Tang Sect Surveillance

"Has the Soul Bone issue been resolved?" Vice Tower Master Li came over and asked with concern.

Earlier, Shiyu had said he needed the Cultivation Room because absorbing the Soul Bone had caused his Soul Power to become unstable, and he needed a quiet environment to resolve the problem.

"The process had a few setbacks, but fortunately, it was successfully resolved." Shiyu gave a weary smile.

Those several hours of torment had left him physically and mentally exhausted. Now, he was both hungry and sleepy.

"It's good that it was resolved. But your complexion doesn't look too good. This is..." Vice Tower Master Li looked concerned.

This was Tower Master Qian Gu's prospective disciple, who might become an official disciple in the future. Naturally, he wanted to build a good relationship with him.

Shiyu explained that he was hungry and sleepy.

"So that's what it is. I'll immediately have someone arrange something for you to eat." Vice Tower Master Li sighed in relief.

Half an hour later, in a dining room within the Spirit Pagoda, Shiyu dug in with gusto.

It was already late at night, but Vice Tower Master Li had still arranged five dishes and a soup for him, mainly meat dishes. They were all appetizing in color, aroma, and taste, whetting Shiyu's appetite.

Vice Tower Master Li had anticipated that Shiyu might be hungry, so he had kept two chefs behind for overtime, ready to serve dishes at any time.

"Urp..." Shiyu let out a satisfied burp and contentedly rubbed his bloated belly.

That meal had truly hit the spot. It was the most lavish meal he had eaten since coming to this world.

The meat was not Soul Beast Meat, but it had been prepared with many energy-rich Medicinal Herbs. After eating, his entire body felt warm, as though energy was waiting to be refined.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Vice Tower Master Li." Shiyu expressed his gratitude, and his favorable impression of Vice Tower Master Li rose a little further.

"As long as you've eaten well." Vice Tower Master Li smiled.

"I've already had a room prepared for you. I can take you there now."

"Thank you for the trouble." Shiyu thanked him again and followed Vice Tower Master Li to his accommodations.

The East Sea Spirit Pagoda stood several hundred meters tall, and it could be said to contain every facility imaginable.

The Spirit Pagoda's personnel basically ate, lived, and worked within it. Few lived outside.

Its lodging and food rivaled those of top-tier luxury hotels, and it even had all kinds of entertainment facilities. It was practically a highly comprehensive commercial building.

If the Spirit Pagoda ever stopped conducting Soul Spirit-related business, it could smoothly transition into a large hotel.

When he arrived at the room arranged for him, Shiyu was deeply shaken. He felt like a country bumpkin entering the city.

The usable floor area of the room Vice Tower Master Li had arranged for him was likely over two hundred square meters. It had three bedrooms and a living room, and its decor could only be described as extravagant.

It had everything an ordinary hotel room should have, as well as things ordinary hotels did not.

Of the three rooms, one was a Cultivation Room, one was a screening room, and the other was a bedroom for resting.

"Do all Spirit Pagoda personnel live this luxuriously?" Shiyu could not help asking, stunned by the Spirit Pagoda's sheer opulence.

"Not every Spirit Pagoda employee gets to enjoy a room of this caliber."

"The room I arranged for you is on par with that of a branch pagoda's vice tower master. It is the highest-standard room in the East Sea Spirit Pagoda."

"There are another four grades below this level, corresponding to white, yellow, purple, and black," Vice Tower Master Li explained.

"I see." Shiyu understood. If everyone had rooms of this standard, that would be extravagance beyond all reason.

"Contact me once you've rested well. I'll personally escort you to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters." After leaving behind his contact information, Vice Tower Master Li departed.

"This is way too luxurious." Looking at the room, Shiyu could only sigh at how wonderful it was to be rich.

After taking a comfortable hot bath, he lay down on the enormous bed, which was more than two and a half meters wide.

The bed was unbelievably comfortable. He even wanted to pack it up and take it back to the Peerless Tang Sect Period.

Sleeping in this bed, he would probably have sweet dreams every night.

"I hope everything goes smoothly after I reach the Spirit Pagoda headquarters," Shiyu murmured to himself. He was not opposed to going to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.

An organization like the Spirit Pagoda had gathered Spirit Masters from across the world. It would not casually do something like eliminating a genius.

He had also become Qian Gu Dongfeng's disciple. As long as he did not cross the other party's bottom line, his safety could still be guaranteed.

Still, he might need to play along then, saying things that demonstrated loyalty to the Qian Gu Family.

Qian Gu Dongfeng might appreciate his talent and be willing to nurture him, but the prerequisite would be that, once nurtured, he would benefit the Qian Gu Family.

He probably would not want a powerful expert he had cultivated to be beyond his control.

Especially if Shiyu were to rise against the odds, reach the top, and become the Spirit Pagoda's tower master.

In the Spirit Pagoda's early days, anyone strong enough might have been able to rise to the position. But after developing to this point, the families led by the Qian Gu Family had seized control of the Spirit Pagoda's authority.

Naturally, they did not want someone outside the major families to control the Spirit Pagoda.

Gu Yuena had only been able to take control of the Spirit Pagoda by relying on her status as the Qian Gu Family's daughter-in-law.

Though it was only nominal, she had still borrowed the Qian Gu Family's influence.

Without the Qian Gu Family's support, it would have been practically impossible for her to rise to the position of tower master.

Shiyu had no way to bind himself to the Qian Gu Family as Gu Yuena had.

Even becoming Qian Gu Dongfeng's disciple was not enough for Qian Gu Dongfeng to completely regard him as one of his own.

At times like this, he needed to make his stance clear—for example, promising that once he grew stronger, he would be willing to serve as a guardian of the Qian Gu Family and never take part in any struggles for power.

Only then would Qian Gu Dongfeng feel reassured and spare no effort in nurturing him.

Shiyu lay on the bed, thinking over many things, mainly how to win Qian Gu Dongfeng's trust.

How he expressed his stance was very important. He did not want to appear overly humble, but he still had to achieve the desired effect. This required careful consideration.

Then there were the benefits he could fight for after earning that trust.

In his view, information was the most valuable thing. When the time came, he needed to obtain as much of the available information as possible.

As he thought, Shiyu gradually fell asleep and slept straight through until noon.

After a simple lunch, he and Vice Tower Master Li silently left the Spirit Pagoda.

They left cautiously, in order to avoid retaliation from Wu Changkong and the others.

This was not needless worry, but an entirely correct precaution.

Because before dawn, the area around the East Sea Spirit Pagoda had already been placed under surveillance by the Tang Sect.

The East Sea Tang Sect branch had learned of Wu Changkong and the others' experiences. With Tang Sect Disciples treated like this, they naturally could not simply let the matter go.

They were unwilling to confront the Spirit Pagoda head-on, but neither would they leave things at that. They planned to act in secret, and Shiyu was someone who needed to be eliminated.

The relationship between the Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, and the Spirit Pagoda was growing increasingly tense. If Yun Ming had not been suppressing the Spirit Pagoda in this era, conflict would likely have erupted long ago.

To maintain the current balance, they could not allow the Spirit Pagoda to produce a superpowered expert.

Shiyu had the potential to become one, so strangling him in the cradle was the better course of action.

For every scheme from above, there was a countermeasure below. The Spirit Pagoda had also guarded against this move by the Tang Sect and left as carefully as possible.

They used the Spirit Pagoda's underground passage, one that would normally only be activated during an evacuation. Using it now showed just how much importance the Spirit Pagoda placed on Shiyu.

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