Tianyue City was a small city situated between Shrek City and Tiandou City, primarily serving as a transit hub for people and logistics between the two large cities.
There was a decent flow of people daily, though the permanent population was small.
The branch tower master of the Tianyue City Spirit Pagoda was only a Soul Douluo.
When Xia Yi and his group arrived, the tower master of the Tianyue City Spirit Pagoda, though somewhat reluctant, still cooperated and led them to the warehouse where spirit souls were stored.
After all, if things really came to blows, not to mention Di Tian—this tower master felt he might not even be able to defeat Xia Yi.
Due to the high traffic of people, the Tianyue City Spirit Pagoda branch had a fairly decent number of spirit souls in stock.
Since the Tianyue branch didn't have the capability to produce spirit souls, they were all transported from the Shrek City Spirit Pagoda headquarters or the Tiandou City branch—one of the eighteen sub-branches.
Inside the warehouse, Xia Yi selected over a hundred spirit souls made from soul beast souls.
After making his selections, Xia Yi looked at the tower master and said, "Tower Master, hand over those spirit souls you hid as well. I'll pretend like nothing happened."
The tower master's expression flickered slightly, but he quickly returned to normal, pretending nothing was wrong. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied calmly.
"We're both smart people. You and I are just following the orders of the Deputy Tower Master from the Main Pagoda. I won't say it again." Xia Yi's voice turned colder.
The tower master's face changed again. Looking at Di Tian beside Xia Yi, as well as Zi Ji and Bi Ji, he finally gave in. Obediently, he had someone retrieve six ten-thousand-year spirit souls from a basement outside the city.
These were spirit souls he had carefully picked to keep for his own family.
He hadn't expected Xia Yi to find out.
"We're leaving," Xia Yi said. In fact, he had known from the start where those spirit souls were hidden outside the city.
The Demon Empress had already arrived ahead of time and inspected all the spirit soul stock and transaction records of the Tianyue City Spirit Pagoda. She had also placed the tower master under surveillance.
Every move of his had already been under their watch.
If Xia Yi had wanted to, he could've just taken the spirit souls directly without the hassle.
But he didn't want to sneak around. He wanted to reclaim everything that belonged to soul beasts openly and justly.
After leaving Tianyue City, Xia Yi and his group headed straight to the nearby Tiandou City.
At this point, the Sun and Moon Federation was in complete chaos.
News of the Spirit Pagoda incident in Tianyue City quickly reached Qian Gu Dongfeng.
"Leng Yaozhu, if you're not going to give the Spirit Pagoda a way out, then don't blame me for not giving you a way out," Qian Gu Dongfeng said through clenched teeth, eyes bloodshot. Without hesitation, he called the Ghost Emperor via soul communicator.
"Well, what kind of wind blew our dear Pagoda Master Qian Gu to contact me?" the Ghost Emperor's gloomy voice came through the line.
"Cut the crap. I want you to publicly announce that Dark Phoenix Douluo, Leng Yulai, is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult. And while you're at it, expose all the despicable things she did while working for your cult. Hell, you can even pin the blame on Shrek Academy and Tang Sect," Qian Gu Dongfeng said through gritted teeth.
He knew exactly where he stood—he didn't have the guts to go head-to-head with Leng Yaozhu. And with Di Tian by Xia Yi's side, he didn't dare block Xia Yi either.
In the Endless Mountains, Di Tian had once revealed his Three-Word Battle Armor.
Di Tian's strength was undeniable, and now with his battle armor, confronting Xia Yi would be suicide.
Even if he managed to rally other Limit Douluos to stop Xia Yi, if a god-level soul beast got involved, none of them would get away unscathed.
So the only move left… was against Leng Yulai.
Leng Yulai had deep ties with Xia Yi and Leng Yaozhu.
If he could expose Leng Yulai as an evil soul master and publicize all the "atrocities" she committed in the past, she would be completely disgraced.
And that would drag Xia Yi and Leng Yaozhu down with her.
Even with Di Tian in tow, Xia Yi might not dare enter a city in broad daylight after that.
