Douluo Continent: Angel Saint Huo Yuhao

Chapter 247 Powder barrels are meant to be lit.

Despite Xuan Ziwen's apparent involvement in important research projects at Mingde Hall, this work is actually more like outsourcing. It's done because of his research capabilities, rather than a mandatory work arrangement from above.

At the same time, he would try his best to distance himself from the empire and the nobility in his daily work, and repeatedly crack down on those who obviously wanted to curry favor.

Over time, this research fanatic could only immerse himself in his own world.

'Now it seems... the teacher was just afraid I'd get involved with those evil spirit masters.'

Xuan Ziwen rubbed his head, looking a bit of a headache: "Moreover, I think I understand why the Empire has been stepping up its actions recently."

"Oh?"

Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow, not expecting to get to the point so easily.

"According to what you've said, the relationship between the Empire and the evil soul masters will definitely become tense. After all, you've already built a defense line with soul power detectors from the Mingde Hall, and you've easily breached cities all over the country... and only the evil soul masters have been injured!"

As he spoke, Xuan Ziwen's expression gradually darkened: "In this situation, it would be strange if there weren't rifts between the two sides. And those bloodthirsty and insane evil soul masters obviously won't suffer in silence; they will definitely find a way to retaliate."

"It is precisely to guard against those guys' crazy actions that Sun Moon risked exposing its own trump cards and alerting the Douluo Three Kingdoms to strengthen the defenses of Mingdu, turning this completely undefended mega-city into a soul guidance base."

Regardless, the Holy Spirit Cult suffered heavy losses in its various branches, with the Sun Moon Empire itself being the biggest beneficiary.

Moreover, Huo Yuhao and the auspicious beast acted as if they were in their own home, calling out names at each branch of the Holy Spirit Cult without ever making a mistake, and were even able to silently penetrate the Imperial City Defense Force's cordon...

Who would believe that the two sides have no connection?
Therefore, no matter who is behind it all, the Holy Spirit Cult will definitely try to pin the blame on Xu Tianran.

Under these circumstances, Xu Tianran, knowing that the other side possessed a large number of titled combatants, would naturally not sit idly by and allow Mingdu to remain wide open. The fact that the city was not openly arming its citizens to prepare for war was a result of restraint.

"So, the reason for the early conscription is precisely because of the hostile trend between the two sides?"

Huo Yuhao's expression gradually became strange.

Initially, he planned to expedite the resolution of the Holy Spirit Cult issue after the war between the Sun and Moon, to prevent those evil spirit masters from using the war to elevate themselves.

But now it seems that the cooperation between the two sides is somewhat shaky... Who knows, they might even have an internal struggle before the Sun and Moon start a war.

"Hopefully, the day when we completely break off relations won't come too soon."

Xuan Ziwen sighed deeply, pessimistic about the future of Riyue: "I wonder how many civilians will die..."

The permanent population of Mingdu is over 20 million. If a powerful soul skill were to be unleashed into the city, it would be a human tragedy.

This place is really not suitable as a battlefield.

"By the way. Now that things have come to this point, you don't need to hide anymore. After all, no one knows these attacks are connected to you, and the forces behind you haven't been exposed. So—"

Xuan Ziwen was both amused and exasperated: "If you step forward now, it will completely dispel any suspicion against you and allow the force that launched the surprise attack from behind to successfully disappear without a trace."

Since Huo Yuhao is still alive, why are they so eager to take revenge?
Since it wasn't his family's forces that made the move, then the Sun Moon Empire is the only suspect left.
'Won't doing this just blow up both sides...? Wait, wouldn't it be better if it just exploded?'

After figuring out the key, Huo Yuhao suddenly had some other ideas.

Although the two sides seem to be on the verge of conflict, it actually depends on the negotiations between Xu Tianran and the Death God Douluo... As long as there is no immediate conflict, it means there is still a chance to continue the negotiations.

This seems to align with the interests of the Holy Spirit Cult. The so-called development of influence and the planting of spies are merely incidental; no matter how much loss they suffer now, they can recover it all once the Sun and Moon War begins, and may even double their profits.

"Rather than letting them bide their time and recuperate for a few years."

Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered: "Instead, we should try to get them to become more active and show themselves."

……

Is Project Zero more important, or is Huo Yuhao more important?
That's a difficult question to answer...

However, if the lives of his own grandchildren were added to Huo Yuhao's side, Jing Hongchen's scales would tip overwhelmingly to one side.

"They're back! They're finally back!"

Looking across the entire Mingde Hall, only Jing Hongchen was laughing the most heartily. He even decisively abandoned the Zero Mech array core that had been replaced halfway through, and personally came to the public test field to visit Huo Yuhao, who had reappeared.

"Yuhao, welcome back!"

Jing Hongchen gripped his hand tightly and shook it vigorously, as if she were holding onto his lifeblood, her face flushed with excitement: "The place you left behind has always been looked after, everyone is waiting for you to come back!"

Especially him, the head of Mingde Hall, to whom Xuanzi sent a letter.

He recalled the day he opened the envelope; the paper contained only one sentence: 'Either he appears in the sun and moon, or Shrek appears in the sun and moon.'

"Master, there's no need for that."

Huo Yuhao forced a smile, somewhat unaccustomed to it: "Actually, I didn't want to disappear for so long... but the family suddenly summoned me back to awaken my martial soul, and I had no way to refuse. At that time, it happened to be during the holidays, so I couldn't send any messages."

"Oh, it's alright."

Jing Hongchen was shaking his head with a smile on his face when he suddenly came to his senses: "...Awakening a Martial Soul?"

"Yes."

Huo Yuhao nodded seriously, and amidst the silence of everyone present, he released an icy blue phantom.

Although its aura was somewhat strange, the people present could still discern its true nature.

"this--"

Some people's legs immediately went weak, and they almost collapsed on the spot: "A physical martial soul? And it's the kind that covers the whole body!"

"Wait, shouldn't the awakening of a martial soul be completed at the age of six? What does it mean that you awakened it at the age of fourteen?"

It took Jing Hongchen a while to catch her breath, and the first thing she noticed after regaining consciousness was the loophole.

"Maybe it's because I was physically weak when I was a child?"

Huo Yuhao shrugged amidst the frantic, twitching gazes of the Soul Masters, pointing to his heart: "When a Martial Soul awakens, it will automatically sense the host's capacity to withstand it. If it finds the physique too weak, the Martial Soul will gather its power."

"As for the twin martial souls, one will automatically go into a dormant state. It was only after the family discovered that I had made up for the deficiency that they urgently recalled and activated the martial soul, in preparation for using the second martial soul to break through the soul power level in the future."

(End of this chapter)