[DD2]: 485 (Patreon)

After crossing most of Heaven Dou City, Su Yu and his group arrived at the outskirts on the far side of the city.

This area had originally been the royal gardens, given to Su Yu by the royal family of the Heavenly Soul Empire as a gesture of goodwill.

Once a dense forest, now a massive fortress had risen among the hills.

It was a grand castle, imposing and magnificent, exquisitely beautiful.

From afar, the castle stood halfway up the mountainside, its glazed tiles shimmering with dazzling reflections.

“Looks like they did a pretty good job,” Su Yu praised as he led the group toward the castle.

A broad avenue had already been built leading from the castle down the mountainside.

The road was paved with bluestone, the steps all made from the finest white jade.

On both sides of the steps, various plants were neatly trimmed, pleasing to the eye.

As they climbed up, staff from Holy Slayer Palace had already come out to greet them.

“Palace Master!”

The manager hurried to meet them.

Su Yu nodded. “Not bad. Are all the other facilities set up?”

The manager nodded. “Everything is ready. We can start producing soul tools at any time.”

“Excellent,” Su Yu nodded. “Let’s go inside first.”

At the main entrance hung a large plaque, the three characters for “Holy Slayer Palace” engraved in bold, sweeping calligraphy.

Su Yu chuckled and stepped inside.

When he entered the main hall, the senior members, upon hearing Su Yu had arrived, quickly gathered.

Currently, the upper management of Holy Slayer Palace was still the same few people.

Besides the soul tool experts like Xuan Ziwen who had followed him from the start, there was also Chen Xin, a rank-97 Super Douluo.

And Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan, two old acquaintances.

Oh, and Juzi.

“It’s been months. How have you all been?” Su Yu took the main seat, holding a cup of tea, smiling brightly.

“With soul tools to study, everything’s fine,”

Xuan Ziwen replied coolly. “I’ve already gone through all the blueprints you gave me. Any new ones?”

That was Xuan Ziwen for you—a true research fanatic.

He didn’t care whether Su Yu was around; as long as he had new soul tool knowledge to research, he was satisfied.

Su Yu smiled helplessly—so like Xuan Ziwen.

“Teacher Xuan, I’ll give you new blueprints in a bit. In the future, Holy Slayer Palace will need your full support.”

Other than Su Yu, Xuan Ziwen was the most skilled in soul tools.

Given time, Xuan Ziwen could become a rank-9 soul engineer.

A rank-9 soul engineer was a strategic asset, enough to influence the outcome of a war.

On the battlefield, the destructive power of a rank-9 engineer was terrifying.

At this, Xuan Ziwen waved his hand. “You should tell that to yourself.”

“If you focused on soul tools, you’d surpass me in no time.”

Su Yu, at his age, was already a rank-8 soul engineer.

Even Xuan Ziwen was amazed by such talent.

It was a pity, though, that Su Yu didn’t focus on soul tools.

Sometimes, Xuan Ziwen felt it was a real waste.

Su Yu just smiled.

He understood Xuan Ziwen’s thinking.

But he wasn’t Xuan Ziwen.

Soul tools were important, but personal cultivation was even more so.

He was a soul engineer, yes, but even more, a soul master.

Right now, his focus was on advancing his soul power—becoming a Title Douluo, a Super Douluo, or even an Ultimate Douluo.

As for soul tool skills, with higher soul power and stronger mental power, his abilities in that field would naturally grow as well.

Soul masters and soul engineers were never opposites.

On the contrary, at a certain level, the two enhanced each other—soul power was always the foundation of soul tool research.

Seeing Su Yu’s attitude, Xuan Ziwen knew he wouldn’t listen and couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Su Yu glanced around with a smile. “How about the rest of you?”

“Alright,” Ji Juechen replied, as concise as ever.

“I’m fine, just bored. No one to spar with,” Jing Ziyan complained, scratching her head.

Su Yu twitched at the corners of his mouth—these two troublemakers were battle maniacs.

Ji Juechen was a bit better nowadays, having Chen Xin for guidance; he picked fewer fights.

But Jing Ziyan was the same as ever—no doubt she’d been sneaking out to brawl in Heaven Dou City.

Su Yu was sure she’d caused trouble, but the Heavenly Soul Empire had given him a face—otherwise, there’d be a bigger stir.

Shaking his head, Su Yu’s gaze met a pair of resentful eyes.

Juzi.

She stared at Su Yu, her resentment almost overflowing.

He’d brought her to the Heavenly Soul Empire only to leave her here for months, nowhere to be seen.

Of course, Juzi had complaints.

Su Yu coughed. “Juzi, do you have an issue?”

“What do you think?”

Juzi rolled her eyes.

Su Yu had brought her to the Ice God Palace, but she’d barely seen him in months.

It was as if he’d forgotten she existed.

If she hadn’t made an effort to remind him, who knows if he would’ve ever brought her along.

After all, she’d left Xu Tiannan and joined Su Yu—she was one of his people now.

But she felt Su Yu didn’t take her seriously.

Su Yu smiled. “I have neglected you these months, but I had important matters to handle.”

“Don’t worry—the promise I made you is still good.”

“When Holy Slayer Palace reopens and starts recruiting, you’ll have your place.”

“Just don’t blame me if the responsibility is heavy.”

Juzi was capable.

Her cultivation talent was average, but in tactics and strategy, she was unique.

And Su Yu had already taken precautions—he wasn’t worried about her betraying him.

“I’m not afraid of responsibility, only of not being trusted,”

Juzi said, shaking her head.

Su Yu smiled. “Don’t overthink it. If I dare use you, I trust you.”

Juzi opened her mouth, her expression complicated.

Really?

If he truly trusted her, why set up military inspectors?

