Under the harsh trials of battle with the Red Soul Hall, the martial artists of the Divine Flame Alliance have undergone earth-shattering transformations, rapidly improving their cultivation.
Although each faction's martial artists suffered losses over half during the battle with the Red Soul Hall, those who survived were all elites.
Furthermore, the Jade Cauldron Sect, through constant recruitment and resource accumulation, has become the strongest sect in terms of numbers and combat power. Now, the Jade Cauldron Sect, with the soldiers of all its military branches combined, totals three million people.
Moreover, with the tempering of battles and the resource investment from the Jade Cauldron Sect, all soldiers' cultivation has broken through to the Melding Earth Realm, with many reaching the Heaven-reaching Realm.
And with the military merits gained from war, all disciples can use contribution values to exchange various resources and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures within the Jade Cauldron Sect, accelerating the progress of martial cultivation among the factions.
Adding up the forces of various factions, apart from the Jade Cauldron Sect's grand army, these armies directly amount to five million.
Although the combat strength of these armies cannot compare to that of the Jade Cauldron Sect, with the support and resource supply from the Jade Cauldron Sect, their combat strength should not be underestimated.
Furthermore, the Jade Cauldron Sect possesses warships and the Giant Race as its trump card.
Therefore, if the forces of the Eastern Domain weren't currently dealing with the battle against the Red Soul Hall, the Jade Cauldron Sect might not fear the Flying Crane Sect.
However, to battle with the Flying Crane Sect, given the current foundation of the Jade Cauldron Sect, it would inevitably pay a heavy price.
Naturally, this is not what Lin Chen wants to see, so currently, the Jade Cauldron Sect needs most is time.
As long as the Divine Flame Alliance is given enough time, it will inevitably grow to a level that makes the Flying Crane Sect wary.
"Which prince is your Flying Crane Sect planning to support?" Lin Chen looked at Duo'an and pressed for an answer.
Knowing whom the Flying Crane Sect intends to support would give Lin Chen a sense of security, enabling his main body to guard against measures in the Cloud Dragon Kingdom.
"This, I truly don't know, the sect master hasn't told anyone." Duo'an looked at Lin Chen and replied earnestly.
The situation within the Yunlong Royal Family is complex, and Duo'an even suspects that perhaps even their sect master doesn't know which prince to choose.
Moreover, although Duo'an counts as a significant figure in the Flying Crane Sect, in Yunlong City, he is nothing; any elder dispatched by a sect could easily overwhelm him.
Not to mention, there is also the intimidating presence of Yunlong Heavenly Palace, where any inner sect disciple is said to have combat strength above the Creation Realm Fifth Level.
For the disciples of Yunlong Heavenly Palace, battling across realms is commonplace.
"You're not playing tricks with me; I was initially planning to perform a soul search on you. Now it seems I can spare you this method, but if you want to live, you still have to cooperate with me on one thing." Lin Chen looked at Duo'an and said coldly.
This old man rushed to the Eastern Domain in a hurry; if it weren't for Lin Chen having a way to deal with him, the man wouldn't let the Eastern Domain off the hook.
Gululu—
Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, Duo'an trembled all over.
Lin Chen actually mastered the soul searching technique, which is known to be a technique only late-stage Creation Realm experts can perform, and the cultivation level of the performer is best if there's a gap.
The soul searching technique is extremely sinister and ruthless; once executed, the divine soul of the searched will suffer from soul-devouring pain, definitely incur damage, and could even become idiotic.
You should know that divine soul damage is extremely difficult to repair; these ordinary martial artists have virtually no means of repairing it.
"What does Master need me to cooperate with?" Duo'an asked Lin Chen, trembling and cautious.
He is now extremely fearful of Lin Chen, not suspecting Lin Chen's previous words as intimidation but feeling maybe Lin Chen truly has mastered such methods.
"Open up your divine soul and let me plant a divine soul prohibition within it," Lin Chen looked at Duo'an and said calmly.
"What?! Plant a divine soul prohibition?" Duo'an was extremely shocked upon hearing Lin Chen's words, with his first reaction being to adamantly refuse.
After all, if he truly opened up his divine soul and let Lin Chen brand his divine soul, his life and death would be in Lin Chen's hands.
With just a thought from the other party, his soul could be scattered to the winds.
Seeing Duo'an's unwillingness, Lin Chen didn't say much, merely waited quietly for him to think it over.
"Hmph, you old thing, being planted with Master's divine soul prohibition is your good fortune. You should know, not just anyone is worthy of being branded with Master's divine soul prohibition. Which of Master's current servants isn't living prosperously? As long as you do your job well, benefits are sure to come your way."
Sky Howling Demon Wolf, seeing Duo'an's reluctance, immediately spoke disdainfully.
Sky Howling Demon Wolf's words aren't wrong; those branded by Lin Chen's divine soul prohibition aren't many: it, Little Profound Turtle, Master Qingxu, and the former Red Soul Hall's second-strongest, Zhou Xiaoyun, who were subdued by Lin Chen.
As long as the task commissioned by Lin Chen is accomplished well, who isn't living happily?
"Fine, I'll agree." Duo'an looked at Lin Chen, though reluctant at heart, feeling if he refused, Lin Chen might immediately let the demon wolf solve him.
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen nodded and asked Sky Howling Demon Wolf to take Duo'an back to Cloud Sky City.
To brand the divine soul of a Creation Realm expert with divine soul technique, though the current Second Soul Division has the capability, it's not secure, so it's better to wait for Lin Chen's main body to come back and perform it.
After all, with Lin Chen's main body having the Primordial Myriad Transformation Cauldron, leveraging it to brand the divine soul of someone with mere Creation Realm Fifth Level cultivation is extremely simple.
Lin Chen's main body, now in Yunlong Heavenly Palace, is planning to return to the Eastern Domain.
He shares the spiritual sense with the Second Soul Division, so what the Second Soul Division does is the same as if he himself does it.
However, Lin Chen wants to return to the Eastern Domain, and even at full speed using his current movement technique, it would take at least a month, which is too time-consuming, so this approach has been discarded by Lin Chen.
Lin Chen also considered using spatial nodes to teleport back, but even such a vast distance means waiting a month for the teleportation ability to recharge before being able to use it again from the Eastern Domain back to Yunlong Heavenly Palace.
This method was also ruled out by Lin Chen, so Lin Chen ultimately decided to set up a teleportation array within Yunlong Heavenly Palace, as in the future, Lin Chen is sure to travel between Yunlong City and the Eastern Domain more than once.