Snow Empress, being highly intelligent, immediately understood the meaning behind Long Qiuer's words.
Combining this with the fact that the girl before her represented the auspicious beast of the Star-Dou Forest's destiny—and was thus intrinsically linked to the fate of the Douluo Continent—Snow Empress began to see the bigger picture.
For a powerful being who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years like her, knowledge of otherworldly realms was not entirely foreign.
"So you're saying... it's like Huo Yuhao's third Martial Soul, something from an otherworldly realm..."
Long Qiuer nodded silently. "But whether it is friend or foe is still uncertain. We should wait until we get back and discuss it with Huo Yuhao!"
Long Qiuer then took out the Golden Dragon Spear and drew a circle at the location of the footprint, leaving behind a trace of her own Soul Power. After ensuring there were no other issues, she and Snow Empress departed together.
She remembered that there were no matches for Huo Yuhao over the next few days. They could use this time to regroup with him and share their intelligence.
...
Space was suddenly torn open by a dark grey crack. A giant lizard crawled out from within, its compound eyes flashing with a sinister blue light.
"The Golden Dragon Spear!? Tang Wulin! How is that possible...!!"
A voice full of shock and confusion rang out from the giant lizard's mouth, but its jaws didn't move—it was as if someone was controlling it remotely.
"No, no... it's a woman, the aura is different. And the era is wrong! Tang Wulin shouldn't exist in this era! If I recall correctly, the one in this era should be called..."
"Right! It's Huo Yuhao!"
As a sovereign who once plotted against the Douluo Continent for six thousand years, though perhaps lacking the world-shaking wisdom of Buddha, this entity was intimately familiar with the continent's history. He was especially well-versed in the histories of Sea God Tang San and the Ice Spirit Douluo Huo Yuhao.
"If I remember correctly... Tang San's daughter should be in this era too. I recall her name is Tang Wutong, currently known as Wang Dong..."
A glimmer of cunning wisdom flashed in the lizard's eerie blue eyes. Combined with the intelligence gathered over the past few days, a plan had already formed in his mind.
"If I can't kill your son, killing your daughter is just as good! It looks like Tang Hao hasn't completely fused with the authority of the Plane Seed yet. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"No, wait, this requires long-term planning. Just as Tang Wulin carried Tang San's divine consciousness on him, Tang San is so devoted to his son, there's no reason he wouldn't have left a divine consciousness protection on his daughter."
"I'll test the waters first. Regardless, I must make that calculating bastard pay the price!"
In the Star Emperor Hotel, Wang Dong, who was about to lie down for a nap, involuntarily shivered. She uncontrollably pulled her quilt tighter around her.
Her woman's sixth sense told her that she seemed to be being watched by something.
...
Star Emperor Hotel, Huo Yuhao's room.
Rarely having no matches for a few days, Huo Yuhao stayed in his room, studying an antique gold coin he had picked up.
Looking at the color and texture, it seemed to be a product of the Spirit Hall era.
However, storage Soul Tools from the Spirit Hall era weren't as advanced as they are now. Back then, storage Soul Tools had very small capacities and were extremely expensive to manufacture, so only powerful Soul Masters or a few nobles could own them.
Specifically, a Soul Tool like this one, capable of storing living things, was even rarer. He estimated that the Starlight Auction House hadn't even recognized it; otherwise, it wouldn't have been sold for that price.
He just didn't know what was inside.
After fiddling with it for a while, he thought, "Let me think about how to open this kind of ancient Soul Tool... Soul Tools from ancient times weren't as sophisticated as modern ones, so the opening method should be quite simple..."
Buzz—!
A humming sound vibrated, startling Huo Yuhao. He quickly injected Soul Power, and the antique gold coin flashed with a golden light. A strange sight appeared: the patterns on the coin seemed to come alive, pulsing rhythmically.
"What's going on...?" He threw the gold coin toward the floor. Instantly, a beam of golden light shot out from the coin, and a bundle of something fell onto the ground.
The bag was quite eye-catching, woven from something resembling fine vines. It looked emerald green and was enveloped in a dense aura of life. Even Huo Yuhao, who possessed the Life Gold, was shocked by the intensity of this life aura, though he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
Could it be that the method ancient people researched for storing living things was simply using life energy to nourish them? That's a bit of a clumsy, simple method.
The mouth of the bag was tied shut with two straps hanging to the side. It looked bulging; there was definitely something inside, though he didn't know if it was alive.
But he figured it must be something extraordinary, otherwise, it wouldn't be worth being wrapped in such a valuable-looking bag.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward and pulled the bag open. His gaze instantly froze.
It was a brownish-yellow creature. Its entire body was curled up, and it didn't look very big. It had pale yellow fur that looked a bit sparse, making it look somewhat like a marmot.
It seemed to be an animal, or perhaps a Soul Beast? How many years had it been? How was this thing still in the bag?
He subconsciously reached out to touch it, then jumped back as if he'd received an electric shock.
"It's... it's alive..."
Even a storage Soul Tool capable of holding living things couldn't possibly store something for tens of thousands of years... Could it be some kind of Great Beast hatchling?
Huo Yuhao gathered his courage, stepped forward, and picked the creature up. He scanned it from top to bottom with his Spiritual Power. There were no Soul Power fluctuations in its body, which meant it wasn't a Soul Beast.
If it wasn't a Soul Beast, but a hatchling of some biological creature, yet it could survive in a storage Soul Tool for tens of thousands of years, it proved that this creature's life force was incredibly strong.
But for some reason, an inexplicable surge of anger welled up in Huo Yuhao's heart. It was as if he deeply loathed this little marmot.
It felt like... this anger came from his very bloodline.
What on earth is this thing? Why does it trigger such disgust in my bloodline?
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Ah, it's them."
His powerful perception allowed Huo Yuhao to immediately know who was at the door. He turned back to glance at his room; it was quite tidy, with no clothes or socks strewn about.
After opening the door, he invited the two beauties, Long Qiuer and Snow Empress, inside.
Although the Star Emperor Hotel did not host other guests during the competition period, this was the top floor and the "home turf" of Shrek, so naturally, no outsiders would gossip.
However, a pair of eyes was staring fixedly at the figure with golden long hair, the gaze filled with greed.
I can't be wrong. My perception can't be wrong! That is the Golden Dragon Bloodline!
Lan Xuanyu hadn't expected to find such an extra prize after returning to the team this time. Fortunately, he hadn't listened to that old man Mu En and stayed at Shrek Academy to recuperate; otherwise, he would have missed out on so many good things...
But who is she? How can she have the Golden Dragon Bloodline? I've never heard of anyone else on the Douluo Continent possessing the Golden Dragon Bloodline besides myself and Tang Wulin.
Speaking of which, I remember Auntie's Martial Soul is called the Radiant Dragon Butterfly, which is also a product of a trace of the Dragon God Bloodline. But where did Grandpa Tang San and Grandmother Xiao Wu get the Dragon God Bloodline from...
Lan Xuanyu still hadn't figured it out by the time the golden figure entered the room.