Political officers?

Wasn’t it all about controlling the faith of every soldier?

She might be called the army commander, but this army was firmly under Su Yu’s control.

At his command, she’d be the first to lose her authority as commander.

Juzi could understand Su Yu’s thinking—keeping military power in one’s own hands was always safest.

But when it happened to her, she couldn’t help feeling down.

What was Su Yu afraid of—her betrayal?

But wasn’t her betrayal of Xu Tiannan all for Su Yu?

Juzi didn’t believe Su Yu was unaware of her feelings—but he didn’t seem to care.

He was far colder than she’d imagined.

His trust and tenderness were for Meng and the others—she got none of it.

Was she bitter?

Yes.

But she didn’t dare to act out.

Facing Xu Tiannan, she could play games, but with Su Yu, that strange feeling made her unable to do anything more.

“Alright, don’t overthink it. You’re already a member of Holy Slayer Palace—I never mistreat my people.”

“I promised you: once the legion is formed, you can use it for your goals.”

“You want to kill Dai Hao, avenge your father?”

“You can!”

“If you can lead the Holy Slayer Corps, you can flatten the White Tiger Duke’s mansion.”

“All pressure from the Star Luo Empire—I’ll handle it for you.”

“You don’t need to worry about a thing.”

Su Yu reaffirmed his promise.

His involvement in the army was just caution, not personal distrust of Juzi.

For anyone he hadn’t fully accepted, he always left himself a countermeasure.

Even Xuan Ziwen wasn’t an exception.

He was suspicious by nature and trusted very few people completely.

But as long as they didn’t betray him, he’d never treat them unfairly.

Hadn’t Xuan Ziwen received everything he needed for his research?

It would be the same for Juzi.

She might not get Su Yu’s full trust, but she’d get what she deserved.

With that, Su Yu turned to Xuan Ziwen. “Teacher Xuan, please take some time to make protective gear for Juzi.”

“She’s not strong enough—she needs more protection.”

“The future palace guard corps will be called Holy Slayer Corps.”

“We plan to set up four battalions: Dragon Cavalry, Tiger Guard, Divine Machine, and Black Tortoise.”

“Each battalion will train different types of troops.”

“Dragon Cavalry is for assaults, equipped with soul tool vehicles—able to attack and withstand, breaking through defenses.”

“Tiger Guard is heavy infantry—primarily soul tool armor, spears, and cold weapons, focusing on close-range soul tools.”

“Divine Machine will focus on heavy firepower—various fixed soul tool cannons, rocket launchers, etc.—to saturate the enemy.”

“Black Tortoise develops linkage soul tools, responsible for strategic defense and resisting enemy attacks.”

“To start, each battalion will have ten thousand troops, forty thousand total.”

“In the future, we can expand and specialize further.”

“My goal is to create a corps of hundreds of thousands—strong enough to slay even Ultimate Douluo or gods.”

“Of course, that’s a distant goal. We’ll need to work together.”

Hearing his vision, Xuan Ziwen and Juzi and the others all fell silent.

Juzi twitched at the corner of her mouth. “Su Yu, are you serious?”

Never mind forming a forty-thousand-strong corps right away.

Just the way Su Yu divided the battalions was far from ordinary.

Did he have any idea how much that would cost?

And where would they find so many soldiers?

Juzi had only planned to start with ten thousand, and train them a bit—no need to rush.

But clearly, Su Yu’s ambitions were much greater.

“Of course I’m serious. What do you think?”

Su Yu replied solemnly.

Juzi’s eye twitched. “Do you know how outrageous that sounds?”

“A corps that can slay Ultimate Douluo?”

“Even the Sun Moon Empire doesn’t have that.”

“And you want to slay gods? Isn’t that a bit much?”

She knew some inside information.

The Sun Moon Empire’s strongest soul engineer corps could, briefly, contend with an Ultimate Douluo.

But only briefly.

Ultimate Douluo was still almost unstoppable in this era.

Unless one set up an ambush, and the Ultimate Douluo foolishly walked into it, and one fired dozens of rank-9 soul tool shells at once—

Otherwise, killing an Ultimate Douluo was a fantasy.

If it were that easy, Xu Tiannan wouldn’t be so wary of Su Yu.

“How is it outrageous?”

Su Yu said with a smile, “So what if it’s gods? How many legions do they have?”

“Juzi, you have to believe in the Holy Slayer Corps we’re going to build.”

“I don’t,” Juzi said, hands up.

Su Yu glanced at Xuan Ziwen. “Teacher Xuan, what do you think?”

Xuan Ziwen frowned in thought. “If enough power can be gathered, even slaying gods is possible.”

As a rigorous soul tool researcher, Xuan Ziwen only believed in data.

Do gods bleed?

If they bleed, they can be killed.

Godslaying wasn’t impossible.

Juzi was speechless.

Wait, you’re considering it?

Even if such a corps could exist, surely they wouldn’t be the ones to train it.

“Hahaha, as expected from Teacher Xuan. Exactly—gods can die.”

“If hundreds of thousands aren’t enough, then a million.”

“Ants may be small, but together, they can shake the world.”

Su Yu laughed heartily.

Juzi rolled her eyes.

Su Yu laughed a bit more. “Of course, it’s just a beautiful dream for now—one step at a time.”

“As for establishing the Holy Slayer Corps, that’s settled.”

“Juzi, go organize your thoughts and write me a founding plan.”

“If possible, we’ll start recruiting soon.”

“This will be the most important task for Holy Slayer Palace for a long time.”

“Don’t worry about spending money or resources—I’ll give you all the support you need. What I want to see is a high-spirited, iron-willed army.”

“Juzi, do you have confidence?”

“Yes!”

Juzi stood up and answered firmly.