Nan Qiuqiu nodded and said, "It"s fine. I"ve already told my mother, and she said that cultivation is more important, and we can go at any time whenever Yuhao is free. My mother returned to our sect about half a month ago. I"ve heard that Dragon City, where the Earthdragon Sect is located, has been conquered by the Sun Moon Empire, and she wants to go back to deal with some administrative matters. She will withdraw all of the sect"s resources this time and transfer them to Shrek."

Huo Yuhao was momentarily shocked when he heard that the Sun Moon Empire had conquered Dragon City. He turned towards Bei Bei and asked, "How is the war going, eldest senior brother?"

One month was quite a long time, and their situation could change in the blink of an eye.

Bei Bei said, "Don"t worry, little junior brother. The situation is considered relatively stable. Ever since you guys helped the Star Luo Empire break through the Ming Dou Mountain Range"s defensive perimeter, the Star Luo Empire has unleashed an a.s.sault on all fronts against the Sun Moon Empire"s territory. Even though their forward momentum isn"t too quick, they"ve managed to disturb the Sun Moon Empire so that they have no choice but to turn back their soldiers to reinforce their own territory. The pressure on the Heavenly Soul Empire has been reduced. The Heavenly Soul Empire and the Dou Ling Empire"s reinforcements have rendezvoused, and they are trying their best to resist the Sun Moon Empire"s pressure. Even though the Sun Moon Empire is still conquering more and more land, their speed has been considerably slowed. This has given us some time."

Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Bei Bei"s words. It seemed like the Star Luo Empire had been reasonably effective.

Ultimate Douluo were indeed powerful, but the Death G.o.d Douluo couldn"t rely on her own strength to cover the entire battlefield. Before they left back then, the White Tiger Duke had already decided on their direction to divide and conquer so that they could target the locations where the Sun Moon Empire lacked soldiers, and hence destroy all their legions in those areas. They hara.s.sed the Sun Moon Empire over large areas with small teams. Ye Xishui"s individual strength was very powerful, but she couldn"t cover every single spot. This should be the battle strategy that was effective in the end.

The White Tiger Duke wasn"t inferior to any of the Sun Moon Empire"s commanders in terms of strategy and tactics.

Bei Bei said, "Even though you are unlikely to run into the Sun Moon Empire"s main forces on your journey, you guys still have to be careful. You have to help the Earthdragon Sect"s leader return to Shrek City while you explore their mysterious areas. Qiuqiu, don"t be unreasonable or playful with Huo Yuhao, do you understand? Otherwise, I will confine you when you return."

Nan Qiuqiu stuck out her tongue and said, "Understood, eldest senior brother. Can you not see how obedient and lovable I am right now?"

Bei Bei stared at her as she attempted to act like she was aggrieved. He couldn"t help but laugh as he said, "You? Obedient and lovable? Heaven pity and protect us! Alright, go and pack up, and then you can leave."

Nan Qiuqiu turned and darted away excitedly. She had been looking forward to going out to play for a long time.

Huo Yuhao chose to stay behind. He could tell from Bei Bei"s eyes that his eldest senior brother had something to say to him.

"Yuhao, help me look for the Bluesilver Emperor when you go to the Heavenly Soul Empire if it"s possible." His eyes were full of lament and frustration when he said those words. He knew that their chances of finding the Bluesilver Emperor were very slim. In the end, the Great Star Dou Forest was already very helpful, but they still hadn"t discovered anything yet. All they did was provide a lead that a certain soul beast had seen the Bluesilver Emperor within the Heavenly Soul Empire, and this was the reason why Bei Bei had brought it up to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, "Definitely. Do you have solid leads regarding the Bluesilver Emperor, eldest senior brother?"

Bei Bei said, "I don"t have any proper leads. Someone from the Great Star Dou Forest mentioned some soul beasts have seen the Bluesilver Emperor in the Heavenly Soul Empire, but we don"t have any precise leads. Oh, yes - if you have time, you can visit the Setting Sun Forest. I have kept Big Fur and Little Fur there, and it"s been some time. I wonder how they"re like."

Big Fur and Little Fur were the two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears that Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Qiu"er had rescued from evil soul masters a long time ago. They had been fed over the past few years, and were a lot larger than before. Bei Bei had left them in the Setting Sun Forest back then before he returned to the Tang Sect to deal with administrative matters.

"Alright, I"ll take a look," Huo Yuhao acknowledged. He couldn"t help but think about w.a.n.g Qiu"er, who had sacrificed herself for him, when he thought of Big Fur and Little Fur. w.a.n.g Qiu"er was with him when they had rescued Big Fur and Little Fur!

Bei Bei glanced at Huo Yuhao and said, "Right, Yuhao. I heard that Tang Wutong has been visiting you very often when you were meditating. Have you seen her? She even found an excuse to come to the Tang Sect not long ago to look for you."

Huo Yuhao was momentarily stunned, and the image of Tang Wutong das.h.i.+ng away surfaced in his head. He nodded and said, "I"ve met her already."

