Leaving Spirit City, Huo Lei's Unease
Huo Lei returned to his room without unpacking, as he had nothing to pack. All his belongings were in his Storage Ring; he only took out what he needed and put away what he didn't. The hotel room arranged by the Spirit Hall was fully equipped, so he didn't need his own things.
Huo Lei plopped down on the soft sofa, leaned back, and rested his head on the sofa back, gazing at the ceiling.
"Fortunately, my companions cooperated well, and I successfully obtained the three Soul Bones. However, where am I going to raise this large sum of Gold Soul Coin coins as compensation? Taking it from the academy is definitely out of the question. I wonder if Xue Ye will offer any other rewards for winning the championship. Oh well, I can always ask Xue Ye for some Gold Soul Coin later. After all, he promised to allocate resources to me and nurture me. Asking for a few hundred thousand Gold Soul Coin to spend is nothing for an empire."
"Yesterday's battle with the Shrek Seven Monsters showed signs of a breakthrough, and today's battle with the Spirit Hall Academy made it even more obvious. I think I'll reach level 57 in the next day or two. Time is too tight; there's no time to absorb Soul Bone. I'll wait until I get back to the academy. Now that the Soul Master Tournament is over, I should focus on equipping myself with my life-saving gear first."
Huo Lei quickly went through the events unfolding in his mind.
Huo Lei sat up straight, took out his specially made Sleeve Arrow from his Storage Ring, and muttered to himself, "Old buddy, you've had a good rest in the ring these past few days, haven't you? Time to get out and about. You're my life-saving treasure."
Muttering to himself, Huo Lei took off his coat, tightly tied the Sleeve Arrow to his right arm, and then put the coat back on. Just as he finished doing all this, a knock sounded at the door.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Huo Lei, time for lunch," Huo Wushuang's voice rang out.
"Coming," Huo Lei replied, getting up and walking towards the door.
The group from the Blazing Fire Academy ate quickly, finishing lunch in about half an hour. The food provided by the Spirit Hall was plentiful, with chicken, duck, fish, meat, bread, milk, and vegetables—a complete and well-balanced meal in generous portions. The chef's skills were also excellent. Everyone was very satisfied with the meal. The service staff were also impeccable. After eating their fill, everyone also took some of their favorite snacks with them for the journey; after all, it was free, so why not take some? The hotel would throw away any leftovers anyway, so eating them was better than wasting them.
Xie Chong greeted the hotel manager and left the hotel amidst the farewells of the manager and staff.
Spirit City has six gates, and the group headed towards the Northeast gate, which corresponded to the location of the Blazing Fire Academy.
Not long after the group left the hotel, they encountered Lin Yin. When Xie Chong decided to leave Spirit City that afternoon, Huo Lei immediately had Huo Yun deliver the message to Lin Yin, instructing him to wait for him on the only road leading to the Northeast gate.
The group from the Blazing Fire Academy found a carriage shop near the Northeast gate of Spirit City and hired three carriages. After Xie Chong assigned the passengers, everyone from the Blazing Fire Academy boarded their assigned carriages.
Each carriage was staffed with an experienced Carriage Driver. The three carriages were lined up one after the other, just enough to accommodate the eleven students from the Blazing Fire Academy.
Xie Chong, Huo Chui, Huo Jun, Huo Lie rode in a car at the front.
Huo Wushuang, Huo Wu, Huo Yun, and Huo Yu rode in the middle of a car.
The last car carried three people: Huo Lei, Lin Yin Feng Xiaotian.
Inside the carriage, Lin Yin smiled and said, "Congratulations, Young Master Lei, on winning the Soul Master Tournament."
Huo Lei looked at Lin Yin and chuckled, "This is the result of everyone's hard work."
Feng Xiaotian showed a hint of curiosity and asked, "Who is Huo Lei?"
Huo Lei laughed and said, "Haha! We're all on the same side, no need to be shy. You two introduce yourselves. Lin Yin, you go first."
Lin Yin smiled at Feng Xiaotian, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Hello! My name is Lin Yin, Young Master Lei's attendant, I am thirty-four years old, my Martial Soul is the Illusionary Dragon, and I am a level sixty-three mental-type Battle Soul Emperor."
Feng Xiaotian showed a hint of surprise, but reacted quickly, clasping his hands in a fist salute and smiling, "Brother Lin Yin, it's a pleasure to meet you! It's a pleasure to meet you! I am Feng Xiaotian, captain of the Godwind Academy Team, twenty-four years old this year, Martial Soul martial soul is the Gale Two-Headed Wolf, and I am a level forty-four Agility Attack System Battle Spirit Master. Because I was immersed in researching my Self-Created Soul Skill a while, I was delayed in leveling up, but I should be able to break through in the next day or two."
As Feng Xiaotian finished speaking, his confidence got the better of him, and he even went out of his way to explain, as if afraid that Lin Yin on the other side might underestimate him.
"I witnessed Brother Xiaotian's talent during the Preliminary Round, but I didn't expect you to have also researched and created your Self-Created Soul Skill. You are truly gifted, young and promising, and can be called a genius Soul Master." Lin Yin also showed a hint of surprise and gave him high praise.
"Alas! Brother Lin Yin is truly a young and promising man. He has already reached the Soul Emperor realm in his thirties, which is truly enviable. Compared to you and Huo Lei, I cannot be called a genius. You two are the real geniuses." Feng Xiaotian's words were full of humility.
Huo Lei smiled and said, "You two don't need to be so modest. You're both geniuses. By the way, Lin Yin, when did you break through to level 63? I didn't know."
Lin Yin said, "Young Master Lei, when I broke through, you had just started your Promotion Round. I wasn't by your side at that time, so you didn't know."
"I see." Huo Lei nodded in understanding.
"Um, how is Old Jin?" Huo Lei looked at Lin Yin and communicated in a language only the two of them could understand.
Lin Yin understood, nodded, and smiled, "Young Master Lei, he's doing well and has even made a breakthrough."
"This old man is quite promising; he finally reached level ninety-six." Huo Lei was overjoyed.
"Oh! That's good news. Has he been following instructions all this time?" Huo Lei's eyes were subtle as he continued to communicate with Lin Yin in a language Feng Xiaotian couldn't understand.
Lin Yin said, "Young Master Lei, rest assured. Old Jin has been doing exactly as you instructed."
"That's good." Huo Lei nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing the two chatting happily, Feng Xiaotian finally couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "What are you talking about? I don't understand a word. Who Old Jin?"
Huo Lei said casually, "Oh! It's nothing, just an old man I saved before."
Feng Xiaotian glanced at Huo Lei, clearly dissatisfied with the answer, but didn't press further. After all, everyone has secrets, and it wasn't his business anyway.
After a moment of silence, Huo Lei suddenly spoke up, "Brother Lin Yin, Brother Xiaotian, I feel uneasy, I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen. I feel uneasy whenever I think about the greedy looks I received when I was receiving the Soul Bone."
Feng Xiaotian asked in surprise, "Huo Lei, do you mean that one of them will rob us?"
Huo Lei nodded and said in a deep voice, "Yes. I feel it's highly likely. After all, there are three Soul Bones, and they're all of high quality. Look at our side, only our leader, Xie Chong, is Soul Sage, and he's only at the initial stage. The others aren't very strong. There were quite a few experts watching at the time. If two Soul Sage teamed up, they would have a fighting chance. Fortunately, they don't know about Lin Yin's presence. It's always better for us to be cautious. We should handle things ourselves; it would be bad if we were exposed."