Chapter 45: Emperor Xue Ye, Qian Renxue

After arriving in Heaven Dou City, Ma Hongjun and his group did not rush to Phoenix Mountain; instead, they strolled through the city for a while. After all, this was the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire and the most prosperous and luxurious place in the entire empire.

Things that cannot be found elsewhere can be found here.

The time spent strolling passed quickly, and night quietly arrived.

"Let's go see the mountain tomorrow; we can't see anything in the dark now," Ma Hongjun said.

"Why not come to my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as guests? It would allow me to fulfill the duties of a host," Ning Fengzhi invited.

"Then I shall trouble you," Ma Hongjun nodded.

The group headed to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

News of their appearance in Heaven Dou City was quickly discovered by the spies of Emperor Xue Ye, who reported the matter overnight.

Emperor Xue Ye possessed a very comprehensive intelligence agency of his own that spread throughout the entire empire. As long as something happened within the empire, it was difficult to escape the watchful eyes of these agencies. Therefore, every day before going to sleep, Emperor Xue Ye would review the scrolls secretly delivered by his intelligence agency.

He would arrange for action to be taken on matters worthy of his attention, and those that could be utilized would be kept for now; it would not be too late to slaughter the pig once it was fat.

No one who can become an emperor is simple, and Emperor Xue Ye was even more deep and meticulous.

"By the way, is there any lead on the Phoenix Academy I had you look for earlier?" Emperor Xue Ye asked the chief intelligence officer who had delivered the scrolls before him, as if casually.

The events involving Ma Hongjun and Shrek Academy, as well as the performance of the two Phoenix Girls in the Suotuo City Spirit Fighting Arena—these were things that happened within the territory of the Heaven Dou Empire, so naturally, they could not escape the watchful eyes of his spies, and all were collected for him.

He had known of the existence of these people before.

He was especially interested in the young man who called himself the Principal of Phoenix Academy, Ma Hongjun.

At a young age, he had already reached the level of a level 50 Soul King, and his Spirit Ring configuration consisted of five fire-red rings suspected to be Ten Thousand Year ones. He even possessed the strength to defeat or even kill Soul Emperors and Soul Saints across levels, so he could not help but take him seriously.

He wanted to grasp such a genius in his own hands. If he cultivated Ma Hongjun, barring any accidents, he would likely become a Title Douluo, and in the future, he could become the sharpest sword in his hand.

The Poison Douluo Dugu Bo was merely a guest Douluo; he could not be deployed at will and could only be mobilized when the other party was truly needed. Moreover, Dugu Bo's personality was naturally very fond of freedom, and he did things as he pleased. Although he had not done anything heinous, he could not be controlled by him and was an unpredictable danger.

If he defected to someone else, his poison alone could cause everyone below the rank of Title Douluo in the Heaven Dou Empire to die. This was truly an existence that could slaughter a million-strong army alone!

If it were any other Title Douluo, he might not be so wary.

But Dugu Bo was different. He had always been wary of him, and even had the terrifying thought of wanting to eliminate Dugu Bo.

But they did not have the strength to do so and had never dared to act rashly.

Once the assassination failed, the Heaven Dou Empire would be in crisis.

The chief intelligence officer said: "Reporting to Your Majesty. His academy is newly founded, so while they were looking for a location, there was no fixed site. Your Majesty, the scroll in your hand contains information about him; please take a look!"

As he spoke, he handed over a brand-new scroll.

Emperor Xue Ye took the scroll and opened it to look.

The news regarding Ning Fengzhi particularly attracted his attention.

"They have actually come together, and even arrived at the foot of my throne; this is a good opportunity to win them over."

"Have the identities of those two women been found? Wasn't it said before that he took away Ning Fengzhi's daughter Rongrong, along with another young girl?"

Emperor Xue Ye asked.

The chief intelligence officer said: "Found them. Ning Rongrong is the 'Nine-Colored' in the Suotuo City Spirit Fighting Arena. As for the 'Nether', we have not fully verified it yet, but we suspect she is the third young lady of the Zhu Family who was expelled from the Star Luo Empire, Zhu Zhuqing! But what is puzzling is that their martial souls are neither the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda nor the Nether Spirit Cat, but rather the Phoenix. We still cannot figure this point out."

"When the time comes, we will find them and probe them to find out. Now that they have arrived at the imperial capital, if nothing goes wrong, they might want to establish the Phoenix Academy here." Emperor Xue Ye was not worried, but he also wanted an answer.

The chief intelligence officer said: "Previously, someone from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect came to negotiate this matter, and now they have also followed Ning Fengzhi and the others back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. If nothing goes wrong, they may have joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. It will be very difficult to poach people from there." "Then I will have Qinghe go over to probe them first." Emperor Xue Ye had someone call his good son, Xue Qinghe.

At the Taizi Fu, Xue Qinghe intended to go to sleep.

The door was knocked, and a voice came from outside: "Your Highness the Crown Prince, His Majesty wants you to go to the bedchamber."

"Wait a moment." Inside the room, Xue Qinghe frowned.

A black figure appeared.

Soul power spread out, shrouding the room.

This prevented the voices speaking inside from spreading out.

"Uncle Snake, do you know why that old fellow is looking for me so late?"

The current Xue Qinghe was not the real one, but was disguised by Qian Renxue.

"Young Master, I was just about to tell you this. I just discovered that Ning Fengzhi and the others have arrived at the imperial capital, and they have that young Soul King with them. We suspect that Emperor Xue Ye is looking for you because of this matter," She Long said.

"This person?" Qian Renxue took a scroll out from her Soul Guidance Device.

This scroll was of Ma Hongjun.

Not to mention, he was drawn quite handsomely.

She had kept it, just waiting for an opportunity to meet him.

Hearing that this guy was going to found the Phoenix Academy, she might be able to use this opportunity to get to know him, and then pull him into her own camp to work for her.

She would not miss out on a young genius either.

Moreover, she was very interested in the secret of the five fire-red Spirit Rings on Ma Hongjun.

Now, the entire Pope Bibi Dong's side was also looking for this person, but they had never been able to find him.

Ever since that battle at Shrek Academy, Ma Hongjun had disappeared, and instead, two Phoenix Girls, Nether and Nine-Colored, appeared at the Suotuo City Spirit Fighting Arena.

She was also very interested in the identities of these two women.

She had intended to find someone to bring them over for a meeting; her intuition told her that these two Phoenix Girls were likely related to Ma Hongjun.

But she did not expect that the other party had already arrived at the imperial capital today; this was a case of not having to look far for what one seeks.

"Yes," She Long nodded: "He went to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with Ning Fengzhi and the others, and there were two women following him. We suspect they are the two Phoenix Girls from Suotuo City, but what I can't understand is, Ning Rongrong's martial soul is a pagoda, how did it become a Phoenix?"

"Have you seen her release her martial soul?" Qian Renxue asked.

"No, it's just a guess," She Long shook his head.

"Since it's a guess, it doesn't hold up; it needs to be verified before we know."

"Acquired martial soul mutation? I don't think the possibility is high... Could it really be a coincidence..." Qian Renxue frowned; such a situation was unprecedented.

"Also, has the identity of the other woman been verified?" she asked.

"Not yet," She Long shook his head.

"Forget it, I will head over there first." Qian Renxue left her boudoir and headed toward the sleeping quarters of Emperor Xue Ye.

(End of this chapter)