"So fast?"
From the moment Huo Yuhao informed Fan Yu about the Death God Messenger until now, less than a full day had passed. Even a Titled Douluo shouldn't have arrived this quickly.
Seeing this, Fan Yu led the two a little further away. "Before, your strength wasn't sufficient, so there were some things I didn't tell you. The academy has long been aware of the situation with evil soul masters on the Sun Moon Empire's side."
"However, the Sun Moon Empire is different from the three great empires of the original Douluo Continent, and its relationship with our academy isn't good. Therefore, lower-level students are never sent here."
"In fact, over the past two years, the academy's teachers have dealt with quite a few evil soul master strongholds. We just never expected their people to appear in the Sun Moon Empire's capital, Mingdu."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao's expression didn't improve much. "Teacher, which teacher from the academy has entered Mingdu?"
"I'm not too sure about that either. I haven't met the person yet." Fan Yu shook his head.
Huo Yuhao and He Caitou exchanged a glance. "Teacher, can you contact the academy right now? The evil soul masters in Mingdu are probably stronger than we imagined. Just now, Senior Brother and I encountered three Titled Douluo."
"All evil soul masters?" Fan Yu's expression changed drastically. "And you—how did you manage to escape?"
"They didn't discover us." Huo Yuhao shook his head. "As for whether they are definitely evil soul masters, we can't be certain. We can only have the academy's teachers come here first to investigate."
"Alright, I'll notify the academy as soon as possible." Fan Yu nodded solemnly. "You two don't need to concern yourselves with this matter anymore. Return to the dormitory for now."
Huo Yuhao looked at Fan Yu's grave expression and didn't move to leave. "Teacher, is there some difficulty?"
"This…" Fan Yu hesitated.
If the evil soul master side truly had several Titled Douluo-level experts, even if the academy sent Titled Douluo as well, it would be impossible to investigate the Death God Messenger's affairs without anyone noticing.
After all, a battle between a Titled Douluo would create shockwaves alone that could attract a lot of attention. And this was the Sun Moon Empire's capital—any slight carelessness could easily cause misunderstandings.
As if guessing Fan Yu's concerns, Huo Yuhao stepped forward slightly. "Teacher, once the academy's teachers arrive, I can help investigate the Death God Messenger together."
"No!" The moment Huo Yuhao started speaking, Fan Yu immediately rejected the idea.
"You should know how dangerous evil soul masters are. And if there really are evil soul masters who have reached the Titled Douluo level, with your current cultivation, investigating would be no different from throwing your life away!"
"Teacher." Huo Yuhao persisted nonetheless. "I have the ability to protect myself. Just now, we weren't discovered, and when the time comes, with other teachers protecting us, we won't encounter any danger."
Hearing this, Fan Yu seemed to recall what Huo Yuhao had just said about the three Titled Douluo. He paced a couple of steps in place before finally showing some hesitation.
"Let's not rush. We'll discuss the details once the academy's people arrive. First, tell me exactly what you encountered just now."
"Yes, Teacher." Huo Yuhao nodded and explained everything he and He Caitou had experienced, along with some of their speculations.
Meanwhile, inside the Holy Spirit Cult's stronghold, Nangong Wan also wore a frown, no longer in the mood to watch the competition.
"No trace at all?" Nangong Wan looked at Lin Xiao and confirmed once more.
"Mm." Lin Xiao nodded. Even something that neither Nangong Wan nor the Third Elder, both Titled Douluo, could detect had nothing to do with him.
"Second Brother, could there have been a problem with the soul tools? When I went to the warehouse just now, I didn't find anything missing either."
"Impossible." Hearing the Third Elder's words didn't improve Nangong Wan's expression. "There were no signs of tampering in my room either…"
"It seems the intruder opened the door and slipped away again immediately, probably discovered the soul tools I had set up here."
Names of people he had clashed with over the years rose in Nangong Wan's mind. Because of the underground market in Mingdu, he had offended quite a few people. For a moment, he really couldn't figure out who had set their sights on this place again.
Nangong Wan waved his hand. "Forget it. Don't make a fuss about tonight's incident for now. Although we don't know what the intruder came for, since they came once, they will definitely come a second time."
"For this period, I will strengthen the defenses here. If there's a next time, I will definitely make sure to leave that person behind."
"You may go back first. Oh, right, Old Eighth, don't forget about the soul mentor tournament. Although it's not good for you to appear too early, if you're interested in the competition, I can notify you when the time comes to act as a judge."
"Alright."
Lin Xiao nodded, then left together with the Third Elder, leaving Nangong Wan alone in the room, busy with who-knows-what.
"Sigh, the Common Alliance, the Alto Chamber of Commerce, and all sorts of other large and small powers… There are truly many factions in Mingdu eyeing Second Brother's place."
The Third Elder closed the door and let out a long breath.
"It's been hard on Second Brother and Third Brother." Lin Xiao smoothly offered a compliment.
"Hey, don't say that. This place will soon become something for the three of us, so you'll have to put in some effort too when the time comes."
"Naturally." Lin Xiao smiled and nodded.
"Mm. Now that you've become an Elder of the Holy Church, no matter what happened before, it's best to let the past stay in the past." The Third Elder leaned in a little closer, lowered his voice, and spoke with hidden meaning.
"In the Holy Church, everything can be false; only the benefits held in your own hands are real."
"Third Brother is right."
"Hahaha, alright. We've already wasted a lot of time tonight, and it's getting late. You still need to return to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, so I won't keep you."
Seeing that the Third Elder had said this much, Lin Xiao didn't linger any longer. After bidding farewell, he left the Holy Spirit Cult's stronghold.
It was indeed late outside. There weren't many people around; only the occasional drunkard staggered along the street, shouting something incomprehensible, their lonely shadows stretched long beneath the illumination soul tools.
Lin Xiao pulled his cloak tighter, confirmed that no one was paying attention to him, and walked quickly toward the direction of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
However, he hadn't gone far when he suddenly stopped.
He raised his head slightly to glance at the night sky, then lightly tapped the ground with his foot. His cloak fluttered as his figure shot toward the outskirts of Mingdu.
With his current cultivation, even moving at full speed wouldn't attract the notice of ordinary people. Very soon, he appeared outside the city.
The glow of illumination soul tools could no longer be seen. Only two bright moons shone upon him from front and back, casting two faint, overlapping shadows on the open wilderness ahead and behind him.
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