The commotion behind them caught Meng Hongchen's attention. She turned back curiously and asked:
"What's going on with those two?"
Jiang Qingtong cupped Meng Hongchen's cheeks and gently turned her head back.
"Nothing. Just some warm, friendly exchanges back there."
The soul train pulled into Mingdu Station, and the group disembarked. Xiao Hongchen walked with his head down, a hand covering his face, which puzzled Huo Yuhao, who had come to greet them.
"Senior Hongchen, why are you covering your face?"
Xiao Hongchen lowered his hand and calmly looked at Huo Yuhao. The two dark bruises around his eyes made his current mood plain.
"Now you understand why?" Xiao Hongchen asked with a faint smile.
"Understand what?" Huo Yuhao stared at the blackened "panda eyes" and couldn't imagine how he had ended up like that.
Passing by his side, Jiang Shengyu said lazily:
"He wasn't looking where he was walking and ran into a wall."
Ran into a wall?
What kind of position would one have to be in to hit a wall so precisely as to bruise both eyes at once?
Huo Yuhao simply couldn't make sense of it.
After leaving the Mingdu train station, the group returned to Mingde Hall. There, they found Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen drinking tea together—with Du Busi of all people.
"What's he doing here?" Xiao Hongchen froze in shock when he saw Du Busi sitting calmly at the table, and he instinctively took a step back, even trying to pull Huo Yuhao behind him.
"You brat, so rude!"
Du Busi barked when he saw Xiao Hongchen's reaction, setting down his teacup with a scowl.
Xiao Hongchen was at a loss, unable to understand the situation, until Jing Hongchen explained:
"Poison Sect Master is here to instruct Yuhao in cultivating his Body Spirit. He is a guest of Mingde Hall—you don't need to be nervous."
"Huh? Since when?" Xiao Hongchen was still bewildered.
"Not long. Only a few months," Du Busi replied. He then pulled out the token Jiang Shengyu had given him earlier and tossed it back to him.
"Here. Your token. This old man doesn't need it anymore."
Jiang Shengyu accepted it with a grin and said cheerfully:
"Senior is truly diligent, so earnestly guiding Yuhao's cultivation."
He had even gotten so familiar with Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen!
"Hmph!"
Du Busi snorted, casting a glance at the slightly awkward-looking Huo Yuhao standing to the side.
"It's only because this brat refuses to return with me to the Body Sect! I had no choice but to be so diligent. Do you know how far the Body Sect is from Mingdu? With these old bones of mine, the constant traveling these past few months has nearly worn me out!"
Jiang Shengyu, still smiling, said:
"In that case, why doesn't Senior simply move the Body Sect to the Sun Moon Empire?"
"As if!"
Du Busi rejected the idea without hesitation.
"The Body Sect is one of the orthodox sects of the Douluo Continent, with a legacy of ten thousand years. How could we possibly—"
But before he could finish, Jiang Shengyu's smile faded.
"Is the Sun Moon Empire not part of the Douluo Continent? For thousands of years, the hostility between the Three Former Kingdoms of the Douluo Continent and the Sun Moon Empire has been so entrenched precisely because too many people hold views like yours, Senior."
Du Busi was struck speechless, unable to find a reply.
Jiang Shengyu pressed on.
"Senior must have met the Tang Sect Master as well, yes?"
"You mean that little girl from the Tang Sect? I've met her. Why?" Du Busi nodded, curious about where this was going. Was this boy suggesting he follow the Tang Sect's example?
"Do you consider the Tang Sect's reestablishment in the Sun Moon Empire to be a betrayal of the Three Former Kingdoms?" Jiang Shengyu asked bluntly.
At that question, Du Busi fell silent again, unable to answer.
But Jiang Shengyu didn't wait for his response.
"In my view, of course not. The Three Kingdoms abandoned the Tang Sect thousands of years ago. To demand that the Tang Sect remain loyal regardless—don't you think that's absurd?"
"True enough," Du Busi admitted with a nod, before shaking his head. "But the Body Sect's situation is different from the Tang Sect's."
Unlike the Tang Sect, which had been cast aside, the Body Sect had always been respected by the Three Kingdoms.
"But what about the future—after you are gone, Senior, and the Body Sect begins to decline?"
Jiang Shengyu's words came softly but cut deep.
"The very reason you want Yuhao as your disciple is because you know the Body Sect has no new blood, and its future prospects are bleak, isn't that so?"
His bluntness silenced Du Busi.
But Jiang Shengyu continued.
"Right now, the Body Sect commands respect only because you, a level ninety-eight Super Douluo, still stand at its head. But once you are gone, when all that remains is a single level ninety-six Golden Body Douluo—will the Three Kingdoms still show deference to the Body Sect?"
"Even the weakest Dou Ling Empire has a level ninety-seven Heavenly Sun Douluo to hold up its prestige."
At this, Du Busi roared:
"They wouldn't dare!"
"What's to stop them?" Jiang Shengyu countered smoothly.
Du Busi had no answer.
Jiang Shengyu pressed his point further.
"They wouldn't even need to attack the Body Sect directly. All they'd have to do is control the body-spirit soul masters within their own borders. Cultivating a body spirit is difficult enough. Given time, without recruitment, the Body Sect would simply wither away on its own."
The Body Sect, unlike the Clear Sky Sect, could not truly cut itself off from the world and sever ties with the great empires.
Body spirits were diverse and irregular—there was no single line of inheritance like that of the Clear Sky Sect. That meant the Body Sect's disciples inevitably came from the common folk of the empires, not from within the sect itself.
Du Busi knew this well, and he knew Jiang Shengyu's words rang true.
Kong Deming, Jing Hongchen, and the others present remained silent. For them, if Du Busi truly chose to bring the Body Sect over to the Sun Moon Empire, it would be beneficial. If not, it was no loss either.
Some branches of the Hall of Souls were already publicly active in the Three Kingdoms under the banner of Tang Sect sub-divisions.
"You brat! To shake this old man's heart with just a few words—not simple at all!"
After a long silence, Du Busi finally sighed. He fixed his gaze on Jiang Shengyu, then at Huo Yuhao, before saying:
"This is no small matter. As much as I agree with you, it is not something I alone can decide!"
He then added:
"Besides, even here in the Sun Moon Empire, the Body Sect might not find smooth development."
"Why is that?" Jiang Shengyu frowned, and even Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen behind him knit their brows.
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