"What is your relationship with Yang Xin, the City Lord of Zhenhai City?"
Xu Tianyang's gaze was extremely sharp. After he spoke Yang Xin's name, Yang Yiyi's small body stiffened slightly, and a complex, unreadable expression appeared in the depths of her eyes.
There was a hint of hatred in her ink-black eyes.
"I have no relation to him... no relation..." Yang Yiyi repeated this sentence firmly, as if trying to emphasize the accuracy of her words.
"The battle over there is also over. Go and see the extent of the City Lord's Mansion's losses. We need to report the situation here to Ming City as soon as possible, so that Father Emperor can send people to take over Zhenhai City and appease the populace."
Xu Tianyang gave Yang Yiyi a deep look. She was lying, and it couldn't escape his eyes. But since Yang Yiyi refused to speak, he didn't press the issue.
He led two guards past Yang Yiyi and walked towards the City Lord's Mansion.
Yang Yiyi watched the three of them walk towards the City Lord's Mansion, a look of pain flashing in her eyes. She bit her silver teeth tightly, then the pain was replaced by determination. She turned and chased after Xu Tianyang's retreating figure without hesitation.
Feeling the small figure quickly approaching from behind, Xu Tianyang's lips curved slightly.
After her Blue Silver Grass displayed its devouring power, he had no intention of letting her go. Such a genius, if she couldn't be used by him, must be killed by him.
Yang Yiyi was undoubtedly a promising talent. She didn't have that decadent aura about her, which meant that when faced with the power of devouring, she could maintain her inner bottom line. That was enough.
As for the issue of Yang Yiyi being an Evil Soul Master in the eyes of the public, did he see that as a problem?
Spirits had no distinction of good or evil; only Spirit Masters who possessed power distinguished between good and evil. Moreover, in this world where power reigned supreme, only the strong could define good and evil.
When I am invincible under heaven, if I say you are an Evil Soul Master, then you are an Evil Soul Master. What if you possess an Angel Martial Soul?
Upon arriving at the City Lord's Mansion, the battle here had already concluded. With Meng Tao and Xu Tianyang's guard squad joining the fight, there were no longer any surprises.
"Your Highness, the chief culprit has been executed, and all allied Evil Soul Masters in the city have been cleared out."
Seeing Xu Tianyang approach from a distance, Meng Tao breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly came to Xu Tianyang's side and said respectfully.
"Mm." Xu Tianyang nodded, not even glancing at the Evil Soul Master corpses littering the ground. He looked at Yang Yiyi, who was by his side. Her eyes were gradually reddening. She wanted to look at the surrounding corpses but didn't dare, appearing extremely conflicted.
"How is Yang Xin?" Xu Tianyang's heart stirred, and he asked casually.
Sure enough, upon hearing Xu Tianyang's words, Yang Yiyi's small body trembled. She pretended not to care, but in reality, she perked up her ears and subtly moved closer.
These small movements naturally couldn't escape everyone's eyes, but seeing that Xu Tianyang said nothing, no one dared to speak out.
Meng Tao's expression was solemn, and he said in a heavy tone, "City Lord Yang Xin, before this subordinate arrived, he fought fiercely with many Evil Soul Masters and was already severely wounded. After the battle ended, he ultimately did not make it."
Xu Tianyang nodded upon hearing this, showing no reaction. He had already anticipated this outcome.
On the other hand, Yang Yiyi, upon hearing this news, showed an unprecedentedly complex expression, containing relief, sadness, and even hatred.
"Temporarily take over the Zhenhai City Lord's Mansion and send someone to Ming City." Xu Tianyang calmly arranged the post-war matters.
As one order after another was issued, the entire Zhenhai City finally, with the arrival of dawn, dispelled the aura of slaughter from the previous night... Inside the Zhenhai City Lord's Mansion, Xu Tianyang finished his morning cultivation and walked out of his room. As expected, Yang Yiyi was standing delicately at the door of Xu Tianyang's room, almost bumping into him.
"How was your rest last night?" Looking at Yang Yiyi's slightly flushed cheeks, Xu Tianyang led her outside, asking softly as they walked.
"Thank you for your Highness's concern, Yi Yi is doing well." Yang Yiyi now knew Xu Tianyang's identity and seemed a bit reserved.
"There aren't so many rules with me. You can call me Little Brother, Brother Tianyang, or even just my name." Xu Tianyang noticed her reservation and tried to make his tone as gentle as possible.
"Brother Tianyang!" Yang Yiyi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and she called out sweetly. No trace of sadness could be seen on her; last night's events seemed to have passed a long time ago.
