"Why would an expert at the Titled Douluo level choose to make an enemy of the Sword Sect?" Tuoba Yu'er asked.
"It is said that at that time, the Sword Sect obtained a treasure from an unknown source. It was a bottle of blood essence from a one hundred thousand year soul beast, the Fire Qilin."
"The Sect Master of the Black Tiger Sect wanted to rely on refining that Qilin blood essence to transform his own Martial Soul, hoping to forcibly break through the bottleneck of Rank 96. That is why he attacked the Sword Sect, intending to use his strength to demand treasure by force."
Xie Yue shook his head and laughed softly.
"However, that Sect Master of the Black Tiger Sect underestimated the Sword Sect."
"Although the Sword Sect did not have a Titled Douluo, all six Sword Masters were present. It was the peak era of the Sword Sect. He led the experts of his sect to attack, and his demand for the Qilin blood naturally enraged them."
"A great war broke out between the two sects. That battle lasted for a day and a night. In the end, the Black Tiger Sect's Sect Master was severely wounded by the 'Six Swords Unification' of the six Sword Masters."
"The five lineages of the Sword Sect had many expert disciples, and they successfully repelled the forces of the Black Tiger Sect. After the Black Tiger Sect's Sect Master retreated to his sect, he hasn't made any major moves. It's estimated his injuries were grave and have yet to heal even today."
"However, although the Sword Sect successfully repelled the invaders, they also suffered heavy losses. After all, the Black Tiger Sect's Sect Master was a Rank 95 Super Douluo, and his Martial Soul was quite powerful.
"During that battle, three of the six Sword Masters were killed in action. The Earth Lineage Sword Master and two Sword Masters from the Lightning Lineage—including the Sect Master himself—all perished."
"The remaining three Sword Masters were also severely injured. Two of them passed away a few years later after failing to recover, leaving only the Red Flame Sword Master of the Fire Lineage as the sole survivor. The disciples of the five lineages also suffered heavy casualties."
"After that fierce battle, the Black Tiger Sect's Sect Master not only failed to obtain the Qilin blood but also suffered incurable internal damage, and many of his sect's experts fell. Meanwhile, though the Sword Sect kept the Qilin blood, their six Sword Masters were either dead or wounded."
"The vitality of the Sword Sect was greatly damaged, and their strength plummeted from being the head of the Lower Four Sects to the mid-tier, only slightly stronger than the Ghost King Sect and roughly equal to the Elephant Armored Clan."
"One could say that in this war, both sects suffered losses where no one truly won."
Xie Yue continued, "In that war years ago, a total of three Sword Masters from the Lightning and Earth lineages died. The Sword Masters of the Ice and Wind lineages died of their injuries years later. Eventually, only the Fire Lineage still had a Sword Master left."
"Because of this, the Fire Lineage became the head of the five lineages. That Red Flame Sword Master came from the Bai Clan of the Fire Lineage. From then on, from a clan perspective, the strength of the Fire Lineage's Bai Clan surpassed that of the Yun Clan's Lightning Lineage."
Ling Xiao frowned slightly and asked curiously, "If that's the case, wouldn't the Yun Clan's position as Sect Master be in great danger?"
"After all, in such a large Sword Sect, only the Fire Lineage has a surviving Sword Master, and he isn't a member of the Yun Clan. Wouldn't it be very easy for him to seize the position of Sect Master from the Yun Clan?"
Xie Yue nodded slightly and said with a hint of respect, "Indeed. However, that Red Flame Sword Master is not only powerful—being the strongest among the original six—but he is also extremely honorable and acts with integrity."
"He once stated that the Yun Clan founded the Sword Sect and has been a benefactor to all Sword-type Martial Souls on the continent, and the Bai Clan only achieved its current success because of the Sword Sect's help."
"He said that if he were to take advantage of their weakness to seize the Sect Master position, how would he be any different from a beast?"
"This senior is truly a man of noble character and integrity, truly admirable," Ling Xiao said, nodding as a sense of respect for the Red Flame Sword Master grew in his heart.
