With Xiao Lin joining from elsewhere, the battles quickly concluded.
At this moment, the entire battlefield was filled with massive craters. Exhausted, Xiao Lin and the others collapsed to the ground.
"Phew… luckily Captain Xiao Lin dealt with one Soul Emperor and heavily wounded another right at the start."
Shi Mo exhaled heavily, looking up at the aurora in awe.
Without the conditions Xiao Lin created, he didn't think they could have won.
Silently impressed, Shi Mo also stole a glance at Xiao Lin.
He was practically a monster, taking turns defeating two Soul Emperor-level opponents.
"Exactly… my soul power is almost exhausted."
Ye Lingling smiled faintly. The three of them had fought a Soul King together, nearly draining all their soul power.
That Soul King had been constantly engaging them, forcing the Shi brothers to keep mocking and draining him.
Their soul power was consumed at double speed. By the time the Soul King grew impatient, their soul power was already nearly spent.
Ultimately, the Shi brothers didn't have enough soul power to protect themselves, only enough to protect Ye Lingling as best they could.
Ye Lingling, in turn, could only use her group healing abilities to desperately maintain their survival.
"All right. We've just gone all out, so resting here isn't ideal. Let's return to Tiandou Royal Academy."
Donnie, in better condition, spoke decisively. Since they had finished hunting the soul beasts, there was no reason to linger.
"All right! Let's go back!"
Ye Lingling quickly agreed and affectionately grabbed Donnie's arm.
Finally, it was over.
As for the hidden mastermind behind Xueling Province, they would deal with him later—after growing stronger.
"You two go ahead. I have some matters to handle."
Xiao Lin helped the exhausted Shi brothers to their feet, then unexpectedly said.
"Captain Xiao Lin, you…"
Shi Mo suspected Xiao Lin might continue pursuing the mastermind and wanted to stop him.
Not just Shi Mo—Shi Mo, Ye Lingling, and Donnie all looked worried.
"Hehe, don't worry. I won't recklessly take on this gang alone."
Seeing his teammates concerned moved Xiao Lin slightly.
He explained his plan: he wanted to continue investigating Xueling Province secretly.
Knowing the approximate location of the mastermind would make it easier to eliminate the enemy later.
They had been pursued for so long—did they really think Xiao Lin was easy prey?
After hearing his plan to investigate alone for a while, no one in the team objected.
Given Xiao Lin's combat power, investigating alone was safer and wouldn't alert the enemy.
It was, in every way, a perfect plan.
Donnie, however, requested that Xiao Lin not confront the mastermind alone.
She wasn't worried about him being impulsive—she wanted a chance to vent her own anger.
Having been chased for so long, she was at her limit.
Soon, after the five-person team finalized their plan, they headed toward Dragon City to avoid being seen by the mastermind's subordinates.
Though Dragon City was within Xueling Province, it was the territory of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect.
Where the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect held sway, small-time criminals like the mastermind could not exist.
Half a month later.
Xiao Lin and Donnie's group arrived in Dragon City.
Perhaps because many of the mastermind's officers had been eliminated, Xiao Lin's return was uneventful.
In fact, it went so smoothly that it was more than twice as fast as their previous soul beast hunts.
Of course, their improved strength likely played a role.
"Donnie, you can ask Xiao San if he wants that soul bone. If not, keep it for me so I can continue my research."
"Ye Lingling, when you return, study the Nine-Heart Begonia martial soul. It may not give you offensive soul skills, but it could provide unique group healing techniques."
"For example: rapid multi-stage healing, massive instant healing, psychological healing… the effects of a top-tier millennium Snow Silkworm are more than just that."
"Shi Mo, Shi Mo… if you two brothers can't decide who takes the Dragon Turtle and who takes the Black Tortoise, just both pick the Black Tortoise for now."
"Later, one can specialize in offense, the other in defense—this will also make finding suitable soul beasts easier."
At parting, Xiao Lin couldn't resist giving a few more instructions.
Mostly, they concerned future soul ring choices for their martial souls.
The team valued Xiao Lin's advice and promised to consider it seriously.
Once they were out of sight, Xiao Lin turned and entered Dragon City.
"Dragon catching! Anyone want to join me in the Dragon Catching Tournament?"
"The once-in-a-decade Dragon Catching Tournament! This year's prize: a millennium soul bone!"
As soon as Xiao Lin entered Dragon City, he heard the curious calls.
Since when were soul bones handed out so casually?
Even if it was just one millennium soul bone, for some people, it was a rare treasure—worthy of passing down through generations.
Even a genius like Yu Tianheng might overlook it, but some disciples in his sect would surely value it.
What kind of tournament gave out such extravagant rewards?
Xiao Lin's curiosity piqued, and he began chatting with locals.
He learned that the tournament was hosted by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect.
Dragon City was surrounded by mountains and rivers, and nearby lay a massive soul beast forest—the Thunder Gorge.
The gorge was home to many draconic-class soul beasts.
Thus, many water-type soul beasts with dragon blood appeared near Dragon City, posing a threat to local civilians. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect initiated the tournament to control them.
The rules were simple: whoever captured the oldest water soul beast would be the champion.
If a water soul beast had true dragon blood, its age would count extra.
The sect sought these true dragon-blooded water soul beasts as dragon blood ingredients for medicinal baths—making this tournament unique to Dragon City.
Xiao Lin analyzed this carefully but couldn't initially connect the proximity of Thunder Gorge with the presence of true dragon-blooded water soul beasts.
After repeatedly asking locals, he finally understood.
These "true dragon-blooded water soul beasts" weren't truly pure dragon-blooded.
It was somewhat convoluted. Apparently, the Thunder Gorge had a powerful lightning-element true dragon-blooded species called the Thunder Emperor Dragon.
They had a strong Azure Dragon bloodline, a dragon's body, and absorbed the gorge's lightning daily, growing stronger.
Over time, weaker Thunder Emperor Dragons would breed with weaker water soul beasts, transferring part of their dragon bloodline.
As a result, some water soul beasts gained partial true dragon blood.
These beasts reproduced rapidly, with strong bloodlines, making them much easier to capture as decade-old soul beasts than ordinary ones.
The entire economy of Dragon City—its GDP—relied heavily on these water soul beasts.
(End of Chapter 178)