The Branch Hall Master Wants to Steal the Prize? Di Yao Named an Astronomical Price!

Inside the Spirit Hall Branch, the air still held a scorching heatwave.

Crystal powder covered the floor, glinting with scattered blue light beneath the sun.

The Branch Hall Master stood frozen at the doorway, as though he had been struck by lightning.

Innate Level Twenty!

Divine Martial Soul!

Demon Emperor Di Jun!

Those words exploded wildly in his mind, making his scalp tingle and his breathing turn ragged.

He had spent half his life toiling in this border town. His greatest wish had only been to transfer to a Branch Hall in a larger city and secure a more respectable position.

But now, a monster capable of alarming the Pope Palace stood right before him!

What was this?

This was an enormous achievement!

This was an opportunity to rise straight to the heavens!

The shock in the Hall Master's eyes quickly faded, replaced by deeply hidden greed.

He suddenly turned around and shouted sternly, "Close the doors!"

"Today's awakening ceremony ends here!"

"All unrelated personnel, leave the hall immediately!"

The guards snapped out of their daze and hurriedly drove the terrified children and townspeople outside.

Su Yuntao was still slumped on the ground, completely unable to recover his senses.

"Hall Master, th-this child must be reported to Spirit City immediately!"

His voice was still trembling.

"What do you know?"

The Hall Master shot him a cold glare.

"There was an anomaly during the martial soul awakening. The exact circumstances have not been investigated. If we report it carelessly and something goes wrong, who will take responsibility?"

Su Yuntao froze.

An anomaly?

This still counted as unclear?

The soul-testing crystal had exploded!

The sky had darkened!

Every animal in the entire town had collapsed to the ground!

If that did not count as a Divine Martial Soul, then what did?

Di Yao stood at the center of the awakening formation, quietly watching the scene unfold.

He said nothing.

Yet his pitch-black eyes were like blades, seeing through every calculation in the Hall Master's heart.

Block the information.

Suppress the report.

First keep this "achievement" firmly in hand, then choose the right opportunity to submit it upward.

If it went well, the Hall Master would be promoted and prosper.

If it went poorly, Di Yao would become a bargaining chip in his hands.

What a fine scheme.

The Hall Master adjusted his robes and forced a smile back onto his face.

"Little one, your name is Di Yao, correct?"

"Very good. Very good indeed."

"You have impressive talent. Spirit Hall has always valued geniuses."

"Rest assured, from today onward, I will personally look after you."

He spoke very gently.

As though he were coaxing a six-year-old child.

Di Yao spoke calmly. "Look after me?"

The Hall Master's smile did not change. "Of course. You are still young and do not understand Spirit Hall's rules. A genius like you cannot simply wander around."

"I will first arrange lodging for you, then slowly prepare a letter of recommendation."

"Once the procedures are complete, you will naturally enter the sight of higher authorities."

Di Yao looked at him.

"How long will the procedures take?"

The Hall Master smiled. "At least half a month, perhaps a month."

"That long?"

"Spirit Hall's rules are strict. There is no rushing them."

The corner of Di Yao's mouth shifted slightly.

It was not a smile.

It was more like a cold sneer.

"You do not want to nurture me."

"You want to trade me for your own future."

The instant those words fell, the hall went silent.

Su Yuntao's pupils contracted.

The expressions of several guards changed as well.

The smile on the Hall Master's face gradually stiffened.

He had never imagined that a six-year-old child could so directly tear open his thoughts.

And with such precision.

The Hall Master's gaze darkened.

"Little one, you should not speak carelessly."

Di Yao's tone remained calm. "If you truly wanted to report this, you would have ordered someone to prepare a confidential letter immediately."

"But the first thing you did was seal off the hall."

"You will claim to the outside world that this was an ordinary martial soul anomaly because you fear that if word gets out, the credit will not belong to you alone."

"As for me..."

Di Yao raised his eyes to look at him.

"You want to lock me up first, then hand me over after negotiating a suitable price."

The Hall Master's face turned completely cold.

Several guards at his side instinctively stepped forward.

Two of them were Beast Spirit masters.

One possessed a Wolf Spirit.

The other possessed an Iron Horn Rhino Spirit.

The moment they approached Di Yao, their bodies involuntarily stiffened.

But the Hall Master did not notice.

He merely stared at Di Yao, lowering his voice.

"Child, being too clever is not necessarily a good thing."

"Even geniuses must learn to bow their heads."

"No matter how strong your martial soul is, you have no soul rings yet."

