Upon returning to the dormitory entrance, Gu Yuena looked at Huo Yuhao.
Instead of discussing the reasons behind the attack by the Evil Soul Masters, she said, "The Execution Department will likely handle this matter."
Leaving aside her relationship with Di Tian and the others, even her teacher was the sister of Dark Phoenix Douluo, so she was quite familiar with the Execution Department.
Supervision was their primary duty, and hunting down Evil Soul Masters was one of their responsibilities.
Now that she had been attacked by Evil Soul Masters, both emotionally and logically, the Joyful Douluo would surely inform Dark Phoenix Douluo about the incident.
"Mm."
Huo Yuhao nodded, tacitly choosing to skip over the Evil Soul Master attack just like Gu Yuena.
That matter would be properly handled by Hua Yichen.
After pondering for a moment, he asked, "I'm not very familiar with the composition of the Execution Department. Can you tell me more about it?"
He only knew the purpose behind the establishment of the Execution Department but wasn't clear on the details of its personnel.
Hua Yichen had never bothered to tell him such things.
However, based on his understanding of Evil Soul Masters, there wouldn't be many strong individuals in that division.
Just looking at Tang Ya made it clear.
Before she awakened her devouring talent, her growth rate was vastly different from when she used it.
The reason Evil Soul Masters were so powerful was because of the bizarre abilities granted by their martial souls.
Without utilizing those abilities, unless they possessed a martial soul like Ma Xiaotao's, one that could achieve great accomplishments even without becoming an Evil Soul Master, the difference between them and regular soul masters wouldn't be significant.
Gaining the right to live under the sunlight came at the cost of sacrificing rapid growth.
It was a classic case of give and take.
Moreover, when it came to supervision, the Spirit Pagoda wasn't acting alone, it was cooperating with the Federation.
The Federation also dispatched personnel for inspections.
As a result, many children with the potential to become Evil Soul Masters developed a sense of recognition toward the Federation.
Later on, many of them grew up and joined various federal departments.
This naturally reduced the likelihood of the Execution Department producing powerful individuals.
But in Huo Yuhao's view, this was actually a good thing, it meant that the Spirit Pagoda hadn't been blinded by power.
Beyond the political implications, cooperating with the Federation also meant that if anything went wrong, they could shift some of the blame onto the Federation.
Why not take advantage of that?
Hearing his question, Gu Yuena thought for a moment before responding,
"The Spirit Pagoda requires the members of the Execution Department to develop as normal soul masters. They also undergo screening before leaving the division. Because of this, to this day, there are only two powerhouses above the Titled Douluo level. One of them is my teacher's younger sister, Dark Phoenix Douluo."
"The other one… his title is 'Soul-Suppressing.' He holds a rather unique position in the Execution Department, one of the few individuals allowed by the upper ranks of the Spirit Pagoda to enhance his strength using his martial soul's special abilities.
He is also one of the hidden trump cards of the Spirit Pagoda. Only deputy pagoda masters and above are privy to his existence. His abilities are related to souls, and he can only improve his cultivation by devouring soul energy, regular cultivation has no effect on him…"
Huo Yuhao's eye twitched. Even before Gu Yuena finished speaking, he had already guessed who this person was.
Goodness gracious, had the Spirit Pagoda turned into a branch of the Holy Spirit Cult?
Was the true lineage of the Holy Spirit Cult actually within the Spirit Pagoda?
As Gu Yuena continued describing the abilities and characteristics of the Soul-Suppressing Douluo, Huo Yuhao finally asked, "If I'm not mistaken, he advanced by consuming Soul Ascension Pills, right?"
"That's right. Or rather, it was because of him that the Soul Ascension Pill was developed," Gu Yuena said, her expression turning somewhat odd.
"He was the first person to become a Limit Doulou solely by consuming pills.He is also the strongest commoner soul master discovered by the Spirit Pagoda in nearly a century."
Devouring souls to cultivate, other factions would have labeled such a person as an Evil Soul Master and executed him on the spot.
But the Spirit Pagoda was different; they had even created artificial soul spirits!
