Lin Xiao brought the Secret of the Body to the great hall where Du Busi was.
As soon as they saw Lin Xiao arrive, Long Aotian and Weina warmly came over to greet him.
"Junior Brother, you were whisked away by our teacher earlier. Come on, tell us how you achieved a gold-grade awakening."
Long Aotian was bursting with curiosity. If possible, he wanted to awaken his Martial Soul at gold grade too.
Weina looked Lin Xiao up and down. Their teacher had dragged him away before he could get a proper look earlier.
As Weina studied Lin Xiao, he wondered how someone so young could give off an aura stronger than his own.
At present, Weina was only a Soul Grandmaster. He would only reach level 30 around the time Huo Yuhao did.
The two of them had even met in the Star Dou Great Forest back then.
Now that Lin Xiao had already reached level 30, he was already stronger than Weina.
"Senior Brothers, the secret to awakening is right here."
As he spoke, Lin Xiao took out the Secret of the Body that Old Medicine had revised.
Du Busi's eyes lit up. With this, the Body Sect's strength would climb to yet another level.
Long Aotian and Weina exchanged glances, each seeing bewilderment in the other's eyes. It wasn't as though they hadn't practiced this before. Achieving a gold-grade awakening was incredibly difficult.
Du Busi slowly rose and walked over to Lin Xiao, taking the Secret of the Body from his hands. "Thank Chen Ge for me."
At those words, Long Aotian and Weina froze on the spot. Their teacher... their teacher was calling someone else his big brother?
Something was wrong. On a scale of one to ten, this was a twelve.
Long Aotian and Weina were utterly dumbfounded.
Inside the ring, Old Medicine heard Du Busi's words and sent a voice transmission. "No need to stand on ceremony, Busi. How is the material gathering coming along?"
Unable to tell where Old Medicine's voice was coming from, Du Busi instinctively replied in his mind, "We're still missing one."
Old Medicine understood. Not bad. Only one was missing.
It seemed this world had quite a few heavenly materials and earthly treasures after all.
Seeing Du Busi fall silent, Long Aotian, Weina, and Lin Xiao simply watched him.
Coming back to his senses, Du Busi smiled at the three of them. "Aotian, Weina, there's hope for your gold-grade Martial Soul awakenings now."
Joy spread across their faces. Was Chen Ge really that incredible? Even their teacher was saying something like this now.
Compared with Long Aotian and Weina's delight, Lin Xiao was much more composed.
"Teacher, I'd like to head out and gain some experience next. I'll also see whether I can find any of the medicinal herbs you need."
He was already level 30. It was time to obtain his third Soul Ring.
Du Busi looked Lin Xiao over and noticed that he had already reached level 30. With Chen Ge around as well, there was little for him to worry about.
"Go on, then. Come back soon. It's dangerous out there."
Du Busi waved a hand.
Hearing this, Long Aotian instinctively spoke up. "Teacher, Junior Brother is still too weak. Won't it be dangerous?"
Weina chimed in, "Yes, Teacher. Why not send someone to protect him?"
Du Busi shook his head. "Don't worry. Let him go."
Since Du Busi had said so, Long Aotian offered no further objections. He had almost forgotten that his junior brother had two other teachers.
Seeing that neither of them said anything more, Weina also held his tongue.
After bidding Du Busi farewell, Lin Xiao left the Body Sect alone.
"Aotian, Weina, take a look at this new Secret of the Body."
As he spoke, Du Busi handed the Secret of the Body to the two of them.
The more they read, the brighter their expressions became. "Teacher, let's go to the imperial palace for the medicinal herbs right now!"
In the Heaven Dou Empire, Lin Xiao had only just arrived when he heard Old Medicine's voice transmission:
"Xiao Xiaozi, that boy with the powerful luck has appeared again."
Old Medicine's voice rang out in Lin Xiao's mind.
Lin Xiao paused, then looked around. Huo Yuhao was actually here?
Lin Xiao had almost forgotten about him. It had been so long. What was he doing here?
