"Come out. I saw you."
Inside Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, Lin Xiao had just reached the dormitory entrance when he spotted a sneaky figure.
"Still the same as before, huh? Such sharp eyes." The person didn't seem intent on hiding from Lin Xiao. After being called out, they stepped forward openly instead. "Where have you been all this time?"
The one waiting for him was Shangguan Qing. Over the years, she had dealt with many people, and it was clear her methods were more than enough to handle the academy's students. Who knew how much information she had gathered for the Common Alliance from other students?
"Our relationship is just a transaction. I don't need to report these things to you, do I?"
"Hey, I'm just concerned about you. If something happened to you, we'd suffer a big loss too, wouldn't we?"
"Cut it out. You know I don't fall for that. Tell me—what do you want to know this time?" Lin Xiao glanced around, then withdrew his gaze.
"What? Can't I just care about you? And here I thought you were pretty popular. You're not the only one who's come looking for you during this time."
Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes, turned, and walked toward the dormitory.
"Hey, hey, hey—don't you want to know who else came looking for you?"
"Alright, alright, I do have other business." Shangguan Qing quickly spoke up. Seeing Lin Xiao stop, she shot him a slightly annoyed look. "Are you not interested in girls at all? I should've suggested Sister Wei'er train some boys instead."
"I'm just not interested in you." Lin Xiao looked Shangguan Qing up and down. "But your suggestion isn't bad. Maybe some people do have special tastes."
"Hmph. I'm done talking to you. You only ever say things that annoy me." Shangguan Qing huffed, pulling a storage soul tool from her robes. "Same as before—rare metals are inside."
Lin Xiao took it, didn't even look, and put it away. He then handed back an empty storage soul tool.
The Common Alliance controlled part of the underground trade. Rare metals not easily found on the market were no trouble for them. Over the years, using minor intelligence from the Holy Spirit Church, he had obtained quite a lot from the Common Alliance.
"What do you want to know this time?"
"Have the people your group keeps in Mingdu decreased a lot recently?" Shangguan Qing leaned in slightly, lowering her voice.
Lin Xiao glanced at her but didn't ask how they found out. The Common Alliance's eyes and ears were everywhere. Even if they couldn't infiltrate the Holy Spirit Church, they could still gather plenty through indirect means.
"That's right. Several elders stationed at the branch altars have left Mingdu."
Shangguan Qing kept watching Lin Xiao. "That's all? What are they doing?"
"That's a separate price. But they won't be back for a while." Though Lin Xiao didn't know exactly when the elders would return, he knew the war between the Sun Moon Empire and the three great empires was still years away.
"If you're planning something, now's actually a good opportunity."
Shangguan Qing blinked. "You don't seem worried at all about your Holy Spirit Church's business in Mingdu?"
Though Shangguan Wei'er's strength was unfathomable, Lin Xiao didn't think the Common Alliance could rival the Holy Spirit Church. Just a few elders had forced the Common Alliance to yield Mingdu's underground trade—and the church had far more terrifying figures.
"The Holy Spirit Church's business isn't limited to Mingdu. This place isn't under my control. If you manage to take all of Mingdu's underground trade, maybe you could even give me more."
"Then I'll take your good wishes. If that day comes, I won't forget your help."
Shangguan Qing smiled generously. Lin Xiao glanced at her, then turned and walked toward the dormitory.
Behind him, Shangguan Qing huffed in dissatisfaction at his retreating and turned to leave as well.
Inside the dormitory, Lin Xiao didn't enter meditation. Instead, he slightly raised his hand, gazing at the flickering translucent shadow darting across his palm. This was the Nightmare Douluo's soul—the third relatively complete soul he controlled.
His martial soul, the Higanbana Flower, could contain souls, but the countless faint shadows within were at best remnant souls—none were whole. They all had various deficiencies; some had even completely lost their memories from life, drifting aimlessly.
The assassin he controlled had also started with an incomplete soul. Lin Xiao had used other remnant souls to reshape it into its current form—reduced to mere instinct.
As for the Spirit Devourer Douluo who had existed as a curse within the Ominous Soul-Devouring Knife, his cultivation in life had surpassed that of an ordinary Titled Douluo. Specializing in spirit and curse arts, even after thousands of years, his soul retained some of his lifetime techniques.
Before now, the assassin had mainly been a tool for Lin Xiao to scout environments and observe the world through a soul's vision. Even in combat, its only advantage was stealth.
But during the battle with the Nightmare Douluo, Electrolux had shown him a more sophisticated use of souls. Whether they had excelled in assassination or curses in life, those abilities didn't vanish upon becoming souls. They could still wield their own powers using Lin Xiao's soul power and spiritual force.
A single simple incantation could transform them from rigid "tools" into "allies" with abilities distinct from his own.
Perhaps this was true necromancy.
Electrolux was right—though Lin Xiao's soul research surpassed other soul masters in this world, in terms of necromancy, his control was still quite crude.
So, the Nightmare Douluo before him…
Lin Xiao lowered his gaze to his palm. The translucent shadow still struggled. He could sense the unwillingness in the Nightmare Douluo's emotions at the moment of death.
Perhaps he could preserve more of the Nightmare Douluo's memories. As a spirit-attribute soul master, his abilities had never relied on the body. Even without a martial soul in soul form, his understanding of spiritual force should still be unique.
With that thought, Lin Xiao no longer hesitated. His spiritual force spread out, a deep blue glint flashing in his eyes as he probed into the depths of the Nightmare Douluo's soul.
Scene after scene of memories flashed before Lin Xiao's eyes, but his brow furrowed deeper with each one.
The Nightmare Douluo's abilities differed greatly from what he had expected. He had assumed that, as a Titled Douluo—even if on the weaker side—his use of spiritual force would carry unique insights.
But what Lin Xiao saw in his memories was mostly how to instill fear to boost his own cultivation.
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