246: The major forces in Xingluozhou

Inside the massive flying boat of the Mo Yu Trading Company.

Within the flying boat,

two people sat opposite each other.

One of them was dressed in black, with a robust and large physique, and a face like carved rock, showing no emotion.

Across from him,

sat an old man with white hair and an aged face, holding a teacup.

Between the two was an old and tattered map.

The old man, who had been intently gazing at the map, suddenly looked up.

"What's wrong?"

the robust and large black-clothed man asked, puzzled.

"I found an interesting fellow..."

The white-haired old man's eyes narrowed slightly.

"It's just a pity... he's a bit too old."

Upon hearing this, the robust and tall black-clothed man lowered his head, focusing his gaze entirely on the map in front of him.

"You're using your Soul Consciousness to probe others' talents again?"

The white-haired old man sighed.

"There are fewer and fewer people with formation talent nowadays. The number of formation masters our trading company has cultivated in recent years decreases every year, so I naturally have to keep an eye out for suitable promising young talents."

"This person has excellent talent in formations."

"It's just a pity..."

"He's too old."

"No longer worth cultivating."

"Forget it."

With a sigh, the white-haired old man retracted his Soul Consciousness... For the Blood Martial Realm martial artists on the flying boat,

they never felt any Soul Consciousness sweep over them from beginning to end.

Only Xiao Shi.

clearly detected the other party's Soul Consciousness sweep.

Previously, when he was piloting the flying boat alone, there was a formation on the flying boat that prevented the other party's Soul Consciousness from touching him.

Therefore, Xiao Shi was not worried that if his current self was swept by the other party's Soul Consciousness, the other party would recognize him as the one who had piloted the flying boat alone earlier.

What made Xiao Shi feel uneasy, however,

was that after this Soul Consciousness swept over him,

it didn't immediately move away.

Instead, it lingered on him.

"Hmm?"

This immediately put Xiao Shi on alert.

He wasn't worried that the other party's Soul Consciousness could discover anything from him.

Firstly, he hadn't yet developed Soul Power, so it was impossible for the other party's Soul Consciousness to detect Soul Power from him.

Secondly, before leaving Tian Dou Province,

Xiao Shi had already considered that he would definitely face some Martial Soul Realm experts at the Soul Consciousness Stage later, and thus be probed by their Soul Consciousness.

In response to this,

he had already communicated with the black coffin inside his body, asking the entity within the black coffin to help him conceal his Soul Consciousness from detection.

After all, Soul Consciousness could not only detect whether he possessed Soul Power.

It could also detect the strength of his physical body.

It could easily detect that his physical body strength had already reached a level comparable to the Martial Soul Realm.

But now, with the black coffin's concealment,

he no longer had to worry about his physical body strength being detected by the other party's Soul Consciousness.

"In this person's eyes, I neither have Soul Power, and with the black coffin's concealment, my physical body strength is no different from an ordinary person. Why would his Soul Consciousness still linger on me?"

Xiao Shi was very puzzled.

The feeling of being locked onto by someone's Soul Consciousness made him very uncomfortable.

It was as if the other party had a knife constantly at his throat.

Yet, Xiao Shi had to pretend not to notice.

Once he showed any signs of alertness, the other party would immediately detect something amiss.

Fortunately, he was very skilled at disguising himself and did not reveal any flaws.

After the entire Soul Consciousness lingered on him for a while,

it was retracted by the powerful expert within the flying boat.

However, Xiao Shi still didn't know why the other party's Soul Consciousness had lingered on him for so long.

"...He was probing your talent."

A thought suddenly echoed in Xiao Shi's mind.

This was a thought conveyed by the entity within the black coffin.

By now,

the incomplete consciousness within the black coffin was already able to convey simple thoughts to Xiao Shi.

"Probing talent?"

Xiao Shi was startled.

"...Some special Soul Consciousness techniques are capable of probing talent."

The incomplete consciousness within the black coffin said.

This made Xiao Shi think of the Soul Consciousness technique he had obtained after defeating the Palace Lord of Shadow Flash Palace earlier.

However, the purpose of his Soul Consciousness technique was to allow his own Soul Consciousness to enter a state that was difficult to detect.

But now, the other party's Soul Consciousness technique was for probing talent.

This was clearly the difference between different Soul Consciousness techniques.

In Tian Dou Province, no experts at the Soul Consciousness Stage possessed Soul Consciousness techniques.

After all, Soul Consciousness techniques themselves were incredibly rare.

However, in Star Luo Province, there were Martial Soul Realm experts who possessed Soul Consciousness techniques.

And Xiao Shi just happened to encounter one this time.

