Chapter 196: Su Yu—Am I Just Paranoid?

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Back at Sun-Moon Hall, the spies captured in the shadows were sent to the interrogation room. After leaving everything in Jing Hongchen's hands, Su Yu returned to his dormitory to contemplate their origins. 

Were the evil soul masters targeting Sun-Moon Hall? 

Su Yu didn't dismiss the possibility. 

After all, was there something within Sun-Moon Hall that the evil soul masters desperately needed? 

In the original storyline, the answer was likely no. The Snow Empress embryo had already been taken by the Body Sect, and as for soul tool technology, Xu Tiannan had willingly shared it with Ye Xishui, allowing her to advance to a Rank 9 Soul Engineer—possibly even reaching a level comparable to Jing Hongchen. 

But now, things were different. 

The Battle Armor Technology within Sun-Moon Hall was something the Holy Spirit Church had never acquired—not even Xu Tiannan himself had mastered it. 

The basic-level battle armor, the one showcased by Xiao Ping and his team during the Soul Dueling Tournament, had already proven its immense value. Its amplification effect far surpassed that of soul tools of the same tier. 

And beyond that lay intermediate-level battle armor and advanced-level battle armor. 

Su Yu wasn't entirely convinced that Xu Tiannan had kept such classified information completely hidden from the Holy Spirit Church. 

It wasn't impossible that he had at least disclosed the division between basic, intermediate, and advanced battle armor. 

Basic-level battle armor could enhance Soul Kings and perhaps even aid Soul Emperors. Then what about intermediate-level battle armor? What about advanced-level battle armor? 

"But those people just now clearly didn't seem like evil soul masters." 

"Or… were they from the Douluo Three Kingdoms?" 

"..." 

Su Yu didn't dwell on the matter for long before shifting his focus to another issue. 

"Yuhao's perception is still finer than mine." 

In terms of precision, Su Yu could probably match Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection, but not with the same effortless ease. 

"Lately, he's nearly perfected his mastery of his soul skills. He's maintaining Spiritual Detection at all times, which is why he was able to react first." 

By keeping Spiritual Detection activated constantly, he was gradually reducing his reliance on soul rings and instead refining his skill mastery. This was a training method Su Yu had suggested—a path for Huo Yuhao to fully integrate his soul skills into his instincts. 

"But that doesn't excuse my own shortcomings." 

Huo Yuhao was doing this as part of his training, but if he could already sustain Spiritual Detection at all times now, once he completely mastered it, he would be able to keep it active permanently without issue. 

"I should start developing my own detection abilities as well." 

Su Yu realized that he needed to cultivate his own sensory abilities—perhaps something akin to intuition-based perception, a sense that would alert him to danger when a crisis was imminent. 

Though he did experience gut feelings at times, they were too instinctive and lacked precision. 

"Perhaps I can use the power of fate to enhance my perception." 

Could Su Yu develop a spiritual detection ability? Was it too difficult to create one that wouldn't consume excessive energy and could remain active indefinitely? 

No. 

The real issue was that it was too basic. 

Su Yu intended to harness the power of fate to develop a passive sensory-type soul skill—one that wouldn't require active scanning but would instead react instinctively to the presence of hostility. 

"It should ideally be a passive ability." 

Within his Spiritual Sea, a new rune slowly began to take shape. 

---

As Su Yu refined his new rune, the interrogation at Sun-Moon Hall also reached its first conclusions. 

"Although we didn't extract any valuable intelligence, we did confirm one thing—these spies are from the Douluo Three Kingdoms." Jing Hongchen stated. "But you don't need to worry. Sun-Moon Hall has long been prepared, and our security measures are airtight. Our soul tools had already detected these scouts; we were merely waiting for the right moment to capture them." 

What Jing Hongchen didn't say was that he had originally planned to use these spies to leak misleading information. 

Still, capturing them early wasn't necessarily a bad thing. 

After all, there were indeed powerful individuals among them who had managed to evade Sun-Moon Hall's detection. 

"A soul master with immense soul power… Xuanzi?" 

Huo Yuhao had encountered Xuanzi before at Shrek Academy, and Skydream Iceworm had memorized his soul power fluctuations and aura clearly. 

Their brief encounter the previous night had been enough for Huo Yuhao to confirm his identity. 

"This tournament is full of dangers. The Douluo Three Kingdoms have brought almost all of their top geniuses—it's impossible for them to let this opportunity slip by without taking action. With Xuanzi personally making a move, Sun-Moon Hall must be one of their primary targets. They're probably coveting our soul tool technology." 

"..." 

Jing Hongchen and Su Yu briefly exchanged their thoughts. 

Su Yu's strength had already reached an exceptional level, and in many aspects, he was now on par with Jing Hongchen. Given that they were technically of the same seniority, their discussions naturally took place on equal footing. 

