Douluo: Martial Soul White Tiger, I am the White Emperor of Heaven

"We'll set off first thing tomorrow morning," Qian Renxue said. "Everyone should get a good rest tonight. Once we're in the Holy Soul Mountains, we might not be able to get a full night's sleep for several days."

After the meeting, everyone dispersed. As Su Chen walked out of the conference room, Chen Hao followed behind him and walked alongside him.

"Strategist, are you sure your hand is alright?" Chen Hao asked in a low voice. "The Holy Soul Mountain Range isn't like Qingfeng Valley; it's said to be home to hundred-thousand-year-old soul beasts. Can you manage with just one and a half hands?"

Su Chen patted his shoulder with his left hand: "Don't worry, even if I only have one hand left, I can still run faster than you."

Chen Hao pursed his lips: "That's not necessarily true. I'm recovering very well now."

Su Chen smiled and didn't continue the topic. He returned to his room and quickly packed what he needed for tomorrow. His storage soul tool contained two thick winter coats, several packets of compressed rations, a flask of water, medicine, a spare soul tool support, three blank communication jade talismans, and a short blade—his long weapon had been broken by rubble during the explosion in Qingfeng Valley, and he hadn't had time to rebuild it, so he had to make do with the short blade for now.

After tidying up, he sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the night view outside the window. The night in Tiandou City was as quiet and peaceful as ever, with the distant sound of a watchman striking his clapper, long and slow. His fingers unconsciously rubbed the splint on his right arm. The fracture was no longer too painful, but a sharp pain would still come when he applied slight pressure.

He didn't know what they would encounter on their journey to the Holy Soul Mountains. But he knew that if they did find another base of the Void Cult in those mountains, and that base contained living experimental subjects, they would face a choice—whether to rescue the people first or destroy the base. Rescuing the people would take time, while destroying the base would require combat power. It would be difficult to manage both at the same time.

He mentally went through all the possibilities again and again until it was late at night, the clapper sound stopped, and only the sound of the wind remained outside the window. Only then did he lie down and close his eyes.

His thoughts were in turmoil, but his body was utterly exhausted. He quickly fell asleep and slept soundly through the night.
-
The next morning, before dawn, Su Chen woke up. After washing and dressing, he went out and saw Chen Hao and Zhang Wan already waiting in the corridor. Chen Hao had changed into a dark brown outfit with a gray-white windproof cloak over it, and a newly forged short sword hung at his waist—the blacksmiths of the Spirit Hall branch had worked overnight to make it for him; although it wasn't as good as his original sword, it was at least usable. Zhang Wan was dressed more casually, in a dark blue short jacket and black trousers, her hair tied in a neat ponytail, and carrying a palm-sized cloth bag on her back containing materials for setting up the magic array and a jade plate.

Qian Renxue walked up the stairs, dressed in an outfit suitable for mountain activities: a white bodysuit under a gray cloak, her long hair tied up with a silver hairpin. She held a map in her hand and nodded slightly when she saw that all three of them had arrived.

"Let's go. The carriage is waiting at the side gate."

The four exited the Spirit Hall branch through a side gate, where a simple black carriage was already waiting at the alley entrance. The driver was a taciturn middle-aged man who simply nodded upon seeing Qian Renxue before leaping onto the carriage shaft and cracking his whip. The carriage traveled through the empty streets in the early morning, turning west after leaving the city gate and speeding towards the Holy Spirit Mountain Range.

The journey from Tiandou City to the entrance of the Holy Soul Mountain Range took almost a day. The carriage wasn't spacious; the four of them were a bit cramped, but no one complained. Chen Hao leaned against the carriage wall, resting with his eyes closed. Zhang Wan was flipping through a book of soul array diagrams. Qian Renxue's eyes were closed, her breathing steady; it was unclear whether she was truly asleep. Su Chen lifted a corner of the curtain, watching the scenery outside gradually change from plains to rolling hills, and then to continuous mountain shadows. Farmland became less and less, the forests denser, and the air began to carry the damp scent of moss and earth. Around noon, the driver stopped the carriage in front of a roadside teahouse, allowing everyone to rest and eat. The teahouse was simple, with only a few crooked wooden tables and benches. The proprietress, an elderly woman in her sixties, deftly served several bowls of hot tea and two scallion pancakes. The scallion pancakes were golden and crispy, each bite bursting with the aroma of scallions. Chen Hao ate three pieces and was still not satisfied, but after being glared at by Zhang Wan, he awkwardly put down his chopsticks.

“Once we cross that mountain, we'll enter the outer perimeter of the Holy Soul Mountain Range.” Qian Renxue used her chopsticks, dipped in tea, to draw a rough map on the table. “Most of the soul beasts on the outer perimeter of the mountain range are less than a thousand years old, so they don't pose much of a threat. But once we go a hundred miles deeper, the concentration of ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts will increase. We must find a suitable campsite in the outer area before nightfall and then advance deeper into the mountains at dawn tomorrow.”

Su Chen took a sip of tea. It was coarse tea, a bit astringent, but the hot brew felt comforting. He looked at the distant mountain shadows, which gleamed with a bluish-black sheen in the midday sun. Thin wisps of mist swirled around the mountainside, obscuring their true form.

"Are there any signs of the Void Cult in the Holy Soul Mountains?" he asked.

“Yes,” Qian Renxue said. “Over the past six months, Soul Masters hunting on the outskirts of the mountains have repeatedly reported seeing strange black lights rising from the depths of the mountains, sometimes accompanied by a low rumbling sound, like an earthquake but not quite. But those who went into the mountains to investigate either found nothing or never came out again. Three months ago, an exploration team led by two Soul Saints went deep into the mountains, and fourteen days later only one person returned, insane, constantly muttering ‘eyes,’ ‘so many eyes.’ His soul power had been completely drained, and he had become an ordinary person.”

A silence fell over the table. Chen Hao swallowed the last bite of his scallion pancake and muttered something under his breath.

“So our goal is to find the experimental subject's detention base in the outer area,” Qian Renxue continued, “not deep into the core of the mountain range. If those twelve survivors are indeed imprisoned in the Holy Soul Mountains, according to the Void Cult's practices, their detention location wouldn't be too far from the core experimental area, but it also wouldn't be placed in the most dangerous location. I speculate that if such a base truly exists, it should be in the transitional zone between the outer perimeter and the interior of the mountain range—just enough to be concealed yet relatively safe.”

Su Chen put down his teacup: "How large is the transition area between the outer perimeter and the interior?"

"It's about eighty li from east to west and about one hundred and twenty li from north to south. The area is still considerable, but much smaller than the entire mountain range."

Do we have a specific search target?

Qian Renxue took out a small, pale blue soul tool from her bosom. It was only the size of a fingernail, completely transparent, and contained a wisp of constantly shifting silver thread. (End of Chapter)