Douluo: A Century-old Legend I Am the Second Uncle Chenxin

Chapter 1851 The Bone-Digging Team: The Spirit Hall's Hidden Stronghold

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The level of innate soul power determines the strength of soul power affinity, which is not only reflected in the cultivation speed, but more importantly, affects the cultivation ceiling.

Its core principle is that the "high-speed range" of cultivation speed covers soul power levels below 10 times the innate soul power value.

For example:

Barton's innate soul power is level seven. He can maintain a relatively fast speed at the Soul Saint stage (seventh level of Soul Master, excluding Soul Warrior), but it drops significantly after advancing to Soul Douluo.

Similarly, a Soul Master at the sixth level of the Innate Realm can maintain high speed at the Soul Emperor level and below.

Soul Masters at the ninth level of the Innate Realm are not slow in the regular Title Douluo stage, only slowing down when they reach the Super Douluo stage; those at the tenth level of the Innate Realm have a greater advantage in comprehending the intent of their Martial Soul due to the perfect breadth of their Martial Soul.

Within the same level, the impact of different levels of innate soul power on cultivation speed varies, but it is much better than the next level. For example, at the Soul Emperor stage, Bao Ruoxi's innate level 6.2 will experience a much slower decline in cultivation speed than someone at level 5.8.

Therefore, in the early stages, those with lower aptitude can catch up with those with higher aptitude through resources; however, in the Soul Saint and Soul Douluo stages, high-level resources are scarce and the difficulty of advancement is constantly increasing, so the overall speed generally slows down significantly.

Members of the main branch of the Chen family generally possess innate soul power exceeding level seven. With the aid of grade nine precious medicines and ample high-level spiritual herbs, middle-generation members can achieve an improvement of almost one level per year.

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“In the first few years,” Dou Jing continued, his gaze distant, “Barton maintained the image of ‘ordinary origins and hard work,’ while outwardly recruiting talent. The group gradually absorbed many mid-to-high-level Soul Masters from outside, which helped to strengthen its forces.”

“These people gradually took control of the core departments, introduced… a more rigorous organizational structure, and some skills and intelligence support that we had never encountered before.”

A cold glint flashed in Qin Luguang's eyes, and his voice turned icy: "Heh! I thought it was just one spy, Barton, but it turns out to be a whole den of snakes and rats! These people must be henchmen sent by the Spirit Hall to control this underground stronghold! It seems the Spirit Hall considers this an important stronghold and has grand ambitions! Who exactly are they? Those so-called six Soul Saints under his command?"

Dou Jing then recited the list: "Those I know include Blood Fang, Huo Yifeng, Mao Zeqian, and the Quentin brothers. As for the others... I don't know."

Zhu Yanfeng raised an eyebrow: "Wow, four Soul Saints and one high-level Soul Emperor, quite a move. What happened next?"

"Later..." Dou Jing's voice was filled with helplessness, "The key, high-value supplies in the regiment began to flow steadily into a fixed channel that was disguised in layers."

Everyone knew tacitly that there was something fishy going on behind the scenes, but no one dared to say it out loud. Patton was very tight-lipped about it, only saying that it was... a 'powerful partner'.

Zhu Yanfeng scoffed, his tone laced with disdain: "'Powerful partner'? That's more like the master!"

Dou Jing remained silent for a moment, then continued, "Moreover, the human trade only really took off after Xueya and the others arrived. The majority of the people being transported were to the Spirit Hall, especially... those promising young Soul Masters. The demand was enormous... Fortunately, the rewards and resources they paid were indeed generous, which gradually silenced the dissenting voices and allowed the group to expand."

Zhu Yanfeng chuckled: "Oh, you're quite generous, aren't you? You didn't make me work for nothing."

Qin Luguang, seeing through their treachery, interjected, "It's just hush money! It allows Barton to smooth things over within the Bone-Digging Gang. Moreover, with the Bone-Digging Gang's increased strength, it will be much easier for them to operate covertly against the Spirit Hall—stirring up trouble in Heaven Dou City is much more convenient with such a 'hidden hand'."

