After communicating with Ning Fengzhi and Lin Gong for a while, Yang Xiong left Jialing Pass alone, preparing to return to the Body Sect.
Now that the Three Great Empires were in a stalemate, instead of continuing to stay on the front lines and slowly recover from his injuries, it was better to return directly to the Sect. Perhaps there would be other opportunities.
Of course, Yang Xiong also specifically explained to Ning Fengzhi and Lin Gong that with the war reaching this stage, and neither side having absolute certainty of victory, it was likely that there would be a relatively long period of stalemate. Neither side was confident they could completely defeat the other.
Therefore, moving forward, both the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Body Sect should try their best to preserve their strength. After all, half of the entire Sect's Soul Masters, and even the vast majority of Titled Douluo, were on the Jialing Pass front line. If they were all to fall, it would likely impact the future development of the Sects.
Furthermore, Yang Xiong had made it clear that the Heaven Dou Empire could be supported, but it must be under their own control. Otherwise, everything would just be benefiting others.
This was a decision Yang Xiong made after careful consideration. One had to know that in the original work, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect sacrificed everything for the Battle of Jialing Pass, even leading to the fall of the Sword Bone Douluo.
But ten thousand years later, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could no longer be considered a top Sect in the world. It was just an ordinary Sect, not only far inferior to the three major forces of that era, but also having no influence on the Soul Master world, and leaving behind no legacy of the Gods.
Even more tragically, the Sword Bone Douluo had no Inheritors. Not only was their Martial Soul not passed down, but they also had no descendants.
In a sense, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had not developed as well as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, at least the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family produced quite a few peerless powerhouses.
Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul gradually faded into obscurity by Douluo II, completely losing the prestige of being the number one Support Martial Soul ten thousand years ago.
Originally, Queen Xue Ke, Tang Xiao, and others wanted to keep Yang Xiong, but Yang Xiong politely refused, citing his injuries and the need to return to the Sect to recuperate.
With the war reaching this point, the Three Great Empires were already showing signs of a ceasefire. Although the Star Luo Emperor had fiercely attacked Heaven's Gate Pass for a period, he gained little, with millions of troops suppressed outside the pass.
Emperor Xue Ye and Marshal Gordon of the Heaven Dou Empire had died in battle, and Empress Xue Ke had been thrust into power in a crisis, having just ascended the throne. The Spirit Empire's power had been seized, Bibi Dong had returned to Spirit City, and Qian Renxue had been recovering from her injuries. The person truly in charge of affairs was actually the Saintess, Hu Liena.
Given the current morale of the Three Great Empires, peace talks were perhaps the best option. If the fighting continued, it would damage the very foundations of the Empires, and might even lead to their destruction.
Moreover, according to Ning Fengzhi, he had discovered that the Three Great Empires were actually holding secret peace talks, but unfortunately, there had been no progress so far. After all, all three sides had suffered too many casualties and paid too high a price. Rushing into peace talks might affect internal morale.
Yang Xiong returned to the Body Sect alone, while the others continued to stay in the front-line military camps. Ning Rongrong followed Ning Fengzhi to handle Sect affairs, while Oscar stayed with Lin Gong and Yang Wudi, effectively becoming the person in charge of all matters in the Body Sect.
...
After returning to the Sect, Yang Xiong did not go back to his main peak, but instead came to the depths of Thunder Valley.
The entire Thunder Valley covered a vast area, and the Thunder Nine Peaks soared into the clouds, absolutely a rare natural barrier in the world.
Yang Xiong had long since used his divine sense to search the entire Body Sect. There were no hidden dangers within the entire Thunder Nine Peaks, but he was consistently unable to penetrate the depths of this Thunder Valley.
At this moment, Yang Xiong held the Sword Hilt of the Asura Demon Sword and gradually walked towards the depths of Thunder Valley like an ordinary person.
By the time Yang Xiong stopped, he had reached the location where he had first encountered that Thunder Hell Vine.
In the past, this Thunder Hell Vine was over Tens of Thousands of Years old, especially in the special environment of this Thunder Valley. Its entire body was covered in Thunder, and each single vine reached eighty miles.
And it had dozens of vines all over its body, each one seemingly full of Strength, almost occupying the dozens of meters wide canyon, making it impossible for outsiders to pass through.
Yang Xiong snorted coldly: "Move aside, don't force me to kill you. With your Strength and age, you can definitely understand what I'm saying."
A roar of Thunder immediately echoed through the heavens and earth, accompanied by a furious bellow: "Human, this is my territory, and no one shall pass!"
Yang Xiong smiled: "Did you say something wrong? Now the entire Thunder Valley is my territory. Everything within the entire Thunder Valley belongs to my Body Sect, including you."
The massive Thunder Hell Vine flickered with countless bolts of lightning. All the lightning gathered at its root, and a figure gradually formed in the center of the root, condensed from Thunder elements. It looked like the face of an extremely rugged middle-aged man.
"Young man, I have been here for Tens of Thousands of Years. No one can break through me, let alone make me listen to you."
