Chapter 207: Recorded in History!

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No sincerity?

Hearing Jing Hongchen's words, Yan Shaozhe remained unfazed.

He had already shown his utmost sincerity.

After all, both Elder Xuan and he had stepped forward, risking a potential blockade from the Sun-Moon Empire, all to help Xue Di escape their encirclement.

Was that not sincerity?

As for finding a concrete solution to the conflict between human Soul Masters and soul beasts, they hadn't figured it out yet. However, if Xue Di joined Shrek, they could work together to find one.

After all, Xue Di was the ruler of the Extreme North and deeply understood soul beasts.

While everyone was still reeling from the overwhelming power displayed by Su Yu, Jing Hongchen stepped forward once more, unveiling an even stronger suit of battle armor and questioning Shrek's proposal.

Even the elusive Du Bushi, observing from the shadows with a neutral stance, could sense Shrek's hypocrisy.

There was no concrete plan—only vague promises like, "Join us, and we'll find a solution together."

Yet, despite Jing Hongchen's valid point, Du Bushi wasn't convinced either.

"Hmph, birds of a feather."

The Sun-Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult were two sides of the same coin. If Jing Hongchen was stepping forward now, wasn't it simply to join forces with the Holy Spirit Cult?

That was what everyone believed at this moment.

Jing Hongchen's challenge to Shrek was seen as the Sun-Moon Empire's rebuttal.

Even Xu Tiannan and Zhongli Wu assumed that Jing Hongchen was preparing to join forces against Shrek's Xuanzi and Yan Shaozhe.

"Compared to Shrek, I believe Sun-Moon Hall has the real ability to resolve this issue." Jing Hongchen spoke. "Shrek offers no clear solution to the conflict between human Soul Masters and soul beasts. In that case, Sun-Moon Hall will provide one."

Everyone: ???

Jing Hongchen's words left everyone stunned.

What did he mean?

Wasn't he, like Xu Tiannan and Zhongli Wu, planning to attack Xue Di?

But from his words, it sounded like Sun-Moon Hall shared the same stance as Shrek. His earlier criticism of Shrek seemed to be mere mockery of their lack of a concrete plan.

Did the Sun-Moon Empire have internal divisions?

"Su Yu, Yuhao."

With a faint smile, Su Yu activated his fifth and sixth soul rings, and two figures emerged on either side of him.

One was the Thunder Hell Prison Vine, cloaked in dark purple energy. The other radiated an aura of life—it was the Blue Silver Emperor.

"That's…"

Among the Tang Sect team, Tang Ya stared in astonishment at the figure wrapped in life energy in the sky.

"What's wrong, Xiao Ya?" Bei Bei noticed Tang Ya's reaction and asked.

"My Blue Silver Grass is sensing an overwhelming presence, one that directly suppresses it. Even more so than when Su Yu released his martial soul. If I'm not mistaken… that should be a Blue Silver Emperor!"

"What?!"

Bei Bei and the other members of the Tang Sect were stunned.

The Blue Silver Emperor wasn't considered an overwhelmingly powerful martial soul, but for both Shrek and the Tang Sect, its significance was extraordinary.

After all, the founder of the Tang Sect and one of the original Shrek Seven Devils, Tang San—the Sea God and Asura God—had wielded the Blue Silver Emperor as his martial soul.

However, while the Tang Sect's focus was on the identity of the Blue Silver Emperor, the rest of the audience was more astonished by the two spiritual entities Su Yu had summoned.

Spiritual entities.

Neither the Thunder Hell Prison Vine nor the Blue Silver Emperor concealed their true nature as soul spirits.

"This is a method I accidentally discovered to absorb soul beast rings," Su Yu explained. "Unlike the traditional practice of hunting soul beasts and absorbing their rings, my two soul spirits exist because I formed a contract with them. They abandoned their physical forms and now exist as spiritual entities—or soul spirits, if you will. As long as I remain alive, they will never truly die.

"And besides their immortality, soul spirits have another unique trait: a single soul spirit can grant multiple soul rings to the same Soul Master."

As he finished speaking, Su Yu gestured for Huo Yuhao to reveal his own soul spirit.

Huo Yuhao, cooperating seamlessly, immediately summoned the Enchanted Demon Butterfly.

"This is my soul spirit," he said. "My fourth and fifth soul rings for my first martial soul both come from this ten-thousand-year soul spirit."

Soul spirits!

The emergence of this groundbreaking concept caused an uproar.

