Chapter 213: The Final Step

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The battle ended swiftly. 

Deep within the royal palace, two powerful auras stood in confrontation. Sensing the battle had ceased, their presences gradually withdrew. 

Sun-Moon Hall acted quickly. The moment the battle erupted, many members of the security forces, led by Jing Hongchen, rushed toward the scene. 

"We even managed to capture two of them alive!" 

Jing Hongchen watched as members of Sun-Moon Hall escorted away two evil soul masters whose soul power had been sealed. He couldn't help but sigh in amazement. 

"What do you plan to do with them?" 

Both were evil soul masters—powerful enough to reach the ranks of Titled Douluo and even Super Douluo. Their crimes were undoubtedly immense. 

During the battle, the two had unleashed secret techniques that burned and consumed vengeful spirits, a sin of unfathomable magnitude. 

Not to mention their soul rings. 

Even though Nangong Wan's configuration wasn't the ideal combination, his one yellow, three purple, and five black rings had already surpassed conventional limits. 

As for Feng Ling, she was even more terrifying. Her three purple, five black, and one red soul ring combination was proof of the countless innocent lives she had taken—devouring their souls just to enhance her soul rings. 

Jing Hongchen could already guess what Su Yu would do. Given Su Yu's personality, there was no way he would let these two live. However, seeing them captured alive piqued his curiosity—what was Su Yu planning? 

Could these two possibly hold some special value? 

"Nangong Wan is a coward who fears death. We can exploit that weakness to extract valuable secrets about the Holy Spirit Church. He controls the Xishui Alliance, which, though only a branch of the Holy Spirit Church, is the largest underground force in Sun-Moon. Even the city's three major black markets are under his control, with the Xishui Alliance firmly suppressing the other two. Almost all of the Holy Spirit Church's operations rely on its cooperation." 

Nangong Wan would be used for intelligence extraction. 

As for Feng Ling? 

On one hand, she could be leveraged to keep Zhongli Wu in check. On the other, Su Yu had other questions he wanted answered. 

The Holy Spirit Church's movements and arrangements—Feng Ling might be stubborn, unwilling to reveal much under interrogation. But when it came to the one within the Holy Spirit Church, there was a decent chance she could provide some clues. 

After all, the Holy Spirit Church's top combatants weren't limited to Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao. 

If Su Yu remembered correctly, at this point in time, there should still be another figure—a being that would exist even ten thousand years into the future. The Demon Emperor. 

He couldn't recall the exact name, but he knew of this existence. 

No—rather, it wasn't a person, but a soul beast. 

The wife of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, a Deep Sea Demon Whale that had also attained a million years of cultivation. 

However, whether the Demon Emperor had reached such a high cultivation level at this point in time was unclear to Su Yu. 

After all, she was fated to survive into the distant future. 

At the very least, one thing was certain—she wouldn't be weaker than the Evil Emperor. 

Otherwise, the Holy Spirit Church wouldn't have been able to establish its headquarters in the Demonic Forest. 

"As for Feng Ling, I intend to extract some highly classified information about the Holy Spirit Church from her." 

The Demon Emperor's goal was vengeance, which meant she would never stop searching for a way to ascend to godhood. Su Yu believed he could uncover valuable intelligence from her. 

Of course, she might not cooperate. If Su Yu wanted access to research on breaking past Rank 100, he would likely have to wait until his strength grew much greater. 

Still, all of this was merely a precaution. 

Su Yu had no doubts that by the time he reached that level, he would already have unraveled the secrets of godhood. 

"After all, I will soon come face to face with a true god—a god of the Divine King level." 

At this moment, Su Yu's Nine-Life Reincarnation Grass was nearing completion. Nourished by life energy, it had grown to nearly ninety thousand years of age. At any moment, it could undergo its first cycle of life and death, resurrecting from the undead state to become a completely new lifeform. 

Back at Sun-Moon Hall. 

"Hall Master, if the Holy Spirit Church comes to demand their return, tell them both are already dead. Even if it means breaking all ties with them, there's nothing to fear." 

Jing Hongchen nodded in agreement. 

He wasn't particularly concerned about becoming enemies with the Holy Spirit Church. 

After all, the strongest combat forces of the Holy Spirit Church were just two Limit Douluo. And in truth, he himself had already reached the combat strength of a Limit Douluo. 

Had this been before the previous Continental Soul Master Tournament, when he was still at Rank 94, he would have relied on his personally crafted array of Rank 9 soul tools. Back then, he was confident that within a hundred meters, he couldn't defeat Xuan Zi but could at least perish together with him. Expanding the range to a kilometer, he had enough confidence to ensure his own survival and retreat. Beyond ten kilometers, if Xuan Zi didn't flee, Jing Hongchen would have been the one to claim victory. 

In a war scenario, Xuan Zi would undoubtedly lose. 

In essence, this meant that he and Xuan Zi were on the same level—just with different specialties and focuses, leading to varying outcomes under different circumstances. 

However, after refining the Golden Dragon Yam fruit that Su Yu had given him, Jing Hongchen's martial soul had undergone further evolution. His soul power had also broken through to Super Douluo, reaching a staggering Rank 97. 

This level of growth had pushed his strength into an absolute domain, putting him on equal footing with Xuan Zi. 

Not to mention, Jing Hongchen had also crafted his own set of Super Battle Armor. At the same time, all his soul tools had been upgraded using integrated soul tool technology and rune systems, making them seamlessly compatible with his own abilities and far easier to control. 

With all these enhancements combined, Jing Hongchen now undeniably possessed the combat strength of a Limit Douluo. 

At the very least, he was not inferior to Ye Xishui or Long Xiaoyao in their unarmored states. 

From Su Yu's perspective, Limit Douluo could be classified into different tiers—Pseudo-Demigod, Demigod, and Quasi-God. However, that classification belonged to the original work's setting ten thousand years in the future, where Battle Armor had become a key factor. 

In this era, before the emergence of Battle Armor, a Limit Douluo who could reach the level of a Demigod purely through personal strength was already considered a monstrous talent. 

Jing Hongchen now possessed that level of deterrence. 

That was why Su Yu believed Jing Hongchen's power was no weaker than Ye Xishui's or Long Xiaoyao's. 

"Go ahead and ask whatever you want. Once you're done, I'll have my men extract other intelligence from them." 

Jing Hongchen could tell Su Yu had some questions for Feng Ling, so he didn't interfere. 

Su Yu entered the prison and arrived at Feng Ling's cell. 

"Hmph! Don't expect to get any information about the Holy Spirit Church from me. You'd best give up now." 

The moment they met, Feng Ling's words made Su Yu shake his head. 

This woman… If he weren't interested in that Demon Emperor, he wouldn't have spared her during the battle. 

Feng Ling was the Vice Leader of the Holy Spirit Church—the wife of its leader—which meant she should have had contact with someone of the Demon Emperor's caliber. That was the only reason Su Yu had allowed her to live. 

But now, seeing her attitude, Su Yu had already sentenced her to death in his mind. 

"I have no interest in the Holy Spirit Church's ambitions." 

"Oh?" Feng Ling clearly didn't believe him. 

"I only want to know about the Demon Emperor within your so-called Holy Church." 

"The Demon Emperor?" 

Feng Ling's expression turned blank, as if she had no idea what Su Yu was talking about. 

"The one in your church who is at least as strong as Ye Xishui. There should be such a figure, shouldn't there?" 

Hearing Su Yu's explanation, Feng Ling's confused expression shifted slightly—evidently, she had thought of someone. 

"How do you know about the Holy Emperor?" Feng Ling's face grew guarded. 

Yet soon after, a flicker of doubt crossed her eyes.