Yang Xiong asked in confusion: "In terms of age, you should be stronger than that Sky Azure Bull Python in the Star Dou Great Forest. And based on your surroundings, you should have been here for a very long time. I'm a little curious, why has no one ever thought about hunting you to obtain a Soul Ring?"
"You should know that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family has always been domineering. If they discovered a Hundred Thousand Year Thunder attribute Soul Beast, they wouldn't easily give up, even if it meant losing half the strength of their Sect."
The middle-aged man said: "Are you talking about those humans whose Martial Soul is a small Thunder attribute snake? Their Strength is too weak. Even their strongest is far from my opponent."
"Besides, in this Thunder Valley, I possess endless lightning and can control all the Thunder in the entire valley. No one is my opponent."
Yang Xiong grinned: "That's true. This is the first time I've heard a Soul Beast call itself invincible. Even Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest and the Deep Sea Demon Whale King are no longer in my eyes now."
"Not to mention you, a mere Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast. From your appearance, you haven't even reached the Fierce Beast level. What right do you have to be so arrogant?"
The middle-aged face formed by Thunder seemed a little angry: "Human, what do you mean by that? Are you daring to look down on me?"
Yang Xiong shook his head: "I'm not looking down on you. I'm just a little curious. The Thunder Hell Vine is known as a Soul Beast rejected by heaven and earth. Although it is at the very top of the Plant Spirit Beast bloodline and the number one destroyer of the Plant World, because it needs to devour lightning to grow, no Thunder Hell Vine has ever been able to grow beyond fifty thousand years."
"And legend has it that the Thunder Hell Vine has the Thunder God Bloodline and is not threatened by Heaven's Punishment, making it an Anomaly in the entire Douluo world. How did you grow to the Hundred Thousand Year Level? And I can't even see your exact age. It seems like the depths of this Thunder Valley have blocked the perception of heaven and earth."
The middle-aged face seemed extremely surprised: "You know quite a lot. Unfortunately, knowing more is useless. In this Thunder Valley, no one is my opponent."
Yang Xiong couldn't help but sigh: "It seems you really are a frog in a well. I'm a little curious. It seems the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family intentionally hid your information. Otherwise, once a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast appears, it will definitely attract a large number of people to hunt it down. Yet, I haven't found any record of you in Soul Master history."
The Thunder Hell Vine appeared extremely angry: "Bold! Do you think I really don't dare to kill you? You are just a mere human Ant, yet you dare to be so presumptuous."
The Thunder Hell Vine pushed out countless branches, like tentacles, directly and rapidly sweeping towards Yang Xiong. Especially each branch was covered in endless lightning, making a crackling sound, as if filled with boundless explosive Strength.
Just then, Yang Xiong's eyes changed slightly, revealing a hint of fierceness. A Blood Red Killing Intent erupted from Yang Xiong's body, directly forming a Blood Red giant sword.
The giant sword immediately descended from the sky. No matter how powerful these vines were, under this Blood Red giant sword, they instantly turned into nothingness.
This was Yang Xiong's Self-Created Soul Skill, Asura Slash, which he comprehended based on the Deathgod Domain, Sword Qi, and Killing Intent. It should be more than enough to deal with a mere Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast.
Before the Thunder Hell Vine could react, the giant sword had already pressed against the root of the Thunder Hell Vine, as if ready to kill it at any moment.
No matter how fierce the Thunder Hell Vine was, the middle-aged face now appeared incredibly terrified. Clearly, its life and death were in Yang Xiong's hands.
"Can we talk properly now? If you continue to spout nonsense, I don't mind cutting off all your vines, or directly beating you back to your original form."
The Thunder Hell Vine quickly spoke: "Esteemed sir, this lowly one did not know your Strength, and thus spoke presumptuously. Please spare this lowly one's life."
Yang Xiong was puzzled. Logically, the Thunder Hell Vine should be known for its domineering nature. Why did it feel like a coward right now?
"What do you mean by that? Why do you call me 'sir'? Have you seen me before?"
The Thunder Hell Vine said, "Although I haven't seen you before, I can feel the divine power on you. You must be from the God Realm. Only the gods in the God Realm can wield divine power. Otherwise, I wouldn't be completely helpless against you."
Yang Xiong's expression shifted slightly. "Normally, a mere hundred thousand year Soul Beast like you shouldn't know about the existence of divine power, let alone the difference between divine power and Soul Power. Could it be that your origin isn't simple?"
"And how did you break through the fifty thousand year limit to reach the hundred thousand year level? I can't even see your exact age. You should be at least over one hundred fifty thousand years old."
The Thunder Hell Vine looked extremely conflicted, seemingly afraid to meet Yang Xiong's gaze, as if its previous words had touched upon some taboo.
Yang Xiong spoke calmly, "If you don't want to say, I can grant your wish. Anyway, if my guess is correct, there should be something inside Thunder Valley that you want to protect. That place should be the true core of the entire Thunder Valley."
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