"This matter has nothing to do with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect."
Yu Luomian spread his hands.
If he had wanted to kidnap him, he would have acted long ago.
Although Qin Ming's martial soul was formidable, it was still far inferior to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the continent's number one beast martial soul.
Besides, the other party was merely a Soul Emperor.
"Second Chief, why did you invite Yu Cheng to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect?"
Qin Ming asked.
After fighting Yu Luomian, he greatly admired the man's strength and had learned quite a bit from the exchange.
But that did not stop him from suspecting Yu Luomian.
He even believed Yu Luomian had used the commotion from their sparring match to draw the attention of the three Committee Members, then sent someone else to abduct Yu Cheng.
"Yu Cheng's pills are quite effective. Elder Li has praised them highly and hopes to invite Yu Cheng over to exchange alchemy experience."
Yu Luomian answered directly.
"Alchemy?"
Ning Fengzhi's eyes flickered as his fingers lightly tapped the table.
Ning Fengzhi knew a little about Elder Li of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect. The man was responsible for the sect disciples' Medicinal Baths and Medicinal Cuisine, and he was a master alchemist.
He had actually praised Yu Cheng's pills?
Who would have thought that Yu Cheng was not only skilled in martial soul theory, but also proficient in alchemy?
Ning Fengzhi had arranged for Ning Rongrong to study here so she could interact more with talented youths. Among all the students of the Royal Academy, who was more outstanding than Yu Cheng?
Most importantly, he was a Support System Soul Master!
The corner of Ning Fengzhi's lips rose in an almost imperceptible smile.
This person is fated to join my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!
"Creak—"
The meeting room doors were pushed open.
An old man strode into the room.
He wore a white robe, and his beard and hair were both snowy white. His indifferent gaze carried the sharpness of a drawn sword.
He was Chen Xin, Sword Douluo and an elder of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Uncle Sword, did you find any clues?"
Ning Fengzhi stood and asked with concern.
The others, Yu Luomian included, also rose to show Chen Xin their respect.
This was a Level 95 powerhouse. Everyone else in the room put together would not be enough for him to deal with using a single hand.
"Fengzhi, look at this."
Chen Xin spread out his hand, using Soul Power to suspend several withered blades of grass.
"Isn't that just ordinary Blue Silver Grass?"
Yu Luomian said.
Chen Xin glanced at him but did not reply.
Meng Shenji frowned. "These Blue Silver Grasses appear to have been contaminated by Vicious Poison and lost their vitality."
After studying them for a while, he suddenly understood. "Your Excellency, do you mean Yu Cheng's disappearance is connected to the owner of this poison?"
"Correct. As far as I know, there is only one person in all of Heaven Dou City who possesses such Vicious Poison."
Chen Xin nodded, his voice icy.
At those words, Meng Shenji and the others' eyes immediately lit up.
Yu Luomian did not understand, but after looking around at everyone, he nodded along as well.
"If I'm not mistaken, the person Your Excellency is referring to should be Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo."
Qin Ming spoke.
As Dugu Yan's teacher, Qin Ming had met Dugu Bo several times.
The man was covered in poison. Even without releasing his martial soul, he gave off a terrifyingly foul stench.
"That's right, it must be Old Poison!"
Yu Luomian slapped the table and declared with certainty.
"I'll go find him right now!"
A surge of indignation rose in Yu Luomian's heart.
He had only come to invite Yu Cheng and had even fought Qin Ming over it. Yet Yu Cheng had been kidnapped by Dugu Bo, leaving him to be wrongly suspected.
"Second Chief, wait."
Qin Ming stepped forward and hurriedly stopped him.
"Since Senior Dugu was the one who took Yu Cheng, I'll first ask Yan Yan about the situation to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings."
Neither Yu Luomian nor Dugu Bo was someone the academy could afford to provoke.
If Dugu Bo had merely taken Yu Cheng away for a chat and they all went to accuse him, would that not be a slap in his face?
"Then I'll leave this matter to Teacher Qin."
Yu Luomian said.
He had been exhausted all day. First, his daughter had berated him, and then he had sparred with Qin Ming.
