"Report!" A loud voice rang out from outside the door.
Yue Zheng'en's mouth twitched slightly—he didn't even need to ask to know who it was.
Only Sima Jinchi would dare to shout "report" so loudly outside his office door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a burly figure strode into the office. With the gait of a dragon and the steps of a tiger, he arrived at Yue Zheng'en's desk in just a few strides, stood at attention, and gave a military salute.
"General!"
Yue Zheng'en looked up at Sima Jinchi in front of him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "You've gotten much younger... and your aura... you've broken through to Title Douluo."
Ordinary soldiers might only see that Sima Jinchi looked younger, but as a Super Douluo, Le Zheng'en could clearly sense the change in his aura.
Sima Jinchi was a key talent of the Southern Legion.
Yue Zheng'en had, of course, been paying attention to his match—especially since his opponent was Gu Yue, a disciple of Heaven Phoenix Douluo. But even he couldn't see through Gu Yue's rainbow-colored shield.
Perhaps in the real world, he might have some methods.
But in the Star Dou Battle Network, his power as a Super Douluo was suppressed and couldn't be fully utilized.
Ever since Gu Yue released that rainbow shield, he hadn't been able to see what was happening on the battlefield.
All he knew was that the system had declared Sima Jinchi the winner.
But before that, Sima Jinchi had clearly been completely suppressed by Gu Yue.
So how did he suddenly win?
Yue Zheng'en couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
Seeing Sima Jinchi's current state, a guess began to form in his mind:
"Could it be that Sima Jinchi had a breakthrough to Title Douluo during the match and defeated Gu Yue?"
That was possible.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the difference between a peak Soul Douluo and a Title Douluo is only one level of soul power—the difference in actual strength was like heaven and earth.
Especially for a genius like Sima Jinchi. Once he broke through to Title Douluo, his power would increase tremendously.
Not to mention, Sima Jinchi had been stuck at the peak of Soul Douluo for over ten years. With that kind of accumulation, if it exploded all at once, defeating Gu Yue and turning the tables was completely feasible.
Thinking of this, Yue Zheng'en's mouth curled into a smile.
He knew very well that Sima Jinchi's Dragon Slayer Saber martial soul was no less than the Sacred Angel martial soul in terms of quality. And after years of diligent cultivation, Sima Jinchi had even grasped the soul of the blade. Once he stepped into the Title Douluo realm, his progress would be rapid and limitless.
Once he broke through, Sima Jinchi was bound to become a peerless powerhouse!
Another powerhouse meant greater confidence for the Southern Legion.
Even if the Sun Moon Federation were to interfere in the Southern Legion in the future, having more strong individuals on their side would help reduce that influence.
"Uh… I suppose you could call it a breakthrough." Sima Jinchi said with a wry smile.
"What's wrong? Something off?" Yue Zheng'en asked in a serious tone, hearing something unusual in Sima's voice.
"General, you were the one who brought me into the Southern Legion, right? Even before that, the people who raised me were from the Sacred Angel Clan, right?" Sima Jinchi said deeply.
"That's right. Why ask this all of a sudden?" Le Zheng'en replied.
"When I was young, I asked my adoptive parents about my background due to my martial soul. They said I was an orphan they had adopted." Sima Jinchi said, then paused before continuing. "After my martial soul awakened, I naturally formed my first soul ring due to having innate full soul power. To prevent others from noticing anything unusual, my adoptive parents told me I was a 'child of destiny' and even went to the Spirit Transmission Tower to buy a soul spirit to cover it up. So only they and I knew the truth. But I think you knew too, General—otherwise, you wouldn't have refrained from asking how I broke through to Title Douluo."
"So you're not just a brute after all." Yue Zheng'en smiled slightly. "You want to know about your background, right?"
"I've figured out some of it, but I'd still like to know the details," Sima Jinchi said.
"Alright, I'll tell you." Yue Zheng'en sighed lightly. "Years ago, when I was pursuing an evil soul master on the Star Luo Continent—now the Eight Kings Domain—I found you in a cave."
"That soul master had an evil dragon martial soul and had already broken through to Super Douluo. To achieve this, he had killed several disciples of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, including a Title Douluo. By absorbing their power, he became a Super Douluo."
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is a vital part of our Southern Legion. To avenge them, I joined forces with their clan leader and a strong member of the Sea God Pavilion from Shrek Academy. The soul master, knowing he was in trouble, fled all the way to the Eight Kings Domain. At that time, it was a remote mountain on the Star Luo Continent."
"Following clues, we tracked him to a cave. I was the first to find him and killed him. Deeper in the cave, I found you—still a baby."
Yue Zheng'en looked at Sima Jinchi with deep eyes. "Since that area was uninhabited, I assumed you might be his child. I feared the Blue Lightning clan leader would kill you out of vengeance and also worried the Sea God Pavilion wouldn't accept you, so I hid you."
"I gave them the soul master's body and secretly brought you back to the Sacred Angel Clan. Fearing that I wouldn't be able to raise you without bias if you turned out to be evil, I entrusted your care to other clan members."
"Thankfully, when your martial soul awakened, not only was it not evil—it restrained evil. Only then did I bring you into the Southern Legion."
"I get why the Blue Lightning Clan would want revenge—but would Shrek Academy really harm a baby?" Sima Jinchi scratched his head.
