Douluo: Dragon King Huo Yuhao Lives Ten Thousand Years Later

Chapter 169 Mingde Hall and the Huoli Tribe

After getting off the flying car, Xie Xie and the others began to carefully examine the statues in the square.

They had all heard many legends about the Silver Moon Douluo, so their attention was quickly drawn to the statues of Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.

Wang Jinxi frowned. "Who are these two?"

"I know!" Xie Xie said excitedly, "I heard that from 20,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago, the champion of the All-Continent Soul Master Competition was Shrek Academy. Until 10,000 years ago, the Sun Moon Empire broke Shrek Academy's glory twice and became the champion."

Although there are rumors that Shrek Academy's first defeat was due to a legendary evil spirit master, can't such an excuse be used for the second defeat?

"Those two teams received praise from the entire Sun Moon Empire, and later the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy even designed statues of them. The statues in the square should be of them. However, they are all of those students when they were young. Among them, the first Golden Toad Douluo Xiao Hongchen and Ice Toad Douluo Meng Hongchen are representative of them."

"...Is this a deliberate attempt to provoke Shrek Academy?"

Wang Jinxi clicked his tongue, then laughed and said, "What would Shrek Academy students feel if they came here and saw the statue?"

Zhang Yangzi shrugged. "It's probably not going to be pleasant, but it's none of our business..."

Halfway through his sentence, Zhang Yangzi thought of a figure, sighed inwardly, and did not continue.

It can't be said that they're unrelated. His friend was planning to join Shrek Academy. I wonder what it will be like when the two meet again?
I fear things have changed...

The square was bustling with people, with all sorts of Soul Masters and tourists moving about, their footsteps and conversations creating a lively cacophony. Sunlight slanted across the statues, coating the metal and stone surfaces with a flowing golden edge, attracting many passersby to stop and look up.

Huo Yuhao also looked at the statue, feeling a mix of emotions.

He wasn't very close to these two people. After all, they were already in their fifties when they first met, so it was impossible for them to become close friends. In fact, if it weren't for their shared language on the soul tool, they wouldn't have had any connection at all.

But in that era, apart from the people from the Spirit Pagoda and the Soul Beasts, the only people he was really familiar with were a few from the Mingde Hall.

"But to be honest, I've known them for much longer. I still remember that guy Xiao Hongchen laughing loudly at the Soul Master Competition, boasting that he was invincible among his peers."

Whether he is truly invincible among his peers is debatable...

In front of the academy building, a female teacher saw Huo Yuhao and his group, her eyes lit up, and she quickly walked over to greet them.

"Are you the students recommended by the Spirit Pagoda?" The female teacher's gaze swept over the group, lingering especially on Huo Yuhao for a moment. "My name is Lin Qinghan. Welcome to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. Please follow me to the teaching building to register."

She had recently heard what was going on at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. After all, the fight took place in the Spirit Pagoda plaza in broad daylight, and many people who came to the Spirit Pagoda for business witnessed Huo Yuhao and Ji Wufeng's battle.

I heard that the two fought so fiercely that the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their light, even alarming the master of the Spirit Pagoda.

Soul King is already a powerhouse no less than a Title Douluo? It's hard to imagine. She initially doubted its authenticity, but the person who told her this information was her good friend Zhao Yao, so there shouldn't be any doubts... It felt even more suspicious.

Thinking about her friend's personality, Lin Qinghan was speechless.

"What about the assessment?" Xie Xie was still a little confused.

There is no assessment.

Lin Qinghan snapped out of her reverie and casually said, "The Spirit Pagoda and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy have been cooperating for so many years, so giving you this little bit of preferential treatment is nothing. With your talent and age, admission shouldn't be a problem. We can skip those troublesome procedures."

She paused, then looked at Huo Yuhao and the other two. "Mingde Hall is very close to the academy, but it's an important place, so some procedures are required. I'll have to trouble you three to wait a moment. A researcher will then lead you to Mingde Hall. You can wait in my office for a while now. There are some of my treasured soul guidance books there. If you can't wait, you can take a look."

"Okay." Huo Yuhao nodded and followed her.

Xu Xiaoyan and the others followed, secretly sighing in their hearts.

Is this what it feels like to go through the back door?

Unexpectedly good.

Upon entering the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, Xie Xie's first impression was that it was incredibly technologically advanced, and it did not disappoint him.

The entire hall has a ceiling height of nearly thirty meters, with countless holographic projection screens suspended in mid-air, displaying various data and 3D models in real time. More than a dozen uniquely designed soul-guided elevators shuttle up and down along transparent pipes, and occasionally students can be seen riding hoverboards overhead.

