"Uh..."
Seeing Huo Yun'er's earnest expression, Dai Lingfeng instead calmed down.
She was Tang San's Chang Ghost!
"I understand."
"Mom, I'll be loyal to Lord Sea God and loyal to the Tang Sect."
Dai Lingfeng immediately put on an obedient expression and professed his loyalty.
Tang San was even more pleased with him.
The child was worth teaching!
His painstaking efforts in arranging for Huo Yun'er to educate the Dai Lingfeng brothers had not been in vain.
Huo Yun'er was responsible for giving the brothers Dai Lingfeng and Huo Yuhao their early education, brainwashing them from childhood into believing in the greatness of the Tang Sect and the Sea God.
After receiving orders from him and Dai Mubai,
Dai Lingfeng had trusted them without the slightest hesitation.
His loyalty was commendable!
It seemed the idea of the Tang Sect's supremacy had been thoroughly branded into the minds of both brothers.
Tang San felt reassured about Dai Lingfeng.
In a sense, this boy was someone he had watched grow up and personally educated.
"Lingfeng, these are all the Tang Sect's cultivation methods."
"I'll pass them on to you."
"They're all complete versions that even the present-day Tang Sect doesn't have, but you still mustn't reveal your identity as a Tang Sect disciple."
"Also, once you enter the Tang Sect, you belong to it for life!"
"If you ever betray the sect, I'll personally take back everything you have!"
Tang San passed down the Tang Sect Secret Arts and kindly gave him a warning.
What he passed down were the authentic versions,
which utterly trounced the castrated versions in Tang Ya's hands.
If Huo Yuhao ever fought him using the Tang Sect Secret Arts, he would be suppressed so badly that he would question his life.
"Yes, Sect Master."
Dai Lingfeng gladly accepted the inheritance.
As for the Tang Sect Secret Arts,
cultivating the Purple Demon Eye was highly beneficial to his Yin-Yang Eyes, the Mysterious Jade Hand could strengthen his tiger claws, and the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was also vital to him.
These were all good things.
"Mm, you may go back."
"Cultivate diligently from now on and work hard to build up the Tang Sect. I'll let you see your mother often."
Without waiting for Dai Lingfeng's response, Tang San cut off the connection himself.
The scene shifted,
and Dai Lingfeng's consciousness returned to the imperial palace.
"Lingfeng, what you just did was still a little too impulsive. Big Brother and Father both broke out in a cold sweat."
"You're the hope of our White Tiger Duke's Mansion."
"Don't do that again."
"Just let Huabin bear those stains."
Dai Yueheng patted Dai Lingfeng on the shoulder and sternly admonished him.
What had just happened had given him a real fright.
If Dai Lingfeng hadn't used his overwhelming strength to shut everyone up, his reputation would probably have been ruined.
"That's right, just leave it to me."
Beside them, Dai Huabin's face was full of lingering fear.
It didn't matter if he had a stain on his name,
but Dai Lingfeng couldn't have one!
"Big Brother, I understand. From now on, I'll think things through calmly before acting."
"Tell Father I'm a little tired. I'm going back into seclusion first."
"I still have a Soul Ascension Pill."
"I'm at level 28 now. After taking the Soul Ascension Pill, I can reach level 29. I also happen to have gained some insights into cultivation just now, and I can't miss the chance."
The main ceremony of the engagement banquet was over, and Dai Lingfeng couldn't be bothered to keep dealing with it.
This was exactly when he should take the Soul Ascension Pill.
After taking it, he would be only one step away from level 30, leaving him time to thoroughly temper his foundation before reaching it.
"All right, I'll tell Father."
"Hurry back. Your cultivation is what matters; this is all a small affair, and we can handle it."
Dai Yueheng nodded, indulging Dai Lingfeng greatly.
For the White Tiger Lineage, everything had to give way to Dai Lingfeng's cultivation!
Even a princess's engagement banquet
was no reason to stand in the way of Dai Lingfeng's progress.
After informing Dai Yueheng, Dai Lingfeng left early.
Dai Yueheng told Dai Hao, who was exchanging toasts with Xu Jiawei.
"He went back?"
Dai Hao frowned slightly.
If it was an insight into cultivation, that was naturally for the best, and they couldn't disturb Dai Lingfeng.
He was just afraid that Dai Lingfeng was feeling unwell.
