Meeting Xue Qinghe

To increase his strength as quickly as possible, Xiao Yun once again took Tu Yaoyao back to Clear Wind Valley for training. This time, everything went smoothly. The Sword Immortal Spirit Body's combat strength truly could not be compared to his own body, and they easily reached the final stage of Clear Wind Valley.

They also obtained quite a few rewards along the way, just enough to break the Sword Saint Template through its level-20 bottleneck. The remaining Spiritual Power and Gold Coins even raised it to level 30.

After entering the final stage, Xiao Yun saw a colossal creature. It was a water-blue flying dragon with two dragon heads. Tu Yaoyao immediately warned him, "My Lord, this is a Teng Snake, a demonized ferocious beast highly skilled in water-element spells."

Seeing this, Xiao Yun immediately ordered, "Tu Yaoyao, protect your Lord well. Your Lord is about to unleash his ultimate move."

After saying that, he directly began mobilizing an Azure Sword Lotus within the Qi Sea of the Sword Immortal Spirit Body. The Azure Sword Lotus suddenly appeared behind Xiao Yun, its lotus leaves transforming into hundreds of long azure swords. Under Xiao Yun's command, they formed a dragon of Sword Qi and charged straight at the Teng Snake.

The Teng Snake refused to be outdone. It roared, and countless water spheres appeared around it, combining in midair into a water dragon that rushed toward the dragon of Sword Qi. The two collided at high speed in the air, splashing water everywhere.

However, the long swords were far faster and sharper than the water spheres. In the end, Xiao Yun's dragon of Sword Qi gained the upper hand. Countless azure sword phantoms pierced through the Teng Snake's body, leaving behind a pool of water-blue blood.

With the Teng Snake's death, Clear Wind Valley was declared reclaimed, completely freed from the Abyss's control. At the same time, the Teng Snake left behind fifty Breakthrough Stones and Gold Coins upon its death.

Tu Yaoyao then found two pieces of rare equipment in the Teng Snake's nest: the Frost Moon Sword and the Frost Moon Crown. The Frost Moon Sword had an attack power as high as 57, nearly double the Clear Wind Sword's previous 30. The Frost Moon Crown provided as much as 591 health, more than twice the original Clear Wind Crown's 263.

Xiao Yun immediately equipped both items, raising his overall combat strength considerably once more.

With Clear Wind Valley reclaimed, Youyou spoke up with a notification:

Congratulations, Young Master. Clear Wind Valley has been reclaimed. It can provide experience, Spiritual Power, Gold Coins, 100 Breakthrough Stones, 1,000 Bounty Points, and 10 sets of Clear Wind Equipment each day.

Overjoyed, Xiao Yun immediately collected the first day's rewards before returning to White Jade Capital with Tu Yaoyao.

After returning, Youyou immediately reminded him, "Young Master, you have reached the maximum time you can spend acting in the Vast Wilderness World today. Please exit promptly."

Xiao Yun had not expected there to be a time limit on his training in the Vast Wilderness World. After immediately ordering Tu Yaoyao to protect Imperial Capital City, he left the Vast Wilderness World.

As his eyes slowly opened, Xiao Yun found himself back in his room. He immediately sat cross-legged and felt the changes in his body: the surging Spiritual Power in his Dantian, its smooth circulation through his meridians, and the explosive strength in his flesh. He could not help bursting into loud laughter.

Fortunately, there were not many households near his tavern. Otherwise, people would surely have thought he had gone mad, laughing nonstop here in the middle of the night.

After quite some time, Xiao Yun finally stopped laughing. Seeing that dawn had arrived and the sun would soon rise over the horizon, he knew he still had many matters to handle today. However, he needed a little rest first to recover his strength and energy.

Once it was time to set out, he would head for Heaven Dou City to carry out the first step of dealing with Tang San—finding a way to break apart the Shrek Seven Devils.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yun immediately lay down. The moment his head touched the pillow, the wound on his face sent a faint stab of pain through him, making him hate Tang San even more.

Enduring the pain, Xiao Yun forced himself to close his eyes and fall asleep.

Two hours later, Xiao Yun opened his eyes again. With the Spiritual Power within him constantly circulating, two hours of rest had already restored his energy and strength to an abundant state.