"See you later."

"Okay, boss."

Huo Yuhao and his two companions parted ways with Xie Xie and the others in the teaching building and went into Lin Qinghan's office.

The automatic door closes silently, shutting out the noise of the outside world.

"Don't be so tense." Gu Yuena then looked at Lan Fuzi, who had been silent on the road, and said with some exasperation, "We're not going to eat you."

"..." Lan Fuzi gave a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I understand. Please give me some more time. I'll be able to calm down soon."

Gu Yuena: "..."

Who would believe that?
While they were chatting, Huo Yuhao looked at the bookshelf in the office, took down a soul guidance book from the corner, and started reading.

But after opening it, Huo Yuhao's face immediately darkened. He flipped back to the table of contents and saw the book's real name and some titles.

I found a baby Lingbing, raised him, and now he's become my crony.

Chapter One – A Legendary Encounter with the Future on a Rainy Night
Chapter Two—The Flutter in My Heart When He Called Me Sister
Chapter Three – The Sweet Troubles of a Prodigy
Final Chapter – I was pinned against the wall by him after he grew up.
"..."

A black line appeared on Huo Yuhao's forehead.

I'm tempted to humanely destroy this book and its author together.

The episode where I most wanted to kill someone.

"Pfft hahaha-"

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm laughed so hard it rolled around in the Sea of ​​Spirit, "Yuhao, don't be angry. You were a celebrity ten thousand years ago, so this kind of thing is inevitable, inevitable... I can't take it anymore, hahaha!"

The spirits, including Hyotei, also wore expressions that were hard to describe.

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and silently put the book back in its original place.

Seeing this, Gu Yuena asked curiously, "Yuhao, aren't you going to watch?"

"It's nothing. I've already read the contents of this book at the association." Huo Yuhao said without changing his expression, "This author is taking too unconventional a path; it won't work."

Gu Yuena blinked, her gaze lingering on the book for a moment before she nodded slightly. Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside, and Lin Qinghan, her forehead dripping with cold sweat, entered the office. Seeing that Huo Yuhao and the other two were empty of books, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

so far so good.

I've been dealing with a lot of things lately since the start of the semester, and I almost forgot about some books... If the younger members of the Spirit Pagoda see this, aside from other consequences, it will definitely be a bit embarrassing.

Lin Qinghan forced a professional smile: "The formalities have been completed, and the researchers from Mingdetang will be here soon."

Before he could finish speaking, the office door was pushed open, and a researcher wearing a white lab coat, the standard uniform of Mingdetang, stood in the doorway. His eyes lit up noticeably when they swept over Huo Yuhao:

"Researcher Huo Yuhao, I've long admired your name. Your Distraction Inscription Technique..."

Realizing his lapse in composure, the researcher coughed lightly and said seriously:

"I am Xu Mo, a Level 3 Researcher at Mingdetang, and I will be leading you on the tour. Please follow me."

Lin Qinghan watched the three of them and Xu Mo leave, then quickly walked to the bookshelf and put several books into her storage ring.

Next time, I can't just leave them on the bookshelf. Some of these books are rare copies that I found while organizing the books. I don't even know who the authors are. If someone finds them, I might not be able to read them anymore.

……

Although Mingde Hall is an independent institution, it has a deep relationship with the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy due to historical reasons, similar to the relationship between the inner and outer academies of Shrek Academy, and the two are located very close to each other.

If students successfully graduate from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, they can participate in the Mingde Hall's assessment.

Following Xu Mo through the connecting corridor, the group soon arrived at the main building of Mingde Hall.

The cold gleam of metal flowed through the space, filling the entire hall with a futuristic, technological feel. Suspended in the very center was a massive metal sphere, over five meters in diameter, its surface rippling with a deep blue soul energy. As it slowly rotated, glimpses of its intricate internal magic array structure were occasionally revealed. The soft light emanating from the sphere enveloped the entire space in a unique, technologically beautiful atmosphere.

"This is the main control system of Mingde Hall, which is responsible for coordinating the supply of soul power inside the building." Xu Mo explained to Huo Yuhao and the others while tapping the floating control panel. The metal sphere immediately projected a three-dimensional architectural structure diagram.

Huo Yuhao stared at the behemoth and keenly noticed that the arrangement of its core array was vaguely familiar—it was clearly an improved version of the linked soul guidance array, only hundreds of times larger in scale.

"Well then, we're about to move. Please get ready."

Lan Fuzi was somewhat confused, then suddenly realized.

A sudden, intense spatial fluctuation struck, distorting the surrounding scenery like ripples on water. Before she could react, the scene before her eyes instantly shifted—they were transported directly to a completely different space.

