The carriage traveled for about an hour, exited Tianming City, and reached the main road.
The wheels rumbled, and the horses’ hooves clattered.
Qian Daoliu had his eyes closed; he appeared to be resting, but in reality, he was sensing his surroundings with his mental force.
Dai Hao sat opposite him, wanting to speak several times, only to swallow his words back.
After a good while, he finally couldn’t help but speak.
“Brother Qian.”
Qian Daoliu opened his eyes: “Hm?”
Dai Hao hesitated slightly, but still asked: “I heard that some time ago, in a small town near the Mingdou Mountain Range, many commoners awakened their Spirits.”
“It wasn’t by paying someone; it seems someone helped them.
Do you know about this?”
How could Qian Daoliu not hear that he was probing him?
He might even already know that he was the one who did it.
He openly admitted: “Hm, it was this old man who helped them with their Awakening.
Is there a problem with that?”
Dai Hao thought to himself that it was as he expected, and a conflicted expression appeared on his face.
“Brother Qian, perhaps you were suddenly overcome with kindness, but don’t do this in the future.”
Qian Daoliu frowned: “Why?”
Dai Hao immediately stated: “Spirit Awakening has actually formed a commercial chain that involves many factions.”
“Moreover, they are unwilling to see commoners awaken their Spirits.”
“Brother Qian should understand what I mean.”
“If you do this, it is very easy to provoke public outrage.”
Upon hearing this, Qian Daoliu sneered.
“Heh, you’ve become accustomed to being high and mighty, unable to stand seeing the lower classes rise, fearing being toppled.
Do you think this way too?”
Dai Hao was slightly stunned, seeing that Qian Daoliu seemed to have Life Qi.
Naturally, he would not reveal his true thoughts, only saying: “Of course I do not think that way.”
Qian Daoliu couldn’t be bothered to continue chatting and closed his eyes.
Seeing this, Dai Hao sensibly stopped speaking, his expression returning to normal.
But to be honest.
In his heart, he had actually already developed feelings of dissatisfaction toward Qian Daoliu.
He felt that Qian Daoliu was being too pretentious.
To be able to Cultivate to a Titled Douluo, he did not believe that the Family Qian Daoliu belonged to had never participated in the commercial chain of Spirit Awakening.
Did he really think he was a Saint?
But dissatisfaction aside, Dai Hao naturally could not show it.
If he offended Qian Daoliu because of this, he would have absolutely no confidence in winning, and the plan to win him over would also be ruined.
The carriage fell into silence, with only the sound of the wheels rolling.
Qian Daoliu had his eyes closed, but his heart was churning.
He felt more and more that this World was sick.
Although noble oppression of commoners was common, here they had directly cut off the commoners’ chance to climb upward.
He did not actually hold the view that everyone was equal.
Nobles were born standing at a high point, and commoners were born at a low point; it was indeed not very fair, but one could only blame themselves for being born poorly.
However, the only thing in the World that could be called fair was that everyone could awaken their Spirit.
Even though the nobility had gone through generations of Bloodline screening, and the probability of Awakening a powerful Spirit far exceeded that of commoners, at least commoners still had a chance to gamble on a benign Spirit mutation.
In this current era, however, they had directly blocked the commoners’ path.
Qian Daoliu believed this was wrong.
The World should have been a place where a hundred flowers bloom, not one where the nobility alone held sway.
If they had the ability, they should compete with real blades and guns, prove they were better than commoners, prove they could ride on the heads of commoners, instead of using underhanded means.
Qian Daoliu became even more determined to rebuild Martial Soul Hall.
Four days later.
The carriage arrived at Star Luo City.
The scale of Star Luo City was several times larger than Tianming City.
The city walls towered into the clouds, the city gate was bustling with traffic, and pedestrians were like a woven fabric.
When the guards saw the emblem representing the Duke of White Tiger on the carriage, they hurriedly opened the city gate, but a routine inspection was still required.
At this moment, a burly man stopped the carriage and said respectfully: “Lord Duke, the schedule for the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament is already more than halfway through, and in a few days, the city will host the Round of 16 elimination tournament.”
“To ensure the safety of the process, according to the rules, an inspection is mandatory.
Please forgive us.”
Dai Hao’s voice sounded from inside the carriage: “Hm.”
Dai Hao lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage.
Qian Daoliu followed closely behind.
The burly man signaled his subordinates to quickly inspect the inside of the carriage, and incidentally, they also inspected the accompanying personnel.
After confirming everything was in order, the burly man then bowed apologetically to Dai Hao: “There is no problem now, Lord Duke.”
While speaking, he glanced at Qian Daoliu, feeling very puzzled.
This person looked unfamiliar, yet could share a carriage with the Duke of White Tiger; who exactly was he?
“Hm.”
Dai Hao nodded slightly and looked at Qian Daoliu.
“Brother Qian, come with me to the Imperial Palace later to meet Your Majesty.
I believe with me stepping in, Your Majesty will agree to let you borrow the classics.”
However, Qian Daoliu acted as if he hadn’t heard.
He turned his gaze toward a certain direction in the city, murderous intent flowing in his eyes.
He sensed the aura of many Evil Soul Masters.
Qian Daoliu withdrew his gaze, his tone flat: “It seems the surveillance strength of this Star Luo City still needs to be increased.
Let us proceed on foot.”
Upon hearing this, Dai Hao was completely bewildered and didn’t quite understand.
But since Qian Daoliu had taken the initiative to suggest walking, and considering he still needed to win the other party over, he naturally wouldn’t refuse verbally.
“Fine, then we shall walk.”
Dai Hao immediately nodded in agreement, while simultaneously having the accompanying personnel dismount and follow behind, leading the horses.
Subsequently, the group passed through the city gate and entered Star Luo City.
Star Luo City was quite prosperous; shops lined both sides of the streets, and pedestrians were shoulder to shoulder.
Those selling snacks, fabrics, and jewelry—the cries of vendors rose and fell.
Qian Daoliu walked in the very front.
He appeared casual, but in reality, he was using his mental force to lock onto the locations of those Evil Soul Masters.
However, his expression grew colder and colder.
Throughout the entire Star Luo City, Qian Daoliu sensed at least a hundred auras of Evil Soul Masters, scattered in various places.
Some were strong and some were weak; the strongest had even reached the level of a Spirit Douluo.
Murderous intent surged in Qian Daoliu’s eyes.
One had to know that the population base of Star Luo City was very large; if the Evil Soul Masters caused trouble, it would likely result in thousands of casualties just like that.
However, now was not the time to act.
After all, this was Star Luo City.
Although he had the confidence to deal with those hidden Evil Soul Masters, because the locations were too scattered, if he didn’t use some special means, he couldn’t achieve an instant kill.
If the Evil Soul Masters were driven to desperation and harmed innocent people, that would be a grave sin.
Special means…
using them would also easily cause a disturbance.
He did not want to be too high-profile.
Qian Daoliu could only make a mental note for now.
He decided that when he met the Star Luo Emperor later.
He would talk to him properly about it.
“Hm?”
Dai Hao walked beside him, noticing the change in Qian Daoliu’s expression, and his inner confusion deepened.
But he didn’t ask further.
Qian Daoliu walked slowly forward.
From afar, he saw the Star Luo Imperial Palace; it was quite imposing and occupied a huge area, at least taking up one-fifth of the entire Star Luo City.
He couldn’t help but think of the scale of Martial Soul Hall; comparing the two, in the end, he had to admit that the Star Luo Imperial Palace was actually much more imposing than Martial Soul Hall.
But thinking about it, it was normal; after all, the times were progressing.