"I am a Soul Elder."

"Here, I make the rules."

As his words fell, the pressure of a Soul Elder suddenly bore down on Di Yao.

The air sank.

Su Yuntao's expression changed.

"Hall Master, he is only a child who has just awakened!"

"Shut up!"

The Hall Master roared.

"I am teaching him the rules!"

The pressure was like an invisible hand, viciously pressing down on Di Yao's shoulders.

An ordinary child who had just awakened would likely have dropped to his knees on the spot.

But Di Yao did not move.

His feet seemed nailed to the ground.

His back remained straight.

He did not even furrow his brow.

Only deep within his black eyes, a flicker of dark golden flame suddenly ignited.

The next moment.

The temperature inside the hall abruptly rose.

Behind Di Yao, the hazy Demon Emperor Manifestation emerged once more.

The Dark Gold Sun hung behind him.

A pair of golden eyes slowly opened.

There was no roar.

No outburst.

They merely opened.

Thud!

The guard with the Wolf Spirit beside the Hall Master went weak at the knees and dropped to the ground.

Immediately afterward, the Iron Horn Rhino Spirit master turned deathly pale. His Martial Soul Possession instantly collapsed into chaos, and his knees slammed heavily into the floor.

Bang!

Bang!

Both Beast Spirit guards had knelt!

The Hall Master's expression changed drastically.

His pressure was still there.

Yet Di Yao's Demon Emperor Manifestation was like an unreachable divine mountain, forcibly crushing his Soul Elder pressure into fragments.

Di Yao took a step forward.

The Hall Master instinctively stepped back.

That step was light.

Yet to everyone present, it looked like a young tiger stepping into a pack of wolves.

"A Soul Elder?"

Di Yao said blandly.

"Is that impressive?"

The Hall Master's face turned livid.

"You!"

Di Yao did not give him a chance to lose his temper.

"If you want me to remain at the Branch Hall, that is fine."

The Hall Master was stunned.

Di Yao raised one finger.

"First, thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins."

The Hall Master's eye twitched. "What did you say?"

Di Yao raised a second finger.

"Second, a core recommendation letter from Spirit Hall, stamped with the Branch Hall's highest seal."

"Third, I want a plan for absorbing the First Soul Ring beyond the limit, along with all related records."

"Fourth, access to the Branch Hall's Library Pavilion, including all information on soul beast bloodlines."

"Fifth, today's awakening record must be personally copied by Su Yuntao and sent directly to Spirit City."

The more the Hall Master listened, the uglier his expression became.

By the end, he was nearly laughing in anger.

"Little brat, are you negotiating terms with me?"

"No."

Di Yao lifted his eyes.

"I am naming my price."

"If you want to swallow my achievement, you must be able to afford it."

"If you cannot afford it, stop pretending."

Everyone in the hall was dumbfounded.

A six-year-old child had just awakened his martial soul, yet he was naming a price right in front of the Branch Hall Master!

And every single demand struck at a vital point.

Money.

Letter of recommendation.

Soul ring plan.

Library Pavilion access.

Awakening record backup.

What kind of child was this?

He was clearly an old fox who had thoroughly figured out Spirit Hall's procedures!

The hall master finally could no longer suppress his anger.

"Seize him!"

Several guards' expressions changed drastically, yet no one dared to move.

Especially the two Beast Spirit Soul Masters—they were still kneeling on the ground, unable even to crawl away.

The hall master roared, "Are you deaf?"

Di Yao looked at him coldly.

"Do you really think you can suppress this?"

"You can withhold the secret report."

"You can lock up a person."

"But everyone in the entire town saw that blazing sun just now."

"You can seal this hall, but can you seal the mouths of the whole town?"

A chill ran through the hall master's heart.

Di Yao continued, "The only thing you can do now is send me up the chain."

"That way, you can still claim a share of the credit."

"If you keep delaying, and Spirit City sends people to investigate on its own, what do you think they'll think?"

Cold sweat beaded on the hall master's forehead.

Just then.

Outside the hall, the wind suddenly stopped.

An icy presence that chilled one to the bone silently seeped into the hall.

Then, a faint and strange floral fragrance drifted in.

The scent was rich, yet not cloying.

The chill and floral fragrance appeared at the same time.

The hall master's face instantly went pale.

Su Yuntao abruptly raised his head.

Outside the door, a shadow silently stretched long.

A black-robed man appeared at the entrance of the hall like a ghost.

