What the hell?!
Li Chen shot to his feet, staring at the Mingdu news report on the soul-guidance screen, utterly shaken.
He immediately searched for the name Long Xiaoyao.
[Long Xiaoyao, male, 29, Martial Soul: Dark Holy Dragon, level 95 Super Douluo, eighteenth War God of the War God Temple!]
"Th-this..."
Li Chen was astonished.
What the fuck? Wasn't this Long Xiaoyao reincarnated?
Only one character in the name was different, and even the Martial Soul was exactly the same!
Most importantly, a twenty-nine-year-old Super Douluo!
After all, even Yun Ming, the Quasi-God who now stood above everyone else on the continent, had been twenty-six when he broke through to Super Douluo!
This Long Xiaoyao had actually been hardly any slower than Yun Ming!
"Fine, fine, fine. The bastard reincarnated into the Dragon King era and even became the War God Temple's eighteenth War God..."
Li Chen sat back down on the sofa, considering his next move.
As a federal institution overseeing high-level combat forces, the War God Temple had its headquarters on West Mountain in Mingdu. It had eighteen levels, known as the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
Each level was guarded by a War God.
From the eighteenth to the first, they grew progressively stronger.
Above the eighteen War Gods, two deputy temple masters and one chief temple master oversaw everything.
Even the weakest of the eighteen War Gods was a Titled Douluo and Three-Word Battle Armor Master.
The three temple masters were all Limit Douluos!
In particular, its current chief temple master, Vast Sea Douluo Chen Xinjie, was said to stand alongside Yun Ming!
Unfortunately, although the War God Temple had clearly been established by the federation to counterbalance Shrek's upper-level combat power, its leader, Chen Xinjie, favored Shrek. As a result, despite being the speaker, Li Chen's father found himself hamstrung at every turn by his own side.
Li Chen considered it for a while.
"I have the Dark Holy Dragon bloodline and a second Martial Soul now, but I'm afraid I'll still need time to develop."
"In that case, I might as well get acquainted with Long Xiaoyao's reincarnation. If I can win him over, with his talent in this lifetime, replacing Chen Xinjie in the future isn't impossible..."
"Wait, what about Ye Xishui?"
Li Chen suddenly remembered. Since Long Xiaoyao's reincarnation had come to this era, Ye Xishui could very well be here too!
He immediately entered the three characters of Ye Xishui's name.
The character profile that popped up, however, belonged to the Holy Spirit Cult's leader from ten thousand years ago. Even the portrait was photoshopped.
"Not good. Looks like, just like Long Xiaoyao, even if Ye Xishui reincarnated, she no longer uses that name."
Li Chen scratched his head.
The next moment, he summoned his Martial Soul, the Tree of Sorrow, took a deep breath, and activated it to see whether it could sense anything.
"Please. According to his profile, Long Xiaoyao is still unmarried. If I can find Ye Xishui's reincarnation, winning him over will be much easier."
"I hope Ye Xishui isn't too old or too young in this lifetime. More importantly, I hope she hasn't joined the Holy Spirit Cult..."
Li Chen silently repeated his wishes.
The next moment, the Tree of Sorrow shone with red light, and an illusory image appeared in the room.
The projection showed a spotless white laboratory, where a female researcher dressed entirely in white, her hair tied in a single ponytail, was conducting an experiment.
The woman was tall and a great beauty with an oval face. Her black hair was sleek, and she wore safety goggles, her expression focused.
Li Chen's gaze settled on the young woman's name badge.
[Federal Research Institute Deputy Director-Ye Zhaolu]
"Gasp! Ye Xishui actually reincarnated into the Federal Research Institute?"
Li Chen was delighted.
His luck was pretty good. Ye Xishui wasn't an Evil Soul Master in this lifetime!
This was wonderful. She looked about the same age as Long Xiaoyao, too, and since she worked for the federation, finding her would be very convenient.
At that thought,
Li Chen could no longer sit still. He opened the door and headed straight out.
"Dad, I'm going out. Go to bed first tonight. Don't wait up for me."
Li Chen called out, ran straight outside, and took a taxi to the Federal Research Institute.
The institute was right in Mingdu, not far away.
His father, Speaker Li Yuntian, sat in the living room and smiled helplessly.
"That little brat has gone out to surf the internet again..."
Li Yuntian did not interfere.
His son had been born late in his life, and Li Chen was his only child. His wife had even lost her life in a struggle against his political enemies.
Thus, Li Yuntian had doted on Li Chen ever since he was little.
Half an hour later,
Night had only just fallen, and all of Mingdu blazed with lights.
Li Chen got out of the taxi at the entrance to the Federal Research Institute.
"Hello, I'm looking for Ye Zhaolu, your Deputy Director Ye."