In the end, the two settled on a simple strategy—staying put and reacting accordingly. 

As for the participants from the Douluo Three Kingdoms, Xu Tiannan already had his own plans for them. Sun-Moon Hall didn't need to interfere beyond patching any vulnerabilities and remaining vigilant—ready to deal with any unexpected situations as soon as they arose. 

---

 Sun-Moon Royal Hotel 

Room 401. 

"Fanyu, did you gain any insights from watching the matches tonight?" 

Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu had returned to their hotel room, where they began exchanging their observations from the event. 

Right now, their only way to learn more about Sun-Moon Empire's soul tool technology was by watching the Soul Engineer Tournament firsthand—observing how Sun-Moon Empire's engineers crafted soul tools and using that knowledge to refine their own foundational understanding. 

It wasn't just Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu—the Star Luo Empire, the Heavenly Soul Empire, and the Dou Ling Empire had each sent at least one Rank 7 Soul Engineer to study as well. 

But compared to Huo Yuhao's absurd ability to copy everything outright in the original story, their efficiency was painfully slow—like dogs scratching at the ground for scraps. 

"Dean Qian, I have to admit—the Sun-Moon Empire's soul tool technology is incredibly refined." 

Fan Yu let out a bitter chuckle as he recounted what he had witnessed earlier—how a young soul engineer had managed to craft a top-tier Rank 6 soul tool in just one hour, securing first place in that round of the Pingfan League. 

Seeing Qian Duoduo's hesitant expression, Fan Yu raised an eyebrow. 

"Dean, don't tell me you saw someone of the same caliber at the Aodu Chamber of Commerce's tournament?" 

Fan Yu had thought that contestant No. 88 from the Pingfan League was already monstrous enough. Could there really be another genius of the same level? 

But after hearing Qian Duoduo's description of Contestant No. 66 from the Aodu Chamber of Commerce's tournament, Fan Yu fell completely silent. 

The gap was overwhelming. 

Even as an eighth-rank soul engineer, Fan Yu couldn't confidently say he could outperform either No. 66 or No. 88. 

"You said No. 88 had incredibly refined engraving techniques?" 

"That's right. The carving knife he used was clearly unique—not an ordinary one—but it wasn't listed as a recognized 'ranking' engraving knife either." 

Fan Yu recalled the impressions he had formed from Huo Yuhao's engraving technique, carefully summarizing his insights. 

Of course, he had no idea that the person he was analyzing was actually Huo Yuhao himself. The moment he found out, his reaction would be quite something to behold. 

"By the way, I think No. 66 might be a major catch." 

Qian Duoduo shared his speculation. 

"No. 66 is highly likely to be a soul engineer from Sun-Moon Hall. Not only that, but I suspect he has access to their latest classified technologies—including battle armor technology." 

"And then there's No. 88. The two of them competing on the same night is quite the coincidence. They both entered at the last hour, and according to you, they arrived at the venue together. That means No. 88 might also be from Sun-Moon Hall." 

"Two Sun-Moon Hall soul engineers participating? The three major black markets really are ruthless. They must have already decided internally that the championship is reserved for one of their own." 

Fan Yu took a sharp breath, cursing at the black markets for their underhanded tactics. 

Although in this case, "predetermined winner" wasn't meant as an insult, but rather an accurate prediction based on overwhelming skill, the way the black markets operated still felt unfairly rigged. 

However, he quickly realized he was getting sidetracked. 

"Dean, are you saying that if we keep an eye on Contestants No. 66 and No. 88, we might be able to obtain battle armor technology from them?" 

Qian Duoduo nodded. 

Fan Yu hesitated before saying, "The three major black markets aren't simple. There may be a Rank 9 Soul Engineer overseeing things. If we're going to make a move, we'll need the assistance of Dean Yan and Elder Xuan. But they had other tasks tonight. I'm not sure if they've returned yet—I'll head over to the Star Luo Empire's quarters and ask." 

With that, Fan Yu left Room 401 and made his way to Room 404, the suite belonging to the Star Luo Royal Team. 

---

 Star Luo Royal Team's Suite 

The door opened to reveal Xu Jiujie. 

"Dean Fan? It's quite late—what brings you here?" 

Recognizing him, she let out a small sigh of relief. 

She had been feeling uneasy all night, as if something bad was about to happen. When she suddenly heard knocking, her heart had nearly skipped a beat. 

After all, according to their agreed plan, this wasn't the time for anyone to return. 

"Princess Jiujie, have Dean Yan and Elder Xuan returned yet?" 

"Not yet. According to our arrangement, they should be back in about two more hours." 

Fan Yu was about to take his leave when his spiritual senses suddenly detected something. 

"Elder Xuan has returned." 

In the dimly lit corridor, a shadow flickered past and slipped through the doorway. 