After all, Huo Yuhao had caused quite a stir today.
"Duke,"
"Lingfeng has worked hard today too. Let him do as he wishes."
Xu Jiawei smiled and took the initiative to give him a way out.
In any case, both sides had already exchanged marriage contracts.
Under the circumstances, even if Dai Lingfeng ran away, the monk might run, but the temple couldn't.
"Your Majesty, you indulge him too much!"
Dai Hao said awkwardly.
Xu Jiawei smiled without comment. Whoever didn't indulge him would have the whole White Tiger Lineage at their throat.
"He's gone?"
Xu Jiujiu felt a sense of loss.
She began to blame herself.
As his fiancée, in a situation like that just now, she had actually wavered instead of standing resolutely at Dai Lingfeng's side and supporting him.
There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him leaving early now...
"You really have been spoiled rotten!"
"What kind of occasion is this?"
"Can you be allowed to act recklessly?"
Elsewhere, Tang Hao was dealing with Wang Dong.
To tell the truth,
if not for Dai Lingfeng, he wouldn't have met this granddaughter at all. He had no interest whatsoever.
A girl, of all things-
so what if she had the Clear Sky Hammer?
She was unbelievably lazy. Her Martial Soul had awakened at age three, yet she was still only level 13. She was mud that wouldn't stick to a wall.
In Tang Hao's eyes,
girls could get lost!
Tang San without the Clear Sky Hammer could get lost!
Tang Wulin without the Clear Sky Hammer could especially get lost, lost, lost!!
He had left Ah Yin's gentle embrace
because Tang San had ordered him to come and snatch Dai Lingfeng, not for a little girl like Wang Dong.
If Wang Dong really was of no use at all, Tang Hao could only send the girl packing back to the Clear Sky Sect.
"But, Grandpa, Dai Lingfeng is..."
Wang Dong had just been about to say that Dai Lingfeng was a bastard who had killed his mother when Tang Hao's fierce gaze frightened her into silence.
However foolish she was, she understood now:
her grandfather didn't like a granddaughter who had been foisted on him at all.
In fact,
this was the first time she had met him.
Before Da Ming and Er Ming told her today that Tang Hao was her grandfather, she hadn't even known she had one...
"All right, all right."
"Go find your First and Second Daddies."
Tang Hao impatiently sent Wang Dong away.
The girl was completely beyond saving. Keeping her here by force would only cause more friction between her and Dai Lingfeng.
Tang Hao couldn't be bothered with her anymore.
He would just leave her to Da Ming and Er Ming to raise as they pleased.
"Oh."
Wang Dong felt as though she had been granted a pardon.
Wang Dong wasn't the only one who suffered the same fate.
There was also Ma Xiaotao.
"You're saying you were the one who brought Dai Yuhao in?"
Mu En's vision went black.
She had brought Huo Yuhao in and even helped him embarrass Dai Lingfeng in public.
This Ma Xiaotao was one of the ringleaders!
Xuan Zi had already caused enough trouble.
If the new generation of Shrek Academy had only idiots like Ma Xiaotao, it would definitely be finished!
"Besides Xuan Zi, we'll have to pay another price to make amends to the White Tiger Duke's Mansion."
Mu En was deep in thought.
Dai Lingfeng didn't know what happened later at the engagement banquet, nor did he care.
After he returned to the White Tiger Duke's Mansion,
he took the Soul Ascension Pill,
and his cultivation surged to level 29!
"A level 29 Soul Grandmaster!"
"I've actually reached the heights of Grandmaster Gangzi!"
"The ten levels of God-Given Soul Power and the one level of Soul Power from the Soul Ascension Pill have no side effects, but when Soul Power rises too quickly, it's bound to be somewhat unstable."
"I'll spend the coming period consolidating it."
"I'll use the Mysterious Heaven Skill to thoroughly stabilize my cultivation as a level 29 Soul Grandmaster first."
Dai Lingfeng carefully sensed the power in his body and decided to spend some time consolidating it.
His Soul Power had risen too quickly.
What he needed to do now was slow down instead.
And so, this period of consolidation
lasted until five years later, the point when the story began.
By then, Dai Lingfeng's Soul Power Level had reached a terrifying level 49!
He was only one step away from becoming a five-ring Soul King,
and had already been hailed by the world as the youngest Soul King!