She Meixiao's words caused all the people present to be surprised; Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui knew Mu Ye as an acquaintance of She Meixiao's as well as the Sect Master of the Body Sect and Tang Wulin's Master, respectively.
Song Weihan and Ye Wanxing where also aware of the identity of the Body Sect's Sect Master, while Huang Jialong had also heard the names of most of the powerful people living on the Douluo Continent in his time following She Meixiao to succeed her.
After a moment of surprise, She Meixiao took the call, bringing her Soul Communicator to her ear. "Sir Mu, it has been a while... Are you alright?" Mu Ye was regularly residing in Heaven Dou City with Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua; Considering what happened in Heaven Dou City recently, she couldn't help but worry, especially since most of the information pertaining the Blacksmith Association are kept under a tight lock.
"She Meixiao... Are you at Daedalus..?" Mu Ye's voice sounded out from She Meixiao's Soul Communicator after a moment of silence, though shocking the receiver due to the powerlessness of the voice. "I am. Sir Mu, is everything alright?"
Mu Ye ignored the question, asking another one of his own instead, his voice becoming somewhat more agitated. "You guys are the most knowledgeable when it comes to evil and dark attributed energy, right?" She Meixiao replied in acknowledgement with a low grunt, which caused Mu Ye to speak up again, his voice carrying a pleading tone. "Please, I need your help..."
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A few hours had passed since Mu Ye had called She Meixiao. After hearing what the former had to say, She Meixiao, Song Weihan, Sheng Feilong and and a Soul Douluo ranked Soul Master of Daedalus immediately made their ways to the location Mu Ye told them.
They were flying through the sky at a high speed flying past villages and smaller cities on their way towards the mountains north of Heaven Dou City. She Meixiao turned her head back to Sheng Feilong and the Soul Douluo flying behind her. "We'll be there soon! Make haste!"
Soon, they arrived at a small valley surrounded by mountains. Only upon landing did they see a house made from stone in the middle of the valley; From the air above, this house blended in with the surroundings perfectly and even satellites would be unable to spot anything amiss.
Arriving in front of the house, the one to open the door was Mu Ye himself. His large, bulking build stood opposite of them, glancing at each of them with a piercing gaze through tired eyes before inviting them in.
The stone house seamlessly connected to the mountain behind it and Mu Ye lead them through the corridors towards a specific room. On the way there, Sheng Feilong could feel a number of powerful auras in the surroundings, some Soul Douluos, others even Titled Douluos, while they also passed quite a number of those powerful people in person.
From their builds and powerful vital energy, Sheng Feilong deducted that these people train in the same techniques as Mu Ye himself, thus making them the disciples of the Body Sect. Judging from their strength, the Body Sect seems to have about the same power as the Daedalus headquarters, yet Sheng Feilong and the others knew that this was only the case because the Body Sect had been in decline for a long time.
Over 10.000 years ago, the Body Sect was a direct competitor for Shrek Academy and even 20.000 years ago, at a time where Shrek Academy was but one of many small academies, the Body Sect was already an apex power. Yet now, they fell short of Shrek Academy by far, mostly due to the fact that their demands for disciples were much stricter than even Shrek Academy.
The Body Sect didn't take in any talented Soul Master; Their disciples needed an innately powerful body and an equally powerful bloodline to be able to learn the Body Sects secret techniques. Moreover, even with those prerequisites met, not everyone could stand to cultivate their cruel techniques to forge their own bodies to unimaginable degrees.
Walking through the hallways for a long time, the group arrived at a at a secluded room with no people around. Mu Ye opened the door, beckoning for everyone to follow him inside. The room was simple; Carved from he mountain it was located in with not much decorations and only a thick stone bed.
On this bed laid an old man with his eyes shut tightly. His face was pale and on the surface of his skin, a faint greenish aura could be seen; The glow of that aura alone giving the whole rock room a gloomy vibe. Song Weihan frowned, taking a deep breath before he spoke with a solemn voice. "It really is Lord Divine Craftsman, Zhen Hua..."
Sheng Feilong gulped down a mouthful of saliva. That fragile old man who seemed to be on the verge of death was supposed to be the illustrious Divine Craftsmen of this generation? The only Blacksmith who reached the pinnacle of rank 10 an was able to forge Divine Alloys, which were needed for Four Word battle Armour, that Zhen Hua?
