Leng Yaozhu was now immensely powerful—she had already surpassed the former strongest expert of the Spirit Pagoda, Battle God Douluo Qian Gu Diting. This was beyond dispute.
But even so, she was still just one person. Meanwhile, in the Spirit Pagoda, the Qian Gu family alone had three Limit Douluo.
With other powerhouses within the Spirit Pagoda as well, Qian Gu Dongfeng simply didn't believe Leng Yaozhu could defy the heavens.
After awakening Qian Gu Diting from seclusion, Qian Gu Dongfeng relayed all the recent events, along with his suspicions.
"The Twin Phoenix Douluo sisters have both broken through to the Divine Origin Realm in terms of spiritual power." Qian Gu Diting was shocked. He had been in seclusion for many years, and his spiritual power had been stuck at the peak of the Spirit Domain Realm, with no sign of breaking through.
Yet the younger-generation Leng Yaozhu sisters had done it.
"Don't contact the other experts of the Spirit Pagoda just yet. Call your brother. We'll go together to put pressure on the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo." Qian Gu Diting was breathing heavily. If he could obtain the method that had allowed such rapid progress in cultivation and breakthrough in spiritual power from Leng Yaozhu, he wouldn't care one bit whether she released spirit beasts or not.
Qian Gu Diting had his own selfish motives. The method Leng Yaozhu possessed, which had led to the creation of two terrifying individuals—Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai—would make it difficult for the Qian Gu family to remain dominant within the Spirit Pagoda if others obtained it as well.
In his heart, Qian Gu Diting believed such a cultivation method should belong exclusively to the Qian Gu family.
He was also feeling quite frustrated. He hadn't expected that dealing with a mere Vice Pagoda Master would require the mobilization of all three Limit Douluo of his family.
But there was no choice—Leng Yaozhu had already surpassed him.
Alone, he simply couldn't put enough pressure on her.
Spirit Pagoda, Leng Yaozhu's Office.
Leng Yaozhu sat at her desk, eyes closed, meditating. After receiving the news that the Heaven Dou City branch of the Spirit Pagoda had surrendered and that Xia Yi's group had successfully rescued all the soul beasts there, she nodded lightly.
"They're here again, aren't they?" Leng Yaozhu suddenly opened her eyes and looked toward the door. A moment later—ding—the sound of the doorbell rang.
"Come in," Leng Yaozhu said with a wave of her hand, and the office door opened automatically. Qian Gu Diting entered with Qian Gu Dongfeng and Qian Gu Qingfeng striding in behind him.
"Pagoda Master, is there something else?" Leng Yaozhu smiled as she looked at the trio of Limit Douluo.
"Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, let's not beat around the bush. Have you made some sort of deal with the soul beast leadership?" Qian Gu Diting asked sternly.
"Calling it a deal is a bit much, but if you insist, that's fine too." Leng Yaozhu smiled, not denying it. Xia Yi… could barely be counted as part of the soul beast leadership.
But still, she didn't see it as a deal.
Of course, if Qian Gu Diting insisted on calling it one, she couldn't be bothered to argue.
Without Xia Yi, she would never have undergone such transformation.
"Glad you admit it, Your Excellency." Qian Gu Diting nodded. "If Your Excellency used the Spirit Pagoda's resources to trade with the soul beast leadership, then the gains from such a trade should naturally belong to the entire Spirit Pagoda, don't you think?"
"Oh? And what, exactly, is Battle God Douluo referring to?" Leng Yaozhu continued to smile.
"Your rapid cultivation progress must be linked to the soul beasts, no?" Qian Gu Diting said.
"You could say that." Leng Yaozhu nodded again, still not denying anything.
"Good, since you admit it, then shouldn't you share the secret of your rapid advancement with the Spirit Pagoda?" Qian Gu Diting was surprised that Leng Yaozhu was admitting everything so easily. It was going more smoothly than he had expected.
Leng Yaozhu finally put away her smile and replied coldly, "First, I did not use any resources from the Spirit Pagoda in my dealings with the soul beasts. If you insist it was a trade, then I only used my own resources. Second, the cultivation method I use—I promised someone I wouldn't share it. So give up on that idea."
Leng Yaozhu snorted coldly. Even if Xia Yi hadn't requested her not to pass on the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon), she still wouldn't share it lightly.
Although Huangdi Neijing was a supreme human-path cultivation method…
Leng Yaozhu understood very well that practicing it required tremendous willpower. Even Xia Yi was somewhat affected by it—let alone anyone else.
