Exchange Secrets

However, the Heaven Dou Empire's exit inspections weren't something you could get around with a lie like "Where are you planning to settle down?"

A long line had already formed at the border checkpoint. Everyone leaving the country had to press a hand against something resembling a crystal ball, which would then report their Soul Power Level. It was an improved version of the Martial Soul Awakening device.

Huo Yuhao quickly guessed why they were doing this. He lowered his voice and said to his two companions, "They're not letting Soul Masters through."

Chi Qiu nodded. She had noticed it too. The crystal ball hadn't reported a Soul Power Level for any of the people who had passed through ahead of them. In other words, they weren't Soul Masters.

Wang Dong understood soon enough as well. Relations between the two countries were tense, and they shared a border. The Sun Moon Empire was short on Soul Masters, so naturally the Heaven Dou Empire wouldn't let them bolster their fighting strength so easily.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Huo Yuhao smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice further. "That's easy. Come to think of it, Wang Dong hasn't seen my second Soul Skill yet, has she?"

"You got a second Soul Ring?"

"Yeah. Part of the reason I disappeared this time was to get one."

The line was nearly up to the three of them. Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes, and a faint golden light flickered deep within them.

"Next," the inspector called.

Huo Yuhao calmly stepped forward, handed over his token, and placed his hand on the crystal ball without the slightest hint of fear. The ball didn't even light up. That meant the person using it wasn't just someone who hadn't become a Soul Master; they had no talent for becoming one at all.

The inspector waved him through.

Chi Qiu went through the same process just as calmly, without a hitch. Wang Dong looked a little hesitant, but since the crystal ball still showed no reaction, the inspector let her pass too.

Throughout the process, Huo Yuhao had stayed not far from the checkpoint. The range of his Simulation Soul Skill wasn't very large yet. If he'd stood any farther away, the other two would have been exposed.

"So that Ice Silkworm gave you a skill that can simulate things to this extent," Chi Qiu remarked. "I was wondering how Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had managed to escape so easily back then."

Somewhere beyond Chi Qiu's hearing, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was fuming helplessly inside Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness. Huo Yuhao pointed at himself. "As my Soul Power grows, the simulation will get even stronger. This skill really is incredible."

"Wait, does that mean Huo can even make us invisible?" Wang Dong leaned over.

Huo Yuhao slapped his forehead. "I guess it does. We could've just gone straight through while invisible..."

He'd been so busy acting mysterious and keeping them in suspense. He should've told Wang Dong sooner. His youthful vanity had gotten the better of him, just a little.

"It's fine." Chi Qiu patted his shoulder. "Your Soul Power isn't high enough yet. If you'd just turned invisible and barged through, a powerful person might have noticed you. Anyway, this is the safest way."

"Mm..."

Night had fully fallen by then. They had just crossed the border and were still some distance from Mingdu, so they planned to follow their original plan and find a guesthouse to stay in for the night.

These border cities were crowded places, with people streaming along the streets and every inn and post station brightly lit. Huo Yuhao had never been anywhere like this before. Standing on the roadside, he could hardly take it all in; for a moment, he felt dazzled.

"There are so many people... Will there even be any rooms left?" Huo Yuhao rubbed his ear uncertainly, one of his little habits when he was at a loss.

"If we have to, we can find somewhere to meditate for the night," Chi Qiu said. She also seemed a little overwhelmed by the crowds. "We're Soul Masters. Meditating at night can serve as rest."

"So this is the Sun Moon Empire... It's so lively." Huo Yuhao looked around for somewhere Chi Qiu could meditate, unable to resist commenting. "Shrek City is practically designed just for Soul Masters. This place feels more like a city for ordinary people."

"I heard that the Martial Souls here in the Sun Moon Empire are generally of lower quality, so people don't hold Soul Masters in quite such high regard," Wang Dong explained.

"Why don't we..." Huo Yuhao glanced toward the woods at the end of the street and gave Chi Qiu a look.

Even though they were in a foreign country and didn't know their way around, when it came to a good place to meditate, a forest—unfamiliar, yet familiar—was still their best bet.

"Sure." Chi Qiu smiled at him. "Besides, it's been so long since Wang Dong and I have seen each other. There must be plenty we should talk about somewhere quiet."

