Huo Yuhao's Spirit Domain Realm mental force swept over unobtrusively. With just a brief, probing touch, he already had an idea.
This Dai Yuner's mental force was quite strong. Although it was far inferior to his, she was definitely an outstanding talent among her peers.
Moreover, the moment his mental force swept over her, he suddenly caught a very familiar mental fluctuation. That fluctuation resonated faintly and imperceptibly with his own mental force.
He was slightly startled, then immediately realized that her Spirit must be the same as his—could it actually be the Spirit Eyes?!
Before this, Huo Yuhao hadn't had many thoughts about the Star Luo Empire, but seeing a young girl with the same Spirit as his, a trace of surprise and strangeness couldn't help but arise in his heart.
He looked at her blue eyes, which bore a striking resemblance to his own, and asked calmly, "Does the Star Luo Empire also pay attention to the Federation's Young Genius List?"
Dai Yuner smiled and said, "Although the two continents are far apart, there is still an exchange of information."
Huo Yuhao didn't take her bait, but instead suddenly changed the subject: "You seem very interested in me, don't you? From the moment you walked over just now, your gaze has been locked onto me."
As soon as these words were spoken, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan, who were nearby, turned their heads in unison to look at Gu Yue, who was sitting next to Huo Yuhao.
Gu Yue's expression remained as usual, still that cold and indifferent look, so the three of them quietly withdrew their gazes.
But then, they saw a flash of surprise quickly flicker through Dai Yuner's azure blue eyes, and she was clearly stunned for a moment, as if she hadn't expected Huo Yuhao to say something so direct.
However, this loss of composure was only for a brief moment before she perfectly concealed it, putting on that bright smile again: "After all, your name and appearance are both quite special, so it should be normal for me to pay attention to you, shouldn't it?"
Who was Dai Yuner? She was the little princess of the Star Luo Imperial Family, the apple of the eye who had grown up being pampered by the Emperor and her several imperial brothers.
Being clever and mischievous, she naturally heard the special sentiment in Huo Yuhao's words, so she directly "snapped" back, neither too soft nor too hard.
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly, stopped beating around the bush, and asked directly, "So, you came to find me, what is it for?"
Dai Yuner snorted softly, put her hands behind her back, lifted her chin slightly, and regained that proud little princess look.
"Nothing much, just a little curious about you, so I came to take a look while I was passing by."
"Now that I've seen you, you're not all that impressive."
After saying this, she turned around decisively. Her golden hair traced a beautiful arc in the air, her skirt swayed, and she walked toward the Star Luo delegation without looking back.
However, after walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned her head slightly, and cast a sidelong glance at Huo Yuhao from over her shoulder with her azure blue eyes, saying, "By the way, when you reach the Star Luo Empire, someone will summon you."
Watching Dai Yuner's golden figure drift further and further away, Xie Xie finally let out a long sigh.
He nudged Huo Yuhao's arm with his elbow and whispered in a low voice, "Yuhao, I think she might have taken a fancy to you."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he shivered violently, feeling as if the surrounding temperature had suddenly plummeted by several degrees.
Xie Xie stiffly turned his neck to look, and met the cold gaze projected from Gu Yue's purple eyes.
He immediately sat up straight, put on an awkward but polite smile, waved his hands repeatedly, and changed his tune: "Ah! I'm kidding, I'm kidding, Gu Yue, don't take it seriously, I was just saying it casually."
Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City.
The open space to the east of the Imperial Palace had been a wasteland full of rubble and debris just a year ago, after the old royal mansion had been leveled.
Now, just a year later, a towering eight-story tower had risen from the ground.
This tower-shaped building was entirely of a cold and elegant silver-white color, refracting a soft and dazzling halo under the afternoon sun of Star Luo City.
The eaves at the edge of each floor curled slightly upwards, and the tower narrowed layer by layer from bottom to top.
Even an ordinary passerby who knew nothing about architecture would be awestruck by the aesthetic craftsmanship displayed by this high tower just by glancing at it from afar.
This was the first Spirit Pagoda on the continent, and also the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters that Huo Yuhao had built in this World Ten Thousand Years ago.
At this moment, on the fifth floor of the Spirit Pagoda, a group of a dozen or so people were slowly walking along the spacious and bright corridor.
Huo Yuhao only felt a blur before his eyes; the familiar sensation of weightlessness and spatial interweaving surged like a tide and then receded, and the scene before him had already undergone a earth-shattering change.
