"Eighth Elder."
"Hm." Lin Xiao nodded and walked toward the interior of the base.
The Holy Spirit Church's base had already been rebuilt. The soul tools inside had all been arranged by the Dark Lightning Douluo and Lin Xiao himself, so he was quite familiar with the place.
It was still daytime, far from the lively nights, but some people were already gathering nearby, waiting for nightfall. During this period without the underground arena, many had lost a significant source of entertainment.
Lin Xiao withdrew his gaze from the people outside and continued walking deeper in. The disciple who had just spoken hurriedly caught up again.
"Eighth Elder, the Third Elder is currently receiving the Common Alliance's Alliance Leader, Shangguan. Should I lead you there?"
Shangguan Wei'er?
Lin Xiao slightly frowned. Back when Shangguan Qing was still at the academy, he had some dealings with the Common Alliance.
Later, after Shangguan Qing left the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, he would occasionally visit the Common Alliance's location to exchange information or materials, but he rarely saw Shangguan Wei'er appear in person again.
Her sudden visit this time was most likely related to the upcoming Soul Master Competition.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Xiao gently waved his hand. "No need. I only came to say hello. When the Third Elder returns, tell him I have something to attend to and will be going out for a while."
"Yes." The disciple replied, then added, "Additionally, the disciples prepared by the church to participate in the Soul Battle Competition have already been sent here. Would you like to personally inspect them?"
Lin Xiao paused upon hearing this. "They've all arrived?"
"Yes."
"Then call them over." Lin Xiao let out a soft sigh and continued walking inside.
Nangong Wan was not present. As one of the people in charge of this base, a room had already been reserved for Lin Xiao here.
After turning several corners along the corridor, Lin Xiao pushed open the door beside him and walked in.
He sat down to the side, let out a soft sigh, and quietly waited for the arrival of those seven disciples.
He hadn't met all of them personally, but he had heard about most of them. They were disciples whose martial souls did not obviously resemble those of evil soul masters, and their conduct was also much milder.
When selecting disciples back then, he had paid special attention to what these disciples had done. He didn't know what they truly thought, but just as he had said before—if any of them were like his former self, then under his command, at the very least, things could be easier for them.
Soon, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
"Eighth Elder, all the disciples sent from headquarters are here."
"Hm. You may leave first."
The disciple nodded, stepped out, and thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
The seven disciples stood neatly in a row, looking at the figure before them. From that mask, not a trace of expression could be seen; they could only guess in their hearts what would happen next.
Lin Xiao stood up and swept his gaze over them. A few disciples' eyes clearly flickered with evasion, especially the last one, Tang Ya, who instinctively lowered her head the moment Lin Xiao's gaze landed on her.
She still remembered that it was this very person who had brought her into the Holy Spirit Church.
"Since you're here, you more or less know what you're supposed to do." Lin Xiao carefully observed their expressions. "Likewise, I know that as disciples of the Holy Church, none of your strengths are lacking."
"However, what I need is not the ability to fight to the death. What you will be doing is openly sparring with opponents on a public stage."
"I will not ask you to abandon your usual fighting methods, but you must learn how to control your power. And also, how to cooperate with those around you."
Lin Xiao spoke slowly, watching the changes in their expressions. Though not very obvious, he could still see traces of confusion and doubt on their faces.
Perhaps within the Holy Spirit Church, this was the first time they had received such a strange task, not learning how to kill efficiently, but learning how to "spar."
Lin Xiao gave them some time to gradually adjust.
In the Holy Spirit Church, the way disciples were cultivated was mostly like raising gu, letting them kill each other, with the dead becoming nourishment for the survivors. Having come this far the same way, how could Lin Xiao not understand the doubts in their hearts?
"You have already seen that this is an underground arena. Matches are held here at night. When the arena is free, you may go up and spar with each other to familiarize yourselves with one another's abilities and learn to control your strength."
"As for later…"
Lin Xiao paused slightly here, then looked up through the door toward the outside of the room. "We'll talk about the rest later. You may return for now."
"Yes."
The disciples responded, but their eyes were still filled with bewilderment. The words of this "Eighth Elder" felt somewhat unfamiliar to them, and from beginning to end, he had not once mentioned what would happen if the mission failed.
Lin Xiao took the initiative to open the door and saw that the Dark Lightning Douluo was already standing outside.
"Third Brother, come in."
"Haha, I didn't interrupt you, did I?" The Dark Lightning Douluo laughed as he watched the disciples walk past him.
He had changed his attire by now, no longer wearing his signature black cloak. Instead, he dressed somewhat like the former Nangong Wan, in expensive and luxurious clothing, looking even more like a merchant than Nangong Wan had.
"No, I was just meeting these disciples. There are still more than two years until the next Soul Battle Competition. Let them train slowly for now; we'll discuss other matters later."
"I naturally trust Eighth Brother's way of handling things." The Dark Lightning Douluo said, glancing once more at the backs of the departing disciples. "It's just that you've only recently become an elder, so you're still not fully accustomed to some things."
"Being too gentle with these disciples may not achieve the result the Church Leader desires."
"Is that so?" Lin Xiao followed the Dark Lightning Douluo's gaze toward the end of the corridor. "It's fine. I'll see the results first. If the results are poor, I will naturally make sure the Church Leader is satisfied."
The Dark Lightning Douluo nodded and did not pursue the topic further. Changing the subject, he turned to look at Lin Xiao. "By the way, I just heard that you're planning to go out for a while?"
"Hm." Lin Xiao nodded. "Having received the Church Leader's high regard and taken over the position of elder from my teacher, my cultivation is still insufficient compared to Third Brother and the others. So I want to raise my strength as quickly as possible."
The Dark Lightning Douluo's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. He stared at Lin Xiao for a good while. "I remember it hasn't been that long since you broke through to eight rings, has it?"
"One must always prepare in advance. Waiting until one truly hits a bottleneck before seeking a breakthrough only wastes a lot of time."
"In that case, it seems Eighth Brother has full confidence in breaking through to nine rings." The Dark Lightning Douluo said with a smile. "You mustn't underestimate the gap between these rings."
"Thank you for the reminder, Third Brother. I will be careful."
"Good. While you're away, I'll take care of things at the base for you."
With Lin Xiao gone, all the income from the underground arena during this period would go straight into the Dark Lightning Douluo's pocket. At this moment, his smile was genuinely heartfelt.
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