Provocation

"I said, I refuse." Huo Yuhao repeated himself.

"Are you sure?" Qian Renxue's expression darkened. Did he think she was asking for his opinion? Did he think Spirit Hall—and the Worship Hall—were places he could take lightly?

With that thought, she fully unleashed the aura of a Soul King. Five soul rings appeared—two yellow, two purple, and one black—as she prepared to overwhelm him with sheer force.

Huo Yuhao reacted faster and more decisively. His eyes lit up as the Slaughter God Domain and a spiritual shock struck at once, sending a searing pain through Qian Renxue's head. Her vision went black, and her entire body went limp.

Looking at Qian Renxue sprawled on the ground, Huo Yuhao sat down cross-legged beside her and seized one of her hands. His voice was so cold and detached that it seemed devoid of all emotion.

"Since you know where I came from, you should know better than to provoke me lightly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Renxue felt the soul power within her body flow uncontrollably out through the hand Huo Yuhao was holding.

Huo Yuhao slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. The Six-Winged Angel possessed an innate sacred attribute, and even the soul power it cultivated was the purest sacred energy. For him—the fallen God of Emotions whose divine soul was damaged—it was an extraordinary tonic.

In less than the time it took to burn an incense stick, Qian Renxue's soul power had been drained dry.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, still wanting more.

"Why don't you cultivate diligently?" he asked, voicing a question that had troubled him for a long time.

The moment Qian Renxue heard that, she rolled her eyes in fury. She could tell that this man had no intention of killing her. Estimating when Aila would return, Qian Renxue became much bolder.

"What, so I can cultivate diligently for you to drain it?"

"But if you cultivated diligently, with the Six-Winged Angel's innate level-twenty soul power talent, you would at least be a Soul Sage by now. If you worked even harder, becoming a Soul Douluo would also be possible." Huo Yuhao was not speaking without basis. He had inferred this from Xiaotao and Ye Guyi's situations.

Qian Renxue looked to be around twenty. Even with her evil fire, Xiaotao had reached level sixty-seven at eighteen or nineteen. Ye Guyi was also about the same age as Qian Renxue now, yet she was already a high-level Soul Emperor.

"Uh..." Qian Renxue choked on her words. Could she say that she had done it to infiltrate Heaven Dou, to maintain the persona of someone whose Swan martial soul had low innate soul power?

"How do you know so much?" Qian Renxue took a deep breath, her rationality gradually returning. It was true that martial souls could sense one another, but there was no way he could see through the disguise of her soul bone skill. Unless he had known her identity all along, and had joined this group specifically for her. Those unusual displays had all been meant to capture her, lock her up, and drain her soul power day and night...

As if she had thought of something, two blushes involuntarily rose on Qian Renxue's cheeks.

Huo Yuhao looked utterly baffled. What was wrong with her? Why was she suddenly angry for no reason? If she was going to be angry about him absorbing her soul power, she should have gotten angry earlier. Wasn't it a little late now?

"That's none of your concern. From now on, cultivate properly. You don't want your infiltration to go to waste, do you?" Huo Yuhao said with a raised brow.

"It'll all be drained by you anyway. Cultivating is pointless, so I'm not cultivating." With no threat to her life, Qian Renxue chose to slack off for the moment, hoping to force him to back down.

Huo Yuhao did not care about Qian Renxue's attitude. He had mainly drained her soul power because he feared she might suddenly counterattack.

The fact that her soul power could repair his divine soul was merely an unexpected bonus. The soul power in his body was already close to solidifying. If not for the Dragon God Heart Formula greatly strengthening his physical body, his body would have exploded long ago under such circumstances.

"That is your choice. It has nothing to do with me," Huo Yuhao said indifferently. As he spoke, his hands began searching through Qian Renxue's clothes.

"Y-you... what are you doing?!" Qian Renxue's voice trembled, and the flush on her face deepened further.

Huo Yuhao pulled a token from her waist. It was made of pure gold and simple in design—the personal token of Xue Qinghe's identity.

"This thing is useless even if you take it."

"It's enough for me to requisition a horse and leave this place." Huo Yuhao's tone remained calm. Qian Renxue had no soul power now, and it would take time before she could recover enough to activate her soul bone skill. It was the perfect time for him to leave.

"You... aren't taking me with you?" Seeing that he was truly about to leave, Qian Renxue was completely unable to understand. He had gone through so much trouble to capture her, only to drain her once and then give up? What exactly was he trying to do?!

"..." Huo Yuhao wore an expression that was difficult to describe.

Seeing his expression, Qian Renxue instantly exploded with anger. Was she some kind of burden?!

Without saying another word, Huo Yuhao lifted the curtain and walked out. Su Lie had not gone far, and when he saw Huo Yuhao emerge, he immediately stuffed a small box into his hands.

Huo Yuhao caught it one-handed. It was quite heavy, but he did not even look inside before tossing it into Twenty-Four Bridges Under Moonlight.

"Brother Huo, did that Highness say anything to you?" Su Lie asked quietly.

"Oh, nothing much. That noble wants to invite me to his residence as a cook. I said I'd go after obtaining my soul ring. He even gave me this and told me to ask you to arrange a good horse so I could get my soul ring as soon as possible and go find him. Boss Su, who should I ask to get a horse?" Huo Yuhao said with a hearty smile, the token still in his hand.

The moment Su Lie saw it, he understood everything. His face immediately broke into a wide smile. "Why call me Boss Su? Call me Brother Su. I'll find you a horse—a fine one, for sure."

With the big boss's word behind him, Huo Yuhao only chatted with Su Lie for the time it took to drink a cup of tea before an excellent horned horse with soul beast bloodline was brought to him.

Two large bundles hung from the horse's back, clearly prepared on Su Lie's special instructions.

"Then off you go, Brother Huo. Don't keep the noble waiting too long. Once you reach Heaven Dou City, we'll drink together again." Su Lie smiled as he placed the reins in Huo Yuhao's hand. Huo Yuhao clasped his fists in thanks, then leaped onto the horse and rode away.

Unable to muster any strength, Qian Renxue could only lie inside the carriage. Fortunately, before long, the curtain was lifted once more, and this time Aila entered.

The moment Aila stepped inside and saw her young lady lying on the floor with her clothes in disarray, she almost cried out in alarm. Qian Renxue stopped her with a look.

"Young Lady! What happened?!" Aila hurried forward and helped Qian Renxue up. She carefully checked Qian Renxue for injuries.

Only after confirming that she was unharmed did Aila breathe a sigh of relief. If anything had happened to her young lady while she was away, she would have killed herself to atone.

"I'm fine. I'm merely exhausted. Did you send out the letter from before?" Qian Renxue asked as she leaned against the carriage wall and softly caught her breath.

"Please forgive me, Young Lady. This subordinate did not get to see the Grand Worshipper. I could only give the letter to Golden Crocodile Douluo," Aila said self-reproachfully.

Her young lady had assigned her such a simple task, yet she had failed to accomplish anything.