"If he was using his Soul Consciousness to probe talent earlier, then wouldn't my talent be exposed?"

Xiao Shi was alarmed.

Although he didn't know exactly which aspect of his talent the other party was probing,

his talents in all aspects were not bad.

His talent in any single aspect far surpassed ordinary people.

And the incomplete consciousness within the black coffin only helped him conceal his physical body from detection, not his talent.

His talent must have been exposed by now!

"Good thing I disguised my age as relatively old..."

"If it were my real age, that would be troublesome!"

Xiao Shi felt a chill down his spine.

He could guess that the other party did nothing because he saw that Xiao Shi was too old, and even if his talent was good, it wouldn't be of much use.

"Can you help me conceal my talent?"

Xiao Shi asked in his mind.

Before this,

he had never thought that talent would also become a flaw in his concealment.

"...With my current ability, talent cannot be concealed, you can only rely on yourself."

The incomplete consciousness within the black coffin said.

Xiao Shi couldn't help but frown.

Although this time, under the cover of his disguised age, even if the other party saw his exceptional talent, he didn't make any special moves.

But it made Xiao Shi realize a potential flaw in himself.

With his cautious nature,

it was difficult for him to tolerate such a flaw.

Even if there weren't many people in the entire Star Luo Province who could probe talent with Soul Consciousness, as long as such a flaw existed, it would always make Xiao Shi uneasy.

However, he also knew that

to conceal talent,

only Martial Soul Grade items could do it!

Even Blood Martial Grade items that could conceal would definitely not be able to block the Soul Consciousness detection of a Martial Soul Realm expert.

Only Martial Soul Grade items

could block Soul Consciousness.

"It seems that when I arrive in Star Luo Province, I need to find and kill a few Martial Soul Realm experts as soon as possible..."

Xiao Shi thought to himself.

This trip to Star Luo Province, in addition to considering the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect as a key factor, the killing of Martial Soul Realm experts was also an extremely important point.

If he continued to stay in Tian Dou Province,

there were already very few Martial Soul Realm experts left to kill.

After all, there were only so many Martial Soul Realm experts in Tian Dou Province in total.

To kill more Martial Soul Realm experts, he would definitely have to go to Star Luo Province, where there were more powerful individuals.

This also made Xiao Shi begin to realize that

after he entered the middle three realms of martial arts, killing martial artists at this stage was no longer as easy as it was in the lower three realms.

Firstly, the number of powerful individuals in the middle three realms was definitely not as numerous as in the lower three realms.

Secondly, powerful individuals at this stage were basically well-known figures in various provinces, already receiving attention from all sides, making it difficult to act against them.

Xiao Shi pondered that after he arrived in Star Luo Province, he might have to re-plan new ways of killing.

The old methods of killing were no longer suitable... Although the flying boat Xiao Shi was on was relatively old and not fast,

it still successfully reached the border of Star Luo Province seven days later.

As the desert gradually thinned out on the land and the heat receded, a stretch of green land slowly came into view for everyone inside the flying boat.

Looking around,

the terrain was mainly plains, with not many mountains.

Xiao Shi stood on the flying boat, gazing at the sky and earth, and a sense of clarity naturally arose within him.

Especially as they entered the territory of Star Luo Province,

they could see cities on the land.

He discovered... the cities in Star Luo Province were larger than those in Tian Dou Province, Zixiao Continent, and Zhaotian Continent, and also more prosperous.

As the core province of the Star Luo Territory,

Xiao Shi had already gathered a lot of information related to Star Luo Province on the way,

thus gaining a general understanding of the entire Star Luo Province.

Although Star Luo Province was the core province of the Star Luo Territory and the Lord's domain,

the entire Star Luo Province was not much larger in area than the other six provinces.

This was also a major characteristic of the Star Luo Territory.

The seven major provinces of the Star Luo Territory

were all similar in terms of area.

However, in terms of powerful individuals, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Star Luo Province not only had Martial Demon Realm experts, but also the Star Luo Lord, who was a Saint, governing everything.

However, in Star Luo Province, there was a situation that greatly surprised Xiao Shi.

That was... nearly half of the territory in Star Luo Province belonged to Demonic Path forces!

This situation once made it difficult for Xiao Shi to comprehend.

Even in Tian Dou Province, Demonic Path forces could only stay within three dangerous areas, and usually dared not step out of them easily.

If they came out, they would be besieged and killed by the Orthodox Faction!

But in Star Luo Province... Demonic Path forces could occupy nearly half of the territory!?

They openly established themselves and developed in Star Luo Province.

Originally, in Xiao Shi's view,

in a place like Star Luo Province, Demonic Path forces, even if they had some living space, their power would surely be confined to obscure corners.