Xu Tianyang smiled slightly, not feeling surprised. Yang Yiyi's information had already been placed on his desk last night.
Her background could only be described as the Sun Moon Empire's version of Huo Gua. Her mother was merely a maid in the City Lord's Mansion and passed away three years after giving birth to her. As an illegitimate daughter, Yang Yiyi did not have a good life in the City Lord's Mansion, and coupled with her mother's passing, she didn't have much affection for the Yang Family.
Nine months ago, Yang Yiyi awakened her Blue Silver Grass Spirit. Even though her innate spirit power was as high as rank seven at the time, the Blue Silver Grass, recognized as a waste Spirit on the continent, did not change her situation in the Yang Family. Instead, because of her decent innate spirit power, she was ostracized and bullied by many of her peers.
Yang Yiyi, growing up in such an environment, if she were to become powerful in the future and wipe out the entire Yang Family, he wouldn't find it strange.
However, all the hatred had now been resolved with last night's battle.
After having breakfast with Yang Yiyi, Xu Tianyang took out a jade bottle and handed it to Yang Yiyi. "This is a Solidifying Pulse Pill. Your spirit power breakthrough from rank nine to ten was too rushed. Take it to stabilize the spirit power in your body. In a few days, after Ming City sends people to take over everything in Zhenhai City, I'll take you to hunt Spirit Beasts."
Currently, the main types of elixirs in the Sun Moon Empire market include those for enhancing strength, healing injuries, and solidifying foundations.
There were also elixirs that, while rapidly increasing strength, could also stabilize one's foundation. These were called high-grade elixirs, and their side effect was that they were expensive and had high resistance.
The resistance of elixirs was similar to drug tolerance; the body would actively develop resistance, and as the number of doses increased, the effect would gradually diminish... Therefore, such elixirs were difficult for ordinary people to find.
In contrast, there were elixirs that were relatively cheaper but caused some damage to the foundation, leading to unstable spirit power after consumption.
These elixirs were the first choice for ordinary Soul Engineers.
Affordability was one aspect; another was for the rapid advancement of spirit tool technology, which was often linked to spirit power rank.
Therefore, ordinary Soul Engineers in the Sun Moon Empire didn't need to worry about whether their spirit power was solid. They only needed to learn various spirit tool technologies, create spirit tools, and then sell them to earn money, acquiring more resources to improve themselves, forming a cycle until their talent was exhausted.
The battles of Soul Engineers were also primarily based on spirit tools, so whether their spirit power was solid or not didn't have a significant impact.
Of course, for Spirit Masters with talent and resources, they naturally wouldn't consume those elixirs that would ruin their future.
The Solidifying Pulse Pill was a highly resistant elixir that, if timed correctly, could essentially be taken continuously to stabilize one's foundation. It could also slightly treat injuries and cost several thousand gold Soul Coins on the open market.
Yang Yiyi didn't take it immediately, but instead looked at Xu Tianyang hesitantly, carefully asking, "Brother Tianyang, my Spirit..."
"I know." Seeing this, Xu Tianyang reached out and rubbed her head, saying softly, "Spirits have no good or bad. As long as Yi Yi uses this power in the right place, that's fine."
"I hope to see the day when Yi Yi uses the power of Evil Soul Masters, which the world fears, to eradicate those true Evil Soul Masters."
"Mm-hmm!" Yang Yiyi looked at Xu Tianyang, her eyes slightly red, her heart filled with emotion. This was the first time someone had acknowledged her and made her feel warm.
"Take it!" Seeing this, Xu Tianyang placed the Solidifying Pulse Pill into her small hand, encouraged her, and then turned to leave.
Watching Xu Tianyang's retreating figure, Yang Yiyi secretly vowed in her heart, "Brother Tianyang, Yi Yi won't let you down. Yi Yi will become very powerful, very powerful, and then kill all the Evil Soul Masters in the world."
...Ming City's actions were swift. In just three days, new officials were sent to take over all matters in Zhenhai City.
And Xu Tianyang and his group finally extricated themselves from the complex government affairs. Zhenhai City, having just experienced a major upheaval, was in a state of disarray, with one complex matter after another.
Fortunately, they were finally relieved.
Min Yingying also returned to Xu Tianyang's side with this contingent, bringing with her a secret letter personally written by Xu Yunxiao.
After handing the secret letter to Xu Tianyang, Min Yingying said respectfully.
"Your Highness, this is the secret letter His Majesty instructed this subordinate to bring when I came, and he has decreed that after Your Highness has completed the handover of Zhenhai City's affairs, you are to depart immediately and return to Ming City."
Xu Tianyang's expression became somewhat solemn upon hearing this. Xu Yunxiao's attitude suggested that something major was about to happen, but was anything major happening within the empire's borders right now?
