Ning Tian Approaches Huo Yuhao

At this moment, the Shrek Melee Selection Tournament had ended. During the battles, Huo Yuhao had displayed the strength of two ten-thousand-year soul rings, leading Wang Dong, Bei Bei, and the others to sweep through their opponents.

At the edge of the stands, Wang Yan held the match record book in his hand, unsure what to write down. Two ten-thousand-year soul rings—there was nothing left to record. Other than crushing the competition, what else was there?

Because the team lacked functional support, and Huo Yuhao in this world was not familiar with He Caitou, He Caitou's original position had been taken by the strongest support-type soul master.

Ning Tian, from the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect.

With the support of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, everyone's strength after receiving buffs was no weaker than the regular team members from ordinary academies.

One had to know that regular team members from ordinary academies were usually only Soul Ancestors, with Soul Kings being rare. A team like Shrek's, made entirely of Soul Kings with even a Soul Emperor among them, was probably unique in the entire Douluo Continent.

At this moment, Ning Tian looked at Huo Yuhao behind her, with his two ten-thousand-year soul rings, and was greatly astonished.

After Xia Liang had brought Huo Yuhao to the White Tiger Duke's Estate to demand justice a few days ago, Huo Yuhao had become someone every major force needed to know about.

Countless people had begun investigating the force behind him. Among them, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect's intelligence network was the fastest.

Aside from Huo Yuhao's earliest experiences, which could not be investigated for some inexplicable reason, everything else had been thoroughly uncovered.

Ning Tian had read all the information regarding Huo Yuhao. It had been written very clearly, but precisely because it was so clear, she was even more shocked.

According to the intelligence from a few days ago, Huo Yuhao had only been level twenty-one during the advancement assessment. At that time, he had had no reason to conceal his strength. Yet in only a few days, he had suddenly soared to level thirty. And with this combat strength, he was clearly no ordinary Soul Elder—he was probably no weaker than a Soul Ancestor.

Suddenly, Ning Tian thought of intelligence concerning a certain treasure. If Huo Yuhao had truly absorbed that...

Then everything seemed to make sense.

But after thinking of that, Ning Tian did not dare continue. Even the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect would not dare openly reveal such a treasure.

If it appeared in the world, then in the entire Douluo Continent, aside from the various royal families, perhaps only Shrek could protect it.

To get close to Huo Yuhao, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had paid a considerable price to approach the academy and had even used Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi as connections.

Bei Bei had concealed his identity well and had not been investigated. The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect only knew that he had emerged from the Star Dou Forest together with Huo Yuhao, so their relationship should have been very close. Xu Sanshi was from the Xuanming Sect, which was an obvious fact. After all, his martial soul could not be hidden.

Furthermore, the group often barbecued together. That could be discovered with a simple investigation, since they had never considered avoiding outsiders during their gatherings, nor had there been any need to.

Thus, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had approached the two of them, though all they could do was say that they would try their best.

Because although it was called a selection tournament, in truth, Huo Yuhao could choose whoever he wanted. As long as Huo Yuhao was present, he would inevitably be the central figure.

In the end, with Jiang Nannan's reminder, Huo Yuhao kept Ning Tian.

The selection had ended. The students who had not been chosen left, leaving behind only the seven victors of the selection tournament.

"Elder Xuan has something to deal with. You can rest on your own for now."

Wang Yan stepped forward and spoke.

Xuan Zi had left just now for some unknown reason. He had not explained where he was going, leaving Wang Yan to come out and explain things.

However, an important matter like heading to the Soul Master Tournament was beyond Wang Yan's authority to discuss.

For now, he could only wait for Xuan Zi to return and let the group rest and get to know one another.

"Huo Yuhao, thank you for letting me stay."

Ning Tian took the initiative to thank him. From a certain perspective, she was the only outsider here.

"No need to be polite. I also wanted to experience the support abilities of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, the number one support-tool martial soul in the world."

Huo Yuhao replied. He had felt it during the selection tournament just now. It truly deserved its reputation as the best in the world. He doubted there was any other support martial soul that could compare to such abilities.

"You flatter me. These are the recently famous Torch Berries. They've already been processed, and the fire attribute inside has been removed. Everyone can give them a try."

Ning Tian took out the Torch Berries. These had been acquired in normal-difficulty Twilight Forest and were among its finest products. After the fire attribute was removed, their medicinal effects could mildly refine Soul Power, making them a rare medicinal ingredient.

"Hm?"

Huo Yuhao froze slightly upon seeing the Torch Berries. He could practically say that he was sick of eating them by now.

Over the past few days, Xia Liang and the others had been exploring Twilight Forest. He had heard that they were close to clearing it.

Because the berries tasted good, Little Snow Empress and Ice Empress had gathered an entire box of them while traveling.

Now, Ice Empress and Little Snow Empress were both eating them, and Huo Yuhao was fed some from time to time as well.

"Thank you."

Huo Yuhao and the others accepted the berries. This could also be considered everyone accepting Ning Tian's addition to the team.

Just as expected...

When she had handed out the berries, Ning Tian had been observing Huo Yuhao's expression. For an instant just now, his expression had stiffened.

From that expression, Ning Tian could be certain that Huo Yuhao had definitely seen Torch Berries before—and eaten a great many of them.

Ning Tian remembered that when she had consumed too many medicinal herbs in the past, she had eaten until she wanted to vomit. Her expression then had been similar to Huo Yuhao's just now.

It seemed the Spirit Pagoda truly was connected to the force behind Huo Yuhao. Ning Tian was now ninety percent certain.

During the period in which the Spirit Pagoda had risen to prominence, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had also purchased quite a few items from Twilight Forest. Torch Berries were only a small portion of them.