He was no longer on that ocean-going giant ship sailing on the vast sea Ten Thousand Years later, but had returned to Ten Thousand Years ago, back inside this newly completed Spirit Pagoda.
Huo Yuhao did not stop his feet and continued to walk forward with the group.
Gongyang Mo, who had been fully responsible for the construction project of the Spirit Pagoda, was now walking at the very front of the team, guiding everyone on a tour while introducing the layout and functional division of each floor of the Spirit Pagoda as if he were counting his own family treasures.
The group walked from the first floor all the way to the eighth floor, touring the entire Spirit Pagoda inside and out.
Finally, Huo Yuhao entered the office on the top floor that was exclusively his. Gongyang Mo followed closely behind, and the two sat down Face-to-Face in the sofa area by the window.
Huo Yuhao leaned back against the sofa and asked, "How is the preparation for the Spirit Pagoda's opening going?"
Gongyang Mo sat up straight and said, "The Star Luo Empire is cooperating fully. The invitations were all sent out half a month ago, and the tower will officially open in seven days."
After saying this, a trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes. He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up: "Pagoda Master, our Spirit Pagoda has just been established, and our Foundation is still shallow on the continent. Most of the various forces coming to attend the opening ceremony this time are only coming because of the Star Luo Imperial Family's Face. Do you think we should invite Pagoda Master Leng to come over?"
Gongyang Mo was clearly worried that the Star Luo Empire would steal the show; he wanted Leng Yaozhu to appear to showcase the strength of the Spirit Pagoda.
Huo Yuhao smiled upon hearing this: "Teacher won't be coming, but don't worry, I have already made arrangements."
Leng Yaozhu was Ten Thousand Years later; even if Huo Yuhao wanted her to appear, there was no way.
However, the arrangements he spoke of were not just perfunctory words to brush off Gongyang Mo.
Gongyang Mo now had an almost blind trust in Huo Yuhao. Hearing his determined tone, his hanging heart finally relaxed.
Afterward, Gongyang Mo did not stay long and left after saying a few words. The Spirit Pagoda was about to make its official debut on the continent, and he had many things to attend to recently.
After Gongyang Mo left, only Huo Yuhao was left in the office.
He slowly stood up from the sofa and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, taking in the view of Star Luo City.
Although this first Spirit Pagoda only had eight floors, it was far inferior to the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters that would be over a hundred stories high and pierce the clouds Ten Thousand Years later.
But the current Star Luo City did not have the rows of skyscrapers that Shrek City would have Ten Thousand Years later, so a height of eight stories was enough to take in a small half of Star Luo City.
A moment later, he withdrew his gaze, turned around, and walked to the empty area in the center of the office, raising his right hand to swipe cleanly in the Void Realm.
Wherever his fingertips passed, thin and mysterious silver light patterns appeared out of thin air, intertwining and combining on their own in mid-air as if they had life. In the blink of an eye, they outlined a complex and precise array on the ground.
The array radiated a soft silver-white light, emitting clear and stable spatial fluctuations.
A moment later, a thick cluster of gray mist suddenly emerged from the center of the array. The gray mist churned and surged, quickly condensing and shrinking, and soon transformed into a human figure—it was Yun Ming, who had now transformed into the body of a Lich.
The golden soul fire in Yun Ming's eyes flickered slightly. His gaze swept over Huo Yuhao, and he looked around at the furnishings and layout, instantly realizing that he was no longer in the Undead Plane.
His brows furrowed imperceptibly. This kid Huo Yuhao hadn't even given him a heads-up beforehand, just dragging him out of the Undead Plane without any warning.
He had long been prepared to spend the rest of his life in that gray and dead Undead Plane, and he did not want to appear before any former acquaintances in his current translucent Lich form.
But after all, Huo Yuhao was his savior, so even if he was a little unhappy, it was not appropriate to express it directly.
He did not speak, but silently released his own mental force, preparing to first figure out where he was.
An eight-story Spirit Pagoda; it should be a Branch Pagoda in some small city of the Federation. What was Huo Yuhao doing bringing him here?
However, as his mental force continued to extend outward, passing through the four walls of this office, over the layers of floors of the Spirit Pagoda, and over the streets and buildings of Star Luo City below...
He saw more and more scenes, clearer and clearer, until finally, he was completely stunned, and the two clusters of golden soul fire burning in his eye sockets seemed to stop flickering.
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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.