After recalling for a moment and finding no clues, Xu Tianyang slowly opened Xu Yunxiao's secret letter. After reading it, he stood up in shock.
"This is impossible!!!"
"How can this be? What on earth caused such a huge change?"
Min Yingying looked at Xu Tianyang with a solemn expression, curious about what was written in His Majesty's letter that could make the usually steady Prince react so strongly?
However, she was very discreet and did not inquire. Curiosity killed the cat was not just a proverb in the imperial family.
It was a real existence.
"Min Yingying, Meng Tao, heed the decree! I must return to Ming City immediately at the fastest speed. Depart at once!" Xu Tianyang's young yet authoritative voice rang out, making Min Yingying and Meng Tao tense up.
"Your subject, accepts the decree!"
Watching the two leave to make arrangements, Xu Tianyang's expression gradually became profound. Xu Yunxiao's letter had completely disrupted his plans. For the first time, he felt that things were somewhat beyond his expectations, and he couldn't even foresee where the situation would go next.
At the same time, this also presented a huge opportunity, and it remained to be seen whether the Sun Moon Empire and he, Xu Tianyang, could seize it.
Looking down at the letter in his palm again, Xu Tianyang's gaze gradually became excited.
It read: "People of Sea God Island unexpectedly appeared deep in the Empire's East Sea. My son, return quickly."
...High in the sky, a golden light membrane flickered, inside which stood more than ten figures, precisely Xu Tianyang and his group. In order to rush back to Ming City at the fastest speed, Meng Tao and the others brought out the empire's top-tier flying spirit tool, a recent new product from Mingde Hall that had not yet been widely popularized.
This spirit tool was a bit strange. Beyond the golden light membrane, there was also a pair of enormous golden wings, a thousand meters wide, gently flapping.
The golden wings were thin and soft, completely lacking any metallic texture. Faint golden light flowed over them, making them look more like the wings of a flying Spirit Beast.
This spirit tool was precisely made to imitate the characteristics of flying Spirit Beasts, representing a new direction the empire was currently researching: "spirit tool Bionics."
Yang Yiyi, riding a flying spirit tool for the first time, constantly surveyed the world outside with curious eyes, as if observing through the water's surface from underwater.
Inside the golden film, she only felt the surrounding scenery become illusory at an extremely fast speed, and not a single sound of wind reached her ears. If not for the rapidly passing scenery outside, she probably wouldn't even realize she was flying at high speed in the air.
"How amazing!"
Listening to Yang Yiyi's exclamation, Xu Tianyang smiled slightly, and his originally tense mood also calmed down.
Meet aggression with aggression, and deal with problems as they arise. The situation might not be that bad.
"Yi Yi, I'm afraid I'll have to break my promise about hunting for a spirit ring." Xu Tianyang looked at Yang Yiyi and said apologetically, "However, I will send someone to catch a suitable Spirit Beast for you to absorb directly in the academy."
Yang Yiyi was naturally to be arranged to go to school. Even with her talent, she needed time to realize it, and Sun Moon Royal Academy was the best place.
"It's okay, Brother Tianyang's matters are more urgent, Yi Yi is fine. Didn't Brother Tianyang say that even if I don't absorb a spirit ring, the spirit power cultivated later won't disappear, and it will burst out with the spirit power breakthrough? Maybe Yi Yi can break through two ranks at once then!" Yang Yiyi, being very sensible, comforted Xu Tianyang, and then stuck out her tongue, smiling playfully.
"Haha, with Yi Yi's talent, Brother Tianyang believes you can definitely achieve two ranks at once." Seeing this, Xu Tianyang relaxed and said with a smile.
"Hehe!"
"When did such an excellent girl appear by His Highness's side again?"
Beside them, Min Yingying looked at the suddenly appearing Yang Yiyi, her mind full of questions. Immediately following was worry for Xu Nianshuang. Yang Yiyi's talent and appearance, no less than Xu Nianshuang's, would undoubtedly make her Xu Nianshuang's biggest rival in the future. Looking at Yang Yiyi's obedient younger sister demeanor, Min Yingying couldn't help but feel a pang of worry for Xu Nianshuang.
A day and a night later, looking at the familiar silhouette ahead, Xu Tianyang felt a surge of emotion. Compared to when he went out for training, Ming City was undoubtedly much larger now.
After unifying the continent, this capital of the Sun Moon Empire had undoubtedly become the true first city of the Sun Moon Continent. Countless people flocked here, which also led to the original urban scale of Ming City becoming crowded.
After Xu Yunxiao ascended the throne, Ming City also began a new round of expansion.