demon Forest.
"Ming Lei, when do you think this cult master will finally break through that ultimate threshold?"
"I originally thought that aside from Uncle Long and the others, I would be the first to reach the level of an Extreme Douluo. Who would've thought—it would be that Du Busi instead!"
A cold, indifferent voice sounded, tinged faintly with melancholy.
Beside him, Ming Lei Douluo kept his eyes on his nose, his nose on his mouth, and gently offered a word of comfort.
"Cult Master, I've heard that breaking through to Extreme Douluo requires an opportunity—but such opportunities are elusive. One must wait."
"What you're saying is that this cult master's fate is inferior to that Du Busi's?"
Seeing Zhongli Wu's complexion darken, Ming Lei Douluo hurriedly added,
"Of course not! Perhaps tonight, Cult Master, the opportunity for you to break through to Extreme Douluo will arrive."
Zhongli Wu shook his head slightly.
"You, you're always good at saying pleasant things. As for the Extreme level, even I feel it's far out of reach."
Zhongli Wu knew this very well. Back then, after fusing with that Bone Dragon's remains, his cultivation had increased rapidly—but it had also left hidden problems behind, leaving him stuck at level ninety-eight to this day.
Ming Lei Douluo: "..."
If he didn't comfort him, the cult master would be unhappy.
If he did comfort him, the cult master became melodramatic.
"This cult master is really hard to serve. If only the Holy Son were still here—he could at least rein him in. Ever since the Holy Son left, the cult master's temperament has grown even more unpredictable."
Ming Lei Douluo gave a bitter smile inwardly.
Just as the two arrived at the open ground in front of the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters, a tall, slender figure was already waiting there.
"Hmm? Who dares to show off before this cult master—playing tricks and pretending to be mysterious? Truly ignorant of your own limits!"
Seeing the figure concealed beneath a black robe, Zhongli Wu's expression turned cold. With a lift of his hand, black mist surged.
"Master… has it really been only a year since I left, and you no longer recognize me?"
Hearing this voice, Ming Lei Douluo's expression shifted, his heart filled with shock.
And beside him, Zhongli Wu—upon hearing that voice—had already rushed forward.
(End of Chapter)