Chapter 93: Collective Advancement! A Great Surge in Strength
Early morning.
When the first ray of dawn shone upon Zhou Chen's handsome face, he awoke.
However, he was not awakened by the sunlight, but by noise.
"Palace Master, the Tianshu Guard led by Wang Sheng has arrived."
Xiao Chenyu's voice sounded, forcing the soundly sleeping Zhou Chen to rub his dry eyes, sit up, and lean against the headboard.
"They arrived so early. Where are they now?"
Zhou Chen yawned and looked at Xiao Chenyu, who was respectfully bowing his head, as he spoke calmly.
"They are currently near the Tiandou Royal Academy."
As soon as Xiao Chenyu said this, Zhou Chen immediately became fully awake.
"Didn't I tell them to go to Tiandou City? Why did they come here?" Zhou Chen asked in confusion.
"This…" Xiao Chenyu said with some difficulty. "We do not have our own residence in Tiandou City. We cannot have everyone stay in inns, as that would be too conspicuous."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen frowned.
In fact, when they had first arrived in Tiandou City a few days ago, Zhou Chen and Zhu Zhuqing had also wanted to buy a large residence that could accommodate several hundred people.
But it was too expensive.
As the capital of the Tiandou Empire, property prices in Tiandou City were extremely high, and a grand residence capable of housing several hundred people was considered a luxury estate even within the city, costing at least close to one million Gold Soul Coins.
Now that Wang Sheng had arrived with two hundred Soul Masters of the Tianshu Guard, yet there was no place for them to stay, it made Zhou Chen, the Palace Master of Ziwei Palace, feel somewhat embarrassed.
"They can stay at my place."
Suddenly, a soft and alluring voice sounded as Dugu Yan pushed the door open and walked in.
Clearly, the girl had been listening outside the door for quite some time.
"Yan'er, you're awake," Zhou Chen said gently.
His Heaven Vision and Earth Hearing Technique had already detected Dugu Yan outside the door, but he had not exposed her.
In any case, she would eventually become one of his own. Her only family member, her grandfather Dugu Bo, was already under his command, and her fate had long been bound together with Zhou Chen's.
Sooner or later, Dugu Yan would have to become involved in the affairs of Ziwei Palace.
Seeing Dugu Yan, a green-haired beauty, Xiao Chenyu, who was always adept at flattering others, immediately reacted, knelt on one knee, and said, "Greetings, Madam."
"Get up quickly."
Although she was not yet Zhou Chen's official girlfriend, hearing his subordinate call her "Madam" instantly filled Dugu Yan's heart with sweetness, and her gaze toward Xiao Chenyu softened.
"Aren't you worried about not having a place to stay? Let them stay at my place," Dugu Yan said warmly. "I have a residence in Tiandou City that the Tiandou Emperor Xue Ye gifted to my grandfather. That estate is very large and can easily accommodate several hundred people."
"Then we will trouble you, Yan'er," Zhou Chen said without being polite, as they were all on the same side anyway.
"It's no trouble. I need to return to Tiandou City anyway, so it's on the way," Dugu Yan said with a smiling expression, her beautiful eyes curving like crescent moons.
One hour later.
Tiandou City, Dugu Bo's residence.
As a gift from the emperor to a Titled Douluo, Dugu Bo's residence was exceptionally vast, covering nearly ten thousand square meters. Not to mention several hundred people, even several thousand could easily be accommodated.
At this moment, squads of Soul Masters dressed in white brocade robes, wearing purple cloaks, and bearing the Beidou Seven Stars emblem on their chests were pouring into the estate and assembling in the open area of the front courtyard.
This open area had originally been designed specifically as a training plaza for Soul Masters.
All of these people were Soul Elders above level thirty. Their formation was orderly and silent, clearly well trained.
Very quickly, they split into two neat square formations and stood at the center of the plaza.
One formation consisted of two hundred people, obviously the Tianshu Guard.
