Afternoon sunlight fell across the bustling street.
Dressed in white as always, Yu Longyue walked at a leisurely pace toward the drink bar where he had arranged to meet Huo Yuhao, his hands in his pockets.
But gold would shine wherever it went. Though he was only thirteen, there was no trace of childishness on his face. He had a mature, composed bearing beyond his years, and his handsome face instantly drew the gazes of those around him.
Among the many couples holding hands, the women were especially likely to turn and look at him, immediately provoking the displeasure of quite a few men.
"What's so great about him? He's handsome, and I'm not, is that it?"
"Oh, come on, don't you look at other women all the time? What's wrong with me looking at a real handsome guy?"
"You..."
Yu Longyue ignored the strange looks around him and saw Huo Yuhao wearing his Shrek Academy uniform, his short hair making him look full of vigor. Huo Yuhao raised his head and gave Yu Longyue a friendly smile.
"Brother Longyue, you're here. You still draw attention as easily as ever. I'm a little jealous of how popular you are," Huo Yuhao said with a cheerful laugh.
Yu Longyue sat down opposite Huo Yuhao.
"Then go ahead and be jealous. I was born handsome. Even if I wanted to change it, I couldn't."
Yu Longyue simply ordered a glass of orange juice and was about to pay when Huo Yuhao stopped him.
"Wait, let me treat you this time. You're always paying for me. I'd feel terrible."
Huo Yuhao nodded and smiled at the server, then paid the bill.
At the same time, he transferred five million Federation Coins to Yu Longyue's card. His Spiritual Power also precisely enveloped the area around the two of them, ensuring their privacy.
"That's the remaining five million. Thank you. Without your help, these past few years really wouldn't have been easy."
Huo Yuhao smiled bitterly. He hadn't expected that ten thousand years later, it would be an age when everything depended on Federation Coins and connections.
Without help from an elite wealthy family like Yu Longyue's, life would have been difficult for him, Huo Yuhao, and Federation Coins would have been even harder to earn.
With no connections and no money, it was truly a hard road to walk.
Even having ability was no use, unless he caught the eye of a true big shot and was lucky enough to meet a benefactor.
It was completely different from the age he knew.
"No need to thank me. All right, now that we've finally managed to arrange a chance to meet and talk in detail, I'll start with the situation on my end." Yu Longyue picked up his orange juice and drank it casually.
"Next, under my arrangements, Tang San will definitely face an enormous compensation bill that he won't be able to pay. Besides, this is Shrek City. I've already built connections with almost all the higher-ups, so apart from the Spirit Pagoda, he won't have any chance to earn money."
"As for the Spirit Pagoda, there's even less reason to worry. Tang San won't go there, and even if he does, I have ten thousand ways to deal with him."
"In other words, Tang San will definitely run into walls everywhere. His chances of growing stronger will be reduced to a minimum, and he'll have to rely on his experience as a former God King to recover his strength. That's as far as I can restrict him."
"He's only level thirty-eight now, far behind me. It's all thanks to you. Thank you." Huo Yuhao breathed a sigh of relief. "If things keep going like this, I might reach Titled Douluo by the time he becomes a Soul Saint."
"That confident? What level are you now?" Yu Longyue raised an eyebrow.
"Forty-three." Huo Yuhao was a little embarrassed. "I went to the Spirit Ascension Platform, and it really was good. It can help the Soul Spirits who followed me to godhood awaken sooner."
Yu Longyue nodded. "How many are awake now?"
Surprised, Huo Yuhao raised his hand, and a plump, short, white silkworm slowly crawled out.
"Brother Sky Dream."
"Huh? Why did you suddenly let me out?" The silkworm looked at Huo Yuhao, then at Yu Longyue in front of him. He immediately shrank back into Huo Yuhao's hand and cried in panic, "Ahhh, a monster!"
Dark lines crossed Yu Longyue's forehead, and he was instantly speechless.
You're a Hundred Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Between the two of us, who's the monster here?
"Brother Sky Dream, how is Brother Longyue a monster?" Huo Yuhao asked, puzzled.
"He's only at the Soul King level, but I can sense that his presence is even more terrifying than that of the ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts I encountered in the Star Dou Great Forest. If he's not a monster, what is he?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shook his body, then turned to scrutinize Yu Longyue cautiously.
"Um, may I ask if you're human?"