Bei Bei contemplated for a moment. He wanted to say something and seemed very hesitant, but he kept his words to himself in the end. "Alright, little junior. Be careful on the road, and return as quickly as possible. If you can"t find the Bluesilver Emperor, then forget it. As for Big Fur and Little Fur, you have to tell them not to destroy the immortal herbs around the Icefire Yin Yang Well."

Huo Yuhao nodded.

He was all alone in this world, so there was nothing much for him to pack. He took a shower and changed into some clean clothes before he packed a few extra sets of clean clothes, some rations, and some water. He bid his farewells to his companions, and he went to see Xuan Ziwen at night. Huo Yuhao and Nan Qiuqiu departed the Tang Sect in the morning on the next day, and they went straight toward the Heavenly Soul Empire.

Shrek Academy was positioned at the border between all three empires. They were originally within the Heavenly Soul Empire"s borders, while Dragon City, which was where the Earthdragon Sect was located, was in the Heavenly Soul Empire"s northeastern regions. They just had to proceed north from Shrek City to reach Dragon City.

Huo Yuhao and Nan Qiuqiu activated their respective flying-type soul tools as they left Shrek City before they rose into the sky and travelled towards the north.

Both of them felt very liberated as they left the city. The endless skies were just so clean, and everything flashed by past beneath them.

Nan Qiuqiu was flying beside Huo Yuhao, and for some reason, she felt as if there was something different about him. He appeared a little more transcendent than before - of course, that was a good feeling, but Nan Qiuqiu"s heart sunk into a dilemma once again, since she had already given up on her feelings toward him.

Can this guy stop being so outstanding?

Ye Guyi had gone into closed-door cultivation since they returned the last time, and she wasn"t done yet. Nan Qiuqiu knew that she wanted to keep herself from seeing Huo Yuhao as much as possible so that he couldn"t pull her heart along. Nan Qiuqiu also wanted to go into closed-door cultivation, but she couldn"t stand all that loneliness. Furthermore, she still had to take Huo Yuhao to the Earthdragon Sect. She was still hoping deep within her heart that something would happen between them during their expedition.

"Hey. Why are you so taciturn?" Nan Qiuqiu couldn"t control herself anymore after flying for more than an hour.

Huo Yuhao still seemed very casual and elegant as he flew in the sky, and he didn"t make a sound.

He turned towards her confusedly and said, "Why? What do you want to talk about? Don"t you think the wind is very strong? Talking will waste soul power."

Nan Qiuqiu was infuriated. "Then so be it. We should still chat - it"ll be so boring otherwise."

Huo Yuhao answered, "Alright, let"s chat. About what?"

Nan Qiuqiu was momentarily stunned as she said, "What did you gain from your deep meditation? Don"t tell me you"ve had another breakthrough, and you"re already at Rank 80! I will truly be ashamed if that"s the case."

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, "Of course not. Improving soul power requires continual acc.u.mulation. Even though I acc.u.mulate soul power relatively quickly, I can"t reach Rank 80 so fast. I still need some time."

Nan Qiuqiu stared at him suspiciously. "Back in the Earthdragon Sect, my seniors all start shaking their heads when they talk about reaching Rank 80 after breaking through Rank 70, as if reaching Rank 80 is very difficult. Why do you sound like your success will come naturally?"

Huo Yuhao stared back at her exasperatedly. "With your talent, you will realize my words stand true when you reach my cultivation rank. However, Qiuqiu, I have to remind you that you have to pay attention to your spiritual power. When your strength reaches a certain standard in the future, spiritual power will be extremely important if you want to continue improving. Your strength will halt if you don"t have sufficient spiritual power, and you will find it very difficult to continue breaking through."

This was Huo Yuhao"s greatest takeaway after completing his soul core. His tremendous spiritual power made up for his insufficient soul power. Furthermore, the greatest benefit of having formidable spiritual power was towards the soul core"s stability.

Huo Yuhao was just a Soul Sage. Even though he had twin martial souls and was stronger than normal Soul Sages, he was still a Soul Sage in the end. But his spiritual power far exceeded his soul power, and under such circ.u.mstances, his ability to control his soul power was far stronger than other soul masters. This was how he managed to unexpectedly create his soul core this time.

Huo Yuhao understood very well that he would need even more spiritual power when he fused with his second soul core. Any soul master who wanted to fuse with their soul cores would need spiritual power as a s.h.i.+eld to support them, and thus spiritual power was the most crucial component to his future advancements.

Why couldn"t Elder Xuan fuse with his second soul core to become a true Ultimate Douluo? A large part of that lay in his lack of spiritual power, in addition to his lack of opportunity and luck. Every attempt ended in complete failure, and at his level, he had to readjust himself for a long time after every failure before he could try again. His confidence would also be affected after experimenting too many times without success, and that was a very terrifying thing for soul masters.

Nan Qiuqiu stared at Huo Yuhao"s serious look and mumbled, "How do I train my spiritual power? I"m not a spiritual-type soul master. I can"t just try and control my soul power futilely."

Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "You can"t take shortcuts in cultivation. Actually, there are some methods that you can try to raise your spiritual power."

Nan Qiuqiu"s eyes glowed. "What methods?" She was very interested about becoming stronger, and this was especially so in a place like the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect was full of elites, and anyone could be left behind.