As she gained a deeper understanding of the Huangdi Neijing, Leng Yaozhu became increasingly aware that the reason she and Leng Yulai had benefited so greatly from it without suffering negative effects was due to Xia Yi's inner force of human-path power, which supported them during cultivation.
But their internal human-path power couldn't support Xia Yi in cultivating the Huangdi Neijing.
The early stages of Huangdi Neijing were, in fact, designed as a dual-cultivation method. Xia Yi possessed abundant human-path energy in his body, so when he dual-cultivated with them, the benefits they received far exceeded what Xia Yi gained from them.
But not everyone was as lucky as the sisters, to encounter a freak like Xia Yi.
If others were to try cultivating Huangdi Neijing without great willpower—regardless of gender—there was a huge risk of them going down a dark path.
How could Leng Yaozhu possibly pass such a method around?
Seeing her reject the demand so bluntly, Qian Gu Dongfeng snorted, "Heh, I imagine the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo has already guessed where her sister disappeared to over the past few years. If you don't want your sister to become a public enemy, I suggest you back off."
"I know. She used to serve as a Heavenly King of the Holy Spirit Cult," Leng Yaozhu admitted openly and coldly. "If this were before, that threat might've worked. But now, that doesn't scare me anymore. Besides—your own dealings with the Holy Spirit Cult's Ghost Emperor aren't exactly a secret either, Qian Gu Dongfeng."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Qian Gu Dongfeng snorted.
"Whether you understand or not is your problem. I'm just giving you a friendly reminder: since you know I've traded with the soul beasts, then naturally I also know the Holy Spirit Cult's leader. Do you really think your dealings with the Ghost Emperor are hidden from her?" Leng Yaozhu sneered. She didn't currently have evidence of Qian Gu Dongfeng's collusion with the Ghost Emperor…
But one call to Xia Yi and she could have all the evidence she needed.
After all, the Holy Spirit Cult's leader was her man's woman.
"Enough. You're all aiming for godhood, right? Let me tell you plainly—soon, becoming a god won't be so difficult. As long as you don't court death, you'll all have a chance." Leng Yaozhu's eyes lit up as she suddenly released her Divine Origin-level spiritual power.
In an instant, even a quasi-god like Qian Gu Diting was pulled into her spiritual domain.
An endless sea of flames spread before them. A massive Heavenly Phoenix danced through the air, terrifying flames setting the sky ablaze.
"Spiritual Domain: Heavenly Phoenix Burning Heaven!" Qian Gu Diting summoned his Coiling Dragon Staff, but for a moment, he had no idea how to break the domain.
He had heard of Leng Yaozhu's spiritual domain, but this version seemed different from the legends, leaving him momentarily at a loss.
"You're mistaken. It's Rebirth by Fire. But it's only a half-finished version. Once I sort out a few more things, it will evolve." Leng Yaozhu's voice echoed. In the next moment, the flames around the phoenix grew even more intense. As she soared, it was as if the flames gained sentience.
"Half-finished!" Qian Gu Diting was horrified. He could sense that even if he destroyed this phoenix, the flames would quickly gather and form a new one.
Qian Gu Diting forced a bitter smile. With all his power, he still couldn't break even this incomplete spiritual domain of Leng Yaozhu's.
"All right, that's enough." Leng Yaozhu smiled faintly and retracted her spiritual domain.
She really didn't have any desire to fight the Qian Gu family's three Limit Douluo.
Honestly, even if all three of them attacked at once, she didn't see them as a threat.
Just thinking of the terrifying strength of the soul beasts, she truly didn't want to start a slaughter of humanity's top forces.
She was even trying to recruit the Ghost Emperor and the Nether Emperor now.
Let alone the Qian Gu family.
As long as they didn't keep pushing their luck and could promise not to stir up trouble, Leng Yaozhu was willing to help them ascend to godhood.
While other Limit Douluo of the human race were still fighting over fame and fortune, Leng Yaozhu was already thinking about the worst-case scenario—what if the soul beasts one day sought revenge on humanity?
The soul beasts had seized many seeds of the Abyssal Plane, clearly intending to create their own God Realm. When that day came, beings like Ditian and the Demon Emperor would surely become gods.
The soul beasts' power would soar again.
Even though Xia Yi was working to mediate…
Humans had slaughtered soul beasts for tens of thousands of years. Leng Yaozhu couldn't be sure that the soul beasts would truly never seek vengeance.
She trusted Xia Yi—but she still had to prepare for the worst.
(End of Chapter)