Now alone again with his disciple, Salas began telling a new heartwarming story.
"Little Wu, Master wants to guide you in your cultivation, but Master has many unfinished matters. Other than taking revenge against Bibi Dong, Master also wants to find out about his identity..." Salas spoke softly, his magnetic golden eyes gazing at Xiao Wu.
"Teacher, what do you mean by finding out about your identity...?" Xiao Wu asked, puzzled.
"Alas... Master doesn't even remember his name. I only remember waking up on a mountaintop ten years ago. Other than that, Master remembers nothing of what happened before. Whether I have family or friends... I want to find out," Salas said gently, his voice trailing off.
"Teacher, this... How could that be? Did someone attack you? Could it be that..." Xiao Wu was bewildered. She hadn't expected her teacher to have experienced something like this. Her mind raced through countless possibilities, wanting to help Salas.
"Don't worry about me, Little Wu... Master has a hunch that I'll soon find out who I am," Salas said with a mysterious smile.
"Mmm." Xiao Wu nodded.
"Once I leave, you must take care of yourself... Master will come check on you at least once a month. There are a few evil Soul Masters kidnapping people at night... Although I'll clean up those filthy bastards before I go, you still must not wander around late at night," Salas said, patting her head.
Xiao Wu felt an indescribable fatherly warmth in Salas's voice. It made her happy. Although she had lost her two brothers... at least now she had a father figure she could feel love and concern from. She smiled sweetly and nodded quickly.
"If you plan to leave this city, you must wait for me to return. There are a few Titled Douluos in the Heaven Dou Empire—going there is very dangerous..."
"And if it's truly unavoidable and you can't wait for me, you must leave some clues in hidden places. Don't worry, it won't take long before you can live freely. Master will find a way to conceal your aura," Salas's reassuring voice rang in Xiao Wu's ears.
She nodded obediently. After all, a teacher for a day is a father for life... That is what her brother taught her.
After giving her a few more instructions, Salas sent Xiao Wu and Tang San away. Flender and the others were probably searching for them by now, since they hadn't returned to the academy.
Watching Xiao Wu's swaying, round buttocks as she walked away, Salas silently licked his lips behind his mask.
"It seems my taste is also a little different from normal people..." he muttered to himself, then quietly disappeared from the scene.
---
Arriving at the top of a mountain far from Soto City, Salas watched the rising sun and fell into deep thought.
"There are still more than two weeks before I need to give Dugu Bo the next pill... Now, what should I do in the meantime?" Salas asked himself.
"I can go to Yang Wudi's place to see if he really has a method to consume immortal grasses. If not, I can also try sneaking into Spirit Hall... Now that I've reached the Spiritual Domain Realm in spiritual power, if I activate my first soul skill, only those with mid-level Spiritual Domain Realm power or higher can detect me," Salas thought.
Although he had broken through to the Spiritual Domain Realm—a feat that only a Level 99 Limit Douluo could achieve—it still wasn't the end.
According to Douluo Dalu 3's settings, the Spiritual Domain Realm starts at 20,000 spiritual power points and peaks at 49,999 points.
The Spiritual Abyss Realm, which only Titled Douluos and above can achieve, ranges from 5,000 to 19,999 points. The three initial realms are all under 4,999.
So even though Salas had crossed a major threshold into the Spiritual Domain Realm, he was still at its early stage. If he were to face Qian Daoliu with his first soul skill activated, he would likely be discovered immediately.
After all, Qian Daoliu had been a Level 99 expert for a very long time—he probably already had late-stage or even peak-level Spiritual Domain Realm power.
"Qian Daoliu might be able to find me, but Bibi Dong probably won't..." Salas thought silently—but he had no intention of testing it.
"Once I've confirmed everything, I must head to Slaughter City and obtain my domain. I can't delay it any longer... Sigh... I was forced to change my plans before. Now I can't afford to wait." Salas sighed.
Initially, he didn't plan to get his second and later soul rings yet. He had wanted to absorb the remaining eight soul rings only after obtaining the Killing God Domain. That way, he could maximize the domain's potential and his advantages.
The Killing God Domain evolves as it absorbs soul rings and energy. It starts in its basic form, then progresses to the Asura Hell Domain, and eventually to the Asura God Domain—with minor evolutions in between.
If Salas had absorbed the two hundred-thousand-year soul rings after acquiring the domain, it would have immediately evolved by two stages.
But reality had forced his hand. Salas wasn't sure how much the future had changed due to his actions. Whether Bibi Dong would discover Xiao Wu's spirit beast identity was still uncertain. Whether Xiao Wu would leave Tang Hao's protection like in the original story was also unclear.
That's why he couldn't miss this opportunity in Soto City—when Tang Hao wasn't around to protect her.
"Anyway, I still have enough soul ring slots left to evolve the domain. If I remember correctly, Tang San's first domain evolution happened when Xiao Wu sacrificed herself. The second happened when he obtained his 7th God-given soul ring, and the final one came after Da Ming and Er Ming sacrificed themselves..."
"So it's enough... And getting the two soul rings early isn't entirely bad either. My physique improved to Level 98, and my soul power broke through to Level 90—proving that without a ninth soul ring, I can't improve my soul power any further," Salas mused.
The two hundred-thousand-year soul rings and the soul bone directly pushed his physique from Level 96 to 98.
Just like Tang San in the novel, who advanced from Level 85 to 91, Salas's soul power rose from Level 84 to 90.
This confirmed his earlier theory: without absorbing the ninth soul ring, his soul power bottleneck couldn't be broken—which placed him in a tough spot.
If he wanted to hunt down the million-year-old Deep Sea Demon Whale King, he'd need to try even harder. Even with god-level physique and peak Spiritual Domain Realm power—or even divine consciousness—it might still end in failure due to insufficient soul power.
"Only by evolving the Eight Spider Lances to their final form will I be able to somewhat resolve this issue... I'll decide based on the situation when the time comes," Salas thought, smiling faintly. Then, with a flash, he vanished from the mountaintop.