...
Seven days passed quietly amidst the intense yet fulfilling training and instruction.
During these seven days, Bibi Dong unreservedly guided Xuan Hao and Hu Liena in their cultivation, helping them adapt to the energy cycle of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
After Yue Guan and Gui Mei returned from Wuhun City, covered in dust and carrying large and small bags of rare flower and grass seeds, Bibi Dong did not linger any longer.
As the Pope, her long absence could easily arouse suspicion from the old men in the Elders' Hall.
Thus, escorted by Yue Guan and Gui Mei, Bibi Dong bid farewell to Xuan Hao and the other two, and embarked on her journey back to Wuhun City.
Soon, only Xuan Hao, Hu Liena, and Na'er remained in the valley.
"Junior brother..."
Watching Bibi Dong's departing figure disappear into the mist, Hu Liena withdrew her gaze, but her brows furrowed slightly, her face filled with worry.
"Are we going back to Tiandou City next?"
"certainly."
Xuan Hao stretched and said, "I still have a lot of business to discuss and a lot of friends to meet over there.
I can't just stay here in this deep mountain forest like a wild man, can I?"
"But..."
Hu Liena looked at him, hesitated, and finally voiced her concerns:
"Is it really appropriate for me to go with you?"
"I've heard from my teacher and Elder Ju about your situation in Tiandou City these past few days.
Your current persona is that of a young master from a mysterious, reclusive family, someone that various forces are vying to win over."
"To put it bluntly, you're just taking advantage of information asymmetry to cheat and swindle people."
Hu Liena sighed and analyzed the situation rationally:
"But my identity is too sensitive.
I am the Spirit Hall's publicly acknowledged Golden Generation, and a personal disciple of the Pope.
If I were to walk openly with you, what would people think?"
"They will definitely think that you have a close relationship with the Spirit Hall, or even that you are a spy sent by the Spirit Hall."
"Once your neutrality and mysterious persona collapse, the advantages you previously established with the Heaven Dou Royal Family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School will likely turn into a deadly trap against you in an instant."
Although Hu Liena is prone to impulsiveness in matters of the heart, she has indeed received careful instruction from Bibi Dong in terms of overall perspective and political acumen, and she saw the crux of the problem at a glance.
However.
After hearing these words, Xuan Hao was not worried at all; instead, he burst out laughing.
He walked up to Hu Liena, reached out his hand, and gently flicked her smooth forehead, just like he had when they were children:
"Senior sister, you're usually so quick-witted, why are you getting so stubborn at a time like this?"
"That's normal thinking. If you want to survive in Tiandou City, which is full of cunning old foxes, you need to learn to think in reverse!"
"What do you mean?"
Hu Liena covered her forehead and glared at him irritably.
"Think about it."
Xuan Hao, with his hands behind his back, paced across the grass like a little adult.
"What is my status in Tiandou City now?"
"I am a guest of honor of Ning Fengzhi, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
I caused trouble everywhere with that little devil Ning Rongrong.
I seized the Heaven Dou Royal Family, and Emperor Xue Ye not only did not blame me, but also favored me.
Crown Prince Xue Qinghe and I hit it off immediately and wished we could become sworn brothers."
"I even have an ambiguous working relationship with Liu Erlong from Blue Tyrant Academy, who is the illegitimate daughter of the second-in-command of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
Xuan Hao shrugged. "To put it bluntly, I've been mingling with these local bullies in Tiandou City for a long time.
The waters are very murky, and nobody knows my true background."
"Under these circumstances, if I deliberately avoid the Spirit Hall, deliberately keep my distance from you, or even pretend I don't know you..."
Xuan Hao suddenly stopped and stared into Hu Liena's eyes:
"What does this mean for a cunning old fox like Ning Fengzhi, who is almost demonic in his wisdom?"
Hu Liena paused for a moment, then subconsciously replied, "Representative... are you avoiding suspicion?"
"Yes! It's to avoid suspicion!"
Xuan Hao snapped his fingers. "Only those with a guilty conscience would deliberately avoid suspicion!
Only those who truly have a secret with the Spirit Hall would dare not contact anyone from the Spirit Hall!"
"If I really avoid you, they will think I have a guilty conscience, and that I am trying to hide something."
"on the contrary--"
"If I walk with you openly and honestly, even taking you to the best restaurants in Tiandou City for dinner, and taking you to auctions to splurge..."
"In their eyes, the signal completely changes."
"This means that even the proud Spirit Hall has finally lost its patience and sent the Pope's personal disciple, the core of the Golden Generation, to personally win over this peerless genius!"