She Meixiao remained relatively calm; She glanced at the Soul Douluo by her side, motioning for him to check on Zhen Hua while she kept an eye on the whole situation. The Soul Power of the member of Daedalus surged a a dark glow surrounded his hand as he hovered it above Zhen Hua's body, checking his condition with a stern look on his face.
Leaving the Soul Douluo to his own devices, She Meixiao turned to Mu Ye again, frowning due to concern and speaking with a heavy tone. "Sir Mu, what happened? How did Sir Zhen get affected with such a vile Evil Spirit?"
Mu Ye's expression turned gloomy as he recalled what had happened and looked at Zhen Hua laying on the stone bed. "We were inside the Blacksmith association when the evil Soul Masters attacked; It wasn't too bad at first and with many Soul Masters being present, we fought them off well for a while. But Blacksmiths aren't fighters; We got overwhelmed within minutes, especially after they started using Fixed Soul Ammunition. Dozens of decent Blacksmiths died during the attack and the Association was destroyed."
"Zhen Hua and I were fighting against a dozen Titled Douluos; All of them more powerful than I would have ever expected from evil Soul Masters. At one point, they used sinister methods to have inflict Zhen Hua with serious wounds and attached that Evil Spirit to his body. Eventually, we managed to kill all of the attackers, but Zhen Hua collapsed soon after. If it wasn't for his Four Word battle Armour protecting his vital organs and fighting off the Evil Spirit, he would've long since died..." Mu Ye's tone was grave and it was clear that he was blaming himself for what had happened to his friend.
She Meixiao nodded, telling him to remain calm, reassuring him that Daedalus would do anything they could to help. Song Weihan was observing Zhen Hua with his Spirit Power while the Soul Douluo checked his condition thoroughly, both of them frowning deeply.
After a few more moments of silence, Song Weihan spoke up. "The situation is grave..." She Meixiao, Mu Ye and Sheng Feilong turned to him, waiting for an explanation, while the Soul Douluo nodded his head with a frightened look in his eyes. "The Evil Spirit Has already invaded into Lord Zhen Hua's bones, corroding his marrow and draining out his life. His Battle Armour is protecting his vital organs, but that won't be enough."
She Meixiao's expression also became more solemn. "Can you save him?" Her words carried a lot of weight; The Soul Douluo she brought along with Song Weihan and Sheng Feilong was the best healing type Soul Master Daedalus had to offer. While he was no doctor, his Spirit Essence was extreme powerful and equally unique in that it used the power of the ailment afflicting the patient to turn it into pure energy to heal them.
The most gruesome of poisons could be turned into a divine medicine by him, as long as his Soul Power was strong enough to change its properties. When She Meixiao brought Sheng Feilong to Daedalus for the first time, this Soul Douluo was also the first person she contacted, yet his Soul Power was always corroded away by the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon's powers, making his aid useless. Only after that did She Meixiao leave Sheng Feilong in the hands of a wise, certified doctor.
Yet, that Soul Douluo had to shake his head at She Meixiao's question with difficulty. "Whatever I try, the Evil Spirit manages to hide away from my advances, seeping into Lord Zhen Hua's bones, minor organs or even meridians. If I tried to purge it like that, I would instead mortally wound Lord Zhen Hua instead..." He stood up, looking at She Meixiao with a heavily concerned expression. "I dare not take such a risk, Vice-Leader."
Mu Ye's body shook slightly and his eyes mirrored his desperation as he looked at She Meixiao and the Soul Douluo, who bowed his head. "Is there nothing you can do..?" She Meixiao remained silent, biting her lower lip while trying to think of a way to help Zhen Hua. While she didn't have any personal attachment to the latter, he was, after all, the Divine Craftsman of the Douluo Continent and the one who helped her forge her own Four Word Battle Armour.
His status was exalted, maybe even more so than the status of the late Yun Ming and it was uncertain if another Divine Craftsman wound be born within the next few hundreds of years at all; If possible, Zhen Hua's life must be preserved with all methods.
Sheng Feilong stared at Zhen Hua, or more precisely, the nefarious green aura radiating off of him. Just looking at this strange aura, it reminded him of the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon's powers, yet there was an incredible anger for the aura coming from the depths of his heart. 'The Netherworld Putrefaction Demon... Does it hate this Evil Spirit as well? It only reacted to demons before...'
Thinking for a long time, he finally looked at She Meixiao and Mu Ye. "Master... Can you let me try?"