Late at night.
Hum!
The Black Phoenix mecha flew into Shrek City, heading straight for the Spirit Pagoda to the east.
Only when she drew near did Leng Yaozhu put away the Black Phoenix mecha. Holding Su Xun, she flashed into the Spirit Pagoda.
Among the factions within the Spirit Pagoda,
the Qiangu Family stood in a league of its own.
In fact, under the Qiangu Family's control, the Spirit Pagoda's council had all but ceased to exist in anything but name.
Even the most important matter-the election of the Pagoda Master-was essentially monopolized by the Qiangu Family.
Below the Qiangu Family,
Leng Yaozhu's Leng Family ranked second within the Spirit Pagoda, with her serving as one of its two deputy Pagoda Masters.
Thus, among the Spirit Pagoda's 108 floors divided between its factions,
the Leng Family occupied quite a few.
But the Leng Family was gradually declining, its old generation fading with no successors to take their place, and her younger sister Leng Yulai had vanished without a trace.
As such, Leng Yaozhu rarely returned to the Leng Family Ancestral Home.
Instead, she made the Spirit Pagoda her home.
"Heavenly Phoenix, where have you been? Why are you only getting back this late?"
"And who is this child?"
Barely moments after she entered the Spirit Pagoda, a voice suddenly rang out.
Leng Yaozhu stopped. Without turning her head, she said coldly,
"Pagoda Master, please conduct yourself with dignity."
"You hardly have any right to question what I do."
With that, she entered the elevator without looking back.
Once Leng Yaozhu's figure disappeared, Qiangu Dongfeng's expression darkened.
He had pursued Leng Yaozhu years ago.
Unfortunately, Yun Ming had been the only man in her heart and her eyes.
Under pressure from his family, he had had no choice but to marry early.
By now, he even had a grandson.
Yet Leng Yaozhu remained single.
With his wife having passed away early, the thought had stirred in him, and he had begun pursuing Leng Yaozhu again.
But even though he was now the Spirit Pagoda's Pagoda Master, the Title Douluo of Spirit Transmission,
and his father, Qiangu Dieting, was a Quasi-God,
Leng Yaozhu still refused to spare him another glance.
"Just you wait!"
"One day, I'll destroy Shrek and the Tang Sect completely!"
"Yun Ming will become another soul slain by my hand."
"Heh, when that day comes, even if you beg to become my wife, Leng Yaozhu, it'll still depend on whether I, Qiangu Dongfeng, agree."
"When that day comes, not just you, but your entire Leng Family will be in my Qiangu Family's grasp!"
Qiangu Dongfeng's harassment had left Leng Yaozhu rather irritated.
She knew perfectly well.
Qiangu Dongfeng's solicitous concern for her was merely lust for her beauty.
What he truly wanted was probably to swallow up the Leng Family.
"You want me? Are you even worthy?"
Leng Yaozhu gave a cold scoff.
For Qiangu Dongfeng to have broken through to become a Demigod, his talent was beyond question.
But that was hardly unrelated to the vast quantities of resources the Qiangu Family had siphoned from the Spirit Pagoda over the years.
And his grandson, Qiangu Zhangting, whom Qiangu Dongfeng was grooming as the next Pagoda Master,
was, in her eyes, a complete good-for-nothing.
With that temperament, despite practically being raised on mountains of resources since childhood, he was merely an ordinary genius.
Utterly laughable.
Shaking her head, Leng Yaozhu stopped thinking about that ill-omened wretch.
She laid the sleeping Su Xun on her bed and tucked him in, then began attending to other matters.
First, she needed to prepare whale rubber and other heavenly treasures capable of cleansing his marrow and tempering his bones, strengthening his body, and remedying his congenital malnutrition.
Next, she needed to find a soul power cultivation technique and a spiritual power cultivation technique suitable for Su Xun.
With its many years of heritage, the Leng Family naturally had cultivation techniques.
But those techniques were designed for the Leng Family's "phoenix" bloodline and did not suit Su Xun.
As for a spiritual cultivation technique, after some thought, she glanced at the sleeping Su Xun and sent Han Tianyi a message.
"Your Eminence Illusory Brain, are you free right now?"