This was the quarterfinals of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament—an event watched by countless spectators. And now, an unprecedented phenomenon had appeared before them.

A single soul spirit could provide multiple soul rings.

This property alone left many people amazed.

After all, such a system could greatly reduce the need for Soul Masters to hunt soul beasts.

Yes, reduce—but not eliminate.

Su Yu had spoken clearly and honestly, without sugarcoating anything. He had explained both the advantages and drawbacks of soul spirits without deliberately hiding anything.

Because of this transparency, many people, after overcoming their initial shock, quickly realized the implications.

While it was true that soul spirits didn't technically die and could live on as spiritual entities, their fate was still tied to their Soul Master's lifespan. Once the Soul Master perished, the soul spirit would vanish as well.

So, what was the real difference?

Wasn't it just delaying their death by a few decades?

How was this truly different from simply killing them?

Apart from soul beasts that had reached the end of their lifespan, how many would willingly choose to become soul spirits for human Soul Masters?

And even for those at the end of their lifespan, becoming a soul spirit wasn't necessarily the best choice.

For many soul beasts, reaching their lifespan limit didn't mean they only had a few years or decades left.

Take Ice Empress, for example. She might not survive her upcoming Heavenly Tribulation, but even if she failed, she could still cling to life—struggling for hundreds or even thousands more years.

The possibility of being instantly reduced to ashes under the Heavenly Tribulation certainly existed, but for Ice Empress, surviving—though difficult—was not impossible.

And what if she somehow managed to forcefully endure the tribulation and survive?

This was why the likelihood of soul beasts voluntarily choosing to become soul spirits for human Soul Masters was extremely low.

For Soul Masters to obtain soul spirits, most would still resort to hunting—forcibly converting soul beasts instead.

---

"If you're not hiding anything," Yan Shaozhe said, his gaze fixed on Su Yu's two soul spirits, "then their existence does provide a way to ease the conflict between Soul Masters and soul beasts."

However, after a brief pause, he continued, "But soul spirits alone won't stop Soul Masters from hunting soul beasts. Even if they offer some advantages, compared to directly killing a soul beast for its soul ring, the process of obtaining a soul spirit is costly, requiring immense resources and manpower. The cost-effectiveness simply isn't high."

Yan Shaozhe was rational—he clearly saw through the illusion that soul spirits could genuinely resolve the conflict between Soul Masters and soul beasts.

Su Yu sighed internally.

As expected of Shrek.

In the original story, Shrek had fully embraced the soul spirit system.

However, Su Yu had never intended to use soul spirits as proof that Sun-Moon Hall could bridge the gap between humans and soul beasts.

"You're absolutely right, Dean Yan," Su Yu admitted openly. "Soul spirits are merely the first step in discovery. They do not change one fundamental truth: within an average Soul Master's lifetime—typically no more than a hundred years—acquiring a full set of soul rings through soul spirits would still require the sacrifice of at least four or five thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year soul beasts."

"In fact, some Soul Masters slaughter indiscriminately—not just for their own soul rings, but also massacring soul beasts without necessity."

"The existence of soul spirits alone is clearly not enough to change this reality."

As he spoke, Su Yu glanced at Zhongli Wu.

That single look irritated Zhongli Wu, but he restrained himself.

On one hand, he was waiting for the Holy Spirit Cult's next move.

On the other hand, Su Yu's current display of power made him cautious.

Su Yu's soul power fluctuations suggested he was no weaker than a Rank 97 Titled Douluo, though his actual combat abilities had yet to be demonstrated.

But what if Su Yu could fully wield the strength of that level?

After all, in the previous Soul Dueling Tournament, Su Yu had managed to defeat seven opponents in a row while only at the Soul Ancestor level.

If his battle armor functioned differently from how it had on Xiao Ping and the others, then underestimating him would be a mistake.

Yet despite all of this, Su Yu boldly admitted that soul spirits were not enough to serve as proof of Sun-Moon Hall's ability to mediate between humans and soul beasts.

And ironically, this admission only made Sun-Moon Hall seem more sincere.

It was the most objective perspective one could take.

Especially because Sun-Moon Hall had already introduced something tangible—a real innovation—while honestly acknowledging that it wasn't a complete solution.

At this moment, the obvious move would have been for Su Yu to say something like:

"Soul spirits alone cannot fully resolve the issue, but we have already found the right direction. With Xue Di's help, we can further develop the soul spirit system. One day, we will completely resolve the conflict between humans and soul beasts."

That would have been the perfect answer.

However, Su Yu's next words completely shattered this expectation.