"Pagoda Master Qian Gu, are you out of your mind? You want us to throw one of our own under the bus? You think that's gonna happen?" the Ghost Emperor sneered.
"Your own? Hah. I'm sure you've heard about the Blood God Legion, haven't you? Your so-called Heavenly King has broken past the Limit stage, and her spiritual power has even surpassed the Divine Origin Realm. The Divine Origin Realm, you hear me? You think you still have control over her? You think she's still one of you?" Qian Gu Dongfeng said, laughing coldly.
"She used to be an undercover agent planted by your Cult Master next to the Sky Phoenix Douluo, right? But in such a short time, she's gone from a Level 97 Super Douluo to someone beyond you and me. You think someone like that would stay undercover?"
"And don't forget, the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo's cultivation also skyrocketed. How do you know Leng Yulai wasn't embedded with her sister just to uncover how that happened? Her own rapid progress proves she succeeded. She's earned her sister's trust and got the secret method," the Ghost Emperor replied.
"If that's the case, then tell me—did Leng Yulai give that method to your Holy Spirit Cult?" Qian Gu Dongfeng asked.
The other end went silent.
Give it?
Hah.
Only a fool would.
If he were Leng Yulai, he wouldn't give it either.
Hearing the silence, Qian Gu Dongfeng laughed even more coldly. "So? You still wanna claim Dark Phoenix Douluo is an undercover agent placed by your Holy Spirit Cult?"
"She is," the Ghost Emperor finally said after a pause, unwilling to doubt Leng Yulai.
"You drunk or something? She got her hands on a method to boost cultivation like crazy, and didn't share it with the Holy Spirit Cult—and you still say she's undercover?" Qian Gu Dongfeng barked.
"She did share it," the Ghost Emperor said flatly.
"What did you say? Are you saying Dark Phoenix Douluo really handed over the method she and Heavenly Phoenix Douluo used to rapidly advance their cultivation?" Even through the communicator, Qian Gu Dongfeng shot up to his feet, breathing heavily.
So many geniuses had emerged on the Douluo Continent—each dazzling in their youth—but how many had truly broken through to the Divine Origin Realm in spiritual power?
Even the so-called Will of the Plane's favorite, the Nether Emperor, was stuck at the peak of the Spirit Domain Realm.
But those two sisters had both broken through.
Their cultivation method…
How could Qian Gu Dongfeng not be tempted?
"She didn't," the Ghost Emperor shook his head.
"Did she or didn't she?" Qian Gu Dongfeng growled.
"It's not just Dark Phoenix Douluo and her sister—our Cult Master's power has also skyrocketed lately. She's rarely been around, but her aura is getting scarier by the day. Her spiritual power may have reached the Divine Origin Realm too," the Ghost Emperor said solemnly.
"Your Cult Master is a soul beast, right? And soul beasts have a way harder time cultivating than humans. Plus, the laws of the Douluo Plane suppress soul beasts far more than humans. How could she possibly reach god-level spiritual power here?" Qian Gu Dongfeng asked, doubtful.
"That's why I'm convinced Dark Phoenix Douluo is still one of us. But now… she's loyal to the Cult Master alone," the Ghost Emperor said with a sigh. He believed Leng Yulai had shared the method with the Demon Empress, who simply hadn't passed it down to the rest of them.
"And what does that get you? In the end, your Cult Master's just sidelining you both," Qian Gu Dongfeng scoffed.
"That's an internal matter of the Holy Spirit Cult. None of your concern." With that, the Ghost Emperor hung up.
But he'd been shaken. Qian Gu Dongfeng had made him realize that Leng Yulai might now serve only the Demon Empress, not him or the Nether Emperor.
He had to discuss this with the Nether Emperor.
Otherwise, they might really get left behind.
"Even if we can't publicly expose Leng Yulai like Qian Gu Dongfeng wanted, we can use this to threaten her. Force her to hand over the method she and her sister used to rapidly advance their cultivation. Once the Nether Emperor and I both reach god-level spiritual power… what need have we to fear the Demon Empress?" the Ghost Emperor thought to himself.
(End of Chapter)