Chapter 184: Initiating the Operation
Jing Hongchen chuckled, "Yuhao has made great contributions to the Sun Moon Empire. He is indeed a hero of the empire. However, discovering rare metals is just another feather in his cap. After all, the merits he has accumulated for the empire are already countless."
Huo Yuhao smiled, thinking that since he planned to take control of the Sun Moon Empire in the future, strengthening it now was also an investment in his own future. As for the current imperial family, they would inevitably be overthrown when the time came.
"Dean, you and the others can continue mining rare metals while I take a walk nearby. I can sense that some opportunities are waiting for me," Huo Yuhao said.
Jing Hongchen hesitated. He was concerned about Huo Yuhao's safety. The Extreme North was not a safe place. Due to its harsh environment, few soul masters ventured there to hunt soul beasts, which meant the Sun Moon Empire's intelligence on the region was incomplete.
He knew Huo Yuhao had extraordinary trump cards, at least strong enough to contend with Soul Douluo level evil soul masters. But what if he encountered one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North? That could very well lead to his death. Jing Hongchen did not want to see Huo Yuhao die here.
The intelligence network of the Sun Moon Empire was well funded and could easily gather information on Shrek Academy and the three Douluo nations. However, collecting truly classified intelligence remained a significant challenge.
Recently, Jing Hongchen had obtained a report revealing that Shrek Academy had sent a team of "reserve members" to compete in the Continental Soul Master Tournament. The reason behind this was Xuanzi's failure in leadership, which led to a massacre of Shrek's top talents by evil soul masters.
Having learned from Xuanzi's mistakes, Jing Hongchen was determined not to become another Xuanzi. However, he still admired Xuanzi's strength. Despite his recklessness, Xuanzi was a Rank 98 Super Douluo, a level that Jing Hongchen could only dream of reaching.
Huo Yuhao sighed. He activated his martial soul, his eyes flashing with golden light while the vertical eye on his forehead shimmered brilliantly. "Dean, I have glimpsed the future through the Eye of Destiny. I am certain that I will not encounter any danger in the Extreme North. As for the opportunities I have foreseen, I must seek them out alone. My Eye of Destiny has never failed me, so I hope you can trust me. Once I obtain my opportunity, I will return safely."
If something couldn't be explained, just attribute it to the Eye of Destiny. If Tang San could fool the gods of the Divine Realm with his so called "premonitions," then using the Eye of Destiny to convince Jing Hongchen was completely reasonable.
Of course, Tang San's premonition had eventually come true after all, the chaos of time and space did indeed pose a massive threat to the Divine Realm. Based on the original story, the time space turbulence was a terrifying force that nearly led to the destruction of the Divine Realm.
Huo Yuhao speculated that this phenomenon not only posed a danger to gods and the Divine Realm but also had the power to disrupt time itself possibly even enabling time travel. Otherwise, the timeline of Tang San's supposed "ten thousand year grand plan" wouldn't align properly.
At the start of Soul Land III, the Abyss had already been invading for over 6,300 years. Given the classic setting that 10,000 years had passed since Soul Land II, this meant that only about 3,700 years after the events of the second book, the Abyss launched its invasion.
But how did the Abyss arrive in the first place? It was only after the Divine Realm was taken away that the Abyss dared to invade Douluo Planet. Otherwise, with the Divine Realm still intact and guarded by five God Kings, the Abyss Sovereign who was merely a First Class God would have been seeking his own death by initiating an invasion.
Moreover, when Tang Wulin descended to the mortal realm, the Divine Realm was already on the brink of being swept away. Are we really supposed to believe that Tang Wulin spent over 9,000 years asleep before being found by his adoptive parents?
"Alright," Jing Hongchen finally relented, though he still pulled out several Rank 6 Invincible Shields and handed them to Huo Yuhao. "Take these with you. With them, you'll at least have some extra protection."
It wasn't that he didn't want to give Huo Yuhao higher level shields, but Huo Yuhao was only at Rank 50. Since he hadn't yet obtained his fifth soul ring, he was only a half step Soul King.
Because of his exceptional strength, high soul power reserves, and the aid of Sealed Milk Bottles, Huo Yuhao was capable of using Rank 6 Invincible Shields.
The ability to wield high level soul tools depended heavily on the user's power. A Titled Douluo, for instance, naturally possessed far more soul power than a Soul Sage, allowing them to activate stronger tools.
"Thank you, Dean," Huo Yuhao smiled and accepted the shields without hesitation. In this world, the most powerful Invincible Shield was at Rank 7, while a Rank 6 Invincible Shield could withstand a Titled Douluo's full attack for three seconds.
"Good," Jing Hongchen nodded and waved his hand. "Yuhao, go seek your opportunity now. Remember, if you encounter a powerful soul beast and don't have time to activate your Necromantic Subplane to escape, head straight back here."
"Understood, Dean," Huo Yuhao nodded before activating his flying soul tool and departing from the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion's base.
Sometime later, he landed in a vast snowy field. This was the core region of the Extreme North a place known as a forbidden zone for humans.
Breathing out a misty cloud of air, he looked at the snowflakes drifting from the sky and said, "Snow Empress, I've found the right moment. You, Ice Empress, and Tianmeng can come out now."
Since the Extreme North was their home, it was only natural for them to come out and visit.
In the next instant, the three powerful spirit souls emerged from Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, each taking human form.
Tianmeng Iceworm appeared as a young man with golden hair, dressed in a white robe. He was handsome and bore a cheerful expression, though his gaze was fixed not on Huo Yuhao, but on the Ice Empress.
He grinned. "Bing Bing, do you remember? Back when you were chasing me, we passed through this place. It holds fond memories for the both of us. I never thought I'd have the chance to return here."
The Ice Empress, with her long emerald green hair, had delicate features and fair skin. However, her expression was cold as ice, exuding a proud and unapproachable aura.
Hearing Tianmeng's words, she immediately scoffed. "If you hadn't run so fast back then, I would have killed you and turned you into food. If I had succeeded, I might have even survived my next tribulation."
Tianmeng wasn't bothered. He simply chuckled and continued, "Bing Bing, good thing I ran fast, or neither of us would be here today, working together on our divine ascension plan. But still, even when you were hunting me, I couldn't help but "
(Chapter End)
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