At a location far away from Ziling Sect, Di Batian and the beautiful woman were hidden in the void, their eyes shut as they extended their senses. After a long while, they opened their eyes with a look of disappointment on their faces.

"Both chess pieces have been used. They have indeed failed," said Di Batian with a sigh.

"That was expected. Why did you try?" asked the beautiful woman in confusion.

"I only wanted to cause that little bastard more trouble. With the temper of someone his age, he will definitely try to subjugate the Ma Clan and Qingxiu Manor. I can then send the news to the Dragon Society. With their grudge against Xiang Yangzhan, they will definitely recruit the two organizations into their fold. At that time, a conflict will break out between them and the Ziling Sect. I can then find a chance to fish in troubled waters," said Di Batian with a crafty look in his eyes.

"The sect master is wise," the beautiful woman praised. "So, are we returning to the Di Clan now?"

"There is no rush. Let's go to the Dragon Society and spread some news before paying the Dragon Phoenix Academy a visit," said Di Batian.

"Dragon Phoenix Academy?" the beautiful woman did not understand the reason.

"Yes. That little bastard has been expelled. He has some enemies there. Furthermore, Di Lin and Di Tong are both there. I need to inform them about this, or they will probably return cluelessly and kill themselves," said Di Batian.

He then left the Ziling Sect's territory with the beautiful woman.

Xiang Shaoyun had guessed that Ma Xiaoshi and Qing Jiancheng's troublesome matter was probably caused by Di Batian, but he hadn't predicted that Di Batian had more follow-up plans.

After witnessing Xiang Shaoyun's strength, the various organizations became incredibly docile, no longer daring to display haughtiness before him. They all rejoiced that they hadn't decided to revolt, or things would have also ended up badly for them.

The few who had joined Ma Xiaoshi and Qing Jiancheng earlier served as the perfect example. They weren't killed, but each of them had lost an arm in warning. Their yearly tribute had also been increased by 30 percent. Failure to offer the tribute would result in a visit from someone from the sect.

Some trouble might have arisen during the Sorting General Assembly, but as a whole, it had still ended smoothly. Xiang Shaoyun was quite pleased with the assembly, as it had achieved his desired effect.

He had people attend to all the guests. He also informed them of his requests and ideas, telling them to send their people into the sect. He sugarcoated his words, telling them that he was giving them a chance to assume positions and cultivate in the sect when in truth, he was trying to strengthen the sect's foundation in the shortest time possible. That way, he would be able to temporarily solve the manpower shortage they were suffering from.

Pang Tongyuan was the one in charge of the entire process. Xiang Shaoyun had two Emperors attending Pang Tongyuan at all times, allowing Pang Tongyuan to slowly regain his confidence.

Pang Tongyuan did not disappoint, and he handled everything flawlessly. With that, Xiang Shaoyun confidently handed over the sect affairs to Pang Tongyuan.

Xiang Shaoyun also wanted to immediately send some people to attack the Ma Clan and Qingxiu Manor. Still, due to his lack of manpower, it was unwise to oppose them so soon. Thus, he decided to stay still for now and focus on dealing with those who had submitted to him.

Xiang Shaoyun used an extremely straightforward method to deal with them—putting them under the Nether Dragon Soul Curse's control to fully turn them into Ziling Sect members. Those who had submitted to him were Sovereigns and were great additions to the sect.

After all, Tang Zhan's people had long left, while the Skeleton Gang members were unreliable. The Demon Sovereigns brought by Little White were also unreliable. Xiang Shaoyun greatly lacked capable helpers by his side.

I never thought of putting all of you under control, but since you're delivering yourself right into my lap, I have to make good use of you. Consider yourself unlucky, thought Xiang Shaoyun to himself.

Once he finished putting the curse on all of them, he went to see Yao Qian. She had remained unconscious after consuming the saint soul pill. It had been a month, yet she had not woken up. If it wasn't for her stable aura, they would have thought that something bad had happened to her.

Ultimately, Old Yao concluded that her body was too weak and it was too difficult for her to digest the pill. Thus, she sank into a deep slumber. Or perhaps she merely needed more time to complete her soul. In any case, she wasn't in any danger.

When Xiang Shaoyun reached Yao Peak, he sensed an unusual aura emanating from one of the rooms.

"What a strong soul power. Has Little Qian awakened?" muttered Xiang Shaoyun doubtfully as he hastened his steps toward her room.

Old Yao was already waiting outside the room, not daring to enter rashly.

"Grandpa Yao, did Little Qian wake up?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.

"Young master, it's good that you're here. I don't know what's happening. Since she is completing her crippled soul, she shouldn't be emanating such strong soul power. I'm afraid that the medicinal power was too strong for her..." said Old Yao anxiously.

"Let's go take a look?" Xiang Shaoyun suggested.

"Should we keep waiting? I'm afraid that we will disturb her recovery by entering," said Old Yao after some hesitation.

After all, soul recovery was completely different than the recovery of ordinary wounds. If one was interrupted, the whole process might fail.

Xiang Shaoyun placated Old Yao, "Sure, we'll stay out here. I have a way to check her current condition. Don't worry."

"What way do you have?" asked Old Yao.

Xiang Shaoyun replied, "You'll know soon."

He shut his eyes and sent his powerful senses into Yao Qian's room without much difficulty. When his senses entered, he felt a thick soul power in the air and saw a powerful soul tangled with Yao Qian's body. It frightened him, and he almost rushed into the room to destroy the soul.

But he immediately stopped when he saw that the soul looked exactly the same as Yao Qian. The two seemed to be fusing together instead of devouring each other, so the situation was still under control.

Is this Yao Qian's mortal soul? It's so powerful! Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed inwardly.

Every human had three ethereal souls, the heavenly soul, the earthly soul, and the mortal soul. The mortal soul was also known as the life soul, and it was the same soul that Yao Qian lacked. This powerful soul could very well be the life soul that she lacked. If that were the case, it could only mean that Yao Qian possessed an extraordinary life soul.

At this time, Xiang Shaoyun thought of something. She might not be lacking the life soul as Old Yao had said. Rather, her life soul had been too powerful, to the point it couldn't unite with her other two ethereal souls.

In other words, her two other ethereal souls were too weak while the life soul was too powerful. The three were unable to coexist in balance, leading to her soul deficiency. After consuming the saint soul pill, her heavenly and earthly souls were greatly strengthened, allowing the three souls to finally unite.