A Tense Impasse

"Then thank you, Brother Lei."

"But after I obtain my soul ring, I plan to find work in Heaven Dou City, or see whether any intermediate soul master academy is willing to take me in. I'll cultivate until I have two rings first," Huo Yuhao said with a smile.

"Oh, right, Brother Lei, you've tried my cooking too. You've come to Heaven Dou City so many times—if I'm going to make a living there, is there anything I should watch out for?" As he spoke, he mixed another bowl of noodles for Lei Ao.

Lei Ao accepted the noodles, feeling that perhaps he had misjudged the boy. This kid was clearly rather shrewd. He was probably from a family of chefs; because his cooking was so good, he had seen more of the world and developed this sort of bearing.

He reached out for the bowl and took a deep breath. Mainly because the food this kid made was truly delicious.

He generously shared some of the things he had seen and heard in Heaven Dou City over the years.

While Huo Yuhao traveled north with the caravan, Tang San had already fallen into a complete state of anxious deadlock.

It had been less than two months since his divine sense had possessed his current body. The reason he had still accompanied Xiao Wu to Shrek was partly for future assistance from Dai Mubai, Ning Rongrong, and the others. More importantly, he was waiting for a certain moment.

Only by allowing everything to proceed as it originally had could he encounter the right Man-Faced Demon Spider at the right time.

And obtain the Eight Spider Spears.

His current circumstances were special. The divine artifacts that had returned with him were unsuitable for use, while the Eight Spider Spears could perfectly make up for his lack of combat strength in the early stages.

But the Red Dust Blessing on Zhu Zhuqing had completely disrupted his rhythm.

This meant Huo Yuhao had also come to his era, and Huo Yuhao knew the developments and opportunities of this era as well. Worse still, Huo Yuhao possessed not only methods for making hidden weapons, but also future soul tool manufacturing technology and the method of soul spirits.

And soul tools were simply a dimensionality-reduction strike against this era.

If Huo Yuhao's soul tool expertise were still at the level it had been ten thousand years ago, Tang San could have remained calm. But he knew that over these ten thousand years, his son-in-law had never abandoned research into soul tools. Once such technology was leaked to Spirit Hall—

With the talent and strength of a woman like Bibi Dong, she absolutely might become a tenth-rank, or even twelfth-rank, soul engineer in the shortest possible time. By then, even if he completed the full coexistence of dual god positions, he, having only just become a god, might very well be killed by her.

Moreover, Huo Yuhao knew the rules of the God Realm. Even if the Asura God protected him from above, as long as one of them was willing to ascend to the God Realm first, once Destruction God learned that the Asura God had privately interfered with the lower realm, then even with the Life Goddess at his side, Tang San would definitely have a hard time of it.

And if he wanted to prevent that possibility, the only way was to eliminate any chance of Huo Yuhao joining Spirit Hall.

"Huo Yuhao, Huo Yuhao, I imagine your situation isn't much better than mine, is it?"

He never doubted Huo Yuhao's hatred for him or the extent of his patience. If Huo Yuhao were still at his peak, he would certainly have sought Tang San out and killed him at once. But he had not. He had even given Zhu Zhuqing the Red Dust Blessing. That meant he was definitely no match for Tang San's father, Tang Hao, right now.

"Tell me, what would happen if I revealed to Spirit Hall that you possess a hundred-thousand-year soul ring? A first soul ring of a hundred thousand years can only come from a soul beast sacrifice. By then, every soul master on the continent would go mad over you." Tang San narrowed his eyes as he thought.

Huo Yuhao's fortune was far too profound. Tang San had already taken so much of it from him, and that fool Rong Nianbing had even rushed to accept him as an heir.

As for whether Huo Yuhao truly had a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, Tang San did not care. All he wanted was for Spirit Hall to make a move against him.

Once Spirit Hall acted, given Huo Yuhao's temperament, he could only keep company with the fierce beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

As for the Silver Dragon King, the sovereign of the soul beasts at the center of the Star Dou Great Forest, with the Asura God watching from above, she would not dare come out and make trouble either.

"It seems Teacher still has to make a move." Dark light surged in Tang San's eyes.

It was all Spirit Hall's fault. If they had not hunted down his mother, his father would not have become so dispirited and been deceived by that vain fraud.

The Blue Silver Empress possessed the ultimate life attribute, yet it had made him absorb a pile of poison-attributed soul beasts, wasting so much of his potential. Otherwise, why would he have been unable to bear the dual god positions at once, needing Xiao Wu to serve as a scabbard before he could withstand them?

He had returned far too late. He could only continue down this dark path to the very end.

"Teacher, Teacher, you'd better come quickly." With that thought, Tang San sank into cultivation.

During these two days with the caravan, Huo Yuhao had already become somewhat famous.

Everyone knew that a young man with excellent cooking skills had joined the group.

Over the past two days, Huo Yuhao had directly become the exclusive cook for Lei Ao's team. He made nothing but noodles.

All kinds of noodles—hand-pulled, knife-shaved, rolled, stretched—not a single meal was the same. Not to mention the various toppings, each one complete in color, aroma, and flavor.

Qian Renxue was rather bored inside the carriage. Not long ago, she had gone with her grandfather to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain her fifth soul ring.

Originally, she had not wanted to return so early, but that woman...

She was clearly her mother, yet she treated her as though she did not exist. Watching her be so deeply devoted to her master and disciple every day was truly irritating.

"Miss, staying in the carriage every day isn't a solution. No one here recognizes you anyway, so why don't we go out for a walk? I heard a new cook joined the caravan recently, and his skills are supposedly quite good. Shall we go take a look?" Aila said with a smile.

Qian Daoliu had taken her in, and she had grown up alongside Qian Renxue since childhood. Having received the Worship Hall's grace, everything she had belonged to the Worship Hall and her young mistress. Seeing her young mistress unhappy made her unhappy as well.

"Forget it. What good food could there possibly be here? No matter how good it is, could it compare to the imperial cuisine of Heaven Dou Palace?" Qian Renxue leaned against the carriage window, still unable to muster any enthusiasm. She had infiltrated Heaven Dou for that woman, yet that woman had never once taken her to heart.

"It's different. This time, it really is different." Aila stepped forward, grabbed Qian Renxue's arm, and gave it a shake. She did not like seeing her young mistress constantly immersed in such low spirits.

"Hey, right—Miss, do you want to wear a dress?" Aila winked her left eye and spoke playfully.

"..." Qian Renxue fell silent. She was at the finest age for a woman; how could she possibly dislike beautiful dresses?

"It's a rare opportunity. Just wear one this once, my lady." As Aila spoke, she shook her arm again. Seeing that Qian Renxue did not refuse, she immediately began rummaging through the trunks and cases.

Qian Renxue had been ordered to infiltrate Heaven Dou, and Aila served as her shield, responsible for turning down the women gifted by those nobles.

Naturally, they had prepared countless clothes and accessories, in styles too numerous to count.

After a round of fussing, Qian Renxue looked at herself in the mirror and could hardly believe it.

When had she last seen herself dressed as a woman? It had been so long that she could no longer remember...