The Lord of All Beasts, Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena

What was he going to do?

He would do exactly as the Destruction God King had said: be a man.

This time, Huo Yuhao did not dodge the question. Instead, he took the initiative with disarming sincerity. "Qiu'er, you were the one teasing me just now. I thought you'd forgiven me, so I responded."

That was nothing like the reaction she had expected.

Teasing him?

I did not!!!

Wang Qiu'er had been about to lose her temper, but her eyes went round instead. He stole a kiss from me. How did that turn into me teasing him?

How could he turn around and bite me instead?

Just now...

She had only wanted to tease him a little.

The more Wang Qiu'er thought about it, the more embarrassed she grew, and the redder her face became. She glared at Huo Yuhao and huffed, "You... you're shameless..."

"Shameless?"

Huo Yuhao did not deny it. His eyes turned serious. "Whether it's now or ten thousand years from now, you're mine. Forgive me or don't—I'll never give up!"

His words fell silent.

A flicker of panic crossed Wang Qiu'er's eyes. He... really knows what to say!

Had Huo Yuhao gone mad?

Had being reborn made him this blunt and mushy?

Wang Qiu'er could barely tell what mattered anymore. Going mad doesn't excuse being blunt and mushy—but does it mean he can just kiss me?

Even Wang Qiu'er was not immune to the law of that actually feels pretty good.

Just then, Huo Yuhao took out the Golden Dragon Spear and said, "Qiu'er... it's time I returned the Golden Dragon Spear to its rightful owner. Be careful not to play with fire in front of me next time. I can't promise I'll always be able to control myself."

"Mm, I know—wait, no! You're... you're the one playing with fire!"

Looking at his face, which seemed to have grown a little more domineering, Wang Qiu'er felt her defenses crumble once more.

Huo Yuhao had changed.

He had become more direct, more decisive.

And she found herself liking him even more for it.

Their eyes met, and her heart raced beyond words.

Gulp~

At last, Wang Qiu'er swallowed nervously, snatched the Golden Dragon Spear from Huo Yuhao's hand, and pointed it straight at his throat.

Her eyes widened and her red lips parted. "If you ever act like a pervert with me again... I'll skewer you!"

With that, she could no longer bear her embarrassment. As she turned away, the faintest smile curved her lips, and she disappeared into the sunset.

Watching her graceful figure slowly vanish in the distance, Huo Yuhao smiled too. The feeling of that kiss replayed in his mind without his willing it.

He felt utterly satisfied.

Why does Qiu'er suddenly seem so cute even when she's angry?

So fierce and adorable.

Phew~

Huo Yuhao let out a long breath. With the corners of his mouth still lifted, he too disappeared from the back mountain of Spirit Hall Academy.

The night passed without incident.

With the Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament drawing ever closer, all seven members of the Spirit Hall Academy Team were taken straight to the Pope's Hall for intensive training.

This was not only because Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had come to visit. Bibi Dong's plan to ambush and kill Tang San had also failed.

Two Titled Douluo and three hundred Soul Masters had failed to deal with a single level-forty Soul Ancestor. An uneasy premonition stirred in Bibi Dong, so she made a last-minute decision to train the Spirit Hall Academy Team herself.

Though Hu Liena and the others were temporarily absent from the Soul Tool Department, Wang Qiu'er had joined it.

The routine selection of Soul Engineers continued.

Huo Yuhao had even stepped back from managing it, leaving Wang Qiu'er entirely in charge.

"This is the list of Soul Tool Department students from the latest intake." Wang Qiu'er came over and asked casually, "What has you so lost in thought? Is it still those memory fragments?"

"Mm."

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, then joked, "Qiu'er, what does that make us now? The Avengers Alliance?"

"Boring..."

Wang Qiu'er shot him an annoyed look, then said, "Anyway, I'm placing all my hopes in you. I've decided to return to the Star Dou Great Forest in a couple of days and report the Dragon God's curse, Destruction and Life's plan, and the matter of the Spirit Pagoda to my lord. As things stand, even Lord Di Tian probably can't make this decision."

Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena?!

Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow. He had always thought Beast God Di Tian was the ruler of the Soul Beasts.

But after reading Life and Destruction's memory fragments, he had learned that beyond Beast God Di Tian and the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, something far more terrifying lay hidden on the Douluo Continent.

Besides the nine-hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year-old Ocean Overlord, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, there was another being of comparable strength: the Demon Empress, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's wife, who would wield the power of devouring thirty thousand years from now.

The most terrifying of all, though, was Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena.

According to the memory fragments left by Life and Destruction, after the Dragon God dissipated, his body split into the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings. The Golden Dragon King remained sealed in the Douluo God Realm, while the Silver Dragon King had fallen to the plane of the Douluo Continent. She wielded the power of the Dragon God Origin and was a god-level Soul Beast, far beyond the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.

The "lord" Wang Qiu'er spoke of had to be Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena.

Surely, once the Silver Dragon King learns her future fate, she won't want Tang San to control her life and make her his daughter-in-law. I hope she'll join us.

It seemed their group really had become a so-called Avengers Alliance.

In the end,

after Huo Yuhao had reluctantly said his goodbyes and reminded her to take care again and again, Wang Qiu'er left Spirit Hall and returned to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Two days later.

Spirit Hall, the Pope's Hall.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei, the two Titled Douluo ordered to assassinate Tang San, had returned to report their failure.

CRASH!

Bibi Dong shattered the papal throne beneath her with a slap.

Only after a long while did she slowly withdraw her hand, her eyes flashing coldly. "Useless! Two Titled Douluo and three hundred Soul Masters, and you couldn't handle a single level-forty Soul Ancestor! Utterly useless!"

"Your Holiness, please calm your anger." Yue Guan and Gui Mei bowed together. "If Dugu Bo and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect hadn't intervened, how could a mere Tang San have escaped our grasp?"

"Excuses!"

Bibi Dong flew into a rage. "Why didn't you strike to kill at once? Do you really think I'm so good-tempered that I'll let you make a fool of me?"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei's expressions changed. They heard the unmistakable killing intent in Bibi Dong's words. They could hardly blame her for being angry—Yue Guan had dallied back then, distracted by those flowers.

Two Titled Douluo had failed to kill one Soul Ancestor.

It really was humiliating.

"Your Holiness the Pope."

Just then, a familiar voice came from outside the Pope's Hall.

Immediately afterward,

Huo Yuhao entered Spirit Hall's council chamber, his brow faintly furrowed.

"Spirit Transferring Elder."

Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo bowed to Huo Yuhao as though they had seen a savior. When they straightened, both cast him pleading looks.

The moment Huo Yuhao entered the hall, Bibi Dong's brow eased, and she gradually regained her composure.

"Yuhao, you're here."

Bibi Dong's dark expression softened into calm. Then she gave a cold snort. "You two, go and reflect on your mistakes. What are you still standing here for?"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei vanished from the hall as though they had been granted a pardon.

The assassination of Tang San had failed. Given Bibi Dong's temper, she might well have killed them on the spot. But she put the larger plan ahead of her anger and suppressed her killing intent for its sake.

Besides, what was done was done. She could not change it.

"Your Holiness."

Huo Yuhao nodded to Bibi Dong and asked, "Why did you call me here?"

That was right: he nodded instead of bowing.

Since his last long talk with Bibi Dong, Huo Yuhao's standing had risen like a boat on a rising tide.

He had not only become the master of the Spirit Transferring Hall; he also outranked every elder of the Elder Hall. In Bibi Dong's own words, seeing Huo Yuhao was as good as seeing the Pope herself, and an order from the Spirit Transferring Elder was an order from the Pope.

Bibi Dong knew how important Huo Yuhao was. She also knew he was like her: he would never allow anyone to stand above him.

Since they were working together,

she had chosen to open the skylight and speak plainly.

So she had given Huo Yuhao the greatest authority and respect she could. Outside the Worship Hall, he had effectively become Spirit Hall's Executive Vice-Pope—beneath one person and above countless others.