"So you just happened to find a Second Martial Soul and a torso Soul Bone in the Extreme North?!"

Wang Dong's shout startled a flock of crows from the branches deep in the quiet woods. She was so shocked her jaw nearly hit the ground. "Huo, where did you find an Ice Jade Scorpion? I want to go lie down there too."

"I wouldn't say I just happened to find them." Huo Yuhao scratched his head and tossed a piece of firewood onto the bonfire in front of him. "My back hurt for a long time. I think I fused with the Soul Bone unconsciously..."

Huo Yuhao still held back some of the truth about the Ice Empress. He told Wang Dong a few things, half true and half false. When he showed her his Soul Rings, he used his Simulation Soul Skill, of course.

So far, the only person who had seen his blood-red Soul Ring with its four golden patterns was Chi Qiu, who had been with him the whole time.

"All right." Huo Yuhao brushed the charcoal dust off his hands and looked at Wang Dong's face, flickering in the firelight. "I said you'd have to trade me one of your secrets for mine. So, out with it."

"All right." Wang Dong was happy to oblige. She made a flourish with her right hand, and an old-fashioned hammer appeared in it.

"What's that?" Huo Yuhao didn't recognize it at first. Chi Qiu stared at the hammer in surprise before naming it. "The Clear Sky Hammer?"

"The Clear Sky Hammer!" At her reminder, Huo Yuhao recognized it too. He vaguely remembered it from the cheap novels he'd read: the legendary Sea God Tang San had wielded a Clear Sky Hammer as one of his Martial Souls.

"You actually recognized it!" Wang Dong grinned, gripping the hammer and swinging it around. "They say no one from our sect has come down the mountain in ten thousand years. I thought everyone had forgotten about us."

"Then was the recommendation letter that let me skip the entrance exam from the Clear Sky Sect?" Huo Yuhao suddenly remembered.

"Ha! Of course we wouldn't give it to some random stranger. I actually stole it from the elder who escorted me..."

"No wonder you were acting so furtive that day. You really did have a guilty conscience," Chi Qiu added mercilessly.

"Don't say that." Wang Dong hurriedly shook her head, then sat down cross-legged again. "So, is this secret impressive enough?"

"It'll do." Huo Yuhao nodded with exaggerated solemnity. "Approved."

"Miss Qiu hasn't told us anything about herself yet. How about I trade another secret of mine for one of hers?" Wang Dong seemed to be getting carried away.

As soon as she said that, Huo Yuhao shot Chi Qiu a worried look. Since she was living as a human, her greatest secret was obviously her true identity. But Chi Qiu didn't seem at all nervous about being asked something sensitive. She said, "Sure. Show us your next secret first, and I'll give you one of equal value."

Wang Dong looked utterly confident. She stood up abruptly and traced a finger over the gold-and-blue butterfly crest on her chest. A golden mist enveloped her. When it cleared a moment later, a girl with pinkish-blue hair stood before Huo Yuhao and Chi Qiu.

"I'm actually a girl," she said, her face practically shouting, "Bet you didn't see that coming."

Huo Yuhao: "Oh."

Chi Qiu: "Mm."

"What's with those reactions?!" Wang Dong crouched down in disbelief and shook the two of them, who remained completely unruffled. "Oh, and there's more. My real name is Wang Dong'er..."

"Wang Dong sounds better," Chi Qiu said as Wang Dong shook her.

"You two...!"

In the end, Huo Yuhao was the first to break. "Um, actually, we already knew you were a girl."

"Huh?"

"There were a lot of giveaways," Chi Qiu chimed in smoothly.

"Huh?!"

"That secret isn't worth much."

"It's not as impressive as the Clear Sky Hammer."

Wang Dong watched Huo Yuhao and Chi Qiu trade remarks, clearly not expecting things to turn out this way.

"Then I can't trade for Miss Qiu's secret after all? I spent so long working up the courage!"

Chi Qiu laughed twice, seeming genuinely happy. "It's fine. You already know I grew up in Star Dou, so I'll trade you some gossip about Beast God Di Tian instead."

Far away at the Lake of Life, a certain Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King let out a tremendous sneeze.