After working out the timing, Lin Xiao quickly realized that the fellow might have just returned from the Far North and was now hurrying back to Shrek.
He wondered what kind of Martial Soul Huo Yuhao would obtain without the Ice Empress.
Lin Xiao had taken the Ice Empress away, and the Snow Empress should be gone by now too.
Aside from the Titan Snow Demon King and the White Bear King, there didn't seem to be any particularly famous Soul Beasts in the Extreme North.
Perhaps there were, but with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's courage, would he dare approach them?
He probably wouldn't even entertain the thought of taking that risk.
Lin Xiao looked around but saw no sign of Huo Yuhao. "Master, I don't see Huo Yuhao."
"To your left."
Old Medicine spoke again.
Lin Xiao looked to his left. After a while, a bedraggled boy appeared in his field of vision.
It was none other than Huo Yuhao.
From the look of him, he seemed to have been through a fierce battle.
"Long time no see, Huo Yuhao."
As Huo Yuhao passed by, Lin Xiao greeted him.
Huo Yuhao had his head lowered. Hearing Lin Xiao's voice, he instinctively looked up. "Lin... Lin Xiao!"
Huo Yuhao's face was weather-beaten, with none of the spirited confidence the boy had once possessed.
Lin Xiao had no idea what he had experienced on this trip to the Far North.
It would take quite some time for him to recover.
"It's only been a year. How did you end up in such a sorry state?"
Lin Xiao looked Huo Yuhao up and down. His strength had already reached the Soul Grandmaster level, but his aura was contained, concealed by something.
Presumably, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was masking his aura.
"Yuhao, I can sense a familiar aura on him."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice rang out.
Rather than immediately answering Lin Xiao, Huo Yuhao began talking to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. "Brother Sky Dream, what exactly is it?"
"I can't remember. It feels a little like Bingbing's aura, but also unlike it. How strange."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm couldn't place it. It was somewhat like the Ice Empress's aura, yet mixed with an aura of darkness. He couldn't distinguish it at all.
Huo Yuhao stopped dwelling on it. Never mind.
"Long time no see, Lin Xiao!"
"I just got back from the Far North. Sorry you have to see me like this."
Huo Yuhao forced a smile. As he was now, he fell far short of Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao waved a hand. "It's fine. How have things been at Shrek?"
"Pretty good."
Huo Yuhao answered calmly. There was nothing bad about being at Shrek.
Lin Xiao smiled and said nothing more. "Until we meet again."
With that, Lin Xiao left. A greeting was enough. Tang San was keeping an eye on this fellow, so it was better to limit their contact.
As soon as he left, Lin Xiao eagerly asked, "Ice Empress, can you sense which Soul Beast his second Martial Soul came from?"
The Ice Empress's voice came from inside the ring. "I can't tell. There are so many Soul Beasts in the Far North. How could I possibly remember them all? But I did sense the aura of that useless Tian Meng."
"I never thought he'd really choose a human."
Lin Xiao felt a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to identify Huo Yuhao's second Martial Soul.
He really was curious. Without the Ice Empress, what exactly had Huo Yuhao's second Martial Soul become?
What sort of Martial Soul would that Sky Dream Ice Silkworm fellow find for him?
The more Lin Xiao thought about it, the more curious he became. He really wanted to ask in person.
"Don't overthink it. Your Martial Soul defies the heavens anyway. Are you really afraid of him?"
The Ice Empress's voice drifted out leisurely. If he had a problem, just fight him.
Lin Xiao let it go. She was right. Why was he thinking so much about it? He wouldn't have much contact with Huo Yuhao anyway. For all he knew, the next time they met, they might immediately come to blows.
Why worry about all that?
PS: (To make the distinction easier from now on, Old Medicine will be addressed as "Master.")
(Electrolux will be addressed as "Mentor.")
(Du Busi will be addressed as "Teacher.")
(Only the forms of address differ. Lin Xiao respects them all equally.)
Before you continue