Lan Fuzi looked around and found himself standing on a circular silver platform, surrounded by countless floating soul-guided screens displaying complex data streams. "Spatial teleportation technology?"

Xu Mo smiled slightly: "That's right, this is the space teleportation system developed by our Mingde Hall, which is an improvement on the space-type soul guide device. The main body of Mingde Hall is underground, and there are no means of transportation such as elevators, so we must use space teleportation..."

Xu Mo noticed the three people's calm expressions and immediately realized that the Spirit Pagoda must also possess similar spatial technology. He tactfully didn't continue the topic and instead explained:

"I'm truly sorry, but the Hall Master is currently handling an urgent research project and is unable to meet with you all at the moment. However, besides exchanging ideas and learning, you've all come here for the sake of the Huoli Clan, haven't you? There's a relevant research project for you today, please follow me."

As a researcher, he wasn't very interested in small talk. Although he was very curious about some of Huo Yuhao's technologies, that wasn't something he should ask about now.

Let's focus on the important matters first.

The four arrived at a metal door, which slid open silently. The heat wave that hit them made Lan Fuzi instinctively take a half step back.

In the center of the laboratory, a giant fire wolf is conducting an experiment as instructed, while seven or eight researchers around it are nervously recording data.

Upon seeing the fire wolf, a strange light flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes, while Lan Fuzi was somewhat surprised.

'A life form composed purely of fire element, yet without a trace of soul beast aura?' Lan Fuzi was secretly astonished.

It's not a soul beast?
She was only temporarily assigned to Mingde Hall and didn't get much information from Huo Yuhao. She didn't expect to encounter such a strange being as soon as she entered Mingde Hall.

She herself was a soul beast, so she was absolutely certain that this fire wolf did not possess any soul beast aura.

Lan Fuzi couldn't help but look at Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena, whose expressions remained completely calm, and her emotions gradually subsided.

She suddenly found her earlier shock somewhat laughable—the two people beside her were living gods, beings who had once wielded power in the divine realm. Compared to them, what was a mere fire elemental life form from another world?
As Gu Yuena looked at the fire wolf, she remembered the information that Di Tian had told her.

The Fire Li Clan, fire elemental beings, are an extraterrestrial race that suddenly appeared on the Douluo Continent many years ago. Thanks to the policies of the Spirit Pagoda, and their own strength, they did not actively attack humans, so no Soul Masters attacked them.

However, this massive tribe can only survive in lava. If they are away from the lava environment for a long time, the weak members of the Fire Li tribe will gradually perish.

Therefore, they wandered around for a while, searching for a place to live, but seemed to have no success. Until one day, the Fire Li tribe suddenly arrived near Mingdu and approached the Temple of the God of War.

'Now that I think about it, did Yuhao actually exist during that era?'

Gu Yuena glanced at Huo Yuhao and thought to herself.

Huo Yuhao looked at the Fire Wolf, his eyes flashing slightly.

The Fire Li tribe hails from the world of Falan, living in the Crimson Sea there. Each member of the tribe possesses innate formidable combat abilities. Although they cannot stray far from magma-rich areas, they are virtually immortal wherever magma exists.

How did such a race come to Douluo Continent?

The answer is related to spacetime turbulence.

A spacetime turbulence swept away a planet much smaller than the world of Falan, colliding with it. Although the people of that world put up a fight, human strength has its limits, and they ultimately could not overcome this disaster.

The planet shattered upon impact, and the main continent of the Falan world—the Fairy Continent—was also broken into several parts. The Crimson Sea, where the Fire Li Clan lived, was also affected and largely disappeared. Many spatial rifts were created as a result, and this branch of the Fire Li Clan on the Douluo Continent was brought here by such spatial rifts...

The group waited quietly for the experiment to end before Huo Yuhao, under the arrangement of Mingde Hall, had close contact with the fire wolf.

The Fire Wolf had already learned from the researchers at Mingde Hall that a visitor would be arriving today. When Huo Yuhao appeared before it, it merely swayed its tail, which was made of flames, without paying much attention.

However, the next moment, an extremely subtle mental fluctuation quietly probed in.

Fire Wolf pricked up its ears, and out of a desire to cooperate with the research, it cautiously accepted the mental connection.

In an instant, its fiery body trembled violently!

In the realm of consciousness, Huo Yuhao showed it a memory about flames—a strange flame that was almost transparent, with seven dreamlike colors flowing inside beneath its incandescent exterior, as if a rainbow had been sealed within the flame.

That is... the life-bound true fire of their Fire Li tribe, which only royalty possesses—the Seven-Colored Lotus!
(End of this chapter)