193: Liu Erlong's doubts

Yue Guan walked to the window, his gaze fixed on the distant Star Dou Great Forest, his eyes sharpening.

He spread his palm, Soul Power surging within it, and a phantom of a budding Chrysanthemum Douluo slowly condensed.

His fingertips rapidly traced across the phantom's petals, leaving behind a Soul Power code known only to him and Bibi Dong, conveying a message of response and loyalty.

After he finished, he flicked his finger, and the golden chrysanthemum phantom flew silently out the window, like pollen scattered by the wind, instantly merging into the flowing evening air of Spirit City, following the faint trace of the spider silk's residual aura from its arrival, drifting towards the depths of the distant Star Dou Great Forest.

This Soul Power-condensed chrysanthemum phantom, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, though faint, quietly rippled through the deep waters of Spirit Hall.

Martial Soul Hall Academy, Elite Training Ground.

Scorching heat waves distorted the air, and in the center of the training ground, a fiery red figure moved like a raging inferno.

Liu Erlong's fiery red hair was tied high, flying behind her as she moved swiftly, like a burning banner.

The silver-gray light armor on her body tightly wrapped her explosive physique during intense movement, outlining breathtaking curves. Sweat constantly dripped along her heroic jawline, instantly evaporating on the scorching ground with soft 'hissing' sounds.

"Roar!" With a roar full of dragon might, Liu Erlong's fourth spirit ring glowed brightly with purple light.

Her right fist clenched, and a violent crimson dragon flame instantly wrapped around it, forming a ferocious fiery dragon head.

Without any embellishment, a pure and extreme burst of power, she slammed a punch fiercely into the chest of a three-meter-tall test dummy made of special alloy!

"Boom—!!!"

A deafening explosion echoed through the training ground.

The sturdy alloy dummy was like it had been struck by a meteor, and a huge, terrifying indentation with crimson molten metal flowing at its edges instantly appeared on its chest.

The entire dummy slid back several meters, plowing deep furrows in the ground, and finally crashed to the ground with a harsh metallic screech, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

The other silver-ranked and even a few gold-ranked reserve members training nearby involuntarily stopped their movements, looking with awe and a hint of fear at the woman in the center of the training ground, who resembled a humanoid Tyrannosaurus.

In just a few months, from a Spirit Ancestor at level forty-one to now approaching the threshold of a Spirit King at level fifty, Liu Erlong's improvement speed was terrifying. Even more frightening was the incredibly violent and destructive power of her dragon Spirit.

Liu Erlong slowly retracted her fist, the fiery dragon head wrapped around it gradually dissipating, leaving only wisps of smoke.

Her chest heaved violently, her full bosom rising and falling beneath her light armor, and sweat soaked the wisps of hair on her forehead.

She raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her face, but in the depths of her crimson eyes beneath her heroic brows, there was no joy from her breakthrough, only a heavy chill and a hint of an unresolvable vexation.

"Mo Yuhan... you little brat, are you dead or not?"

A voice silently roared in her heart.

Qian Xunji's declaration was like a curse, tormenting her day and night.

"No bones left"?

Liu Erlong absolutely refused to believe it!

How could that little brat, who had eyes as calm as an adult's, who saved her, an outcast of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, from a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast, and even left behind a precious Spirit Bone, disappear so silently?

Didn't she join Spirit Hall, enduring its rules and regulations, and enduring those disdainful or probing gazes, precisely to get closer to the truth and tear open that layer of lies with her own hands?

However, the deeper she delved into this massive machine, the more powerless she felt.

Qian Xunji's authority was like an iron dome, covering everything.

Regarding the 'betrayal' of Bibi Dong and Mo Yuhan, it had long become an untouchable taboo among the higher-ups.

As a newly joined silver-ranked reserve, even with extraordinary talent, her foundation was shallow, and the core information she could access was very limited.

Those whispers of dissatisfaction with Qian Xunji in private would immediately turn into wary silence when she tried to approach.

Just as the vexation in Liu Erlong's heart was about to burst forth as tangible flames, a middle-aged man dressed in Spirit Hall deacon's attire quickly walked to the edge of the training ground and respectfully saluted in Liu Erlong's direction.

"Lady Liu, Elder Yue Guan requests your presence."

"Elder Yue Guan?"

Liu Erlong's crimson pupils slightly constricted. Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan? The Titled Douluo who was once Saintess Bibi Dong's right-hand man and was now idle in the Elder Palace?

Why would he want to see her?

She had no previous interactions with this revered Elder.

A hint of doubt arose in her heart, but more than that, it was a desire for answers, a sudden glimpse of a crack after being suppressed for too long.

Liu Erlong suppressed the vexation in her heart, nodded, her voice hoarse from the exercise: "Lead the way."

Following the deacon through the strict corridors of the Martial Soul Hall Academy and into the more magnificent and solemn Elder Palace area, they finally arrived at an exquisite courtyard filled with a faint scent of herbs and exotic flowers—it was the residence of Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.

Inside the courtyard, exotic flowers and rare plants competed for beauty. Yue Guan, dressed in a magnificent golden robe, was leisurely pruning a rare seven-colored violet.

He turned around, a flawless gentle smile on his face, but his eyes, like refined golden light, subtly assessed Liu Erlong as she approached.

"Liu Erlong? A genius of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, even in Spirit Hall, your brilliance has not been dimmed in the slightest."

Yue Guan's voice was mellow and pleasant, filled with admiration, "In such a short time, your Soul Power has advanced so much. This talent and effort are truly rare."

Liu Erlong bowed slightly, her posture neither servile nor overbearing: "Elder Yue Guan, you flatter me. May I ask why Elder summoned me?"

She spoke directly, her crimson eyes looking straight at Yue Guan, filled with frank inquiry.

The smile on Yue Guan's face remained unchanged, but his eyes deepened slightly. He put down the golden shears in his hand, took a few slow steps closer, and lowered his voice, speaking with a casualness as if merely chatting:

"No commands. It's just that I've recently heard that Miss Liu seems... quite concerned about the fate of the former Saintess and her adopted son?"

Liu Erlong's heart leaped!

Her entire body instantly tensed, like a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched.

After joining Spirit Hall, she had never explicitly revealed her intention to search for Mo Yuhan to anyone. How did Chrysanthemum Douluo know?

Was he probing? Or... did he have other motives?

The violent aura of her Fire Dragon Spirit within her almost surged out of control, and her crimson eyes blazed with vigilance and sharpness. Her voice also deepened, carrying a subtle hint of danger:

"What does Elder mean by that? The matter of the former Saintess was personally decided by His Majesty the Pope. How can we presume to discuss it?"

"Hehe, no need to be nervous."

Yue Guan seemed to have anticipated Liu Erlong's reaction; his smile remained gentle, but his eyes were sharp as needles, as if trying to pierce through her disguise, "I have been in Spirit Hall for many years and have seen many people. Some people come for power; some people come for strength; and some people..."

He paused, his gaze meaningfully sweeping over Liu Erlong's clenched fists, "...come for an obsession, or rather... for an answer."