Xu Tianhao was naturally unaware of the meeting held in the Sea Gods Pavilion, nor did he have the time to concern himself with it.
Because there were still many things he had to do at the moment.
Having spent nearly two months playing around while accompanying the team, he had also gained an understanding of the current development of the three original Empires of the Douluo Continent.
Therefore, he needed to improve his own strength as quickly as possible and cultivate his own team.
He was clear about future developments; although the national strength of the Sun Moon Empire was very strong, it was still not enough.
After all, that certain "San" had no sense of martial ethics; things like having his father possess him or having the Sea God fight on his behalf could happen at any moment.
Although Xu Tianhao was not sure if he could defy the heavens in the future, he still had to try his best.
There was no need to worry about his eldest brother, Xu Tianran, who already had his own team; it was only a matter of time before he controlled the imperial court and the Sun Moon Empire.
Therefore, Xu Tianhao's focus remained on himself.
He was currently only level eighteen.
Xiao Hongchen beside him was level twenty-five, while Meng Hongchen and Xu Tianzhen were both only level twenty-three.
Even if he had many ideas, without sufficient strength, they would be very difficult to implement.
Therefore, improving his strength was the top priority at the moment.
Besides that, there was his team.
In addition to Xu Tianzhen and The Hongchen Siblings, Xu Tianhao had several other good candidates in mind.
Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan definitely needed to be firmly grasped in his hands; one was a "cheat" who started with level three innate spirit power but relied on sheer perseverance to eventually counter-attack and become a Titled Douluo.
The other had maxed-out talent for spirit tools and was a rare, all-around Soul Engineer.
Both of their talents were top-tier, and Xu Tianhao had no reason not to recruit them.
However, they were about the same age as his eldest brother, and while they could be recruited at this stage, they could not serve as team members for the next competition in five years.
As for those who could be team members, Xu Tianhao already had two candidates in mind.
They were Ghost Nana and Ye Guyi, respectively.
The talents of these two individuals had already been verified; both had the potential to become Titled Douluo in the future.
As long as Xu Tianhao could recruit them, the four-person team could be increased to six.
Moreover, these two were the same age as Xu Tianzhen and The Hongchen Siblings.
Ghost Nana had just started school not long ago, and Xu Tianhao had already obtained information about her.
Ye Guyi was only ten years old now and had not yet made a name for herself in the Ordinary Alliance, but with Xu Tianhao's status and position, finding someone was easy.
He had already thought of the reason: it was to find someone to purify his spirit devouring engraving knife.
Therefore, Xu Tianhao directly used his eldest brother Xu Tianran's connections to search for Spirit Masters with an Angel Martial Soul within the Sun Moon Empire.
Given how much Xu Tianran doted on Xu Tianhao, he naturally let him do whatever he wanted.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Because of Xu Tianhao's request, a total of four Spirit Masters with an Angel Martial Soul within the Sun Moon Empire were summoned to the imperial palace.
Two of them were "wild" Angel Martial Souls with average talent; they were in their thirties and only around level fifty.
The other two were the father-daughter pair, Ye Zhengchen and Ye Guyi.
Ye Guyi was now ten years old and level twenty-three, the same level as Xu Tianzhen and Meng Hongchen.
Ye Zhengchen's talent was not bad; at thirty-six years old and level seventy-five, he was still worth cultivating.
For Ye Zhengchen and his daughter, being able to serve the Sixth Prince and receive the protection of the imperial family was naturally the best outcome.
Therefore, the father and daughter did not hesitate and simply stayed in the imperial palace.
Ye Zhengchen was usually responsible for protecting the safety of Xu Tianhao and the others, effectively serving as the captain of the security detail.
Ye Guyi naturally joined the six-person team.
Nana had already joined the team half a month ago and was now also ten years old and level twenty-three.
Furthermore, Nana's parents were both still around and had not yet been controlled by any Evil Soul Master; she was like a blank slate that could be molded by Xu Tianhao.
With the six-person team assembled, Xu Tianhao naturally had to devote his energy to cultivation.
Before this, apart from Xu Tianhao, the improvement speed of the others could actually only be considered average.
Even with the lowest innate spirit power of level eight, and under the accumulation of top-tier resources and instruction from famous teachers, they only improved by three levels a year, which was certainly a bit low in this era.
However, this was understandable; after all, they were still just children, their mentalities were not mature, and it was difficult for them to truly devote themselves to cultivation.
In the Spirit Master's world, the best age for cultivation was between twelve and thirty.
Before the age of twelve, due to ignorance and the need to learn how to cultivate, as well as various matters concerning Spirit Masters, Spirit Beasts, and other aspects of the Spirit Master's world, their cultivation progress would be more or less affected.
After the age of thirty, the cultivation speed of most Spirit Masters would decline, with the degree of decline varying only due to talent.
Now that the six-person team was established, everyone had grown quite a bit over these few years, and as they devoted themselves to cultivation in the future, their improvement speed would certainly continue to increase.
In the original work, The Hongchen Siblings were existences who broke through to the fifth ring at fifteen years old; from this, one could see how powerful their talent was.
At the same period, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and others were only at level forty-two or forty-three.
A gap of more than ten levels of spirit power could not be achieved just by taking medicine; otherwise, such medicine would be revered as a supreme treasure.
...
In the Haoyu Palace, The Hongchen Siblings and Xu Tianzhen were taking Nana and Ye Guyi to familiarize themselves with the environment.
Xu Tianhao called Ye Zhengchen aside alone: "Uncle Ye, can your ability purify the curse on the spirit devouring engraving knife?"
When he recruited the father and daughter, Xu Tianhao had handed the spirit devouring engraving knife to Ye Zhengchen.
He did indeed want Ye Guyi, but he had not forgotten to resolve the curse on the spirit devouring engraving knife.
Ye Zhengchen bowed first: "Your Highness, just call me Zhengchen; I cannot bear the title of Your Highness."
Xu Tianhao waved his hand: "You call me Your Highness; that is a title given by our ancestors. I call you Uncle; that is our private relationship."
Xu Tianhao naturally would not mistreat those around him. By using an intimate form of address, he could gain a talent who would serve him wholeheartedly; why wouldn't he do it?
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhengchen was incomparably moved and nodded heavily: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."
Xu Tianhao smiled: "We are all our own people; there is no need to be so formal. Let's talk about the main matter."
Only then did Ye Zhengchen nod and say solemnly: "Your Highness, the curse on this spirit devouring engraving knife is indeed very special. Although my ability can purify it, it will take at least half a year to completely remove it."
Upon hearing this answer, Xu Tianhao did not feel that there was anything wrong with it.
After all, Ye Zhengchen was only a Seventh Ring Soul Sage, not a Child of Light like Electrolux.
For Xu Tianhao, as long as the spirit devouring engraving knife could be purified, that was enough; this was one of the foundations for his future seizure of the Grilled Fish's cheat.
With a little more temptation, the probability of seizing the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm and Electrolux would be higher.
As for Huo Yuhao, he could not grasp such a great opportunity; it was better to let Xu Tianhao bear this suffering.
As for the Grilled Fish, he can go stay wherever it is cool.
Xu Tianhao smiled: "As long as it's useful, then I will have to trouble you, Uncle Ye."
Ye Zhengchen said solemnly: "It is my honor to serve Your Highness."