[Illusory Brain]: Heavenly Phoenix, what is it?
Leng Yaozhu: "Let's discuss it in person."
Only after a little while did Han Tianyi reply.
Leng Yaozhu glanced at the reply, then shut her bedroom door and vanished in a flash.
Before long, Leng Yaozhu entered the Ninety-Fifth Floor, which belonged exclusively to Han Tianyi.
Splash, splash, splash-
Clear spring water murmured.
Birds and beasts called to one another.
Rather than entering the ninety-fifth floor, Leng Yaozhu seemed to have stepped into a hidden paradise beyond the mortal world.
Yet there was not a hint of surprise in her eyes.
Following a bluestone path, she walked beneath a small tree beside the lake, where she finally met Han Tianyi.
Han Tianyi was tall and broad. Though elderly, he was not stooped.
If one had to name an obvious distinguishing feature...
it was his very large head.
"Your Eminence Illusory Brain."
Leng Yaozhu nodded in greeting.
"Your Eminence Heavenly Phoenix, please sit."
Han Tianyi smiled faintly. With a thought, he had hot tea served.
Leng Yaozhu accepted it and took a gentle sip.
A moment later, she smiled softly.
"A delicate fragrance slips down the throat, leaving a lingering sweetness."
"Your craftsmanship and state of mind have both reached an entirely new realm, Your Eminence Illusory Brain."
As she spoke, she looked at the illusory realm woven from spiritual power and praised it.
"Such use of spiritual power has reached the realm of divine artistry. I doubt anyone in the world could match it."
These words clearly pleased Han Tianyi greatly, and he burst into hearty laughter.
"Who would've thought that Her Eminence Heavenly Phoenix knew how to compliment people?"
Then his tone changed.
"For Heavenly Phoenix to take such an attitude, you must have a favor to ask."
"What can these old bones of mine do to help?"
Leng Yaozhu let out a soft, lingering sigh.
"Elder Han, your eyes are as keen as torches. Nothing in my heart can escape them."
Han Tianyi's expression changed drastically, and the illusory realm with its murmuring springs vanished in an instant.
His face was full of wariness.
"Don't suddenly get so friendly. I haven't agreed to anything yet."
"Tell me what it is first."
Leng Yaozhu immediately cursed him inwardly. Old fox.
Her expression remained unchanged, however, as she said with a faint smile,
"It's only a small matter. There's no need to be so guarded, Elder Han."
Han Tianyi eyed Leng Yaozhu suspiciously, his expression plainly saying he would be a fool to believe her.
Seeing this, Leng Yaozhu stopped keeping him in suspense.
"Here's the thing. I've taken in a disciple, and his martial soul... is Spiritual Eyes."
"Spiritual Eyes?!"
The large eyes in Han Tianyi's large head went round.
The martial soul of the Spirit Pagoda's founder, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, had been Spiritual Eyes!
A prodigy like that belongs in my Body Sect!
How did Leng Yaozhu get to him first?
Han Tianyi slapped his thigh in frustration.
Although he had joined the Spirit Pagoda,
it was the Body Sect that had originally nurtured him.
Naturally, he would never forget his roots.
Besides, joining the Spirit Pagoda had been a choice born of necessity.
As the times progressed, the Body Sect had fallen further and further into decline.
Even prodigies with body martial souls were recruited first by organizations such as Shrek, the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, the War God Temple, or the Federation.
The Body Sect scarcely had any opportunity to recruit disciples.
He had joined the Spirit Pagoda partly for his own cultivation, and partly in hopes of using its channels to recruit a few disciples for the Body Sect.
Unfortunately, his efforts over the years had yielded little.
The Qiangu Family's grip on the Spirit Pagoda was simply too tight.
"Heavenly Phoenix, let's discuss this. Give this disciple to me, and I'll owe you a favor. How about it?"
Han Tianyi's face was full of hope.
Leng Yaozhu shook her head without hesitation.
"Elder Han, you know the situation my Leng Family is in. Having finally found a disciple like this, I cannot possibly let him go."
Han Tianyi sighed softly, unsurprised by her answer.
"So, you won't let him join my Body Sect, but you've come to me now because you want me to teach him the body secret art?"
"Do you think there's such a good bargain in this world?"
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