"Qiangu Zhangting?"
Huo Yuhao could not help looking again at the young man Yu Longyue had noticed. He was tall and looked to be in his twenties, with golden hair neatly combed back. Like Yu Longyue, he was dressed in white.
The difference was that Yu Longyue's chest bore the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's emblem. It was pale blue and rather subdued, though the material certainly was not cheap. Fortunately, it was not very conspicuous.
The white clothes the young man wore, on the other hand, bore prominent golden patterns, giving him a somewhat nobler and more splendid appearance than Yu Longyue.
He was also very handsome and more physically mature than Yu Longyue, every inch an adult. In that respect, Yu Longyue fell somewhat short of him.
After all, he was still only thirteen.
"Is that one of the Spirit Pagoda's four great Spirit Envoys?" Huo Yuhao asked quietly.
Yu Longyue nodded, his gaze still fixed on Qiangu Zhangting.
"That's right. He's also Qiangu Dongfeng's grandson, Qiangu Zhangting. He holds a high position in the Spirit Pagoda, and his Martial Soul is the Coiling Dragon Staff. He had Innate Full Soul Power, too, so he's a genius. If I didn't have a God Level Martial Soul and an Ultimate Attribute, I'd probably be on the same level as him."
"And his Qiangu Family is no worse than mine. One is the family of the Spirit Pagoda's master, and the other is the family of the Sea God Pavilion Master. Tsk."
"A young master from a top-tier clan, just like you." Huo Yuhao was speechless. "Though one of you has the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and the other has the Coiling Dragon Staff. Just hearing the names, you can tell the two don't get along."
"Have you heard of the Young Genius Ranking? That pointless ranking was made by the Spirit Pagoda." Yu Longyue shrugged.
"The Qiangu Family and mine have a conflict, though they haven't shown it. Putting me in first place was purely the Qiangu Family's way of getting under my family's skin."
"I can tell. There's quite a conflict between you two." Huo Yuhao carefully probed with his spiritual power. "He's probably around twenty-one or twenty-two now, and his Soul Power isn't low either. He's a Soul Saint and a Two-Word Battle Armor Master. If you fought him one-on-one, would you have a chance of winning?"
"In a straight one-on-one fight, it's hard to say whether he could even break through my defenses." Yu Longyue thought for a moment. "In a fight to the death, I can't say for sure. Anything can happen, after all. He's a genius, however you look at it, so he can definitely fight above his level."
Of course, given the strength of his current physical stats, anyone who was not a Three-Word Battle Armor Master or a Titled Douluo would have a hard time posing any threat to him.
As the two whispered, Qiangu Zhangting, who was a short distance ahead, frowned slightly. He seemed to have noticed someone watching him and swept his gaze over the surroundings.
His spiritual power also spread out like an invisible net, trying to catch that gaze that made him uncomfortable.
However, Yu Longyue and Huo Yuhao had already retreated to a relatively safe distance, and they were no longer staring at Qiangu Zhangting. As a result, he found nothing unusual.
Huo Yuhao quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"His spiritual power is probably around twelve thousand, in the Spirit Abyss Realm. No wonder he didn't notice us even then," Yu Longyue could not resist remarking.
"Are you that eager for him to discover us?" Huo Yuhao said in a low voice. "Qiangu Zhangting's strength isn't to be underestimated. However you look at it, he's unquestionably among the very best of the younger generation."
"Have you forgotten about the Evil Soul Master affair? It isn't over yet." Yu Longyue and Huo Yuhao had reached the Soul Spirit area. As they looked at the various Soul Spirits, they continued their discussion. "As far as I know, Qiangu Zhangting is strong, but the guy's one-track-minded and pretty easy to fool... Ah, no, I mean he's easily influenced by others. So I was thinking..."
"You want to drag him into the Evil Soul Master affair and have him stir up shit. That would inevitably disrupt the Holy Spirit Cult's secret cooperation with the Spirit Pagoda, and he could also serve as your shield." Huo Yuhao continued for him, his face expressionless. "That's about right, isn't it?"
