A Letter from Tai Tan
At midday, deep in the dense forest.
A man, two women, and a beastly figure moved swiftly through the towering trees and gnarled branches.
The four figures stopped in front of a babbling brook.
After surveying the surroundings, especially noting the extreme scarcity of animal footprints on the ground, Yang Shelly nodded in satisfaction. She turned to Ling Yi and asked, "Brother Yi, shall we rest here for a bit?"
"Okay." Ling Yi nodded with a smile, his gaze lingering on the crystal-clear stream for a moment before he took the lead and walked towards a rocky beach more than ten meters away.
Ah Yin patted the "Wind Shadow Leopard" on the head without saying a word. The "Wind Shadow Leopard" narrowed its eyes and then leaped into the dense forest beside it.
Bending down to arrange the irregularly shaped round stones, each about the size of a human head, Ling Yi took out a large, withered tree he had casually picked up in the dense forest from his Storage Soul Tool. Before he could say anything, Yang Shelly, who had followed behind, immediately took out the "Hook and Sickle Spear" that Ling Yi had crafted for her. Infusing it with Soul Power, the blade flashed with a cold light as it cleaved the large, withered tree into even pieces.
Flames crackled and popped intermittently as strings of red and white meat chunks, glistening with oil, released an increasingly rich aroma as Ling Yi sprinkled in various seasonings.
Seventy or eighty meters away, "Wind Shadow Leopard" was burying its head in the belly of a wild boar weighing over 300 pounds, munching on its internal organs.
"Brother Yi, it's your birthday today! This is too hasty and too simple—"
Yang Shelly looked around and saw a wild and desolate mountain forest. Looking at the busy Ling Yi, her gaze was full of puzzlement.
Date: February 14th, 2611 of the Douluo Calendar.
Location: An unnamed mountain range in the northern part of the Star Luo Empire, about two hundred miles from the territory of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Note that this distance refers to the straight-line distance, not the distance along the official road. This is why Ling Yi and his group traveled over mountains and valleys to reach this mountain forest.
In Ling Yi's previous life, their actions could also be called: illegal immigration.
There was no other way; traveling on official roads with a nearly 400-year-old "Wind Shadow Leopard" as an accompaniment posed a significant safety hazard.
Of course, "Wind Shadow Leopard" was just an excuse. If they really didn't want to keep it, they could have simply released it back into the wild. Ling Yi and Ah Yin were just tacitly pushing "Wind Shadow Leopard" out as a scapegoat.
The difference is that Ah Yin thought it was just her opinion, while Ling Yi simply went along with it and tacitly agreed that Ah Yin was carrying the "Wind Shadow Leopard." Little did he know, Ling Yi also did not wish to walk openly on the official road.
The aura of the Soul Beast was unexpectedly troublesome.
After Ling Yi's repeated tests, he came to a conclusion: eight months.
It will take him at least eight months to completely refine the "Blue Silver Emperor" aura from Ah Yin and achieve purity in his own aura.
Before he could do this, the aura of the Soul Beast on his body was like a firefly in the dark to experts above the Soul Douluo level; it would be detected as long as he wasn't hidden behind something.
This was the conclusion Ling Yi reached after repeatedly verifying the Tie Futu for nearly half a month.
As for what kind of Soul Beast aura Ling Yi possesses in the eyes of Titled Douluo, Ling Yi is currently unaware due to the lack of suitable accomplices.
Of course, if a "tool" (someone who is actually a potential partner) really comes knocking, Ling Yi definitely won't be so reckless as to go looking for trouble; instead, he'll stay far away.
Ling Yi left Gengxin City this time for two reasons. First, he had stayed there for too long, and had basically achieved all the necessary information and objectives, making it difficult to gain anything new in the short term. Second, he had been away from the Water Wood Duchy for too long and it was time to go back and check on things; he didn't even know if Dugu Bo was still in Blue Silver Territory.
