Heaven Dou City

Ling Yu controlled the carriage, carrying Gu Yuena as the two raced across the vast plains.

This was the first time the two had traveled together. Spirit City lay at the central border between the two great empires and could be considered the very center of the Douluo Continent.

Looking at the map, Ling Yu set their first destination as the capital of one of the two great empires, the Heaven Dou Empire.

If they traveled solely by carriage, based on the Flame Steed's speed, Spirit City was roughly seven days away from Heaven Dou City.

Forming hand seals, Ling Yu had a clone control the carriage while he entered the cabin and looked at Na'er, who was sitting on the carriage sofa, happily eating Soul Beast meat.

"Little Yu Gege!"

When she saw Ling Yu enter, Na'er sweetly and obediently greeted him.

"Na'er, our first stop is Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire. We'll stay there for a while first, then I'll take you back to my hometown, all right?"

Ling Yu took out a tissue and wiped the crumbs from the corner of Na'er's mouth, then picked up some juice and fed her a sip. Seeing the satisfied smile on the girl's face, he smiled as well.

"I'll listen to Gege!"

Na'er reached out and hugged Ling Yu's arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Her obedient appearance nearly melted his heart.

He reached out and stroked Na'er's silky hair, then looked at the scenery beyond the carriage curtains, his gaze growing somewhat profound.

The journey was exceedingly dull, but for Ling Yu and Gu Yuena, it was quite relaxing.

Ling Yu was enjoying himself because he had left Spirit City. Aside from his unavoidable morning training, he left the rest to his body and his everyday breathing.

Although it was slower than assuming a cultivation stance himself, it could be sustained continuously, and he also had the added benefit of his clones' cultivation.

In Naruto, Naruto had once used Shadow Clones to store senjutsu Chakra, then used the Reverse Summoning Technique to summon the Shadow Clones to his side. After dispelling them, he could restore his Sage Mode.

The energy in Ling Yu's body was not natural energy, but it could freely transform among the five elements. Though he could not create bug-level abilities like bloodline limits, with ninjutsu combined with his soul skills and physique, he still possessed formidable offensive power! Moreover, the Shadow Clones he summoned could cultivate and store energy as well.

Once he dispelled a Shadow Clone, its energy returned to his body. After being purified, filtered, and compressed, it would transform into his cultivation!

Although he no longer had Spirit Soul Mountain's special energy enhancement, he could generally advance one rank every three to four months. That was only because his body had already been cleansed and because of the boost from his Shadow Clones' cultivation. Otherwise, it would probably take him more than half a year to advance one rank.

Without having to maintain a cultivation posture on Spirit Soul Mountain all the time, Ling Yu now felt extremely at ease. Three clones continued absorbing energy and cultivating inside the carriage, while another controlled the carriage outside. Ling Yu lay quietly on the sofa, pondering ways to improve his strength.

First was ninjutsu. Every night, they found a quiet, deserted place. Na'er cultivated according to the Spirit Hall Meditation Method Ling Yu had taught her, while Ling Yu trained in ninjutsu alongside his clones. He had already spent several days cultivating an advanced ninjutsu. Once he mastered it, it would be difficult for anyone below the Soul King level to withstand it!

However, this ninjutsu's weakness was obvious: with his current energy reserves, he could only use it three times!

Because its range was simply too vast, ever since leaving Spirit City, he could only practice it when they occasionally encountered lakes. Otherwise, he feared causing an unnecessary wildfire.

On the fourth day after they left Spirit City, Ling Yu finally achieved initial mastery of this ninjutsu!

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

As Ling Yu rapidly formed hand seals before his chest, his chest swelled high and his lips puckered. He spat an enormous blast of flames toward the lake ahead!

The flames spread across an immense area, covering nearly two-thirds of the lake, which had a diameter of two hundred meters. Like towering waves on the sea, the flames continuously rolled forward over the lake. Water and fire intertwined as huge clouds of steam rose from the surface.

More than ten seconds later, Ling Yu stopped releasing the ninjutsu. He took a deep breath, lightly wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked at the scene before him with a satisfied smile.

This was Lord Madara's move. When he watched the anime, this technique had sent goosebumps all over his body. He knew its power was still far inferior to Lord Madara's, but it was already a pretty good result, wasn't it?

A week later, a grayish-brown carriage entered this crucial city from the original story—the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City!

Ling Yu pulled Na'er over to the curtains, and they looked at the bustling sights within the city. Compared to Spirit City, which was home only to soul masters, Heaven Dou City also had many commoners. However, their circumstances were far from favorable. The nobles here frequently and harshly oppressed commoners.

As the two looked at the flourishing scene before them, no less prosperous than Spirit City, countless shops stood side by side, and all kinds of hawking and shouting rose and fell throughout the streets. The empire's patrol troops passed through every so often, maintaining order in the city.

Yet wherever their carriage passed, it caused a tremendous commotion. It was not for any other reason, but because of Ling Yu's clone driving outside the carriage. Looking exactly like Ling Yu, his handsome face left countless noble young ladies on the streets unable to look away, while his ethereal, otherworldly temperament made every male soul master feel inferior.

They were even more curious because this perfectly handsome youth looked only six or seven years old, yet he was driving a carriage alone?

Judging by his appearance and clothing, his family was definitely no ordinary one. His lavish, gold-trimmed attire, along with the Flame Steed at the front that even ordinary nobles could not afford—could he be some young noble who had secretly slipped out?

Countless passersby who saw Ling Yu had the same thought.

Ling Yu ignored what the people here thought. He ordered his clone to drive the carriage to the Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City. Spirit Hall's influence was indeed formidable; even in a place like Heaven Dou City, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, Spirit Hall occupied an enormous tract in the most valuable part of the city.

The carriage stopped before Spirit Hall's entrance. The clone entered the carriage, and with a thought from Ling Yu, the Shadow Clone was instantly dispelled, turning into a puff of white smoke and vanishing.

Holding Na'er's little hand, he walked straight out of the carriage.

As the two stepped down, a white-haired old man dressed in Spirit Hall's fitted white uniform was already waiting quietly outside.

"Your Highness, Holy Son. Salas, Platinum Bishop of Spirit Hall, has been awaiting your arrival for quite some time!"

Looking at the leader of Heaven Dou City's Spirit Temple before him, Platinum Bishop Salas stood respectfully beside the carriage and gave Ling Yu a slight bow.

Shaking his head helplessly, Ling Yu walked over and helped him up, saying with a soft smile, "Bishop Salas, there's no need to be so polite. I really dislike all these tedious formalities. Just relax. I only came to take a look around this city, and I won't be staying for long before leaving."

The man nodded respectfully with his body still bent, remaining exceedingly deferential, leaving Ling Yu somewhat helpless.

"Forget it! Just arrange two rooms for us. Bishop Salas, go take care of your own business. There's no need to waste your time here accompanying a kid like me!"

Led by Spirit Hall personnel, the two entered the Spirit Temple. Yet this very scene quickly caused the Heaven Dou Empire and several major sects to receive secret reports.

The current Holy Son of Spirit Hall had arrived in Heaven Dou City!