"I'm Liu Lin."
Huo Yuhao silently repeated those two words to himself, then nodded earnestly.
"I'll remember. Thank you for saving me today. I'll repay your kindness someday."
"Mm. Then you'd better cultivate hard so you'll be able to repay me."
Looking at Huo Yuhao's resolute expression, Liu Lin said with a smile.
"I'll definitely cultivate hard. But I have one more question: how do I find you?"
Hearing Huo Yuhao's question, Liu Lin took a voice-transmission Soul Tool from his Storage Soul Tool and handed it to Huo Yuhao.
"Whether you need something or want to repay my kindness in the future, you can use this to contact me."
Huo Yuhao looked down at the little silver-white device in his palm and nodded firmly.
"Mm, thank you. I need to head back, so I won't keep you any longer."
Liu Lin nodded, then turned and left, heading toward the banquet hall.
White Tiger Duke Mansion, banquet hall.
After entering through a side door, Liu Lin swept his gaze across the entire banquet hall. Once he had looked around, he finally spotted Xu Jiujiu in a corner.
Xu Jiujiu was still sitting in the corner, idly looking around.
Only when Xu Jiujiu saw Liu Lin return did she stand up.
"What took you so long? I thought something had happened to you."
"I ran into a little problem on the way and took care of it." Liu Lin went over to her and, lowering his voice, briefly told her what had just happened.
Xu Jiujiu's brows knit slightly as she listened. She sighed. "Forget it. As long as it's taken care of. The banquet's about to end anyway. Let's say goodbye to the Duchess, then head back to the palace."
With that, she pulled Liu Lin over to say goodbye to the White Tiger Duchess.
After they had bid farewell to the White Tiger Duchess, they left the banquet hall and returned to their carriage.
Once they were aboard, the coachman drove them toward the palace.
About half an hour later, Liu Lin and Xu Jiujiu returned to the palace. The two of them then went to report to Xu Jiawei.
Liu Lin gave a brief account of what had happened at the banquet, adding that he had seen Dai Huabin and his men beating up an illegitimate son in the side courtyard.
Xu Jiawei made no immediate comment after hearing him out. He simply told them to get some rest.
After the two had left, Xu Jiawei leaned back in his chair. After a long pause, he said to Eunuch Liu at his side, "Draft an edict tomorrow reminding Dai Hao to keep the young men in his household in check, and telling the White Tiger Duchess to be mindful of appearances."
Eunuch Liu bowed in response.
Meanwhile, Liu Lin returned to his own courtyard and pushed open the door. He took out the few pieces of Whale Rubber Xu Jiawei had given him from his Storage Soul Tool.
He released his First Martial Soul to soften the Whale Rubber, cut it into small pieces, and put them in his mouth.
An indescribable taste filled Liu Lin's mouth. A moment later, a scorching current surged from his stomach and spread through his limbs and bones.
Liu Lin closed his eyes and focused, releasing his Martial Soul and guiding the Whale Rubber's energy to circulate in an orderly fashion through his meridians.
After an unknown amount of time, the scorching heat finally began to subside. Liu Lin opened his eyes, exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and looked down at his palm.
He could clearly feel that his body was more solid than before, and that the Soul Power flowing through his meridians moved more smoothly.
Divine Realm.
Tang San stood with his hands behind his back above the sea of clouds, his brows tightly furrowed.
He had just sensed that the course he had arranged to save the Tang Sect's people had been disrupted.
The deviation wasn't great, but it had undeniably strayed from the path he had planned.
What Tang San found even harder to accept was that, despite using all his divine power to trace it back, he had found nothing.
No matter how he investigated, he couldn't find the person who had tampered with fate.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion had slipped from his control, and the Child of Destiny was straying from its path. The two matters together stirred up a long-forgotten irritation in his heart.
"Whoever you are, if you interfere with my plans to revive the Tang Sect, you deserve to die."
Tang San took a deep breath and calmed himself. Then he turned and headed home.
When he arrived at his daughter's room, he saw Tang Wutong sitting by the window, her chin propped in her hands as she stared blankly out at the sea of clouds. Her pink-blue hair fell down her back, shimmering faintly in the divine light.
Hearing footsteps, Tang Wutong turned around and saw her father.
"Dad."
"Wutong." Tang San sat down across from her, his gaze resting on his daughter's face, so like her mother's. After a moment's silence, he said, "Didn't you want to go play in the mortal realm? I can send you down now."
"Really, Dad?" Excitement filled Tang Wutong's eyes.
"Mm. Do you want to go, Wutong?"
"Of course, Dad. I've wanted to go for a long time."
Looking into his daughter's clear pink-blue eyes, Tang San felt a jumble of emotions.
He shouldn't have let his daughter get caught up in this, but he didn't want the Tang Sect he had built with his own hands to disappear.
It was an obsession he had carried across two lifetimes. Since the Tang Sect of his previous life had never acknowledged him, he wanted to make it flourish here instead. So he could only make his daughter suffer.
The complicated look in Tang San's eyes gradually hardened into resolve. He said to Tang Wutong, "All right, Wutong. I'll send you down to gain experience. Your two uncles from the Clear Sky Sect will protect you."
"Mm, I understand. When can we leave, Dad?"
"I'll tell your two uncles first. After I say goodbye to your mother, I'll send you down." Tang San looked at his daughter's excited expression, guilt filling his eyes.
"Mm. I'll go say goodbye to Mom first. I'll come find you in a bit, Dad." Tang Wutong bounced out of the room and went to find her mother.
After Tang Wutong had left, Tang San used his divine sense to arrange for her descent and investigate why the trajectory of that rising star on Douluo Continent had shifted.
Tang San had only just used his divine power to wrap around that strand of divine sense and send it toward Douluo Continent when a man in a purple cloak abruptly appeared before him.
"Tang San, what are you doing? I was just patrolling the border when I noticed your divine sense descending. You're a God Realm Enforcer, yet you seem to have very little respect for the rules set by the Divine Realm."
The purple-robed man's cold voice came from beneath his hood, accusing Tang San of his transgression.
"Destruction, I had no intention of violating the Divine Realm's rules. My daughter Wutong wants to go down and gain experience, so I was simply finding her a protector."
Tang San smiled as he answered the purple-robed man.
At the mention of Tang Wutong, God of Destruction gave a cold snort and turned to leave.
"Tang San, as a God Realm Enforcer, you should enforce the law impartially. I'll let it pass this time. If you do it again, I won't spare you."
Tang San watched God of Destruction leave with a dark expression and couldn't help muttering to himself.
"Once my plan succeeds, Destruction, you can look forward to being out of a job."