As for the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he had not yet decided how to deal with him, but at the very least, he could not let Huo Yuhao take him for nothing.
"Fate really does take some strange twists and turns," he murmured to himself, a slight smile curling his lips. "Now that I, Xu Jingyao, know about your opportunities, Huo Yuhao, I'm taking them!"
Early the next morning, Xu Jingyao changed into an ordinary blue-green robe, casually pinned up his hair with a wooden hairpin, and wore only an inconspicuous jade token at his waist.
At first glance, he looked like a young student traveling abroad from the Original Three Kingdoms.
Shadow Douluo followed half a step behind him, dressed in gray, his aura restrained, like an elderly servant accompanying his master.
"Your Highness, the Soul Tool carriage is ready."
"We're not taking the Soul Tool carriage." Xu Jingyao started toward the city gates. "Let's take a horse-drawn carriage."
Shadow Douluo froze for a moment, then followed.
The two passed beyond Mingdu's defensive lines. Morning light shone from behind them, stretching their shadows long.
Xu Jingyao glanced back at the city as it gradually receded into the distance and smiled.
"Off we go."
He turned around and walked briskly toward the Original Three Kingdoms.
In the study of the Crown Prince's Residence, Xu Tianran sat in his wheelchair, listening to his subordinate's report, and remained silent for a long time.
"Your Highness, the Carefree King has left the city."
"Mm." Xu Tianran waved a hand, dismissing him.
He lowered his head to look at the memorials on the desk, but did not turn a page for ages.
Only after a long while did he sigh, his voice so quiet it was almost inaudible.
"You little brat. Don't actually go and die out there."
Outside the window, the wind swept through the courtyard, rustling the great willow beside the window.
But Xu Jingyao had been right about one thing: the Evil Soul Masters had become a tail too large to wag. They already dared to attack students of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. Would their next step be to attack the imperial family?
Yet the other side had two Limit Douluos, which indeed made them hesitate to throw stones for fear of breaking the precious vessels nearby. In these turbulent times, dealing with them would be too troublesome.
Still, the one with the Angel Martial Soul was indeed a good choice.
Someone with a Martial Soul like that certainly could not lack talent. With proper nurturing, they might well have a chance to break through to rank ninety-five or higher in the future, at which point they would surely become a natural bane to Evil Soul Masters!
Meanwhile, sitting cross-legged in the carriage, Xu Jingyao steadied his breathing and sensed the vortices gradually forming inside him.
It seemed his Soul Power would soon reach the point of solidification, but there was one fatal problem: he was producing two entirely different Soul Cores at once, which meant he needed to condense both at the same time.
With his physical constitution, he was not certain whether he could succeed.
To balance his powers of life and destruction, he had to condense them through Yin-Yang Complementarity, bringing those two mutually generating and restraining ultimate powers into equilibrium.
Alas, it looks like I'll still have to visit the Body Sect.
But a deal loses its value when you chase after it too eagerly. I might as well wander around the Heaven Dou Empire later and see whether I can run into them. I'm planning to visit the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well anyway, so it'll most likely be on the way.
In any case, I only need to return before the tournament.
But if I compete, I'll still have to employ makeup, one of the Four Great Divine Arts!
Most importantly, I need to see whether I can drive a wedge between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Body Sect.
If I can get the Body Sect to willingly head to the Sun Moon Empire with us, that would work. Leaving them no other choice would work too.
Forget it. I'll stop thinking about it. I'll leave the dirty work to Xu Tianran.
My methods are still far too green to scheme against those old foxes!
Ultimately, the peace of his previous life and the wealth of this one had left him a little less ruthless. He could not compare to those who had truly been steeped in such things since childhood, and all he possessed was the history of another world and partial foreknowledge of this one.
Xu Jingyao leaned against the carriage's backrest, feeling its jolts as the sun outside rose and set.
After leaving the Sun Moon Empire, Xu Jingyao changed his clothes and put on a mask.
The mask was clearly no ordinary mask, but a rank-nine protective barrier combined with aura concealment. Kong Deming had specially made it with the exterior design Xu Jingyao had requested.
It was exquisitely made. The patterns on the golden mask vaguely resembled a half-rotted tree, but the stump in the middle was a sword. Mm.
It had won the complete approval of even a client as nearly impossible to please as him!
His clothes were also the attire of Carefree Pavilion members, designed by Xu Jingyao after the traditional clothing of his previous life. Wearing them made him look like an immortal.
Although Xu Jingyao was only twelve, he was as tall as an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old. Without the mask, a trace of childishness was still visible, but with it on, he gave off nothing but a keen edge, like a mature adult.
"Shadow Douluo, from now on, I am Ziqing, master of the Carefree Pavilion. Don't get it wrong," Xu Jingyao instructed.
"Understood!" Shadow Douluo replied respectfully.
As for why he had told him separately?
It was simply because Shadow Douluo was not a member of the Carefree Pavilion and evidently did not know who had been introduced internally as its master.
Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.
"Mu En, the master of the Carefree Pavilion has agreed to visit after Shrek Academy begins its school year," Yan Shaozhe said with a smile, unmistakable smugness in his eyes. "I told you no one could refuse our Shrek Academy."
"Mm. Receive him well." Mu En's voice held a measure of seriousness. "The Carefree Pavilion is now involved in nearly every field, so it should also be a good source of information. Moreover, only they can smuggle advanced Soul Tools to us. Even if they really do have some murky ties to the Sun Moon Empire, as long as they haven't completely taken its side, we must treat them well. Don't push them so hard that they truly do side with the Sun Moon Empire."
"Understood." Yan Shaozhe instantly put away his smugness and spoke with the air of someone accepting instruction.
The outskirts of Star Luo City, near the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
"Shadow Douluo, we'll wait here for a while." Xu Jingyao sat in a teahouse his own people had built, watching the back gate of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
"What are you planning, Pavilion Master?" Shadow Douluo tilted his head, looking puzzled.
"Hmm, let's do this. Help me check whether there's a rather thin twelve-year-old boy with an eye Martial Soul who should be rank ten or nine right now," Xu Jingyao said, rubbing himself briefly.
"Understood!" With that, Shadow Douluo turned into black mist and vanished to one side.
Huo Yuhao, you adorable treasure-hunting beast!
Ah, if only I had something that could keep watch over him.
Wait! I think I really do!
I'll set him up with it later in the Star Dou Great Forest.
He had not waited more than a few minutes before a twelve-year-old boy walked out, and Shadow Douluo also emerged from the shadows in human form beside him.
The boy looked rather slender, and his face had a somewhat gentle look.
Xu Jingyao drank the last mouthful of water in his cup. "Let's go. We'll follow him and see what good things this fellow with such flourishing fortune can lead us to."
"Fortune?"
"Simply put, this kid is the Douluo Continent's own beloved son," Xu Jingyao said with a smile.
Before you continue