Xie Yue also praised, "In the world of Soul Masters, whenever the Red Flame Sword Master, Senior Bai Hu, is mentioned, everyone respects him immensely. After he became the only remaining Sword Master, he didn't seize the Sect Master position."
"Instead, he did his utmost to support the Sword Sect. Furthermore, because the Lightning Lineage had no suitable successor at the time, he established the son of the deceased Sect Master—that genius youth who awakened the Thundering Sword—as the Sect Master."
"He took the boy as his disciple and raised him to be a talent capable of truly reviving the sect."
"Now, thirty years have passed. That youth is already a Soul Douluo level expert and the new Sword Master of the Lightning Lineage, known as the Thundering Sword Master."
"He can truly be considered the Sect Master now, and the burden of the Sword Sect no longer rests entirely on Senior Bai's shoulders."
"Brother Xie Yue, do you know the name of that Black Tiger Sect's Sect Master?"
"The Sect Master of the Black Tiger Sect is named Situ Kuang. His title is 'Abyssal,' and he calls himself the Black Tiger King. However," Xie Yue's lips curled into a slight smirk.
"Most of his enemies do not call him that. Because of his ruthless and black-hearted methods, most call him the 'Black-Hearted Tiger'."
Black-Hearted Tiger. Hearing this name, Ling Xiao couldn't help but make the connection.
The man calls himself the Black Tiger King, yet people call him the Black-Hearted Tiger. If one wasn't an expert of the same level, wouldn't saying that name aloud be a quick way to get killed?
Ling Xiao, Hu Liena, and the others quietly processed the information about the Sword Sect they had learned from Xie Yue. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps rang out as several servers entered the room to serve the dishes.
"It's finally here. This is what makes this place special," Yan said with a grin.
Ling Xiao looked at the dishes and couldn't help but be surprised.
He finally understood why Xie Yue had mentioned the hotel had "special" qualities.
These new dishes were completely different from the previous ones; they consisted of crabs, lobsters, and various fish. Ling Xiao was puzzled—were these sea soul beasts or aquatic soul beasts from inland waters?
Spirit City was located roughly in the center of the continent, right next to the Star Dou Forest. Combined with the fact that Spirit City had the highest concentration of Soul Masters and many powerful experts, materials from soul beasts were naturally abundant.
However, most of those were land soul beasts.
He still couldn't be sure if these came from the ocean. After all, there were rivers and water systems within the Star Dou Forest, and other large rivers across the Douluo Continent were home to many aquatic soul beasts, which were also forbidden zones for ordinary people.
If they were from inland waters, it was fine, but if they were Sea Soul Beasts from the ocean, then they were truly rare. The point wasn't the meat itself, but the cost of transporting Sea Soul Beasts to the inland.
The ocean was far away, and transport costs were immense. Furthermore, due to the environment of the ocean, Sea Soul Beasts received a certain power boost, making them harder to kill and capture compared to continental soul beasts.
Moreover, the ocean environment has a significant impact on Soul Masters. Aside from Sea Soul Masters, only water-attribute Soul Masters or those with flight capabilities could avoid these disadvantages.
Various factors meant that Sea Soul Beast ingredients usually only appeared in coastal cities. Inland cities like Spirit City rarely saw them; at most, they served aquatic soul beasts from inland waters.
"Green Armored Saber Fish. It has a coat of green scales with impressive defensive power. Its back is naturally shaped like a blade and is quite sharp; it can even release saber-qi to attack enemies."
"It's an excellent material for forging weapons. Its meat is quite tender, and long-term consumption can boost one's vitality and blood."
"Tentacle Shrimp. Its pair of antennae is incredibly sharp and can cleave gold or crack stone. Its hundred long whiskers can be used to make whips. The shrimp meat is delicious, and long-term consumption helps nourish mental power."
"Red-Patterned Spirit Crab. It is skilled in illusion arts. Eating its meat also helps in nourishing mental power."
Xie Yue's voice rang out as he introduced the dishes to Ling Xiao and the other two.