Even though they hadn't interacted much, in Huo Yuhao's view, Dai Hao was not the kind of person to sit and wait for death; he would surely seek an opportunity to break the current deadlock.
The simplest and most effective way would be to find Huo Yun'er and then loudly proclaim her as Dai Hao's primary wife. If Huo Yun'er actually fell for it again, all of Huo Yuhao's previous planning would essentially be for naught...
Huo Yun'er's smile stiffened. She took half a step back, lowering her head slightly in dejection.
"...It's been so many years. I've lied to myself enough. I don't want to see him again. I promise you, that situation won't happen. You can rest easy."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The hidden measures left by Baili Du back then were finally taking effect. If he hadn't used the power of emotion to modify Huo Yun'er's feelings, it would have been almost impossible to overturn a woman's "love-brain" way of thinking in this God of Love's fall-site.
When Huo Yuhao went upstairs, he found Long Qiu'er, dressed in a nightgown, leaning against his bedroom door.
She spoke as if it were a matter of course, "When are we leaving? I'm going too."
"Eh? Miss Qiu'er is going too? The Body Sect doesn't seem like a suitable place for you, does it?"
Long Qiu'er gave him a faint glance, pouting her lips with a hint of tsundere pride. "I'm going to supervise you and see if you're neglecting your proper duties. Don't forget what you promised the Lord back in the Star Dou Forest."
Huo Yuhao blinked a couple of times and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "...Alright, I'll ask Sect Master Du if I can bring an extra person. Ah, right, please come in."
Long Qiu'er gave a satisfied, gentle smile and sat casually on Huo Yuhao's bed. "Although I shouldn't say much about your life plans, I must say—you did the right thing by leaving Shrek. As for going to the Body Sect... I have my reservations."
Huo Yuhao picked up a cup and poured her some water. "By the way, I heard the Body Sect once hunted a total of seven 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Forest, even waking up the strongest group of Ferocious Beasts, which triggered a Great Beast Tide. Does Miss Qiu'er know about this?"
Long Qiu'er nodded silently. "It was probably about two thousand years ago. Both sides fought a massive battle and suffered heavy losses. But to be honest, those humans were indeed strong. The one leading them even had physical fitness on par with the Bear Lord."
Now it was Huo Yuhao's turn to be shocked. "Huh? For real! That's impossible!"
Among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, Di Tian was undisputedly the strongest. However, the one with the strongest physical attack and defense was the sixth-ranked Bear Lord.
Di Tian was strong overall; the Black Dragon King bloodline gave him an almost indestructible physical foundation, but in terms of raw physical defense, the Bear Lord—who possessed the bloodline of the Golden Behemoth—was a notch above him.
A human who could match the physical fitness of the Bear Lord! Was that even possible?
[Author's Note: Douluo Dalu 3 stated the Bear Lord's defense is higher than Di Tian's; that's original canon. Then there's the Body Sect's innate secret technique, the Incorruptible Golden Body, which is said to have the power of god-making once mastered. It makes one like an unkillable cockroach with infinite stamina, capable of fighting a war of attrition against three Quasi-Gods. Personally, I think the Body Sect already had this technique during the Dou 2 era; otherwise, how could a normal Level 99 survive a few swipes from Di Tian or the Bear Lord?]
[Regarding Du Busi's three 100,000-year soul rings, they might be from the second awakening of his Body Martial Soul upgrading his rings, or they could be from sea-type Soul Beasts. Otherwise, if Mu En has three, Du Busi has three, and Long Xiaoyao has at least two... would the Star Dou Forest really let these guys wreck havoc like that?]
Long Qiu'er took a sip of water. "Otherwise, do you think someone with Di Tian's temper would have let those guys off? The leader was simply an unkillable cockroach. He single-handedly stalled the Bear Lord and the Myriad Demon King, buying time for the other Body Sect disciples to retreat. In the end, even when Di Tian stepped in, he could only heavily wound him. Killing him would have likely cost a great price. You should be able to learn a lot there."
Was the Body Sect really that strong?
Recalling the powerful surge of Blood Essence from that Sect Master named Du Busi, Huo Yuhao felt a bit of anticipation.
"The people of the Body Sect may act according to their own whims of good and evil, but at least they are fairly straightforward. Since then, they haven't returned to the Star Dou Forest to hunt 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts. It's just those Shrek fellows..."
Speaking of Shrek, Long Qiu'er clenched her fists, her words full of loathing. "Those people always stand on the moral high ground to criticize others, saying the Body Sect slaughters too many Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Forest, but they aren't any better!"
"A guy with a Radiant Holy Dragon Martial Soul came and killed three of our light-attribute 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts! They even kidnap my people to use as materials for student exams!"
During this time, Miss Long Qiu'er hadn't just stayed in Star Luo City; she had traveled to other large human cities for observation, so she had learned quite a bit.
Huo Yuhao's face twitched. He actually knew about this; during the Shrek Outer Court freshman assessments, Soul Beasts were used as the standard for upgrades. He heard Shrek spent quite a lot of money just to raise those Soul Beasts.
It was a classic case of spending money on the wrong things... No wonder Shrek could even sit at the same table as Evil Soul Masters in the Star Dou Forest...
After chatting a bit longer, his mother's voice came from downstairs, and Long Qiu'er returned to her room.
Someone's visiting this late?
Thinking this, Huo Yuhao opened the door. He recognized the visitor; it was one of Xu Jiujiu's personal maids.
The maid handed over an exquisite box, a polite smile on her face. "A gift from Her Highness the Princess to the Marquis of Spirit Ice. Her Highness wishes the Marquis a future as bright as a soaring roc."
Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart. She truly was as meticulous as a hair.
"Many thanks to Her Highness the Princess! Yuhao will certainly repay the Princess's great kindness in the future."
After the maid left, Huo Yuhao returned to his room and examined the exquisite box.
A gift? What could it be?
Huo Yuhao opened the box.
After taking out several bright gemstones and ancient books, he saw the "gift" hidden at the bottom of the chest.
"?...!"
Looking at the black silk stockings and milky-white high heels that still carried a faint fragrance, Huo Yuhao's pupils suddenly constricted, and his face froze in an expression of shock.
These two items were all too familiar to Huo Yuhao. At the dance just now, weren't these exactly the intimate items Xu Jiujiu had been wearing?
Huo Yuhao's mind went a bit numb. What is she doing? Didn't she say it was a gift for me? Why put these in the box? Did she put them there by mistake?
Or... thinking of this, Huo Yuhao's expression became quite strange. The unique delicate fragrance and residual warmth of Xu Jiujiu were still on them.
"Testing a cadre with this? Which cadre could possibly fail such a test?"
Though he said that, Huo Yuhao still solemnly put away the gift Xu Jiujiu had given him.