Li Chen spoke to the gate guard with a smile.
"You're looking for Director Ye?"
The guard looked Li Chen up and down, then waved impatiently.
"Go on, get lost. You think you can just see Director Ye whenever you like? If you've got nothing to do, kid, go play somewhere else. Don't make trouble here."
"My father is Li Yuntian!"
The guard froze.
Then he took a closer look at Li Chen.
"Oh, Young Master Li! Please, have a seat. I'll go inside and announce you right away. Just a moment, please."
The guard's attitude changed instantly. He invited Li Chen to sit down, then jogged into the building.
Before long,
He came running back out.
"Director Ye is conducting an experiment. Sorry for the trouble, Young Master Li, but please go upstairs and wait a moment. It shouldn't take very long."
Li Chen nodded and entered the building.
The guard took off his cap and wiped away his sweat, shaken by the close call.
Damn it, I almost offended an official's kid!
In an era when even admission to Shrek required a recommendation letter, the various local aristocratic families and factions were every bit as formidable. If he offended such powerful people, he would have more trouble than he could handle.
Li Chen entered the building and pressed the elevator button.
He soon reached the laboratory floor, where he sat outside the laboratory and waited patiently.
Before long,
The laboratory doors opened, and Ye Zhaolu emerged, looking down at the documents in her hands.
"You wanted to see me?"
Ye Zhaolu headed straight toward her office, her eyes on the documents the entire time, without sparing Li Chen a glance.
"What is it? Go ahead."
Li Chen wasn't annoyed. He asked directly, "Director Ye, I wanted to ask, are you seeing anyone?"
Screech~
Ye Zhaolu's high heels stopped abruptly on the smooth tiled floor, scraping out a piercing sound.
Ye Zhaolu turned and looked Li Chen up and down, disgust showing in her eyes.
"You're still in school, aren't you? I don't like younger boys. Go back and focus on your studies."
With that, Ye Zhaolu turned and walked into her office.
"No, Director Ye, you've misunderstood. I'm here to introduce you to someone."
"Heh..."
Ye Zhaolu entered her office, sat down, and took a sip of water.
"I'm not looking for a partner! Leave."
Ye Zhaolu spoke angrily.
She had wondered what this privileged brat wanted with her. To think he actually wanted an older woman-younger man romance!
Other colleagues passing by saw Ye Zhaolu lose her temper and hurriedly kept their distance.
"Holy crap, whose high school kid is this? He actually came to the office to pursue Director Ye?"
"Oh, that's normal. Director Ye is young and beautiful, has a top-tier Martial Soul, and is a research genius. I heard the director's son has been pursuing her for three years. It'd be strange if a boy just awakening to romance wasn't completely smitten!"
"This kid's got some ability. What's his background? He actually managed to corner her at her office."
Ignoring the discussion outside, Li Chen shut the office door.
Ye Zhaolu took a deep breath. Fine veins stood out on her fair forehead; she was clearly angry.
"Who sent you?! Was it Dong Zijian? Tell me!"
Dong Zijian was the son of the Federal Research Institute's director, and he had been pursuing her all this time.
"War God Long Xiaoyao. War God Long said he's going to challenge Shrek's Red Dragon Douluo in two days, so he wanted to invite you to Shrek to watch."
Ye Zhaolu's eyes widened. "That new War God from the War God Temple? Do I know him?"
Li Chen neither blushed nor faltered. "He knows you. He asked me to invite you."
"He knows me?"
Ye Zhaolu frowned. The War God Temple carried considerable weight, and Li Chen's background was anything but simple, too.
Li Chen had already gone this far.
Ye Zhaolu thought it over. Refusing would be difficult.
If she refused and the federal treasury stopped allocating funds to the institute, wouldn't she have caused trouble?
Ye Zhaolu sighed softly, pressing a hand to her forehead and pinching between her brows.
The waters of Mingdu ran so fucking deep. She only wanted to do her research properly, yet worldly dealings forced her to watch other people's expressions.
"All right, I understand. In two days, right? I'll go. You can leave."
Li Chen smiled and nodded. "All right. I'll pick you up in two days, Director Ye."
With that,
Li Chen closed the door and left.
Ye Zhaolu shook her head. What was all this nonsense?
After leaving the institute, Li Chen felt much more assured.
OK, the hardest first step is done.
Li Chen opened his communicator and asked his father's secretary to help him find Long Xiaoyao's phone number.
Once he had the number, he called it directly.
Inside the War God Temple,
Long Xiaoyao, who was training fiercely with his upper body bare, picked up his communicator in puzzlement.
"Hello? Who's this?!"
Li Chen said, "War God Long, do you want a wife?"