"Maybe not," Yue Zheng'en said calmly. "But I couldn't take that risk." He continued, "As for your background, I'm still not sure if that soul master was really your father. After all, your martial soul could've mutated or come from your mother."
"So you're not afraid I'll seek revenge on you?" Sima Jinchi muttered to himself.
Yue Zheng'en didn't know it, but Sima Jinchi was very sure he wasn't the child of that evil soul master.
In fact, it was highly likely that the soul master had absorbed the dragon soul within his saber while he slept—thus becoming an evil soul master.
After all, the dragons slain by the Dragon Slayer Saber were all evil dragons.
The trip to Star Luo might not have been to escape danger...
…but to absorb more dragon souls from the Dragon Slayer Saber.
The Eight Kings Domain—wasn't that where Xia Yi, Gu Yue, and Tang Sect had stirred up chaos in the Dragon Valley pocket realm?
Seeing that Sima Jinchi said nothing, Yue Zheng'en continued, "I've told you everything. Now, can you tell me what actually happened in the Star Dou Battle Network?"
He wasn't really afraid Sima would seek revenge.
If he was, he wouldn't have spared him back then.
"Simple. I wasn't Gu Yue's match. But she didn't care about rankings, so she deliberately surrendered." Sima Jinchi said blandly.
"Didn't care? Then why did she eliminate Xia Yi?" Le Zheng'en was stunned.
He remembered that Xia Yi had been eliminated by Gu Yue in the knockout stage.
"Then maybe Xia Yi didn't care either." Sima said coolly.
Gu Yue carried the aura of the Dragon God, and Xia Yi was her man.
With beings like them, how could they care about some petty tournament?
"Didn't care either..." Yue Zheng'en frowned. That made sense. Given Heaven Phoenix Douluo's status and power, she was known as the closest person to becoming a god.
The All-Federation Challenge was hugely important in most eyes, but to someone like Leng Yaozhu, it was probably nothing.
And for her man Xia Yi, it would be natural to share that indifference.
Same for Gu Yue.
"General, after the tournament ends, I plan to leave the legion and go to Shrek City's Spirit Pagoda to find Gu Yue." Sima Jinchi suddenly said.
"What?! You're not… No way! Absolutely not! There are plenty of excellent female officers in our Southern Legion!" Yue Zheng'en panicked.
He feared that someone as fearless as Sima Jinchi had been beaten by Gu Yue and developed a crush on her.
This kind of thing was common among soul masters, especially powerful ones.
They admired strength.
And for a genius like Sima Jinchi, finding a female soul master he admired was rare—he could easily fall for her.
Yue Zheng'en was terrified that Sima would go and challenge Xia Yi over Gu Yue.
That was entirely within Sima's character.
The Southern Legion was in a sensitive period. Even a small problem could give the Sun Moon Federation an excuse to interfere.
Especially with Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai—two women the entire Southern Legion couldn't afford to provoke.
"Uh, I'm just going to ask her about something. My background might be connected to her family. She might know more than you do. There are things I need to understand." Sima Jinchi said awkwardly.
Although he had broken through to Level 90 soul power, he hadn't yet formed his ninth soul ring—so he wasn't a true Title Douluo yet and could still compete in the tournament.
In truth, he wasn't sure if he should form the ninth ring yet. The tournament gave him time to think it through.
Everything else could wait until after he saw Gu Yue.
"You scared me!" Yue Zheng'en let out a breath of relief.
Though puzzled by the possible connection between Sima Jinchi and Gu Yue's family, he didn't press. As long as Sima didn't fall for Gu Yue, everything else was fine.
Yue Zheng'en glared at him and said, "In that case, fine. If possible, help me probe Heaven Phoenix Douluo's stance on the Southern Legion—but never mind. Better you don't. Don't risk your image with her. Just focus on training. Maybe when you reach Limit Douluo, she'll offer you a chance to become a god."
Yue Zheng'en sighed. The Southern Legion really wanted to know Leng Yaozhu's stance.
Now, everyone in the Douluo Continent knew she possessed the Core of the God Realm.
Most Limit Douluo now resided in Shrek City, even those from the Eight Kings Domain had crossed the seas—just to pursue a chance at godhood.
Becoming a god!
Even Yue Zheng'en was envious.
If he could break through to Limit Douluo, he'd step down immediately to seek that one sliver of divine opportunity in Shrek City.
To restore the glory of the Angel God.
But sadly, his talent had peaked. Without a miraculous opportunity, he'd never reach Limit.
Originally, his grandsonYue Zhengyu had a shot—but he died at sea.
As for Sima Jinchi—if he didn't get stuck again like he did before—becoming a Limit Douluo wasn't out of reach.
Yue Zheng'en didn't want trivial matters to hinder Sima's chance to become a god.
"Thank you, General." Sima saluted again.
"Get lost," Yue Zheng'en waved him off lightly.
To be honest, he felt a bit reluctant to let Sima leave.
Who knew if he'd ever come back?
But if Gu Yue's family truly could help him break through, he couldn't stop him from seizing the opportunity.
Sima Jinchi had been stuck at Title Douluo for over a decade.
As for Super Douluo, Limit Douluo, and beyond—who could say?
Maybe Gu Yue's family really could help him.
Besides, building a good relationship with Gu Yue might just increase his own chance at godhood, right?