Now that it was confirmed Yu Cheng was safe, Yu Luomian could not be bothered to interfere further. Once Yu Cheng returned to the academy, he could simply send someone to summon him to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.
"That will do."
Ning Fengzhi nodded.
"Dugu Bo has a residence in Sunset Forest and may not be in the city at the moment. We'll split into two groups. Teacher Qin will look for Dugu Yan, while Uncle Sword heads to Sunset Forest."
"Mm."
Chen Xin nodded.
After decades together, he instantly guessed Ning Fengzhi's intentions.
Ever since Ning Rongrong had absorbed her Thousand-Year Second Soul Ring, Ning Fengzhi had wanted to meet Yu Cheng.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect welcomed talent from all corners. If they could take this opportunity to recruit Yu Cheng into the sect, it would be a guaranteed profitable deal.
Crown Prince's Mansion, study.
Xue Qinghe sat in the main seat without saying a word.
A document lay on the table before him. It was Yu Cheng's recipe for the Hundred Grass Pill.
Sun Buyu stood across from the desk with his head lowered, his hands pressed tightly to his sides as he occasionally stole glances at Xue Qinghe.
"Why was I not informed promptly that Yu Cheng knows alchemy?"
Xue Qinghe's voice was calm, giving no hint of anger or joy.
He had personally recruited Yu Cheng into the Royal Academy. In order not to disrupt Yu Cheng's cultivation, Xue Qinghe had never interfered too much.
Yu Cheng's intelligence was certainly important, but he only had one soul ring. His cultivation was still far too low.
However...
Xue Qinghe had not expected Yu Cheng to have studied alchemy as well.
Alchemy differed from theoretical research; it required long periods of experimentation. Those famous master alchemists were all white-haired old men.
Xue Qinghe had never heard of the Hundred Grass Pill before.
Perhaps Yu Cheng had discovered it in an ancient text, or perhaps he had developed it himself.
But regardless of which it was, creating a new pill was enough to earn someone the title of master.
Most importantly, he was only eleven years old.
"Your Highness, Yu Cheng barely ever leaves his residence. Without special orders from the Committee Members, I can't enter the Imperial Dou Team's base."
Sun Buyu said nervously.
He had served Xue Qinghe for many years, yet this was the first time he had seen him angry.
Sun Buyu felt somewhat wronged as well.
Back then, Xue Qinghe had given him two orders:
First, take care of Yu Cheng's daily life.
Second, reduce Yu Cheng's contact with outside forces.
Over the past year or two, people from Spirit Hall had tried several times to meet Yu Cheng, but Sun Buyu had made up excuses to turn them away.
"Enough. Teacher Sun, you may leave first."
Xue Qinghe rubbed his brow and waved his hand.
In his eyes, Sun Buyu was a qualified executor. But asking him to make decisions in important matters was asking too much.
"Yes."
Sun Buyu let out a breath of relief and quickly left the room.
"Ci Xue, She Long, go to Sunset Forest and find out what Dugu Bo wants with Yu Cheng."
Xue Qinghe's gaze sharpened as he spoke.
Dugu Bo actually dared to snatch his person. What nerve!
"Yes!"
A cold voice came from the shadows.
"Your Highness, should we bring Yu Cheng back?"
Ci Xue asked.
His martial soul, Pufferfish, specialized in defense and Vicious Poison. Dugu Bo's Snake Venom posed no threat to him, and Ci Xue was confident he could defeat Dugu Bo completely.
"No."
Xue Qinghe said.
If they directly brought Yu Cheng back, would that not expose the fact that he had Title Douluo-level guards?
"Ci Xue, use the identity of a Rogue Cultivator. Say you refuse to accept Dugu Bo's poison and beat him up."
"She Long, take the opportunity to check whether Yu Cheng is safe."
Xue Qinghe gave his instructions carefully.
"Yes."
The two answered solemnly, then vanished from the room.
"Sigh..."
Xue Qinghe leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh.
For all these years, he had lurked within the Heaven Dou Imperial Family as though walking on thin ice, taking every step with utmost care.
Yet everyone around him was nothing but a group of reckless brutes.
Sometimes, it truly wore him out.
Before you continue