Chapter 414: Princess Xu Jiujiu's Invitation
Just as Princess Xu Jiujiu was looking up at the Spirit Pagoda in front of her with complex emotions, a voice suddenly came from beside her.
"Princess Jiujiu, are you here to see the Pagoda Master?"
Princess Xu Jiujiu slightly turned her head, her gaze falling on the young man who had appeared beside her at some unknown time.
He looked to be in his early twenties, with a handsome appearance, crisp and well-defined facial features, and a pair of eyes as calm as a deep pool.
A head of pitch-black long hair was casually tied behind his head by a simple hair ribbon, and a few stray locks fell across his forehead, further accentuating the aloof and cold feeling of his face.
Only, his complexion had an unhealthy paleness, as if he had just recovered from a severe illness.
Princess Xu Jiujiu was certain she had never seen this face before, frowned slightly, and asked with a tone carrying just the right amount of vigilance and courtesy: "Who are you?"
The young man looked at her expressionless, his tone as bland as plain water: "Sun Moon Spirit Pagoda, Ji Juechen."
Ji Juechen was not a familiar name to Princess Xu Jiujiu, but if it were mentioned in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, quite a few people would have a deep impression of it.
He was an oddity in the academy. While almost all Students were buried in studying Spirit Tools, he chose only to cultivate his own sword Spirit, showing no interest in the precise structures and energy circuits of Spirit Tools.
What was even rarer was that his Innate Spirit Power was only level three, and almost everyone believed he would stop at a low-level Spirit Master for the rest of his life.
Yet, relying sheerly on his persistence in the Dao of the sword, he walked all the way to a Spirit Emperor. Having such cultivation at less than thirty years old was enough to be called a miracle.
After the Sun Moon Spirit Pagoda was built, Huo Yuhao personally found him and invited him to join the Spirit Pagoda.
At first, Ji Juechen did not agree. He had always been a loner and had no interest in so-called "joining an organization".
But after Huo Yuhao fought a match with him, Ji Juechen changed his mind because he lost completely convinced, and clearly realized that the Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda possessed something he needed to pursue.
Since he had joined the Spirit Pagoda, he regarded himself as a person within the pagoda, and naturally he had also learned about the relevant circumstances of Pagoda Master Huo Yuhao.
Among them, Star Luo Princess Xu Jiujiu, who played an important role in the construction process of the first Spirit Pagoda on the continent, was naturally unavoidable, so he recognized the other party almost at a glance.
Looking at Ji Juechen's calm face, Princess Xu Jiujiu said straightforwardly: "That's right, I'm here to find Huo Yuhao."
Ji Juechen nodded: "Please follow me."
With that, he turned, stepped forward, and walked toward the gates of the Spirit Pagoda.
Princess Xu Jiujiu paused slightly, then followed behind him, the two of them walking one after another into the lobby on the first floor of the Spirit Pagoda.
Sunlight filtered in from outside the door, spreading across the clean floor of the lobby.
Princess Xu Jiujiu's gaze swept around the surroundings, and a sense of familiarity inevitably arose in her heart.
The Sun Moon Spirit Pagoda and the Star Luo Empire's Spirit Pagoda were both built according to the same set of blueprints; whether it was the high ceiling of the lobby, the spacing of the pillars, or the location of the front desk and the details of the decoration, they were almost identical.
If not for the different scenery outside the window, she might even have had the illusion that she had returned to Star Luo.
Ji Juechen stopped at the front desk of the lobby, and Princess Xu Jiujiu saw him pick up a rectangular object from the countertop.
It was dark gray all over, about the size of an adult's palm, and a slender cable extended from the bottom, connecting to underneath the front desk.
Ji Juechen lifted it to his ear, and after a moment spoke: "Pagoda Master, Princess Jiujiu has arrived."
After pausing for a moment, he gave a brief response: "Mm, alright."
Then he put the rectangular object back onto the countertop, turned around, and said to Princess Xu Jiujiu: "Please come with me."
Princess Xu Jiujiu didn't follow immediately. Her gaze fell on the object that had just been returned to its original place, and she asked: "What was that just now?"
Ji Juechen glanced along her gaze, his tone still bland: "A communication soul tool."
The wireless communication soul tool of the Spirit Transmission Hall was still under testing, while the wired communication soul tool had already begun to be put into use.
Hearing this, Princess Xu Jiujiu's heart shook slightly.
She hadn't visited the Spirit Pagoda for several months, and she hadn't expected such changes to have occurred.
She followed behind Ji Juechen towards the elevator, her steps still steady, but her thoughts had already flown far away.
She realized the application prospects of this communication soul tool in the military at the very first moment; the speed of information transmission on the battlefield directly determined an army's reaction capability and tactical flexibility.
And this seemingly inconspicuous little object might completely change the way wars were fought in the near future.
At the top floor of the Sun Moon Spirit Pagoda, when Ji Juechen pushed open the door of the room.
After he stepped aside to make way, Princess Xu Jiujiu nodded slightly to him in greeting and stepped inside.
Ji Juechen did not follow in, but simply closed the door behind him, and his footsteps gradually faded away down the corridor.
Huo Yuhao, who had received the news long ago, had already stood up from the sofa, wearing his usual smile as he faced Princess Xu Jiujiu, his tone carrying a bit of familiar warmth: "Big Sister Jiujiu, long time no see."
When Princess Xu Jiujiu heard this form of address, a flash of extreme awkwardness flickered across the depths of her eyes.
However, that awkwardness was quickly covered by her composure, and she smiled and replied: "I've been busy preparing for the match recently, so it really has been a long time."
Huo Yuhao didn't expose anything, and simply naturally led Princess Xu Jiujiu to sit down by the sofa.
The subtle barriers and unspoken worries between the two of them were clear to each other, and they tacitly chose not to bring them up to the surface.
They first chatted idly for a few sentences, nothing more than polite conversation about the match situation and recent status, and the atmosphere didn't show any abnormality.
But Princess Xu Jiujiu was clearly not here solely to catch up. After a few polite words, she got straight to the point, and her tone became much more formal.
"Yuhao, you should understand the situation of the Holy Spirit Team, right?"
Huo Yuhao nodded, his expression normal: "The Holy Spirit Cult is an organization established by Evil Soul Masters, I do know a bit about that."
Princess Xu Jiujiu continued speaking, her speaking speed a bit faster than before, clearly having prepared in advance.
"The Sun Moon Empire cooperating with the Holy Spirit Cult is no different from conspiring with a tiger."
"Furthermore, Xu Tianran is a well-known hardliner of the Sun Moon Empire, and has always advocated for territorial expansion."
"Once he officially ascends to the throne, it is almost certain that he will wage war against the original Douluo Three Kingdoms."
Saying this, she paused, her gaze falling on Huo Yuhao's face as if waiting for his reaction.
Huo Yuhao looked at her calmly, without too many ripples in his tone: "What do you mean by telling me this, Princess Jiujiu?"
Princess Xu Jiujiu took a deep breath, as if pushing a decision that had been brewing for a long time from the bottom of her heart to her lips.
She straightened her body, looked seriously at Huo Yuhao, and said word by word: "The original Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek Academy have already agreed to join forces to assassinate Xu Tianran after the match ends."
"Now..."
She paused for a split second.
"I formally invite the Spirit Pagoda to join this operation."
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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.