"Go east for three hundred li. Find all the villages in that area. Take note of every village surrounded by mountains..."
Sitting on his grand chair with his legs on the table, Salas lazily gave orders to the person in front of him.
The man had gray sideburns and appeared to be around sixty years old. He was one of the bishops under Salas, with a cultivation at the Soul Emperor level.
As the hall master of the Spirit Hall temple in Heaven Dou Capital City and one of the four archbishops under the Pope, Salas has many subordinates.
Five Soul Saints and a dozen Soul Emperors.
He could command them at will—within reason.
"Yes, Lord," the Soul Emperor bishop nodded with a bow.
"Oh, and it must be done within five days. You may mobilize as many people as necessary," Salas added, his eyes still closed.
Traveling three hundred li—approximately 150 km in modern terms—would take nearly a day on horseback. Since Salas didn't know the precise location of his target, he gave them an extra three days to search. That was his magnanimity.
Salas was tight on time. After he devours the Martial Soul, he has to catch up to Tang San.
He has about a month before the Shrek Seven Devils go to Star Dou Forest...
"Understood, my lord." The bishop took his leave.
Once the bishop left, Salas summoned another person.
This man was even older than the previous one.
"Ma Long, I have an important task for you. This concerns Her Majesty and the Golden Generation... So you understand what that means, right?" Salas still had the same lazy demeanor, but his eyes now carried a sharp glint.
"Please instruct me, Lord. I will complete the task to the best of my abilities."
The old man, one of the five Soul Saints under Salas, stood attentively.
Anything related to the Pope and the Golden Generation was of utmost importance.
"Mm. The task is in Icebound Forest. You are to locate and capture the Mirror Image Beast there..."
As he spoke, Salas put his legs down and straightened his back, meeting the Soul Saint's gaze.
"Her Majesty received information that a 20,000-year-old Mirror Image Beast resides in the forest. She wants it alive... So capture it alive," Salas emphasized.
Ma Long nodded. He could sense the weight of this mission from Salas's tone.
A 20,000-year-old Mirror Image Beast had the battle power of a human Soul Saint. While Mirror Image Beasts weren't known for their combat prowess and could be dealt with strategically, he still had to proceed cautiously. Capturing it alive was another challenge altogether.
And he wasn't enough to accomplish this alone.
"How many people may I mobilize for this task, Lord?" Ma Long asked.
"To be safe, including yourself—four Soul Saints. Under that, you may take ten Soul Emperors. And act discreetly…"
"We can't let others know that most of the temple's combat power is gone. You have two weeks to complete the task," Salas warned, his expression turning gloomy. His acting was Oscar-worthy.
Ma Long nodded, assuring that he would complete the mission.
Doubting Salas? That thought never even crossed his mind.
As Salas watched Ma Long close the hall door behind him, he let out a deep sigh of relief.
"I acted well..."
Imitating the original Salas was tough, but fortunately, his new body's brain held Salas's memories. After going through them, Salas had figured out how to interact with others.
The key was acting lazy most of the time, giving unreasonable orders, and handling matters related to the Martial Soul Hall with extreme caution.
Once he understood these traits of the original Salas, acting became easy.
Besides, in the Heaven Dou Empire, not many people were truly close to him.
His personality wasn't well-liked. The original Salas was cunning, used many underhanded methods, and was sometimes irritable. Most of his subordinates feared him rather than respected him, which meant they wouldn't notice small changes in his behavior.
And who would ever suspect the truth? The concept of transmigration wouldn't even cross their minds, even if he acted completely different.
There was nothing to fear.
This realization gave Salas the confidence to refine his acting despite his initial nervousness.
Leaning back and resting his legs on the table again, Salas fell into deep thought.
"Is there no better option than the Clear Sky Hammer for me?"
"Golden Holy Dragon, Seven Killing Sword, White Tiger, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon... There are many good options."
"But I must consider both combat power and availability... In that regard, the Clear Sky Hammer seems the best."
"The Great Samurai Hammer Technique alone is enough to make me choose it."
After reconsidering his decision, Salas relaxed.
Earlier, he had thought about obtaining Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul. With the help of an immortal herb, he could have evolved it into the Golden Holy Dragon—or perhaps something even stronger.
But after careful thought, he dismissed the idea.
Dragon-type Martial Souls had strict soul ring requirements. Each soul ring had to come from a soul beast with dragon blood. Otherwise, the soul skills wouldn't be powerful.
Perhaps 100,000-year soul rings were an exception… Salas wasn't sure.
And it wasn't as if 100,000-year soul beasts were easy to find.
Salas simply didn't have the strength to hunt them.
Of course, there were many of them—in the Far North, deep within the Star Dou Forest… He knew this well, having read most of the Douluo series.
But those places were like anthills. The beasts lived in groups.
If he targeted the Far North, he might provoke the Ice and Snow Emperors.
If he ventured into the Star Dou Forest, it would be the same.
Even the sea—where the highest number of 100,000-year soul beasts resided—was too dangerous.
Mermaid-type soul beasts and others of their kind lived in groups as well.
Only a few soul beasts were relatively safe to hunt… Like Er Ming and Da Ming, who weren't protected by the Silver Dragon King and her faction. Or the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and the Evil Spirit Orca King, who were despised by other sea spirit beasts.
...
That was why he had dismissed Lu Sanpao, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and other dragon-type Martial Souls.
As for the others, availability was the issue.
Seven Killing Sword… Salas liked it, but he couldn't obtain it unless he killed Chen Xin.
Golden Crocodile King, Spider Emperor, Angel Martial Souls—those were out of reach as well.
Perhaps Evil Fire Phoenix was a decent choice, but after careful consideration, he dismissed it.
After reading about the brilliance of Clear Sky Hammer users in the novel, his mind had already been leaning toward it.
"Clear Sky Hammer it is. No need to waver."
Salas reaffirmed his decision, solidifying his resolve.