Of course, the Spirit Pagoda wasn't feeding soul spirits to the Soul-Suppressing Douluo, he was simply consuming the energy extracted from souls.
Thus, the Soul Ascension Pill was developed.
The energy used to make artificial soul spirits was the same energy used in these pills, which is why they could enhance the cultivation of soul spirits.
"The Soul-Suppressing Douluo himself once said that he ate so many pills to become a Limit Doulou that he got sick of them," Gu Yuena continued.
Huo Yuhao, along with the soul beasts in his spiritual sea: "…"
Eating pills to become a Limit Doulou…
Even soul engineers from ten thousand years ago would cry with envy—And you're still not satisfied?
Do you even hear yourself?
"But the price was enormous. In that era, most of the soul energy from the Ascension Platform was used to create Soul Ascension Pills. Only a small fraction was allocated to other factions, which caused significant disputes, and it took decades to resolve.
In a way, he was nurtured using the resources that could have produced dozens of hundred-thousand-year soul spirits."
Of course, compared to having an enigmatic, Limit Doulou-level powerhouse as a hidden trump card, all these issues seemed trivial.
With that thought, Gu Yuena looked at Huo Yuhao and said, "The reason the Spirit Pagoda values him isn't just his strength. He can generate his own soul rings. Whenever he absorbs enough spiritual energy, his martial soul will automatically condense a soul ring for him. If it weren't for the need to have some soul spirits for monitoring, all nine of his soul rings would have been self-generated. His abilities are highly valuable for research."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao nodded silently.
A soul master who could generate their own soul rings was not much different from a soul beast taking human form.
Among soul masters of this era, this former leader of the Holy Spirit Cult's Four Heavenly Kings was definitely someone who piqued his interest.
If given the chance, he would love to study this person's abilities.
While at it, he might as well ask how it actually felt to become a Limit Doulou just by eating pills!
Meanwhile, in his spiritual sea, Ice Empress was speechless.
Her previous thoughts had come true, there really was a human who could generate their own soul rings…
As Huo Yuhao remained silent, Gu Yuena suddenly asked,
"These days, the pagoda masters of the Eighteen Heavenly Pillars and even members of the Federal Parliament include soul beasts. As seen from the Execution Department, the number of Evil Soul Masters has also declined due to the rise of soul spirit contracts. The Spirit Pagoda has fulfilled its initial promise and even taken it further. Are you satisfied with this outcome?"
Huo Yuhao was momentarily stunned before he chuckled. "Satisfied or not, that's something only the people and soul beasts living in this era can answer. I just got back not too long ago, I don't have the right to speak on behalf of the Spirit Pagoda. You should be asking yourself that question."
"..."
Gu Yuena's sharp black eyes locked onto Huo Yuhao's gaze.
After a moment of silence, she suddenly smiled and said, "I don't dislike this era, but I want it to be even better."
Huo Yuhao let out a soft chuckle, then turned and walked toward the forging room.
"For things to get better, you have to take part in the process yourself, right? Are you trying out a new forging method?"
"Yes," Gu Yuena replied, her steps light as she followed him.
For things to improve, one had to take part in the process.
She, the Silver Dragon King, had no intention of winning just by lying down!
…
The first floor of this dormitory building had rooms designated for various auxiliary professions.
The two of them entered a forging room, where Huo Yuhao took out several pieces of rare metal.
"You can try using elemental power to remove impurities from the metal first. I understand the basics of purification and can give you some guidance."
Gu Yuena nodded, took a piece of metal, and, instead of using the forging table, directly lifted it into the air with wind elements.
At the same time, multi-colored lights of various elements swirled around her body, as if the elements of heaven and earth were responding to her call.
Compared to when she was in battle earlier, her aura at this moment was stronger than ever.
Watching this scene, Huo Yuhao suddenly recalled his previous impression of Gu Yuena and thought of six words—
Yan Ling, Tian Di Wei Lu?
("Flame Spirit, Heaven and Earth as the Furnace.")
(Words become reality, and heaven and earth become the furnace?)