"Fan Yu? What's going on?" 

Seeing Fan Yu present, Xuanzi immediately realized that something must have happened. After all, maintaining communication with the Star Luo royal family was something that he and Yan Shaozhe handled directly—Fan Yu wouldn't have come looking for him unless it was important. 

However, Fan Yu wasn't ready to reveal their plans in front of Xu Jiujie and subtly changed the topic, shifting the conversation toward Xuanzi's situation instead. 

"Princess Jiujie just mentioned that, according to the plan, Elder Xuan, you weren't expected to return for another two hours. Why…" 

---

 The Next Day – Grand Soul Arena 

Su Yu sat with his eyes closed, seemingly resting, but in reality, he was experimenting with ways to channel the power of fate, refining the new rune he had been crafting. 

---

 VIP Seating Area 

A figure cloaked in black robes appeared beside Xu Tiannan, their entire body concealed within the fabric's shadows. 

Despite their considerable presence, they gave off an oddly faint sense of existence—as if their very being was deliberately muted. 

This was Zhongli Wu, the Grandmaster of the Holy Spirit Church and Imperial Advisor of the Sun-Moon Empire. 

Zhongli Wu's gaze fell upon Tang Ya, who was commanding Blue Silver Grass in battle on the arena stage. He couldn't help but sigh internally. 

"What a waste of Devouring Blue Silver Grass. Completely squandered. But… with the addition of the life attribute, I wonder if it makes absorbing and refining the stolen life force even easier?" 

As he pondered, he began contemplating how to lure Tang Ya back into the embrace of the Holy Spirit Church. 

However, moments later, he dismissed the thought altogether. 

 What's the point, anyway? 

Zhongli Wu's expression darkened. 

"Those three idiots—Heaven, Earth, and Man—were utterly wiped out in Soul Burial Valley, ruining years of my careful planning. Damn it!" 

Shifting his gaze away from Tang Ya, he now focused on Su Yu, who sat with his eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought. A glint flickered in Zhongli Wu's eyes. 

"Su Yu… the creator of battle armor, the originator of new cultivation techniques…" 

His soul ring levels had increased—had he undergone a God's Trial, or had he discovered another method to enhance his soul rings? 

"Regardless, his value is undeniable. Since he ignored Zhang Peng's warnings, I'll personally make a move when the time is right." 

The mere thought of battle armor beyond the advanced level—a secret he had managed to uncover—ignited a fire of greed within Zhongli Wu. 

The true power of battle armor was something few understood. Even those aware of it had rarely witnessed its full might. 

The challenge matches at the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy a month ago had been one such demonstration. 

Now, the Soul Dueling Tournament was another. 

And here, battle armor was being showcased to its fullest potential. 

If basic battle armor—designed for Soul Kings—was already this powerful, what about the advanced armor tailored for Soul Douluo? 

He didn't expect it to elevate someone from Soul Douluo to Rank 99, but could it push them to Hyper Douluo? 

And what about armor beyond the advanced level? 

---

Su Yu's brow furrowed slightly. 

In his spiritual sea, the newly inscribed "Malice" rune pulsated faintly. 

"This feeling…?" 

Someone was targeting him—someone with hostile intent. 

More importantly, the intensity of the reaction suggested that this person was a real threat. 

Focusing his power of fate, Su Yu received a subtle response. 

"The Imperial Advisor… Zhongli Wu?" 

His eyes snapped open, meeting Zhongli Wu's gaze. 

Though the man's entire body was concealed beneath black robes—his face obscured, his eyes not even glowing with soul power—Su Yu could still feel his gaze. 

"Zhongli Wu?" 

Nope. Not messing with him. 

Now that he had all but confirmed that Zhongli Wu had set his sights on him, Su Yu immediately reconsidered his approach. 

A Rank 98 Evil Soul Master was not someone he could handle. 

"Could he have figured out my plan to move against the Xu Shui Alliance?" 

But how? 

He shouldn't possess fate-related abilities, right? 

So how did he notice? 

Or… was it something from last night's match that exposed me? 

"Forget it. I just need to be extra cautious when executing the plan against the three black markets." 

Yeah… best to inform the teacher in advance. 

Closing his eyes again, Su Yu resumed refining the "Malice" rune. 

Zhongli Wu's strength, combined with the direct focus of his gaze, had provided an unexpected boon—the "Malice" rune had picked up on him. 

And with this first real application, Su Yu's understanding of the rune deepened, allowing him to improve it even faster. 

Then, suddenly, a strange thought struck him. 

"Do I have paranoia?" 

Because now that the "Malice" rune was more refined, he felt hostility all around him. 

The rune flickered lightly as Su Yu scanned his surroundings. 

"…No, it's definitely not just me." 

He was certain—his insights were correct. 

(End of Chapter)