That Was Seriously Awesome

"By the way, you said you went to see Teacher earlier?"

Seeing Hu Liena beside him holding her cup with a blissful look on her face, as though she had fallen into a whirlpool of happiness, Xu Yuan suddenly asked.

"Mm."

Hu Liena seemed to recall something, and a brilliant smile instantly bloomed across her pretty face. She raised her chin and puffed out her chest.

"Your big sister reached level thirty!"

Xu Yuan quickly clapped a few times and cried out exaggeratedly, "Wow, amazing, so amazing!"

But his over-the-top expression looked fake no matter how one looked at it, making Hu Liena roll her eyes at him irritably.

Level thirty—she had reached level thirty!

Would it kill him to praise her properly?

Before everyone else, she was a dazzling prodigy favored by heaven. Only this brat in front of her never took her seriously.

Thinking of that, Hu Liena felt a little stifled. Even the Milk Tea in her hands suddenly did not taste so good anymore.

"If you're level thirty, does that mean you need to go out and obtain a Spirit Ring?"

Xu Yuan asked.

Xu Yuan truly did not know much about that. Logically speaking, Spirit Hall had established many Soul Hunting Forests.

There should have been one at their own headquarters in Spirit City, shouldn't there?

Yet the last time Yue Guan had taken him to obtain a Spirit Ring, they had gone out of their way to make a trip to Star Dou Forest.

That left him somewhat confused. Wasn't a Soul Hunting Forest much closer?

"Of course."

Hu Liena nodded prettily. "Since Spirit City isn't far from Star Dou Forest, whenever we break through, we generally go to Star Dou Forest to obtain Spirit Rings."

Xu Yuan was puzzled. "Isn't that dangerous? Don't we have Soul Hunting Forests?"

Hu Liena extended a slender, jade-white finger and waved it before Xu Yuan's eyes.

"There are no Soul Hunting Forests within a hundred li of Spirit City. If members of the Hall want to obtain Spirit Rings, they all go to Star Dou Forest.

"And Soul Hunting Forests aren't Spirit Hall's property either. We have to pay the two great empires for entry permits if we go there. How could that be as convenient as Star Dou Forest?

"There are all sorts of soul beasts there, and it doesn't even cost money."

"Huh?"

Xu Yuan was extremely surprised. "Weren't all Soul Hunting Forests built by Spirit Hall? What did they have to do with the two great empires?"

"We built them, but they aren't ours."

Hu Liena said matter-of-factly, "The two great empires paid us to build them. Once we finished and got paid, the land belonged to them.

"You must have heard those rumors going around, right?

"How could you take that kind of thing seriously? Besides, Spirit Hall has countless Branch Halls. Maintaining the daily expenses of so many believers already leaves us short on money. Where would we get the funds to maintain those Soul Hunting Forests?

"The maintenance costs for just the outer fences are astronomical every year.

"They were built for those nobles who are afraid of dying.

"But soul beasts often give birth to litters of ten or even dozens. There are only so many noble children, so over time, the numbers naturally kept piling up.

"That caused the soul beasts inside to multiply out of control, and there were even several beast tides.

"In the end, to curb the rapid growth of soul beast numbers, the two great empires opened them to ordinary people under Spirit Hall's name.

"But aside from disciples of major sects and great factions, as well as noble children, ordinary civilian Soul Masters who want to enter Soul Hunting Forests all have to purchase permits from the city lord's manor in cities near the two great empires. And they aren't cheap.

"Hmph, they're completely ruining Spirit Hall's reputation. Their intentions are truly vile!

"If they did not still need those annual grants, the Red-Clad Bishops and Archbishops in the Hall would have flipped the table long ago."

As she spoke, Hu Liena gave a cold snort.

"This kind of slander is simply too low-grade. The people guarding the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forests are all soldiers from the two great empires. What right do they have to pin this on us?!"

"..."

Xu Yuan looked at her, somewhat speechless. "You're pretty worked up, huh?"

Hu Liena said as though it were only natural, "That's just how it is. Anyone with eyes can see the problem.

"As the conflict deepens, the two great empires have spared no effort in smearing Spirit Hall's image among commoners!"

Xu Yuan could understand that.

Spirit Hall's power had become incomparably massive. The emperors of the two great empires probably did not sleep very soundly at night. Suppressing Spirit Hall was inevitable.

And Spirit Hall's fresh blood came from commoners, from countless remote and unknown villages across the continent, villages like Holy Soul Village.

As long as they made the people lose faith in Spirit Hall and cut off its source of recruits, Spirit Hall would eventually lack successors and collapse completely.

As long as both sides sought development, it was inevitable that they would trip each other up.

If one was not careful, someone would stab them in the back.

Of course.

Understanding it was one thing, but Xu Yuan did not agree with such methods. They were too lowly. If they had the ability, they should fight openly and crush their enemies at their sharpest edge!

"By the way, why are you asking about this?"

Hu Liena looked at Xu Yuan in confusion.

Seeing that she had finished the Milk Tea in her hand, Xu Yuan immediately took another cup from his Storage Soul Tool and handed it to her.

"Um, when you go obtain your Spirit Ring, could you take me along?"

Xu Yuan had been studying in the academy all day and felt a little stifled, so he wanted to go out and look around.

Hearing that, Hu Liena refused without even thinking.

"That won't do. You still have classes."

Xu Yuan argued, "I've already learned almost everything Teacher teaches."

"That still won't do."

Hu Liena continued shaking her head. "It's too dangerous. If you get hurt, I won't be able to explain it to Teacher."

"..."

The corner of Xu Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. He wanted to ask whether she was being serious, but after taking a deep breath, he forcibly held it back.

"You know my strength. No one can hurt me."

"No means no!"

"Senior Sister~"

"..."

"Nana~"

"What are you calling me for? Have you no manners?"

"Sister Nana~"

"Ah, I really can't do anything about you. Fine, fine. But when the time comes, you have to listen to me, understand?"

"Hehe."

Early that morning, while the sky was still barely light, Hu Liena, Xu Yuan, and several middle-aged men dressed in black robes left Spirit City through its northwestern gate, fully prepared.

With two disciples of the Pope traveling, especially to a place like Star Dou Forest, security naturally had to be of utmost importance.

They had brought eight Red-Clad Bishops on this trip, all Soul Emperor-level experts, as well as two Archbishops, who were Soul Saints.

A Title Douluo, Gui Mei, was also secretly following them.

The lineup could only be described as extravagant.

Forget finding a thousand-year soul beast in Star Dou Forest—so long as they did not approach the core region, they could walk sideways through the forest.

This showed just how highly valued the two of them were within Spirit Hall.

If it had been anyone else, they would not have received such treatment.

Walking along the broad official road with his hands clasped behind his head, Xu Yuan felt as though even the air around him carried the scent of freedom.

Beside him.

Hu Liena wore a fitted outfit today, displaying her graceful, curvaceous figure to the fullest. Though she was still young, she already had considerable assets.

This reminded Xu Yuan of a poem by Su Shi from his previous life.

Viewed from the front, a ridge; from the side, a peak. Far or near, high or low, each view was different!

That was seriously awesome!

Seeing his carefree, flippant demeanor, Hu Liena could not help reminding him, "We agreed that once we're out here, you have to listen to me in everything!"

Now that they were already out, how could he let her have her way?

Xu Yuan waved a hand. "We'll see, we'll see."

Hm?

Hu Liena's delicate brows instantly shot up.