Allowing Shi San to come inside, Salas straightened his back and spoke in a heavy tone.
"Shi San... I have an important task for you. It concerns Her Majesty the Pope's ambition. If you do this well, I will recommend you for a promotion. And Spirit Hall will take care of your soul ring when you reach level 80."
Salas once again dangled a big reward in Bibi Dong's name... But this time, it was for Shi San, another Soul Saint.
Hearing this, Shi San's eyes lit up.
Although he was a Soul Saint, he had no power over Spirit Hall's affairs. He was merely a combatant, not a governing officer.
Everyone in Spirit Hall wanted to become a governing officer one day. At that point, all they had to do was sit in a chair, give orders, and enjoy the privileges that came with the position.
Salas was the best example. As one of the four Platinum Bishops under the Pope, he wielded immense power.
Were there only four Soul Douluos in Spirit Hall? Naturally, that wasn't the case.
There were more than 200 Soul Douluos in Spirit Hall. And yet… there were only four Platinum Bishops.
That fact alone spoke volumes. Spirit Hall was a place where influence and recommendations mattered more than pure strength.
Salas had always curried favor with Bibi Dong back when he was stationed in Spirit City. Once she became Pope, she promoted him from a mere combatant to a bishop.
Then, six years ago, when he advanced to the Soul Douluo level, Bibi Dong promoted him again—this time to Platinum Bishop, granting him immense power.
Shi San knew this very well. If Salas recommended him for a promotion, all his years of hard work would finally pay off.
Hurriedly, Shi San bowed and nodded, saying, "Understood, my lord."
Seeing this, Salas smiled inwardly.
"It's not a difficult task… You just have to keep track of Poison Douluo's actions," Salas said calmly.
Shi San's eyes widened.
Noticing his reaction, Salas continued.
"I'm not asking you to follow him directly. I just want you to subtly monitor his movements. Whether he's staying in his mansion, meeting with Xue Xing, or preparing to leave the city—you must keep track of these things."
Hearing this, Shi San calmed down. That wasn't difficult at all. He just had to place some people around Dugu Bo's residence and the Prince's mansion. The task would be done.
"Make sure none of Dugu Bo's major actions go unnoticed. I'll give you one month to compile a report on his routines... Most importantly, note how many days he spends with his granddaughter," Salas emphasized.
Shi San nodded hurriedly, promising to complete the task. It seemed Spirit Hall either wanted to target Dugu Bo or planned to use his granddaughter to threaten him. Either way, this task was indeed important.
After Shi San left, Salas continued planning the matters that needed to be addressed.
Soon, he summoned another subordinate and requested a rough terrain map of Sunset Forest. He also assigned someone to search for poisonous mountains within the forest.
After arranging everything, Salas finally opened the letter from Prince Xue Xing.
"It's just about the upcoming Continental Soul Master Tournament..." He skimmed through it before tossing the letter aside.
There were still two years until the tournament. Why was this prince bringing it up now?
"And I won't be staying here by then anyway... It has nothing to do with me."
Leaning back in his chair, Salas lazily put his feet up on the table and sent someone to summon the beautiful Soul Master lady who had "sucked his snake" that day.
His back was aching slightly… He needed a massage.
---
A Week Later
Inside an expansive building on the outskirts of the Heaven Dou Empire—
Salas stood in front of a massive, nearly invisible Soul Beast.
The beast's body was more than seven meters long, and its scales were extremely unusual. Each one resembled a tiny mirror, reflecting the surroundings so well that it was nearly impossible to detect without careful observation.
This was the Mirror Image Beast, the one Salas had ordered his subordinates to capture.
A rare and formidable creature, the Mirror Image Beast specialized in stealth and possessed immense attack power.
And this particular one was over 20,000 years old.
Yeah, not 30,000 years old as his subordinates had claimed. Their information had been wrong.
But it was understandable. After all, the Mirror Image Beast was so rare that it was nearly extinct in this era. Knowledge about them had long faded into history.
Even in the entire Douluo Dalu series, this beast had only appeared once.
Looking at it, Salas's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"This is the beast that gave Oscar that formidable skill of 'copying'... Hehe, now it's mine."
He remembered clearly. Oscar, an auxiliary-type Soul Master, had become a formidable battle Soul Master because of this beast.
Even after ascending to a second-class god, this ability had allowed him to use 60% of the Asura God's power—a God King!
So, was this ability broken or not?
"Even though the chances of me getting the exact same Soul Skill as Oscar are close to zero—since my Martial Soul is the Clear Sky Hammer... This beast will still grant me a powerful ability," Salas muttered.
In the novel, once Oscar absorbed this soul ring, he could copy 70% of the strength of those stronger than him and 80% of those at the same level. By the time he reached Soul Saint and obtained his seventh ring, he could copy 100% of an opponent's strength.
Of course, there were limits—it required blood as a medium and could only be used for a few minutes.
"I think this will give me a cloning ability... If I can create clones of myself, that's good enough," he thought, anticipation growing in his heart.
With expectations hidden deep in his eyes, Salas summoned his Martial Soul...
A black soul power light appeared in his palm as a small black hammer with intricate patterns materialized.
The hammer rapidly enlarged in Salas's hand. The handle stretched to more than three feet—reaching his torso—while the massive hammerhead was as wide as his shoulders.
The moment it appeared, an oppressive aura filled the entire hall.
Salas gripped it tightly with one hand and raised it high.
Although his hand wasn't big enough to fully grasp the handle, with his Soul Douluo-level strength, the hammer's initial weight of 500 jin (250 kg) felt as light as a feather.
BOOM—
With a deafening crash, the hammerhead smashed down on the beast's skull.