"But man proposes, God disposes. Just then, the Heavenly Battle was in turmoil, and our four families were able to break through in one fell swoop and destroy this stronghold!" Zhu Yanfeng raised his eyelids. "Hehe, it seems that our conflict with the Spirit Hall has been extended once again."

After listening quietly for a while, Chen Xiaojun spoke up. His voice was steady, but it went straight to the point: "Do you know what they intend to do with so many Soul Masters?"

Dou Jing shook his head: "The specific purpose is not very clear. However, the final destination of these Soul Masters who have been enslaved seems to be... the garrison of the Spirit Hall."

Qin Luguang immediately questioned, "How did you learn of such a secret?"

Dou Jing explained, "Although Patton is a member of the Jin family, Blood Fang... he comes from the garrison..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaojun frowned slightly.

“Yes,” Dou Jing confirmed. “So Bloodfang’s style of doing things is somewhat…unscrupulous. Although Barton is nominally in charge of the Bone Digging Gang, Bloodfang sometimes disagrees with him, and is even…a bit tough.”

Zhu Yanfeng looked surprised: "An 85th-level Soul Douluo can't suppress a high-level Soul Saint?!"

Dou Jing's expression turned serious, and his voice lowered: "Because... Huo Yifeng, Mao Zeqian, and the Quentin brothers are all on Blood Fang's side, so I suspect that these people are probably all people planted by the garrison!"

"At the very least, the Quentin brothers, who control the lifeline of the human trade, are undoubtedly the garrison—they have a very tight grip on this line, and no one else can get involved."

Zhu Yanfeng's expression was grim: "Is this the garrison's blood-stained supply line? Are they short of manpower?"

Qin Luguang's face was equally grim: "The lack of manpower is troublesome. I'd rather they were driven by ambition. How did Patton react to those few men?"

Dou Jing said in a deep voice, "Barton... he was not without resentment towards the Bloodfang faction's dominance. He had privately complained that 'those people are too domineering,' and even two years ago, he had an extremely fierce dispute with the Bloodfang over the allocation of a batch of high-grade soul tool materials."

"That time, even Tang Hengyu was involved. In the end, it was only through the intervention of the Iron Rust Brotherhood and the Zhicheng Chamber of Commerce that the matter was barely suppressed. But since then, Barton's say in core matters of the group, involving 'special channels' and human trafficking, has obviously... diminished considerably."

Qin Luguang tapped his knuckles lightly on his pipe, producing a dull sound: "Hmph! It seems that the pawns sent by the Jin family may not be able to completely control this game. The infighting between the garrison and the faction behind Barton within the Spirit Hall has even extended to this filthy underground place."

He paused, his eyes flashing: "You just mentioned Patton's complaints. Aside from that, has he revealed any dissatisfaction or concern about the 'King family' behind him, or this 'partner'? Or even... has he ever expressed any desire to break free from control?"

Dou Jing remained silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "I haven't heard him voice any specific, explicit complaints. But I can feel that sense of being constrained. As for breaking free? Ha..."

Dou Jing let out a short, bitter laugh. "Who among us, so deeply entrenched in this situation, can truly escape? We're nothing more than... helpless pawns." He may have felt resentment, but the road had already come to an end, with no turning back.

Chen Xiaojun's cool voice rang out again, carrying its unique calm: "So, in the later stages of the Bone-Digging Gang, although nominally controlled by Barton, the core power and lifeline had gradually fallen into the hands of the garrison forces led by Blood Fang. And Barton was more like a puppet they used to maintain the superficial existence of the Jin family line...?"

Dou Jing glanced at Chen Xiaojun, shook his head with a complicated expression, and said, "Not entirely. He usually makes the decisions, such as intelligence gathering, gang operations, and routine finances. Blood Fang and the others still cooperate."

"They seem to divide up special resources proportionally, but the human trade has become their private domain. It's a clear division, and they live in peace with each other."

(End of this chapter)