Yu Longyue snapped his fingers. "Ah, we've been partners so long, you really do know me. I only have to lift my ass and you already know what kind of fart I'm going to let out."
"Could you not describe it in such a weird way?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head helplessly. He knew Yu Longyue's plans were always full of strange and inventive ideas, but he had to admit they often produced unexpected results.
"Your plan may be good, but Qiangu Zhangting isn't an idiot. He won't fall for it so easily," Huo Yuhao cautioned.
"Haha, then we'll leave it to heaven's will and let everything take its natural course. I hate schemes and plots and that sort of thing. The more you show off with them, the more likely you are to capsize in a gutter. After all, how can you stand by the river all the time without getting your shoes wet?"
Yu Longyue waved a hand and said casually:
"Besides, my goal isn't really to make him interfere. I just want to use him to create a little rift between the Holy Spirit Cult and the Spirit Pagoda."
"So you're trying to sow discord between them." Huo Yuhao sighed.
"No, no. I'm just using the resources we already have to achieve our goal."
"Once we find out exactly what the Evil Soul Masters are going to do next, I'll see if I can lure Qiangu Zhangting over... You'll have to help, too."
The two continued browsing the Soul Spirit area as they talked in low voices.
"All right, let's not discuss too much here, or someone might notice." Yu Longyue looked around and saw that some of the Spirit Pagoda's staff had already begun paying attention to them.
After all, they had been browsing for so long and looking at so much without buying anything. It was bound to arouse suspicion.
"Then let's enter the Spirit Ascension Platform next." Huo Yuhao raised his head and glanced at the camera overhead without drawing attention to it. "We've done everything we needed to anyway."
"Elementary or intermediate?"
"...What kind of pointless question is that? With our cultivation, can we still enter the elementary one?"
Shortly after Huo Yuhao and Yu Longyue entered the Spirit Ascension Platform, bickering as they went, Qiangu Zhangting seemed to sense something. He swept his gaze around, but found nothing unusual.
He frowned slightly.
"Was it my imagination?"
Inside the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.
Yu Longyue and Huo Yuhao saw a flash of light before their eyes, followed by a sensation of the world spinning around them.
When they opened their eyes again, they were standing in a dense primeval forest.
Towering trees rose all around them, their thick crowns covering nearly the entire sky. Only a few shafts of sunlight filtered through the gaps, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow.
There were many kinds of trees, some thick as pillars and others slender as fingers. Their branches and leaves intertwined, forming a natural green canopy.
The air was filled with the fresh scent of vegetation, mingled with the smell of soil and dew, refreshing the heart and lifting the spirits.
Occasional beast roars sounded in the distance, lending the forest a touch of mystery.
"So this is the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform? It really is completely different from the elementary one." Huo Yuhao looked around, sensing the rich breath of life surrounding him.
Yu Longyue took a deep breath. Five white Soul Rings rose beneath his feet, and he instantly activated Martial Soul Possession. His hands transformed into dragon claws, and dragon scales appeared on his skin. He reminded Huo Yuhao, "This place is equivalent to the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, which means the Soul Beasts are stronger too. As long as we don't run into one of the very strongest Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, I can handle them, but it's still best to be careful."
"Restore your strength as quickly as you can. We'll start with some weaker Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. I'll cripple any Soul Beasts that come at us, then leave them for you to finish off."
Huo Yuhao was surprised.
"Don't you need to improve your Soul Spirit?"
"Come on, I've already raised it to the limit. Besides, it would be hard to raise my Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit here, unless I slaughtered every Soul Beast in the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform or went to the High-Rank Spirit Ascension Platform." Yu Longyue spread his hands. "When I was a Soul Elder, I came here every day to raise my Soul Spirit's age. I hit the limit a long time ago."
Huo Yuhao fell silent.
He had nothing to say.
"Huh, I think I've found an unexpected surprise." Yu Longyue looked at Huo Yuhao. "Focus your Spiritual Detection to our east, about a thousand meters away. You'll find it a surprise too."
Huo Yuhao did as he was told, then froze for a moment and blurted out instinctively:
"Tang San?!"