The Long-Haired Youth and the Gray-Clothed Youth

Three days later, Tang Hao's carriage rumbled into Ili City, the capital of the Ili Kingdom.

The streets had been cleared. The vendors who usually filled the bustling roads had all been forcefully driven away by soldiers.

Tang Hao sat inside the carriage. As he lifted the cloth curtain and saw this scene, he frowned slightly.

The members of the Ili Royal City royal family who had been waiting ahead saw Tang Hao arrive and hurried over in delight, welcoming him respectfully:

"Prince Ilir of the Ili Clan, on behalf of His Majesty the King of the Ili Kingdom, warmly welcomes Your Excellency's arrival."

Prince Ilir was a plump middle-aged man. When he smiled, he resembled the Maitreya Buddha and radiated enthusiasm.

The people he had brought with him were the same: high-ranking officials, talented young people, and even beautiful women.

They densely filled the entire street.

Ceremonial soldiers stood on both sides of the road, looking imposing and giving the welcome an extremely grand atmosphere.

Tang Hao frowned. Naturally, he had been the one to send word that he would be coming to Ili City.

After all, since he needed them to help publish a missing-person notice, he had to notify them in advance.

He had expected them to come out and welcome him.

But...

Tang Hao looked at the scale of this reception. It could no longer be described as a simple welcome.

It was practically on the level of welcoming a king.

No, as a Titled Douluo, his status seemed to be even more noble than that of some kings.

Tang Hao suddenly realized that when he had sent them a letter saying he was coming to Ili City, they had no choice but to welcome him in person.

And the ceremony could not be modest, either. Otherwise, it would mean they were looking down on him!

Looking down on him meant looking down on a Titled Douluo!

As the smallest of the Heaven Dou Empire's four great kingdoms, the Ili Kingdom definitely did not have that kind of courage.

That was why they had arranged such a grand welcoming ceremony.

Tang Hao felt awkward.

He had always viewed the world with the mindset of an office worker. Whenever he wanted to cooperate with a government department, he habitually sent a formal letter explaining what he wanted them to help with.

And that had led to this misunderstanding.

"Honorable Clear Sky Your Excellency, a welcome banquet has already been prepared for you in the palace. Please rest assured regarding the newspapers as well; we are already rushing to print the new content."

Prince Ilir spoke respectfully and warmly to Tang Hao.

Tang Hao sighed inwardly, knowing he could not escape this process.

Moreover, seeing the merchants around them whose businesses had been affected by this grand welcome, Tang Hao nodded. "All right. Lead the way."

The grand procession joyfully escorted Tang Hao toward the palace.

Inside the carriage, Ye Xilan covered her mouth and snickered as she watched Tang Hao's helpless expression.

Seeing a Titled Douluo display such a helpless expression on Douluo Continent was truly a rare sight.

Tang Hao gave Ye Xilan's snickering smile a speechless glance. "Xilan, how far have you read in Battle Through the Heavens?"

Ye Xilan did not understand why he was asking, but she answered honestly, "Your Excellency, I have reached the part where Xiao Yan enters the Central Continent, destroys the Soul Hall, and rescues Old Yao."

Tang Hao nodded thoughtfully. Destroying the Soul Hall and rescuing Old Yao, huh.

That was a plotline nearing a major climax.

So Tang Hao nodded. "All right. It sounds pretty good. Give me all the books so I can take a look."

"Huh?"

The smile on Ye Xilan's face froze. She had just reached the most exciting part, and now she had to hand over all the books?

Wasn't that cutting off the chapter at its best point?

Ye Xilan gave a dejected "Mm" and handed Tang Hao all the forbidden copies of Battle Through the Heavens she held.

Her heart was filled with the stifling frustration of being stopped just as the story was about to reach its climax.

Tang Hao smiled at the sight.

The smile had not disappeared. It had merely shifted onto his face.

And Battle Through the Heavens...

He had no idea which clever Hometown Fellow had produced this book and printed it everywhere.

It seemed that person had wanted to make money by copying novels.

And he had succeeded. The incredibly satisfying plot had immediately drawn in countless readers.

It had exploded in popularity overnight.

But because the Soul Hall in the book had been written as the villain, Spirit Hall believed it was mocking them.

So they issued a ban, prohibiting all bookstores from printing or selling the book.

Otherwise, they would be considered enemies of Spirit Hall.

Thus, Battle Through the Heavens had become a book that was wildly popular in secret but nearly impossible to find openly.

Tang Hao wondered if that clever Hometown Fellow regretted not changing the name of the Soul Hall when he copied the book.

Tang Hao found it amusing.

But at the same time, he quietly raised his estimate of the number of Transmigrators from "six blessings in a row" to "seven up, eight down."

After seeing this book, he even felt that the number of Transmigrators might rise another level in the future.

It might reach nine deaths without regret.

Perhaps even ten deaths with no survivors.

As Tang Hao pondered this, he looked over Ili City in the Ili Kingdom. His gaze could not help turning south, toward Suotuo City in the Balak Kingdom.

Speaking of which, Ili City in the Ili Kingdom was not very far from Suotuo City.

Ordinary people could get there in a month on foot.

Soul Masters could arrive in half a month.

So he wondered how Shrek Academy in Suotuo City was doing.

From the few fanfiction excerpts he had read, Shrek Academy was one of the most classic plot locations.

Many Transmigrators in fanfiction would not miss that place.

Therefore, since Transmigrators had appeared elsewhere, there had to be Transmigrators there as well, no matter what.

Would there be one, or two?

Hmm, perhaps there might even be as many as three.

With three Transmigrators crammed into Shrek Academy, who knew what might happen.

Tang Hao smiled and withdrew his gaze from the south.

At the same time, an idea arose in his mind. After visiting the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect next time, he would make a trip to Shrek Academy.

After all, if he wanted to grow stronger, he would always have to deal with other Transmigrators.

Even if it was not for Golden Fingers, but simply to use the knowledge and resources they had brought to become stronger, it would still be necessary.

A procession of carriages slowly headed toward the palace.

The ordinary citizens who had been forcibly driven away finally breathed a sigh of relief. They could finally get back to work, and after the soldiers had all left, they hurried over carrying their burdens to set up their stalls.

Within the crowd, a twelve-year-old boy with flowing long hair, sword-like brows, and bright eyes curled his lips disdainfully.

"What a fucking piece of trash."

Beside the youth stood another boy dressed in gray. He glanced at the long-haired youth without saying anything, then weaved through the crowd with several turns and disappeared into the city.

The long-haired youth watched the gray-clothed youth's aloof retreating figure and curled his lips in disdain as well.

What was he acting so aloof for? Weren't they both Transmigrators who had been squeezed out by that bunch at Shrek Academy? And he still wanted to act cool?

Tch.

The long-haired youth curled his lips. But when he thought about how those people had driven out some Transmigrators with weaker Golden Fingers in order to reduce the number of people competing for the future positions of God Kings in the Douluo God Realm...

The long-haired youth's mood immediately soured.

He became even more irritable.

Fuck, they were all Hometown Fellows, yet those bastards still wanted to hog everything for themselves. Selfish pricks.

What fucking trash.

But whatever.

The long-haired youth looked toward the direction Tang Hao's carriage had departed and crooked his mouth into a smirk.

You people can monopolize Shrek Academy and forcibly claim the earlier plotlines.

Then I'll keep Tang Hao under my control and disgust you all.

When the time comes, we'll see who is truly weak.