There was also the Shield Scepter, with its immense defensive power, capable of withstanding nine attacks at the Soul King level, as well as certain special armor.

The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect was currently dividing its efforts into two paths. One group had gone to the Spirit Pagoda to study Soul Spirits. The sect had already sent disciples of suitable levels to the Extreme North to obtain Soul Spirits.

No matter the cost, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had to bring back a Soul Spirit.

The other path was Ning Tian.

The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had sent Ning Tian to Huo Yuhao's side to participate in the Soul Master Tournament. Yes, it was simply to participate in the Soul Master Tournament. She had no mission whatsoever.

Whether Huo Yuhao belonged to the Spirit Pagoda or not, Xia Liang stood behind him. They could neither investigate him directly nor approach him too openly. Ning Tian had merely come to interact normally with Huo Yuhao.

Peaceful interaction. Under absolutely no circumstances could any conflict arise.

The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had no intention whatsoever of clashing with Huo Yuhao.

Especially after the Spirit Pagoda had emerged.

Every force had now confirmed one thing: the Spirit Pagoda was an extraordinarily wealthy faction.

Soul Spirits, Twilight Forest, special medicinal herbs—none of these were things an ordinary faction could possess.

Some people within the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect even believed that the Spirit Pagoda possessed Aromatic Silk Beauty. Even if it did not, it might still have a method to evolve the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda.

The current Nine Treasures Glazed Sect bore its name in vain. At its core, it was still the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. The emergence of a Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda was something the sect desperately needed, as it concerned the sect's stability.

Not far away, Xu Sanshi ate the berries while occasionally glancing at Huo Yuhao. Like the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, the Xuanming Sect had also received news of the Spirit Pagoda and had assigned Xu Sanshi the task of approaching Huo Yuhao.

Thinking of his father's expression after learning that he knew Huo Yuhao made Xu Sanshi feel sick. In the past, his father would have immediately cursed at him upon seeing him. Now, he welcomed him with a smiling face.

"Did your side give you a mission too?"

Seeing Xu Sanshi's constipated expression, Bei Bei knew that his family had assigned him a task.

"Sigh..."

Hearing Bei Bei's words, Xu Sanshi sighed. One word from his father, and the son had to run himself ragged.

But he could not refuse. After all, he knew his own circumstances best. Xu Sanshi was well aware of the issue with his martial soul awakening. If Huo Yuhao truly had a solution, then the Xuanming Sect could really offer a great deal.

However, Xu Sanshi did not know how to bring it up, so he could only look toward Bei Bei for help.

"There's really nothing I can do to help you with that."

Having spent so much time with Xu Sanshi, Bei Bei naturally knew about the problem with his martial soul. But he had no solution either. Still, considering Huo Yuhao's personality...

"You might be able to just ask him directly."

Bei Bei said this because Huo Yuhao might not care much about it. As long as the Xuanming Sect was willing to pay the price, there should be no problem.

"I'll think about how to bring it up."

Xu Sanshi spoke after hearing that. He needed to go back and discuss it with that old bastard.

It was not only the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect and the Xuanming Sect that had begun making contact with the Spirit Pagoda. Shrek had done so as well.

"Elder Mu went to contact the Spirit Pagoda?"

"Yes. Before leaving, Teacher asked me to give this to you."

Yan Shaozhe produced a bowl in his hand. Inside was a steak, a Nine-Headed Serpent Steak from normal-difficulty Twilight Forest.

"This..."

This was exactly the kind of food he had been hoping for!

The moment Xuan Zi saw the steak, he felt his martial soul yearning for it. This was far better than the meat of other soul beasts.

"According to our estimates, the Spirit Pagoda contains someone close to the limit, perhaps even a Limit Douluo within it."

Based on the intelligence gathered over the past few days, Yan Shaozhe analyzed that the Spirit Pagoda had been able to swiftly deal with so many Titled Douluo and Soul Douluo while keeping the bodies of those powerful beings completely intact.

That indicated that there were at least several superpowerful experts within, perhaps even a Limit Douluo. Mu En had gone there this time to conduct a friendly exchange.

"The limit..."

Upon hearing those words, Xuan Zi frowned. In recent decades, there had been no news anywhere on the continent of a Limit Douluo appearing. Yet now, three had suddenly emerged. How had the world become like this?

If not for the flaw in his martial soul, he would likely have already become a Limit Douluo...

Xuan Zi sensed his martial soul, picked up the Nine-Headed Serpent Steak, and viciously bit into it.

If not for the flaw in this martial soul, he would already have reached the limit. With two Limit Douluo guarding Shrek, why would they need to maintain friendly exchanges with other factions?

If he were also at the limit, the Star Luo Empire would probably have directly offered up that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo, wouldn't they?

"Elder Xuan, whether Huo Yuhao is from the Spirit Pagoda or not, you must take good care of him on the way to this mission."

Yan Shaozhe said that the Sea God Pavilion had decided to have Xuan Zi escort these children to the competition.

"A small matter, a small matter. With me here, how could anything possibly happen?"

Xuan Zi waved his hand, still chewing the steak. The fragrance of the Nine-Headed Serpent Steak spread through his mouth, while the nourishing sensation of Soul Power slid down his throat, making his entire body feel much more comfortable. The more he ate, the better it felt, and he paid little attention to Yan Shaozhe's words. After all, he was a level ninety-eight Super Douluo. How could anything happen with him leading the team?

"Hahaha, that's true."

Yan Shaozhe laughed with a strained expression. Still, that was true enough. There were no soul beast gathering grounds along the way, and it was impossible for a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast to appear.