After getting up, he washed up briefly. Looking at the long scar on his face in the mirror, Xiao Yun seemed to see Tang San's sinister face again and swore once more that he would not let that hypocrite have an easy time.

After washing up, Xiao Yun put a bamboo hat on his head and deliberately pulled the brim low to hide the scar on his face. He stored all his possessions inside the Treasure Pagoda within his body.

He then hung a sign reading "Temporarily Closed" outside Yunlai Tavern, mounted the fast horse he had prepared long ago, and left for Heaven Dou City.

At noon, most districts of Heaven Dou City were bustling with activity.

However, the area where Xiao Yun currently stood was extremely quiet. Many armored Soul Masters patrolled the surroundings. This was the district where the Heaven Dou Empire's highest-ranking nobles resided.

After several rounds of security checks, Xiao Yun finally arrived at the Crown Prince's Mansion of the Heaven Dou Empire. Standing before the vermilion Main Gate, he had deliberately covered the scar on his face with powder, leaving only a faint outline. His fingers gently brushed the Jade Pendant at his waist—three years ago, when Xue Qinghe had traveled incognito through Heaven Dou City, he had visited Xiao Yun's Yunlai Tavern.

While chatting, he had felt that although Xiao Yun was merely an ordinary commoner, he was far from simple. Xiao Yun had unique views on many matters. Because of his desire for talented people, Xue Qinghe had given Xiao Yun a Jade Pendant, allowing him to seek him out if anything arose.

Later, Xue Qinghe became Xiao Yun's backer. Over the past few years, Xiao Yun had earned Xue Qinghe at least one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, while keeping only ten thousand Gold Soul Coins for himself.

"Please announce my arrival. Xiao Yun, Innkeeper of Yunlai Tavern, has an important matter to report to His Highness the Crown Prince." Xiao Yun respectfully handed the Jade Pendant to the guard, lowering his voice to an extremely quiet level. "It concerns spies from the Star Luo Empire."

In less than half the time it took to burn an incense stick, Xiao Yun was led into Crown Prince Xue Qinghe's Study Room.

Xue Qinghe was reviewing memorials. Sunlight streamed through the glazed window, scattering flecks of golden light across his moon-white robes.

After the guard withdrew, a trace of sharpness flashed through Crown Prince Xue Qinghe's eyes, utterly at odds with his refined appearance.

"Innkeeper Xiao, the injury on your face is quite recent." Xue Qinghe lightly tapped the desk with his fingertips. "What important matter could make Innkeeper Xiao, who has always been reluctant to come here, visit despite his injuries?"

Xiao Yun knelt on one knee and took a bamboo scroll from his robes. "This commoner happened to learn that Shrek Academy will soon arrive at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy for an exchange. One of its students, Dai Mubai, is actually the second prince of the Star Luo Empire."

Xue Qinghe's fingers suddenly paused. In the corner of the Study Room, smoke drifted from the incense burner, weaving a hazy net between the two of them.

"Interesting." Xue Qinghe suddenly chuckled. "A prince of an empire concealing his identity and infiltrating the enemy nation's highest academy..."

He rose and paced over to Xiao Yun. The hem of his moon-white robe swept over the bamboo scroll. "Boss Xiao, do you have any solid evidence?"

"Your Highness need only send someone to the Soul Dueling Arena in Suotuo City. A simple investigation will reveal the truth." Xiao Yun raised his head, his gaze blazing. "Everyone knows that the Evil-Eyed White Tiger belongs exclusively to the Star Luo imperial family. That cannot be faked. Furthermore, he has not even changed his name. A simple investigation will confirm it."

A glint flashed through Xue Qinghe's eyes.

As Qian Renxue, an undercover agent, she understood the value of this intelligence better than anyone. If she could use this to provoke conflict between Heaven Dou and Star Luo, it would greatly benefit Spirit Hall's plans.

"In Boss Xiao's opinion, how should I handle this?" Xue Qinghe turned to look out the window, his tone as casual as if he were discussing today's tea snacks.

The corners of Xiao Yun's mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. "The best course would be to arrest him on the spot. The middle course would be to expel him from the country. The worst course..." He deliberately paused. "Do nothing and observe how things unfold."