The other formation had only sixty people and was none other than the Tianji Guard.
Zhou Chen and Dugu Yan stood side by side before these Soul Masters of Ziwei Palace.
Wang Sheng and Xiao Chenyu stood on either side.
At this moment, upon seeing the legendary Palace Master Zhou Chen appear, all two hundred sixty Soul Masters present displayed expressions of reverence mixed with excitement.
Zhou Chen slowly paced forward, his sharp gaze sweeping across each Soul Master's face one by one.
"Everyone, most of you graduated from Notting Academy and can be considered my schoolmates. All this time, you have braved thorns and blades for Ziwei Palace and for me, Zhou Chen, risking life and limb. I have seen all of your contributions."
"As the saying goes, merit must be rewarded and faults must be punished. Today is the day you receive your reward."
At this point, Zhou Chen suddenly stopped. With a flash of white light in his palm and a crisp clattering sound, chunks of purple crystal piled up into a small mound half the height of a person.
These purple crystals were engraved with golden runes on their surfaces. The runes flickered brightly and dimly, continuously radiating strange energy fluctuations outward.
Seeing this scene, all the Soul Masters' breathing grew heavy, and their eyes revealed genuine longing.
Before coming to Tiandou City, they had already vaguely known that the Palace Master would bestow upon them a type of treasure.
Clearly, that treasure was the purple crystal before their eyes.
"These purple crystals are called Divine Crystals. They are divine artifacts treasured by my family's ancestors. These Divine Crystals can rapidly increase your soul power level and have no side effects whatsoever," Zhou Chen said solemnly with his hands behind his back.
As soon as these words were spoken, shock appeared on everyone's faces.
Divine artifacts.
Rapidly increasing soul power levels.
No side effects.
On the Douluo Continent, they had practically never heard of anything possessing all three of these qualities.
This was clearly an invaluable treasure.
Yet now, the Palace Master was willing to bestow such an invaluable treasure upon ordinary Soul Masters like them.
In an instant, intense emotion surged within the hearts of all the Soul Masters present.
No one knew who started it, but suddenly all two hundred sixty Soul Masters knelt on one knee in succession, clasped their fists, and shouted in unison, "We are willing to die for the Palace Master!"
"Good, very good."
Zhou Chen nodded in satisfaction. What he wanted was for these Soul Masters to be deeply grateful and willing to give their lives for him.
"Rise. Line up and come forward to receive the Divine Crystals. One per person. Place it in your mouth, then meditate and cultivate your soul power."
As soon as he said this, all two hundred sixty Soul Masters passed before Zhou Chen one by one, each receiving a small piece of Divine Crystal. They bowed respectfully to Zhou Chen before returning to their original formations.
After everyone had returned to their formations, Zhou Chen said calmly, "Begin."
With the order given, all the Soul Masters simultaneously sat cross-legged on the ground, raised their heads, swallowed the Divine Crystals, and began meditating to cultivate their soul power.
In the next instant, waves of soul power erupted from all the Soul Masters. Brilliant lights began to appear across their bodies.
Their auras surged at an astonishing speed, as if riding a rocket.
These two hundred sixty Soul Masters had originally all been between level thirty and level forty, but in just one quarter of an hour, all of them reached the peak of level forty, only one step away from becoming Soul Ancestors.
If not for the lack of a fourth soul ring, they could have broken through to an even higher level.
At this moment, Zhou Chen felt an overwhelming sense of pride.
In merely one quarter of an hour, the main combat strength of Ziwei Palace had all been elevated by an entire major tier.
As long as these two hundred sixty Soul Masters went to the Sunset Forest to hunt soul rings, there would immediately be two hundred sixty Soul Ancestors under his command.
And this was far from the limit.
End of chapter.
Unlock 30 chapters instantly (for the price of the old 20-chapter tier) and get 50–55 new chapters every month.
If you're enjoying the story, consider supporting me here:
patreon.com/anish_44