His body seemed half-real and half-illusory, shrouded entirely in shadow. His voice was so hoarse that it sent chills through the heart.

"Who dared conceal a report from Pope Palace?"

As those words fell, the hall master's legs gave out, and he nearly dropped to his knees.

Ghost Douluo, Gui Mei!

The next moment, a bewitching and magnificent figure sauntered into the hall.

Golden hair, an effeminate bearing, yet eyes sharp enough to terrify.

He glanced at the crystal fragments scattered across the floor, then at the Beast Spirit Soul Masters kneeling on the ground.

Finally, his gaze fell upon the Dark Gold Manifestation behind Di Yao, which had not yet fully dissipated.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's expression changed.

It was not ordinary surprise.

It was the instinctive wariness that arose when a Title Douluo encountered an unknown monster.

"Oh my."

Yue Guan spoke softly.

"Gui Mei, it seems we did not arrive too late."

Gui Mei ignored him.

He merely looked at the Branch Hall master.

"Where is the secret report?"

The hall master's lips trembled. "I... I was just about to..."

"About to?"

Gui Mei raised a hand.

A pitch-black Ghost Shadow Chain burst from the ground and instantly coiled around the hall master's neck.

"By direct order of Pope Palace, any suspected awakening of a Divine Martial Soul must be reported immediately."

"How long were you planning to detain him?"

The hall master panicked completely.

"Elder Ghost! I didn't! I only wanted to confirm the situation first!"

Yue Guan walked up to Di Yao with a smiling expression.

"Little one, were you frightened?"

Di Yao looked at him.

"No."

Yue Guan raised an eyebrow.

"You aren't afraid even upon seeing a Title Douluo?"

Di Yao's tone was calm. "Would being afraid help?"

Yue Guan froze for a moment, then laughed.

"Interesting."

"Very interesting."

Gui Mei looked at Di Yao, his voice hoarse. "You are the awakener of Demon Emperor Di Jun?"

Di Yao nodded.

"Di Yao."

"How much Innate Soul Power do you have?"

Su Yuntao hurriedly spoke up. "The crystal ball exploded! The level-ten testing crystal could not withstand it. Judging by the fluctuations, it was at least... at least level twenty Innate Soul Power!"

The amusement in Yue Guan's eyes instantly vanished.

The shadows around Gui Mei also trembled faintly.

Level twenty Innate Soul Power.

Even they had never witnessed it in person.

Yet Di Yao did not show the slightest hint of pride.

He merely lifted his head and looked at the two Title Douluos.

"Take me to someone who can make the decisions."

The hall fell silent once more.

Yue Guan could not help laughing.

"Gui Mei, this little fellow doesn't seem to be here to seek refuge."

Gui Mei said quietly, "He seems more like he is here to negotiate terms."

Di Yao said calmly, "I have value."

"Spirit Hall has resources."

"Isn't that a perfect match?"

Yue Guan stared at him for several breaths, then suddenly smiled more deeply.

"Good."

"His Holiness the Pope will probably like a little monster like you."

Gui Mei raised his hand.

The Ghost Shadow Chain suddenly tightened. The hall master let out a scream and was dragged straight out of the hall.

As Yue Guan turned around, he casually said, "Su Yuntao."

Su Yuntao shuddered all over. "This subordinate is here!"

"You will personally write today's awakening record."

"Miss a single word, and you lose your head."

Su Yuntao's face turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly nodded.

"Yes! Yes!"

Di Yao gave this border Branch Hall one last look.

Six years of torment.

One awakening.

From this moment onward, he was no longer an orphan to be manipulated at will.

He was a bargaining chip Spirit Hall had to compete for.

A monster all future enemies would fear.

And the sun this continent was about to welcome.

Yue Guan extended a hand, using Soul Power to lift Di Yao.

"Come on, little one."

"I'll take you to Spirit City."

Di Yao did not look back.

He merely asked indifferently.

"Is Spirit City's Library Pavilion large?"

Yue Guan paused, then burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!"

"Gui Mei, did you hear that?"

"This child has only just left a small town. Instead of thinking about the Pope or a Title Douluo, he is actually thinking about the Library Pavilion!"

Gui Mei said hoarsely, "A clear mind is a good thing."

Di Yao closed his eyes.

Dark Gold Firelight flashed through his eyes and vanished.

Resources.

Soul rings.

Theory.

Power.

Spirit City, I'm here.

And this time, I do not want to be cultivated.

I want to turn all of Spirit Hall into my stairway to the heavens!