"This will not only not expose my identity, but will actually further increase my value!"
"What do you call this?
This is called a rare commodity that's highly sought after!"
"Not only that, I also want the Martial Soul Temple in Tiandou City to cooperate and spread the news that you are the Pope's personal disciple and that you came to recruit Xuan Hao!"
"I want everyone in the entire Heaven Dou City to know that the Spirit Hall has its eye on me!
The Spirit Hall wants a piece of the pie too!"
"In that case..."
Xuan Hao looked at Hu Liena, who was completely dumbfounded, and said, "Even if I get closer to the Spirit Hall in the future, everyone will only think that it's because the Spirit Hall has spent enough money, and that it's the result of me, Xuan Hao, waiting for the right price to go."
"Who would doubt that I'm one of the Spirit Hall's own people?"
"After all, for those self-righteous smart people..."
Xuan Hao pointed to his head:
"The more something is out in the open, the less they believe it; the more something is concealed, the more they believe it to be true."
"This is the ultimate level of 'the darkest place is under the lamp'!"
After listening to Xuan Hao's long speech, Hu Liena opened her mouth but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
Although I still felt something was off, there was a sense of absurdity, like "This is actually possible?"
But upon closer examination...
It seems... that's actually true?!
Xuan Hao is currently a highly sought-after prize, coveted by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the royal family.
It would be strange if the Spirit Hall didn't react at all.
It is perfectly reasonable and logical for the Spirit Hall to send people to make contact and win them over!
"Your brain..."
Looking at her cunning junior brother, Hu Liena couldn't help but shake her head, sighing with a complex tone:
"It looks so good, but when you cut it open, it's all black inside."
"Those old foxes are incredibly unlucky to have met you."
"Thank you for the compliment, Senior Sister!"
Xuan Hao smiled. "Shall we set off now?"
"If we rush back to Tiandou City now, we can still make it to lunchtime.
We can also invite Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling to join us for a get-together; it's more fun with more people."
"..." Upon hearing this, Hu Liena's expression immediately became somewhat strange.
She looked Xuan Hao up and down, her eyes carrying a somewhat enigmatic meaning:
"Junior brother, tell me the truth."
"You've been out there for so long, all your friends... are they all pretty girls?"
First there was that "adopted sister" named Na'er, and now Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling have appeared, plus that so-called "instant friend" Liu Erlong...
So this kid doesn't have a single male around him?
"Look at what you're saying, Senior Sister."
Xuan Hao rolled his eyes and retorted confidently:
"Am I supposed to deliberately go out on the street to meet a few grown men, and then hold hands with them to go out to eat?"
"I don't have any strange hobbies.
Why would I go looking for men instead of beautiful, attractive women?"
"..." Hu Liena was speechless.
That makes so much sense; she couldn't refute it.
"Alright, enough talk, get in the car! Take off!"
Xuan Hao didn't hesitate.
A burst of brilliant golden light erupted from his back, and his pair of broad dragon wings suddenly unfurled, bringing with them a strong gust of wind.
Hu Liena didn't hesitate and skillfully climbed onto Xuan Hao's broad back, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing her legs around his waist.
Na'er nestled obediently in Xuan Hao's arms, her two little hands gripping his clothes, hanging there steadily like a pendant.
"take off--!!"
Boom!!
With a deep sonic boom, Xuan Hao flapped his wings and, like a golden cruise missile, instantly soared into the sky!
The wind howled in my ears, and the scenery below shrank rapidly.
100 meters... 300 meters... 500 meters...
Xuanhao didn't fly close to the treetops or at low altitude as usual, but kept climbing and climbing!
He stopped climbing and began to fly at level altitude only after passing through a thin layer of clouds, when the surrounding air became thin and cold, and the sunset forest below turned into a huge dark green mosaic.
"This..." Hu Liena, who was lying on Xuan Hao's back, looked at the clouds below and was completely dumbfounded.
She instinctively hugged Xuan Hao's neck tighter, her voice trembling slightly in the wind:
"Junior brother... how tall are we now?"
"It's only a little over two thousand meters."
"Two thousand meters?!"
Hu Liena exclaimed in surprise, "You...you can fly that high now?!"
As a Soul Master, although she couldn't fly, she had seen pigs run even if she hadn't eaten pork.
Being able to fly and being able to fly high are two completely different concepts!
For a flying-type Soul Master, flying one meter off the ground is flying, flying ten meters is flying, and flying one hundred meters is also flying.
However, as altitude increases, the air becomes thinner, the air currents become more violent, and the temperature drops sharply.
This environment places an exponential increase on the consumption of soul energy and the physical strain on the body!
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