Because of Haiyuan City's geographic location, Lu Jingming had only two options: either go to the sea to hunt sea soul beasts or venture to the Mingdou Mountain Range.
But sea soul beasts weren't suitable for him—most of them had water and ice attributes, which didn't align well with the nature of his twin martial souls, the Black Abyss and White Flower.
As for the Mingdou Mountains, originally it was a decent choice since it wasn't too far from Haiyuan City. However, recent tensions between the Xingluo Empire and the Riyue Empire had escalated into small-scale border conflicts.
Duke Baihu Dai Hao led an elite force and successfully stormed a small border town in the Riyue Empire.
At this moment, both sides were locked in fierce battles throughout the Mingdou Mountains. Such chaotic conditions were clearly unsuitable for soul beast hunting.
When Lu Jingming received this intelligence, he was quite surprised. He hadn't expected the Riyue Empire to be so weak at this stage, allowing their border city to be so easily taken. Even more puzzling was the fact that Riyue had not deployed their powerful soul-tech weapons.
After a detailed analysis by Chang Li, he finally understood the reason: the current ruler of the Riyue Empire was none other than He Caitou's father from the original story—He Caitou was still the Crown Prince Xu He at this time.
He Caitou's father was a conservative, and under his reign, despite Riyue's advanced soul-tech, most of the crucial soul-tech weapons that could decisively influence war were strictly forbidden in battle.
Moreover, Duke Baihu Dai Hao led his elite Baihu Army, a formidable force. Within the Xingluo Empire, apart from the top ten soul master legions composed of soul masters, the Baihu Army's combat effectiveness was the most outstanding.
Due to the Riyue Empire's conservative military strategy and underutilization of soul-tech, their forces were relatively weak, which allowed Duke Baihu to successfully breach the border city.
Lu Jingming refrained from commenting too much on He Caitou's father's decision but speculated that this might be why, in the original story, the Riyue Empire experienced significant reforms years later without sparking major turmoil.
After all, the Riyue Empire had a deep foundation: the Five Guardians of the Nation, the Royal Sacrificial Hall, and the Mingde Hall were no trivial powers.
Without their support, Xu Tianran's father in the original story wouldn't have easily seized power, even if he colluded with the Holy Spirit Sect.
In this world of extraordinary power, high-level forces could greatly influence the succession of the throne.
Without the tacit approval of the powerful Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming, no matter how Xu Tianran's father schemed, he would not have succeeded.
Obviously, the current situation in the Riyue Empire had caused dissatisfaction among many top figures. They desired a stronger emperor to change the status quo.
Although Lu Jingming had the peerless sword immortal Jingliu to protect him, so he didn't worry about his safety, he still preferred to avoid trouble whenever possible. Therefore, he decided to head to the Xingdou Great Forest to obtain his first soul ring.
After all, he was not from any academy and did not agree with the saying, "Those who don't dare to stir up trouble are mediocre talents."
In his view, such talk was just cowardice cloaked in bravado. When facing truly powerful opponents, they'd still have to obediently submit.
At that moment, Lu Jingming and Jingliu were flying rapidly several thousand meters above the ground. The biting gale howled around them but couldn't penetrate the soul force shield radiating an icy blue light.
Lu Jingming lay in Jingliu's arms. Though he could smell her faint fragrance, the experience was not particularly pleasant.
Jingliu was clad in light armor, which turned what should have been a soft touch into something cold and hard.
The Xingdou Great Forest lay to the east of Haiyuan City. Traveling there meant crossing Xingluo City.
However, Jingliu flew above three thousand meters, beyond the detection range of Xingluo Empire's current air defenses.
Therefore, Jingliu didn't bother taking detours and headed straight to their destination.
As they flew over Xingluo City, a strong aura sensed the soul force fluctuations Jingliu emitted.
But after a brief assessment, this person chose to ignore it—after all, anyone able to fly freely at three thousand meters was no ordinary soul master. Since Jingliu was just passing through, there was no need to cause unnecessary trouble.
After crossing Xingluo City, they flew over the Baihu Duke's mansion. Looking down, Lu Jingming naturally thought of the protagonist of this world, Huo Yuhao.
As a noble of the Xingluo Empire, gathering information about the Baihu Duke's mansion was not difficult, provided it didn't involve secrets.
After some investigation, though Lu Jingming had never heard the name "Dai Yuhao," he learned about Dai Yaoheng and Dai Huabin.
Dai Yaoheng was five years older than Lu Jingming and had just joined Shrek Academy, while Dai Huabin was only four years old, two years younger than Lu Jingming. This placed Lu Jingming in the same generation as Beibei and Xu Sanshi.
It was through this knowledge of the Baihu Duke's mansion that Lu Jingming finally confirmed his timeline.
At present, Huo Yuhao was still a child; his martial soul had yet to awaken, and his mother was still alive.
But Lu Jingming was certain that the God King of the Divine Realm had already set his sights on Huo Yuhao—the child destined with the fate of Douluo Continent.
After all, the moment Huo Yuhao's mother passed away, the God King had precisely taken her soul and brought it to the Divine Realm.
It was not difficult to speculate that perhaps at the very moment Huo Yuhao was born—when the fate of Douluo Continent subtly shifted because of him—that God King had already keenly sensed the extraordinary nature of this child of destiny and began to closely watch over him.
At this stage, Lu Jingming had no intention whatsoever of exposing himself to that God King's gaze, and naturally had no plans to approach Huo Yuhao.
It must be understood that this God King was by no means magnanimous. Words like "vengeful, ruthless, and unscrupulous" perfectly described him, especially considering he originally came from an assassin sect.
In the God King's eyes, Lu Jingming was undoubtedly an unstable factor. This God King, who had long regarded Douluo Continent as his own possession, would never tolerate such an unexpected variable beyond his control.
The fate awaiting Lu Jingming was clear: either be meticulously erased by the God King's design, wiped from existence, or, like Huo Yuhao, be shackled by invisible chains, forced to become an obedient "dog."
Therefore, without sufficient strength and certainty, Lu Jingming was resolute in his decision to avoid revealing himself within that God King's line of sight.
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