Snow Empress Appears

Extreme North.

"Little San, where should we go now?" Tang Hao said gloomily after swallowing a handful of snow.

"I don't know. Let's go around the coast and head south."

Tang San gazed toward Spirit City in the south. Xiao Wu was there; perhaps by now, nothing remained of her but a bone.

"Hurry up. That soul beast who looks like a human woman is about to notice us. Last time, she injured me with a casual slap. What a powerful soul beast." Tang Hao was helpless.

He had run rampant across Douluo Continent, yet here in the Extreme North, he could not even defeat a soul beast. How pitiful.

One slap had made him cough up his own internal organs.

"Humans." Not long after the two left, a peerlessly beautiful white figure floated where they had been, watching their retreating backs.

It was not that she could not kill those two humans. She had merely threatened them appropriately without striking to kill.

Still, it had been a long time since such powerful Soul Masters had ventured deep into the Extreme North.

Had something happened in the human world to the south?

She did not understand, but this outing had brought her an unexpected gain: a Hundred-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus.

She was only a few tens of thousands of years away from her next heavenly tribulation. Even as a Snow Spirit born of heaven and earth, she could sense that she lacked the strength to continue, so she was considering whether to undergo Form Transformation and cultivate anew.

Humans were, after all, the spirits of all living things. Though their lifespans were short, lifespan was not a problem as long as their cultivation rose quickly enough.

And if she cultivated anew, her cultivation speed naturally would not be an issue.

She was conflicted. There was no one to offer her advice. (Aside from Snow Empress, this does not involve content from the later Douluo series, and the protagonist does not know anything about The Unrivaled Tang Sect. Of course, later on, to increase the protagonist's strength, he will be arranged to take a trip to Douluo 2, slaughter gods, and then return. After that, it will basically be over.)

"Alright, that's it. Send this back to Spirit City." Xu Yu finished writing with a flourish, stuffed the letter into an envelope, and had someone deliver it to Bibi Dong. He also asked about Xiao Wu in the letter, saying he had a use for her—to lure Tang San.

In truth, she was to lure Da Ming and Er Ming. Bibi Dong did not know that anyway. What could she do if he toyed with her? She would still obediently send the information over.

Besides assigning him a group of low-level Soul Masters to use as he pleased, Bibi Dong had also assigned another group of intermediate Soul Masters to relay messages. Their Soul Power was above level thirty and below level sixty.

"My lord, we haven't received any news of Tang Hao yet. Are we really going to..."

Was it really alright to deceive the Pope like this? You might not be afraid, but I am.

"Enough nonsense. Hurry up. This is called foreplay. What do you know?"

Fine! The messenger Soul Master was helpless and could only brace himself as he hurried back.

After settling this matter, Xu Yu returned to the carriage and called Oscar and Ma Hongjun over.

"Hold your heads high and stick out your chests. What are you moping around for? Is this the bearing of a championship team?"

Having been looked down upon, Oscar and Ma Hongjun did not feel good about it either.

A championship team was originally a title filled with honor. Why did it sound so grating when it came out of Xu Yu's mouth?

"Oscar, didn't you want to figure out why Tang San brought you into Spirit City even though he knew that his Clear Sky Sect identity had been exposed and that Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Now that you're out, aren't you tempted? You should be begging me for a chance to explore this mystery, not standing there with your head lowered."

"You're willing to let us go?" Oscar asked in delight.

"Promise to give me two Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones in the future, and I'll let you go."

"Forget it, then." Two Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones per person? How many of them were there? He might not even be able to produce a thousand-year soul bone, much less a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.

"Can you tell us how Xiao Wu is?" Oscar and Ma Hongjun both looked at him eagerly.

Xu Yu smiled. "She's fine. She isn't dead yet. Don't you want to save her?"

"As long as you work for me and stay by my side, it'll be easy to gather information about Spirit Hall. Do I really need to teach you something this simple?"

At that, Oscar and Ma Hongjun looked at Xu Yu strangely.

He had made it this clear. Xu Yu did not seem like a diehard loyalist of Spirit Hall—or perhaps he was, but he was not loyal to Spirit Hall's ruling class.

That was impossible.

What major power did not brainwash the students it trained?

Could he be a fish that had slipped through the net of Spirit Hall's quality education?

Oscar and Ma Hongjun remained deeply skeptical.

After thinking for a moment, Oscar agreed.

But Ma Hongjun did not.

The fat man was rather straightforward. In his mind, Third Brother was the only person worth relying on. How could he follow someone else again?

"If you won't agree, forget it. I don't need idiots pledging allegiance to me. Smart people are much easier to deal with!" Xu Yu gave Oscar an approving glance and ignored him, making Ma Hongjun feel insulted.

"Since that's settled, Oscar, as a Food System Soul Master, you'll be appointed the second-in-command of the Support System Soul Masters. Your benefits include food, lodging, and two thousand gold coins. Your terms will improve later when conditions allow. That's all. Go claim a large carriage from the back, then organize the Support System Soul Masters in the team. Compile the list and report it to me."

"Alright." Slightly excited, Oscar left.

To make management easier in the future, Xu Yu planned to divide those under his command into Power Attack, Agility Attack, Defense, Support, Mental, and other Soul Master branches. With his Divine Tree Domain at the center, Soul Masters of every branch would form outer organizations and work together toward great things.

Ahem... put simply, they would serve his growth stronger. Spirit Hall's resources would be wasted if he did not use them.

Once he had more Chaos Ancient Tree seeds, he could establish multiple incarnations across Douluo Continent as bases. These outer organizations would then come in handy. For example, they could bring back prisoners for the Chaos Ancient Tree to absorb and see whether it could grow a few more fruits, or gather all kinds of resources and pile them within the range of the tree shade domain to strengthen Xu Yu's domain.

All of this required people to handle. Xu Yu certainly could not manage it alone, and the Chaos Ancient Tree's weakness was that it was difficult to move. That was where these outer organizations came in. As for the core organization? Naturally, it was his summoned beasts.

Moss Head had told him that within the range covered by an incarnation's tree shade, his summoned beasts could exist permanently. It was as though that space had been carved out for him; summoned beasts could move beneath the tree shade without being restricted by summoning conditions.

"What about me?" His expectant gaze received no response, and Ma Hongjun grew anxious.

Xu Yu glanced at the worried fat man and pondered for a moment before saying, "You can follow behind the convoy and shovel manure."

I**

"Discrimination! You're discriminating against fat people! I refuse to accept this! I want to duel you!"

Oscar got to eat and drink well, so why did he have to shovel manure? This was unfair. This was illegal.

Ma Hongjun wailed like a ghost and howled like a wolf. Xu Yu's thoughts shifted slightly. Perhaps he could beat the man up and shed his own image as a weak, delicate Support System Soul Master.

Forget it. He would leave him alone.

It was fine if others underestimated him. He still needed to cling to Bibi Dong for now, so he did not need any impressive public image. It was better to keep a low profile and first obtain his sixth soul ring to develop further. Level seventy was close.