After all, Star Luo Province... had the Star Luo Lord overseeing it.

Any Demonic Path forces would only be suppressed in his presence.

In this territory,

the Star Luo Lord was an invincible existence, the very heaven of the Star Luo Territory!

However, the Demonic Path forces in Star Luo Province were stronger than those in other provinces... This was truly unbelievable!

Based on what Xiao Shi currently understood,

the reason for this

seemed to be related to the existence of the Martial Demon Realm.

But the specific reason, Xiao Shi had not yet found out.

Ordinary people only knew it was related to the Martial Demon Realm; the specific reasons were only known by those Martial Demon Realm experts.

What was certain was that... the Lord's side had always maintained a permissive attitude towards this.

Otherwise, with the Lord's strength, he could easily suppress these Demonic Path forces and would not tolerate their existence here.

"...It feels like the waters here are very deep!"

Xiao Shi vaguely realized that the origin of the Demonic Path forces might be inextricably linked to the Martial Demon Realm.

This realm... was indeed somewhat extraordinary and very different from other realms.

Aside from the Demonic Path forces,

Xiao Shi also gained a corresponding understanding of the Orthodox Faction.

The Orthodox Faction could roughly be divided into three echelons.

The first echelon was the Star Luo Army under the Lord's command.

They only obeyed the Lord's jurisdiction and were the strongest army commanded by the Lord.

However, the Star Luo Army usually only mobilized in two situations.

One was during wars with other territories.

The other was to suppress rebellions within their own territory.

For instance, when the Star Luo Territory's powerful individuals gathered in Tian Dou Province, the Star Luo Army did not mobilize.

Within the Star Luo Territory, no force could contend with the Star Luo Army.

This made the Star Luo Army the undisputed first echelon in the entire Star Luo Province, and even the entire Star Luo Territory.

The second echelon

consisted of the Three Swords Alliance and the Prayer God Temple.

These two forces were very complex.

The Three Swords Alliance was composed of a sect, a clan, and a cult.

The Prayer God Temple, on the other hand, was more mysterious.

It was said that the powerful individuals within the Prayer God Temple were not martial artists in the traditional sense.

Instead, they were a group of people skilled in strange and peculiar powers.

These included various peculiar powers such as divination, curses, summoning, and prayers.

Although these were not mainstream,

one could even say they were not martial arts.

However, when orthodox martial artists faced them, they often found them incredibly troublesome.

This made the Prayer God Temple a powerful force in the second echelon of Star Luo Province!

The third echelon had relatively more forces.

There were a total of five major forces.

They were... Red Star Pavilion, Thousand Weapons Mountain, Blazing Beast Valley, Mo Yu Trading Company, and Wangchen Inn.

What surprised Xiao Shi a little was that

the Mo Yu Trading Company was actually a third-echelon force in Star Luo Province.

No wonder the accompanying personnel on that massive flying boat were all Martial Soul Realm experts at the Soul Consciousness Stage.

Although it only belonged to the third echelon in Star Luo Province, even a third-echelon force in Star Luo Province was enough to easily crush the first-tier forces of other provinces.

The information about these five third-echelon forces was very fragmented.

Xiao Shi still needed to gradually understand it.

Overall,

he had gained a general understanding of the forces within the entire Star Luo Province.

Not long after,

Xiao Shi and his group arrived above a city in Star Luo Province by flying boat.

Whoosh!

The flying boat rapidly descended.

It docked in the city's port.

The entire city was incredibly vast.

And very prosperous.

One could clearly feel the difference between the cities in Star Luo Province and those in other provinces.

And the moment the flying boat approached the city,

an incredibly powerful Soul Consciousness immediately swept over the flying boat.

This was an incredibly powerful Soul Consciousness, completely incomparable to that of the Mo Yu Trading Company's Soul Consciousness expert earlier.

To Xiao Shi, it felt like... this was at least the Soul Consciousness of a Life Soul Stage expert!

Fortunately, this Soul Consciousness merely swept over them briefly and did not conduct a detailed probe.

"It seems that in every city in Star Luo Province, there will be Martial Soul Realm experts stationed, and they are all Martial Soul Realm experts at the Life Soul Stage."

Xiao Shi recalled the information he had learned earlier.

These Martial Soul Realm experts at the Life Soul Stage possessed extremely powerful Soul Consciousness, covering an extremely vast area.

Coupled with the assistance of some treasures in the city,

if battles or other situations occurred within the city, their Soul Consciousness would definitely sweep over it at the first instant.

Thus, trying to kill people in the city, especially killing Martial Soul Realm experts... was almost impossible!