Bonus Chapter. Enjoy!
============================
The next morning, Leng Yaozhu woke up and ate on time as usual. Afterward, she sat behind her desk at the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters and began processing the official business that had accumulated overnight.
Her expression was normal and her posture composed, no different from any other day.
Aside from Huo Yuhao and herself, no third person knew that just last night, this Heavenly Phoenix Douluo had experienced a marvelous journey spanning Ten Thousand Years of time.
Huo Yuhao rarely didn't cultivate today; he had just completed another Breakthrough, and the Spirit Power within his body had stabilized. He wouldn't need to enter seclusion to strike at a Bottleneck for a short while.
In this rare moment of leisure, he sat alone at the desk in his room. A blank sheet of paper was spread before him and he held a pen in his hand, yet he was in no rush to write. Instead, he fell into deep thought for a long time.
In this World Ten Thousand Years later, every step he took had no existing reference. The future direction was like a thick fog; he and Leng Yaozhu could only grope forward one step at a time according to their pre-arranged plan.
In contrast, although the World Ten Thousand Years ago was also full of variables, at least the general direction was clear.
Now that he had officially left Shrek Academy, there was only one most pressing matter at hand: the establishment of the Spirit Pagoda.
Everything had just begun, and there were a thousand things to attend to.
And the nearly seventy Soul Engineers he had recruited weren't just for batch-producing Spirit Tools.
He had already planned it out in his heart; during this period, he would carefully observe everyone's talent and Heart-Nature to pick out those truly worth nurturing and absorb them into the core of the Spirit Pagoda.
He possessed technology and knowledge Ten Thousand Years ahead of his time. As long as these Soul Engineers spent enough time with him, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they would revere him like a god. Thus, the loyalty of these Soul Engineers would not be difficult to obtain.
Besides the preparation for the Spirit Pagoda, there was another matter he had heavily circled on the paper—the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
That legendary treasure land of Immortal Herbs was a vital link in his layout Ten Thousand Years ago.
He didn't know the exact location of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but the Qiluo Tulip was now his Spirit Soul. This former King of Immortal Herbs, who had been rooted in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for Ten Thousand Years, knew that land like the back of his hand. With this "guide" present, finding the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well would not be difficult.
According to the Qiluo Tulip, a large number of plant-type spirit beasts gathered in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, including no small number of hundred-thousand-year level existences.
But those Immortal Herbs were, after all, of the flora category and were naturally not good at fighting. Furthermore, their cultivation had been forcibly boosted by the treasure land, so with Huo Yuhao's current strength, a trip there wouldn't be dangerous.
However, everything has its priorities. The Immortal Herbs were right there and wouldn't run away; it didn't matter if they waited for him a bit longer.
The most urgent thing right now was to first expand the framework of the Spirit Pagoda.
...
In the blink of an eye, half of the vacation had passed.
Although Huo Yuhao didn't participate in the final examinations, the relevant news still reached his ears.
The final examination format for the first year of Shrek Academy was changed under Shen Yi's insistence, which caused quite a stir in the academy.
However, none of this had anything to do with Huo Yuhao anymore. He had already visited the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well; he only needed to make one more trip to Devil Island before he could leave Shrek Academy.
Lately, besides handling the daily affairs of the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, Leng Yaozhu had also been communicating with the higher-ups of Shrek Academy, wanting to push forward the itinerary for Huo Yuhao and the others to go to Devil Island as soon as possible.
On this day, Huo Yuhao had just come out from his teacher Han Tianyi's place and was walking along the long corridor of the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters toward his room.
The Spirit Tools lamps on both sides of the corridor emitted a soft white light, and the carpet beneath his feet muffled his footsteps. The entire corridor was so quiet that only his own breathing could be heard.
However, as he turned a corner, he suddenly saw a familiar figure.
It was Gu Yue.
Huo Yuhao subconsciously wanted to step forward and say hello, but just as he lifted his foot, he saw another figure flash out from a junction in the corridor, following behind Gu Yue.
It was a tall young man, dressed in expensive clothes with a face that could be considered handsome, though his brow carried an undisguised air of fawning.
Huo Yuhao recognized him at a glance: it was Qiangu Zhangting, the direct grandson of the Spirit Pagoda Tower Master, Qiangu Dongfeng.
"Gu Yue, a new restaurant just opened in Shrek City. The taste is quite good and the environment is nice. Do you want to go try it?"
