The wind and rain raged, but not a single drop of water could get close to Leng Yaozhu.
She gazed at the pitch-black sky as the gale whipped her robes and hair, making them snap and flutter.
"The operation is over. Next, we deal with those Evil Soul Masters." Leng Yaozhu took a miniature Soul Guidance Communicator from her Storage Soul Tool, held it to her ear, and pressed a button. "This is Leng Yaozhu. Begin the next phase of the plan. Prepare to track the movements of those Evil Soul Masters."
"Bzz—bzz—"
There was no response, only a faint crackle of static.
Something was wrong! Something had happened!
Leng Yaozhu immediately sensed that something was amiss. She spread her wings and flew toward the Spirit Pagoda.
With her cultivation, it took her less than five minutes to fly from outside Eastsea City to the Spirit Pagoda. But the scene that greeted her was bleak.
People hurried in and out, their frantic footsteps adding to the sense of urgency. A huge hole had been blasted into the side of the towering Spirit Pagoda. It had clearly been attacked.
Leng Yaozhu, however, breathed a sigh of relief. Since they were already treating the wounded, that meant the attack had been repelled.
She quickly found Lu Fengnian. Unexpectedly, someone else was standing beside him.
"Long Yuan? What are you doing here too?"
Lu Fengnian was in his office, directing the rescue efforts and handling the aftermath, while Long Yuan stood off to one side.
Hearing Leng Yaozhu's voice, Long Yuan looked up and replied without a trace of courtesy, "As the Vice Tower Master of the Eastsea City Spirit Pagoda, shouldn't I be here?"
"You—"
Leng Yaozhu was exasperated. She understood now: the man in front of her was the sort who had no idea how to deal with people. Even though she'd forced herself to get used to him, the way he spoke still managed to leave her speechless.
"Ah, Lord Heavenly Phoenix, we owe a great deal to Long Yuan for arriving in time. If he hadn't driven off the Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo leading the attack, the Spirit Pagoda would have been in grave danger today," Lu Fengnian said quickly, having just finished organizing the work at hand. He hurried to smooth things over.
"A Titled Douluo!" Leng Yaozhu looked astonished. She already knew he was a monstrous talent, but now that he had a real victory under his belt, she was still a little surprised.
But she had weathered plenty of storms in her time, and quickly composed herself. "A Titled Douluo? How could such a powerful Evil Soul Master show up in Eastsea City?"
"How would I know? Shouldn't you be asking the people at the Federal Administration Hall? Eastsea City is a core city of the Skysea Alliance, yet an Evil Soul Master managed to infiltrate it—and not just any Evil Soul Master, but a Titled Douluo leading a whole host of experts. The weakest among them was a Five-Ring Soul King."
"And," Long Yuan added, glancing at Leng Yaozhu, "the Blacksmith Association was attacked too. The one leading that assault was a Super Douluo."
The more Leng Yaozhu heard, the more alarmed she became. Qiangu Dongfeng had sent her to Eastsea City to deal with this matter, but she had never known a Super Douluo was involved.
It made no sense. This wasn't two thousand years ago. With today's Soul Guidance Technology, every city was equipped with various types of Soul Guidance radar. There was no way Evil Soul Masters could just casually slip in. If they could, what right did the Federation have to rule the Douluo Continent?
The world might be one big ramshackle operation, but no matter the era, one could never underestimate the strength of a nation.
So Leng Yaozhu's instincts told her that someone had concealed the Evil Soul Masters' whereabouts. With the help of some advanced Soul Tools, it was possible they had managed to evade detection entirely.
But who was secretly covering for the Evil Soul Masters?
Leng Yaozhu fell into thought. Colluding with Evil Soul Masters was no minor crime. The Holy Spirit Cult and Evil Soul Masters were hated by everyone. If the truth came out, the conspirators would be nailed to a pillar of shame across the entire Douluo Planet, then brought to justice by the Federation and the other major powers...
"What are you still thinking about?" Long Yuan suddenly asked.
"Nothing." Leng Yaozhu shook her head, still choosing not to tell Long Yuan her suspicions.
Long Yuan nodded. "Whatever you think, I suggest you go after that Evil Soul Master. The things stolen from the Spirit Pagoda haven't been recovered yet, have they?"
He had already searched the Storage Soul Tool belonging to Shi Qian, the Evil Soul Master. Unfortunately, aside from some Federal Coins, it contained only a few Soul Tools capable of concealing one's aura.
Those disposable Level 8 Soul Tools were valuable, of course, but they clearly weren't what Leng Yaozhu was trying to track down.
As he spoke, he tossed a severed forearm to Leng Yaozhu. He had cut it off with the Golden Dragon Spear.
"Thank you. Also, can you tell me what Martial Soul that Super Douluo had?"
Leng Yaozhu took the severed arm. With it, she could track the aura of the Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo much more easily.
"That Super Douluo? He said his Martial Soul was the Ten Thousand Soul Banner."
"The Ten Thousand Soul Banner?" Leng Yaozhu furrowed her brows. She had never heard of an Evil Soul Master with that Martial Soul, especially one at the Super Douluo level. He must have been lying low in the shadows all this time.
But why had he suddenly appeared now?
After a few more words, Leng Yaozhu released her Heavenly Phoenix Martial Soul and flew off with a specially made Soul Tool.
As she flew, she placed a Soul Guidance Communication call.
A moment later, the call connected, and a dignified voice came through.
"Hello, Yaozhu. What is it?"
"Tower Master, the intelligence for this operation was wrong. The Holy Spirit Cult had a Super Douluo and a Titled Douluo among its ranks. The two of them drew me away while the others attacked the Eastsea City Spirit Pagoda and the Blacksmith Association."
"How is that possible?" Qiangu Dongfeng's shocked voice came from the other end. Only then did he ask, "What's the situation now? Do you need me to send people to support you?"
"No. That Super Douluo is already dead. His Martial Soul was the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, though I've never heard of anyone like him..." Leng Yaozhu fell silent for a moment. "I suspect someone was secretly helping them. This Evil Soul Master group is enormous. I'm chasing after the Titled Douluo now to see if I can recover the stolen goods."
Qiangu Dongfeng fell silent. After a long while, he replied, "I never expected someone to be acting as an inside man for the Holy Spirit Cult. Good thing I sent you there this time, or we'd really have been caught flat-footed. In that case, do whatever you need to do. Let me know if you need any help."
"Yes!"
Leng Yaozhu put away her Soul Guidance Communicator. Although Qiangu Dongfeng had seemed perfectly normal just now, she still remained suspicious.
There was no other reason: Qiangu Dongfeng had been too perfect, but he hadn't acted like the man she knew.
He hadn't asked about the stolen goods even once. Under normal circumstances, he would have at least asked about them.
(In the original work, Qiangu Dieting's assessment of Qiangu Dongfeng was that he lacked spirit and was more like a merchant. That was why he could never fathom the Heaven-Warring Staff Technique and had no chance of becoming a Demigod. In that regard, he was even inferior to his elder brother, Qiangu Qingfeng.)