Barbecue Douluo

The moment the words left his mouth, Bao Liang's pupils contracted slightly.

Long Xiaoyao.

Bao Liang knew that name all too well.

In the original story, he was a legendary figure as renowned as Dragon God Douluo Mu En and Death God Douluo Ye Xishui, the wielder of the Dark Holy Dragon Martial Soul, and the Holy Spirit Cult's grand elder-

Good grief.

Kong Deming had thumped his chest and guaranteed that the man was "definitely not an Evil Soul Master," yet the teacher he had found for Bao Liang was the second-in-command of his beloved Holy Spirit Cult.

And judging by the old man's expression just now, he seemed never to have considered that at all.

Bao Liang rubbed his nose and decided to let the matter rot in his belly for the time being-after all, he was taking a person as his teacher, not pledging allegiance to a faction.

Probably.

"Long Xiaoyao..."

When Kong Deming uttered those three words, Jing Hongchen froze for a moment. Then his tense shoulders visibly relaxed, and he let out a long breath.

So it was him.

At the mention of that name, the stone suspended in Jing Hongchen's heart dropped to the ground instead.

As it happened, Jing Hongchen knew Long Xiaoyao very well.

Jing Hongchen silently recalled that old story.

The current emperor was advanced in years, and the pro-peace faction held sway at court, advocating a period of recovery; Crown Prince Xu Tianran, however, was different. He had always belonged to the pro-war faction, and ever since the other princes had plotted against him and left him crippled in both legs, he had grown more ruthless and increasingly unscrupulous in his methods.

It was because of this that the crown prince had made the acquaintance of Zhongli Wu, the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult.

As a member of the crown prince's faction, Jing Hongchen had naturally been pulled aboard the same boat. Along the way, he had also met Death God Douluo Ye Xishui and this Dragon Emperor Douluo.

But knowing them was one thing; cooperating with them was another.

Jing Hongchen looked down on those Evil Soul Masters from the bottom of his heart. If the crown prince hadn't been the thread tying them together, he wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere near them.

His dealings with the Holy Spirit Cult went no further than that; there was no deeper friendship.

But Long Xiaoyao...

Jing Hongchen gave a quiet snort inwardly.

In the Holy Spirit Cult, that man truly was a clear stream amid the filth.

Though he bore the esteemed title of grand elder, he had never done the sort of things Evil Soul Masters were supposed to do.

At the risk of being laughed at, quite a few of Jing Hongchen's methods for dealing specifically with Evil Soul Masters had come from Long Xiaoyao.

An old scene suddenly flashed through his mind-back when he had first taken charge of Mingde Hall and was plagued by headaches over the Evil Soul Masters who had infiltrated it, Long Xiaoyao had casually tossed him a scroll of methods and lazily said, "Take it and play with it."

The scroll contained nothing but ruthless techniques for countering Evil Soul Masters, and from beginning to end, the man had asked for nothing in return.

That was why Jing Hongchen respected him, deep down.

An oddball, a true oddball.

But he was a decent enough man.

So Jing Hongchen was more than happy to have Bao Liang take Long Xiaoyao as his teacher.

"Teacher Kong, what wind blew this in-" He rubbed his reddened, swollen ear and gave a wry laugh. "If you'd said it was Long Xiaoyao sooner, why would I have had to sit in there worrying?

I know the man well. I raise both hands in favor."

Kong Deming raised an eyebrow instead. "Oh? So you know him."

"More than that." Jing Hongchen waved a hand and said no more-some things weren't convenient to bring up in front of the children.

Then he remembered something and turned to Kong Deming. "But Teacher Kong, how did you come to know this 'clear stream' yourself?"

Holding his scepter, Kong Deming replied without a change of expression, "One day, I grew tired of the food in the imperial palace and happened to have no research to do, so I went out and found a barbecue restaurant.

Then I ran into him, and that was how we came to know each other."

Jing Hongchen: "..."

He fell silent for a full three breaths before squeezing out a single word through his teeth. "Fine."

Beside them, Bao Liang couldn't hold back a snort of laughter.

Long Xiaoyao truly deserved the name 'Barbecue' Douluo. Even his respawn point was at a barbecue restaurant.

Meng Hongchen tilted her head and quietly twisted the knife. "Then if he gets hungry, will he just come walking out on his own?"

