Heavenly Spirit Pagoda, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo

"Your Majesty, are you certain we aren't following him to Eastsea City?"

The Holy Dragon King asked in a low voice.

Long Zijin shook his head and said, "No need. After a month of leisure, it is time to continue improving myself."

"Besides, I have already planted a tracker on him and sown a seed within his emotions."

"Given his character, with this bond in place, he will never be able to break free."

The Holy Dragon King, however, asked with no small amount of concern, "But what if the Silver Dragon King makes her move before us..."

Yet, Long Zijin's tone remained full of confidence.

"The Silver Dragon King is too governed by her emotions; she has already entangled herself."

"Unless she can excise one-third of her own being, she will never harm Tang Wulin."

"It is a pity that your son is merely indulging in wishful thinking. In the end, the odds are high that... he will neither revitalize the beast race nor attain the position of Beast God. Alas, the grand cause is ultimately doomed."

As he spoke, Long Zijin raised his right arm high once more, waving goodbye to Tang Wulin, who had finished checking his ticket and turned around.

Looking at that sunny, cheerful, and resilient little back from afar.

The Holy Dragon King could not help but ask again, "Your Majesty, do we truly intend to kill this boy?"

Long Zijin raised a single eyebrow and turned back in surprise. "What? Can't bear to?"

"When you joined the team to surround and kill me, and slaughtered my children, you didn't show any mercy despite us being of the same dragon race, did you?"

"Why is it that when it comes to a human child, you suddenly can't bear it?"

After two seconds of silence, the Holy Dragon King lowered his head and apologized first, "Forgive this humble one for speculating wildly. In my humble opinion, the one who truly cannot bring themselves to do it might be Your Majesty yourself."

"Oh?" Long Zijin surprisingly did not refute him.

He did not fly into a rage out of shame either; his tone remained like a pool of ancient, stagnant water, abnormally calm. "I am not a sentimental creature like the Silver Dragon King. Furthermore, stripping away the Golden Dragon King bloodline, the divine core, and the Annihilation Godhead—as long as it is not done too forcefully—will not endanger his life."

"Once I forge a Five-Dimensional Divine Star, I can easily arrange a divine position for him so he can live well with his foster parents."

"After all, I am not like your Father God, who hesitates before outsiders but exterminates his own kind."

He turned and walked out of the train station.

The Holy Dragon King sat back in the driver's seat of the Soul Guidance Car and asked while looking at the rearview mirror, "Your Majesty, shall we return to Ming Capital now?"

"No." The serene trace on the Dragon Emperor's lips vanished.

His eyes regained their sharpness, much like a falcon before taking flight.

"Prepare yourselves. We are heading to Shrek City, to the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda."

"My second divine spirit should be somewhere in that vicinity."

In the central region of the Douluo Continent, controlled by the Sun Moon Federation.

Stands a massive super-city—Shrek City.

And on the eastern horizon of Shrek City.

Sits a giant octagonal tower, crystalline from top to bottom.

Like a pillar supporting the heavens, it holds up the entire firmament to the east of Shrek City.

This is the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda organization on Douluo Planet, the legendary structure known as the "Heavenly Spirit Pagoda."

The peak of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda pierces straight into the clouds, its eighty-one stories of glazed tower body awe-inspiring to the entire city. Its structure is composed of countless pieces of ice-blue soul guidance crystal, each crystal facet sharp and distinct, refracting eye-catching, iridescent light under the morning sun.

The tower rises high into the clouds with a vast base, narrowing inward every ten stories until it terminates in a sharp spire at the top, as if intending to pierce the firmament and reach the heart of the heavens.

The interior of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda is decorated in gold and jade.

The dark gold floor is paved with natural textures, resembling flowing lava.

Dozens of meters of stone pillars stand upright, supporting the dome of the first-floor lobby.

Looking up at the dome, one sees magnificent, colorful murals depicting classic chapters, the stories within which are widely known.

From the first floor upward, the concentration of soul spirit fluctuations increases with every level.

Until one reaches the core at the very summit of the Spirit Pagoda, above the eighty-first floor, where the "Ice Soul Heart" left behind by the Spirit Ice Douluo is stored.

That mysterious ice-blue crystal still remains at the tip of the tower, emitting a faint blue glow.

A woman holds a confidential letter, the seal pressed with a sun emblem in red wax.

The woman carries the letter into the red-level internal elevator, and after swiping her card, it ascends level by level, finally arriving at the eightieth floor.

The elevator doors open to reveal a spacious corridor, with a sea of clouds drifting outside the glass at the end of the hall.

The woman, whose work badge on her left chest reads "Assistant," finally arrives at a silver door with the letter in hand.

She knocks on the door and then pushes it open to enter.

It is a spacious office with minimalist, sparse furnishings.

A tall woman with red hair sits behind a desk made of paulownia wood, arbitrating the day's affairs.

Although she appeared to be nearly thirty, her features were exceptionally refined, and her temperament was both gentle and full of vitality.

"Vice Tower Master." The female assistant bowed slightly, then placed the confidential letter on the phoenix tree wood desk, sliding it within reach of the vice tower master's fingers.

The red-haired woman glanced at the wax seal, raised a single eyebrow, and said with some surprise, "The Sun Lineage of the former Federation royal family?"

"Yes." The female assistant explained, "This is a personal letter from Councilor Xu of Ming Capital. He hopes you will review it."

The red-haired woman did not take it, frowning instead. "Our Spirit Pagoda has always refrained from interfering in the Federation's internal affairs. If this were internal Spirit Pagoda business, tell them to go through official channels; do not send me any confidential letters."

"Did the person who delivered the letter leave any message?"

The female assistant replied, "They said they wanted a 'targeted training' quota and hoped you would open it personally, as you would definitely be interested."

A look of disbelief flashed across the red-haired woman's face. "They dare to ask for a targeted training quota at my level? Haven't I publicly announced that I do not take on disciples?"

At this, she became interested instead.

If this Xu Family of Ming Capital couldn't provide her with a promising talent, hmph...

The letter was picked up, the outer layer of gold-threaded paper turned to ash, and a folded sheet of letterhead was "swished" open.

Her phoenix eyes, like rubies, swept across the page and immediately lit up.

"Long Zijin?"

"Amethyst Dragon?"

The red-haired woman smiled slightly. "After all these years, the Xu Family has produced another awakened Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon, so they've sent him to me for cultivation."

Although the female assistant did not know the contents of the letter, she could only chime in, "My guess is that this is a successor secretly cultivated by the Sun Lineage outside, who changed his surname to Long to avoid the gaze of the White Tiger Lineage."

"As for the Amethyst Dragon, it is likely the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon from the history books; they probably renamed it to Amethyst Dragon to avoid suspicion."

The red-haired woman nodded. "That matches my own guess."

Having received her superior's approval, the female assistant voiced her own doubts. "However, this subordinate does not understand: since he is an awakened Sub-Dragon martial soul, why not send him to the Tower Master's lineage for cultivation?"

The red-haired woman laughed. "Even though both martial souls contain the word 'dragon,' would you send a beast martial soul master to a tool martial soul family to learn the Indomitable Staff Technique of the Coiling Dragon Staff?"

The female assistant quickly lowered her head. "This subordinate is dull-witted."

The red-haired woman shook her head slightly. "Contact Councilor Xu of Ming Capital and ask when this Xu Zijing will arrive."

"Also, clear half a day from my schedule; I will go to see him personally."