On the other hand, Lou Gao received a letter a few days ago, a letter from the Clear Sky Sect.
The letter was written by Tai Tan. Apart from a brief greeting to Lou Gao and seven greetings to Tie Futu, the rest of the letter mainly focused on how outstanding Tang Hao, the young master he recognized, was. He was arguably the most talented person in the Douluo Continent for hundreds or thousands of years, and had already reached the Soul Emperor realm at a young age!
Soul Emperor at the age of twenty-four!
Can you believe it?!
In any case, the first thing Lou Gao did after receiving the letter was to treat it as a joke and tell it to Ling Yi and Tie Futu.
From Lou Gao's perspective, Tai Tan must have had his brain damaged and is now suffering from hysteria.
As for the letter's mention that Tang Hao had only casually studied and practiced, yet became Grandmaster Blacksmith two years ago, Lou Gao didn't take it seriously. A twenty-four-year-old Soul Emperor was already a legend; what's so surprising about a twenty-two- or twenty-three-year-old Grandmaster Blacksmith?
He also has Ling Yi here, who became Divine Craftsman at the age of eighteen or nineteen. Did Lou Gao boast about it to others?
At the end of the letter, Tai Tan said that he would accompany the young master Tang Hao to Gengxin City in a while, and ask the old man of the Tie Futu to give him some guidance and help him and the young master find the path to becoming Divine Craftsman.
After receiving the news from Lou Gao, Ling Yi Ling Yi remained outwardly unmoved, his expression calm and collected. However, he immediately began preparations for his departure.
Lou Gao didn't believe that Tang Hao became Soul Emperor at the age of twenty-four, Ling Yi believed him, saying that the data from the original work had already been presented.
Tang Yuehua once said that Tang Hao walked out of the Hell Road "Slaughter City" when he was twenty-eight years old.
Tang Hao himself said that when he was twenty years old, he obtained his first inherited Soul Bone from the sect, and when he was thirty years old, his Soul Power reached level seventy, and he obtained his second inherited Soul Bone from the sect.
At the age of thirty-eight, with the strength of an eighty-fourth-level Soul Douluo, he broke the leg of a Titled Douluo from the Spirit Hall.
Then, at the age of forty-four, his Soul Power reached Level 90.
Compared to Tang San, the overpowered protagonist in the original novel, Tang Hao should be the protagonist of the current timeline of the Douluo Continent. He has everything: family background, talent, bloodline, etc. Not to mention his peers, even the older generation cannot compare to this prodigy.
Therefore, even though Tang Hao's strength as Soul Emperor was already powerful enough, and the Tai Tan accompanying him was also a top-tier expert, Ling Yi still couldn't be sure whether there were Soul Douluo or even Titled Douluo secretly protecting Tang Hao.
Two years ago, Pope Clement the Spirit Hall abdicated and passed the Pope to his son Qian Xunji.
Unlike Tang Hao, whose fame was only known among the various sects, the Holy Son Qian Xunji was renowned throughout the continent. Everyone knew that Qian Xunji, the Holy Son, son of Qian Daoliu, the "Angel Douluo" and an elder of the Qian Xunji Spirit Hall, had inherited his father's extraordinary talent and was destined to become the next His Holiness the Pope.
Qian Xunji did not disappoint his father Qian Daoliu and teacher Clement. At just over forty years old, he is already an 88th-level Soul Douluo, and becoming Titled Douluo is just around the corner.
Compared to the steady former Pope Clement, the newly enthroned Qian Xunji is much more ambitious and is currently making sweeping changes to the internal power structure of the Spirit Hall.
When Ling Yi happened to leave Gengxin City with Bishop Yao Qi, the latter mentioned that the order for his transfer to Spirit City seemed to have been signed by the new Pope.
So, will Qian Xunji send someone to do something? And will the Clear Sky Sect take precautions against the Spirit Hall doing anything?
Still working on writing, trying to finish the next chapter before midnight.