Kong Deming glanced at the two little clowns, but wasn't angry. "We only ran into each other those few times at the barbecue restaurant. After that, we hardly ever crossed paths again.

But since Bao Liang wants to take him as a teacher, I can find a way to seek him out and ask him. The disciple is willing, but we still haven't asked whether the teacher is."

He paused, his gaze settling on Bao Liang, and his tone grew more solemn. "There's something I must tell you first.

You must never breathe a word to Long Xiaoyao about having twin Ultimate Martial Souls.

But there's no hiding the fact that your Explosion Martial Soul is Ultimate Flame. He is a Level 99 Limit Douluo, after all; his senses are far sharper than those of us Douluo who were raised to this level on pills."

Bao Liang nodded. He understood that better than anyone.

"However, given Long Xiaoyao's temperament," Kong Deming went on, changing tack, "as long as he doesn't refuse, there's a very good chance it will work out.

And he's tight-lipped. He certainly won't go around telling people you possess an Ultimate Martial Soul."

Jing Hongchen wholeheartedly agreed. "Exactly.

Long Xiaoyao values his word above all else. He won't go back on a promise, and he has no interest in trading away a child's hidden trump card."

At this point, Kong Deming abruptly changed the subject. "In that case, you three little ones can stay at the Worship Hall for the next few days.

While we look for him, I can also teach you a few things about Soul Tools."

All three little ones turned to look at Jing Hongchen in unison.

Meng Hongchen even instinctively clung a little closer to Bao Liang's arm, as though afraid this good fortune would fall through.

Jing Hongchen nodded repeatedly, smiling like a cunning old fox. "Go on, go on. Your grandmaster is willing to teach you-that's a blessing as great as the heavens. Don't be surrounded by good fortune without appreciating it."

Bao Liang and the other two had no objections and readily agreed.

For nearly half a month afterward, three small figures could be seen in the Worship Hall.

Kong Deming taught them with great care.

From the underlying logic of Soul Tool Core Arrays to the coordination properties of rare metals; from the topology of Soul Power circuits to the mechanisms behind resonance between spiritual power and Soul Tools-it was broad in scope, meticulous in detail, and complete as a system.

It was the first time the three little ones had encountered such a vast and systematic body of knowledge. They felt like fish in water, swimming freely through an ocean of knowledge, every breath tinged with greed.

Once, Kong Deming took a dull piece of mithril and casually carved a miniature circuit into it. The metal hummed, and a pillar of light shone from it.

Xiao Hongchen stared, transfixed, and pestered him for a long while about the method of connecting the circuits; Meng Hongchen was fascinated by the combination of Soul Tools with her own ice and fire twin poisons, her little face shining; Bao Liang listened to everything and remembered it all, occasionally tossing out a question that left even Kong Deming stunned.

As for Jing Hongchen?

On the third day, Kong Deming chased him back to Mingde Hall with a swing of his scepter. "Are you the hall master or a clay Bodhisattva? If you won't take care of Mingde Hall's affairs, what use does the empire have for you?"

Jing Hongchen left with a grievance, clutching his backside.

But though he left, he didn't slacken his search in the slightest.

Openly and covertly, he made use of quite a few private channels, determined to dig up the great Buddha that was Long Xiaoyao as soon as possible.

Kong Deming wasn't idle either, putting the Worship Hall's covert intelligence network into full operation.

Yet, to everyone's surprise-

Long Xiaoyao seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Mingde Hall's spies searched most of Sun Moon's territory, and Kong Deming sent his informants in every direction, yet they couldn't find the slightest trace of him.

Now Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen were both at a loss.

They had already painted the cake, and the child was waiting eagerly to become a disciple.

If they couldn't find the man, wouldn't their standing in their grand-disciple's eyes be shattered?

But if they couldn't find him, they couldn't find him.

For all their heaven-reaching methods, Long Xiaoyao remained completely out of reach, as though he had never existed.

Jing Hongchen gazed out the window at the heavy darkness of night, tasting helplessness for the first time-the dignified Duke Hongchen had actually been stumped by a missing person.

He cursed inwardly: That old fellow Long Xiaoyao, it's one thing for him to be a divine dragon whose head is seen but not its tail, but he just had to choose this moment to disappear.

If I'd known, the first place I should have searched was that barbecue restaurant.