"I'm a genuine human." Yu Longyue raised a hand to his forehead.
Huo Yuhao felt too embarrassed to show his face. "Ahem, Brother Sky Dream, stop coming out and embarrassing me. We're discussing serious business."
Yu Longyue took another sip of orange juice.
"So why did you let him out?"
"There's an operation coming up, and Brother Sky Dream is crucial to it. Now that he's awake, my Spiritual Power has also successfully broken through to the Spirit Domain Realm," Huo Yuhao said with a smile.
Yu Longyue froze.
The Spirit Domain Realm?
He himself was only one final step away.
Didn't that mean Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Power was above twenty thousand now?
"What operation?"
"I only just learned from Gu Yue that your family's company has partnered with the Spirit Pagoda..." Huo Yuhao sighed and raised a hand to stroke the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's little head. "And I've discovered that the path the Spirit Pagoda I created with my own hands has taken seems far removed from what I imagined."
"That's because all you did was create the Spirit Pagoda. Once you were done with it, you were in a hurry to ascend to the Divine Realm because of your wife," Yu Longyue said mildly. "I really don't want to criticize you, but if you'd ascended to the Divine Realm a little later, properly dealt with the Spirit Pagoda, and spent some more time with your family and friends, perhaps everything would have been different."
"Even if the Spirit Pagoda went down the wrong path, that's still your problem."
By now, Yu Longyue had finished half his orange juice, but he had also left Huo Yuhao speechless.
After a moment, Huo Yuhao shook his head. His former high spirits were gone.
"Yes... If I'd ascended to the Divine Realm a little later and taken care of everything, would everything have been different?"
"Sister Xiaotao, Eldest Senior Brother... everyone at Shrek, sigh." Huo Yuhao drained the drink in front of him in one gulp and slammed it down on the table. "Back then, all I could think about was Tang Wutong, Tang Wutong. I never imagined... that there could be such a heartless father in the world, one who would split his own daughter's soul in two, then fuse it back together and produce some neither-fish-nor-fowl stitched-together monster."
"Tang Wutong completely lost herself. She no longer had Dong'er's spirited cleverness or Qiu'er's tough exterior and gentle heart. She was just a tool to bind me..."
"If it weren't for Tang San, I wouldn't have wanted to give up either Dong'er or Qiu'er, and neither of them would have come to such an end." Huo Yuhao gave a bitter laugh, then looked up at Yu Longyue. "Brother Longyue, if you ever run into matters of the heart, please be sure to handle them properly. Don't follow the same path I did. If you can't see your own heart clearly, you'll truly miss your chance."
"If that day ever comes for me, please remind me. I'm no saint; I'm an ordinary person too, and there are times when I'll make mistakes." Yu Longyue also felt regret.
Huo Yuhao nodded. "I will."
"All right, enough of that. Let's get down to business. Go on and tell me what you want to do."
"If I said I wanted to become the Spirit Pagoda's master, would you help me?" Huo Yuhao looked at Yu Longyue.
Yu Longyue was silent for a moment before saying,
"The Spirit Pagoda is currently cooperating with the Evil Soul Master organization, the Holy Spirit Cult. I came into contact with their people three years ago."
"On top of that, the Spirit Pagoda is at odds with Shrek in the current situation. That's entirely because of the ambitions of the Spirit Pagoda master and his Qiangu family."
Yu Longyue tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table.
"In other words, sooner or later, we'll clash with the Spirit Pagoda, especially the Qiangu family."
"So, since you want to become the pagoda master, I'll naturally help you. It benefits both of us."
And it could also stop Gu Yue's plan at the Spirit Pagoda. If Huo Yuhao succeeded, then he would have the initiative.
Yu Longyue thought this to himself without letting it show. He nodded and continued, "However, I have one request. I hope you can help me fulfill it, and then I'll help you become the pagoda master."
"Please tell me, Brother Longyue. As long as it's within my ability to help, I'll climb a mountain of blades and cross a sea of fire to make it happen," Huo Yuhao said solemnly.
"My request is simple. It doesn't necessarily require anything as extreme as climbing a mountain of blades or crossing a sea of fire." Yu Longyue smiled, raised three fingers in front of Huo Yuhao, and gave them a little shake.
"Help me achieve Yin-Yang Complementary Triple Soul Cores. Perhaps it might even be four Soul Cores."