Across from the plaza in front of the Shrek City Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, a new cold drink shop named "Tomorrow" had opened.
The shop wasn't large, with simple and bright decor dominated by blue and white tones. The glass display window was wiped spotlessly clean, shimmering softly under the afternoon sun.
The shop mostly sold flavors that young people liked—milkshakes, smoothies, and fruit juices. The names were fancy, and the prices were reasonable, so business had been good since it opened, and most of the customers were youthful faces.
However, for the past few days, two burly middle-aged men had been sitting at the table by the window.
Both men were over two meters tall, with broad shoulders and thick backs. Even though they wore ordinary dark casual clothes, the fabric was stretched tight, looking as if it might rip at any moment.
They sat there with only two cups of the cheapest lemonade on the table in front of them, yet they would sit for half the day.
When the staff came to clear away the empty cups, they couldn't help but take a few extra glances, but they didn't dare to ask anything.
The two people appearing here were naturally none other than Xiong Jun and Er Ming.
Na'er's plan had indeed worked. Originally, Da Ming and Er Ming had no intention of interfering in matters outside the Myriad Beast Platform; their cooperation with the Silver Dragon King was limited to the survival of the Soul Beast Clan, and they had no desire to get involved in other things.
But when they learned that the target this time was very likely a descendant of Spirit Ice's Bloodline, both men changed their minds simultaneously and became instantly interested.
Others might not know, but Da Ming and Er Ming knew very clearly.
Back then, Spirit Ice Douluo had indeed left behind a Bloodline on Douluo Continent, and that Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire, Xu Yunhan, was one.
The characters "Yunhan" and "Yuhao" corresponded to each other; anyone with a discerning eye could see that the two must be connected.
Later, the Sun Moon Empire unified the continent and became a federation, but the former Sun Moon royal family still maintained a certain amount of power in the shadows, and their Bloodline Legacy was extremely strict, so it shouldn't have leaked out.
Therefore, this Huo Yuhao did not seem to be a descendant of Xu Yunhan's lineage, which meant that besides that War God Empress, Ju Zi, Spirit Ice had other women.
The two of them had always regarded Tang Wutong as their own daughter. Now that they learned Spirit Ice had committed an act of betrayal, how could they not be furious?
Thus, Er Ming came personally.
He sat by the window of the cold drink shop. The cup of lemonade in front of him had been refilled three times, yet he hadn't taken a single sip. He just sat with a gloomy face, his gaze passing through the plaza and landing on that towering Spirit Pagoda opposite, wondering what he was thinking.
Xiong Jun, sitting opposite Er Ming, frowned deeply, his rugged face full of impatience.
He held that cup of lemonade, tapped his fingertips lightly on the rim of the cup, and finally couldn't help but transmit his voice: "It's already been three days. How long do we have to wait here?"
Er Ming withdrew his gaze from outside the window, glanced at him, and said with a calm expression: "What's the rush? To do big things, one must have patience."
Seeing Er Ming's unhurried appearance, Xiong Jun couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.
This Titan Giant Ape was merely a gatekeeper on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest back in the day; he could have slapped him away with one palm.
Yet now, this former junior dared to speak to him in such a tone.
But Xiong Jun had to suppress the anger in his heart. Di Tian and the Lord had both instructed that this operation would be led by Er Ming, so he could only follow the arrangements.
Who told him to have such good luck? He sacrificed himself to a god-ascender, not only gaining eternal life but also a great increase in strength.
Xiong Jun held it in for a long while, but in the end, he couldn't help but transmit his voice again: "So we're just going to wait here?"
Er Ming tilted his head slightly: "Of course not. Haven't you noticed the content of the conversations among those people in the Spirit Pagoda these past few days?"
In his heart, he truly looked down on Xiong Jun, feeling that apart from strength, the other party was almost useless and lacked any wisdom.
A Vicious Beast like this was just thug material; wanting to challenge Di Tian was simply a pipe dream.