Qiangu Zhangting followed closely behind Gu Yue, his face piled with what he thought was a sincere smile. His tone was warm and light, as if the two of them were very well-acquainted.
Gu Yue's pace did not slow down; instead, it quickened by a few points. Her brow was tightly furrowed, and her exquisite profile was filled with undisguised annoyance as she coldly spat out three words: "Not interested."
Qiangu Zhangting didn't seem discouraged in the slightest. He wasn't upset at being rejected; instead, he chased forward another step and changed the subject, continuing, "The Spirit Pagoda recently acquired a Vicious Beast Spirit Soul. Its quality is extremely high and it's very rare. Do you want to go take a look?"
"With your talent, perhaps your compatibility with it will be very high."
Hearing this, Gu Yue's footsteps paused slightly.
Qiangu Zhangting thought there was a chance, and the smile on his face widened a bit more.
But he didn't see the flash of cold light in the depths of Gu Yue's eyes. He only heard her voice, which was three times colder than before: "No time."
Listening to Gu Yue's blunt answer, the smile on Qiangu Zhangting's face froze for a moment, and a flash of embarrassment quickly crossed his eyes.
However, in just the blink of an eye, he returned to normal, as if the person who had just been slapped in the face with cold words wasn't himself.
He recalled the words his grandfather had taught him more than once: chasing a girl required being bold, careful, and thick-skinned.
Retreating after being rejected would lead to no great achievements; Qiangu Zhangting deeply agreed with this.
In all fairness, Qiangu Zhangting's talent was truly not bad. His Spirit inherited the Qiangu Clan's Coiling Dragon Rod, and his Spirit Power cultivation was among the best of his peers.
Qiangu Dongfeng had always been quite satisfied with this grandson's performance and had always nurtured him as the future successor of the Spirit Pagoda, hoping he could naturally take over the authority in his hands and allow the Qiangu Clan to continue firmly controlling this behemoth of a Spirit Pagoda.
But Qiangu Dongfeng never expected that Leng Yaozhu would quietly take on two Disciples, and each was more of a Prodigy than the last.
Huo Yuhao was one thing, as Qiangu Dongfeng had known of his talent for a long time. But that girl named Gu Yue had initially kept a low profile, only to gradually reveal frightening talent and potential later on.
Even if these two hadn't fully grown yet, in terms of talent alone, either one could leave his grandson several streets behind. In time, there was almost no doubt that their cultivation would exceed Qiangu Zhangting's.
Although Leng Yaozhu was only the Vice Tower Master, she held real power. Now that she had two more Prodigy Disciples, the Qiangu Clan's say in the Spirit Pagoda might be eroded step by step in the future.
Therefore, in Qiangu Dongfeng's eyes, this was a huge threat capable of toppling the Foundation of the Qian Gu Family, and he had to react.
But currently, Leng Yaozhu's power was not small, and Huo Yuhao and Gu Yue were highly regarded by many high-level officials within the Pagoda. Qiangu Dongfeng did not yet have the courage and determination to destroy them physically.
So, the next best option was a marriage alliance. As long as his grandson could win over Gu Yue, it would not only break the "alliance" between Huo Yuhao and Gu Yue in one stroke but also add a talented Prodigy assistant to the Qiangu Clan.
Two birds with one stone, why not?
To be honest, when this plan was first proposed, Qiangu Zhangting was a hundred times unwilling. He had seen Gu Yue at the time; her appearance was average and her temperament was cold. No matter how he looked at it, she didn't meet his standard of a "beauty."
But later, for some reason, Gu Yue suddenly became beautiful, as if her entire person had been transformed.
Qiangu Zhangting's attitude immediately did a 180-degree turn, changing from avoiding her to being extremely attentive.
It was just that previously Gu Yue was either far away at East Sea Academy or staying at Shrek Academy, so even if Qiangu Zhangting was interested, he didn't have many opportunities for contact.
Now that he finally waited for Gu Yue to return to the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, he naturally used all sorts of excuses to lean in, running to Gu Yue every few days.
At this moment, having been heartlessly rejected by Gu Yue again, Qiangu Zhangting opened his mouth, wanting to say more.
But before he could speak, Gu Yue's gaze suddenly bypassed him and landed on a certain direction in the distance of the corridor.
In that instant, Qiangu Zhangting clearly saw that Gu Yue's eyes, which were as cold as ice just a moment ago, suddenly lit up.
With a hint of surprise in her tone, she called out toward that direction: "Yuhao!"
-------------------------------------------------
A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
2 Reviews = 1 Extra Chapter
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.