Facing Xiong Jun's still-confused look, Er Ming slowly said: "If nothing goes wrong, that Huo Yuhao should come out today."
His mental force was sufficient to cover the entire Spirit Pagoda, but there were many experts inside, so he didn't dare to probe too deeply or recklessly. He just scanned the lobby on the first floor a few times every day, paying attention to the conversations and exchanges between the staff members.
After three days, he had already analyzed a conclusion from those scattered pieces of information: Huo Yuhao would very likely go out today.
...
After fusing with the Phantom Heart Demon Spider Spirit Soul, Huo Yuhao had successfully broken through to become a Spirit Douluo, and his Spirit Power had climbed directly to level eighty-three.
Now, after another month of cultivating to stabilize his cultivation, his Spirit Power was already faintly approaching the threshold of level eighty-four.
Having cultivated for these years, he certainly understood the principle of balancing work and rest. Now that his cultivation had temporarily come to a pause, he thought he would take advantage of the nice weather today to ask Gu Yue to go out for a walk and get some fresh air.
Unexpectedly, Gu Yue was buried in the laboratory and did not accept his invitation.
Recently, the lights in Gu Yue's laboratory had often been on until late at night. Once she got busy, she would disappear for days on end.
In fact, this was also the pressure given by Di Tian. If she couldn't advance the Ten Thousand Years grand plan, she would have no sufficient reason to continue keeping Huo Yuhao by her side.
Huo Yuhao knew nothing about this. He walked out of the main entrance of the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters alone and stood on the steps, squinting slightly against the afternoon sun.
By the window of the cold drink shop opposite, Xiong Jun's gaze swept over the entrance of the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, and then he froze slightly. He actually really saw Huo Yuhao walking out.
He hadn't expected Er Ming's judgment to be so accurate, so he turned his head slightly and glanced at him.
As for Er Ming, he was completely stunned at this moment. He sat by the window, his hands resting on the table, his gaze locked tightly on the figure walking down the steps, motionless.
It was too similar; he was simply carved from the same mold as that Spirit Ice Douluo from Ten Thousand Years ago.
After seeing it with his own eyes, the judgment that still held a few doubts in his heart finally landed completely.
Spirit Ice really cheated!
Er Ming's gaze sank. His thick palms clenched slowly under the table, his knuckles making a faint sound.
A suppressed anger was silently accumulating deep in his chest.
Watching Huo Yuhao turn around the plaza, his figure about to disappear at the end of their line of sight, Er Ming stood up immediately.
Xiong Jun also hurriedly stood up, reminding him: "Pull back your aura. Huo Yuhao is a Mental-type Spirit Master with very keen perception. Don't let him notice in advance."
Er Ming did not reply, but the burst of aura he had just involuntarily released was already quickly retracted.
Huo Yuhao did not walk very far. He walked along the street for ten minutes, turned two street corners, and finally stopped in front of a shop with a sign that read "yuhao grilled fish," from which wafted waves of heat mixed with chili and spices.
He hadn't eaten lunch yet today, so he might as well grab a meal here.
To be honest, he felt that although branches of yuhao grilled fish were now spread all over the continent, the taste really didn't live up to the rumors compared to the legendary one.
However, it was better than nothing, and besides the grilled fish, the other dishes in the shop were not bad, so Huo Yuhao would occasionally patronize it.
The meal took nearly an hour. Huo Yuhao ate the last few bites of his food in a leisurely manner, wiped his hands, got up to pay the bill, and pushed open the door to leave.
The afternoon sun had already tilted a little to the west, and there were still quite a few people on the street.
However, just as he had passed a hutong entrance, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
He then spoke: "The two of you, come out?"
The presence of the two people behind him was hidden extremely well; it would be impossible for an ordinary Spirit Master to detect anything unusual.
But Huo Yuhao had long since formed a habit; he kept Mental Detection Sharing active most of the time.
The two had followed him all the way, controlling their distance perfectly, but they naturally couldn't escape his perception.
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.