Douluo's ice devil Yuhao

Chapter 597 I Have a Friend Also Surnamed Xue
In a luxurious suite on a high floor of the Tianling Grand Hotel, Xue Lan, the prince of the Douling Empire, was looking at Huo Yuhao respectfully, her eyes subtly revealing her desires.

Behind him stood an old man.

Huo Yuhao sat opposite him, a friendly smile on his face.

He had already guessed most of Xue Lan's purpose; it was probably related to soul guidance technology.

In these five years, the Sun Moon Empire's technological level has advanced rapidly, and even Star Luo and Heavenly Soul have gotten a share of the benefits, but all of this development has nothing to do with the distant Douling Empire.

Xue Lan must have sensed a sense of crisis today, which is why she invited him for a chat. The initial greeting was just a formality; it was only when she saw how familiar the young master of Mingde Hall was with Huo Yuhao that she realized Huo Yuhao's identity was extraordinary.

"Senior Huo Yuhao, I didn't recognize you at first. It was my fault for not recognizing you immediately," Xue Lan said apologetically.

"I have long admired your outstanding performance in the last competition, and I am finally fortunate to see it today."

As the captain of the Fighting Spirit Team, he studied and analyzed previous competitions for a long time in order to formulate tactics to face different strong opponents. Naturally, he had heard of Huo Yuhao. He easily defeated all kinds of strong opponents single-handedly.

He just didn't expect that the leader of Mingdou Academy was the real person.

"Calling me 'senior' is a bit too formal. I'm not that much older than you," Huo Yuhao said with a smile. He was only twenty-two years old this year, just a few years past the age limit for participating in the competition.

"I've already said all the pleasantries this afternoon. Let's get straight to the point. My students are waiting for me."

Xue Lan nodded and got straight to the point: "Today, when Ming Dou Academy and Ri Yue Royal Academy entered the city, the soul guide vehicles they rode in made our Dou Ling people very curious, and Father Emperor was also very interested."

"Dou Ling is interested in purchasing a few vehicles from Ming Dou Academy. Could you perhaps offer a price, senior?"

As expected, the Douling Empire wanted to curry favor with Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao refused their request: "Your Highness, this request is a bit difficult. In the Sun Moon Empire, soul-guided vehicles are already in short supply. You know, since the invention of the sealed milk bottle, even ordinary people can drive soul-guided vehicles, and people who want to buy them have already placed orders until the end of the year. Moreover..."

He spread his hands, revealing a helpless expression: "Mingdou Academy has already signed a cooperation agreement with the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School. They will have the exclusive right to operate the sales in the Sun Moon Empire and outside Mingdou City. I can't break the rules."

Xue Lan continued in an even more sincere tone: "We have long heard about the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School, but unfortunately they have almost no direct trade with us in our battle spirit realm."

"Senior Huo Yuhao, our Douling Empire is willing to purchase one vehicle from you for one million gold soul coins."

Before Huo Yuhao could express his opinion, the old man behind Xue Lan blurted out, "One million gold soul coins? Your Highness, please reconsider."

Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head: "I'm sorry, one million gold soul coins is far from enough."

Xue Lan frowned. He had just sent someone to quickly inquire with the participating teams from Xingluo Tianhun, and the price was already several times higher than the market price in Mingdou City.

His purpose in purchasing it was not for personal use, but for research.

The old man spoke with displeasure: "Young friend, our prince has already shown his utmost sincerity. Your demands are rather excessive."

To protect the prince, he subtly exuded an aura, indicating that his cultivation level had likely broken through to the ninth ring.

It wasn't surprising to Huo Yuhao that a prince of a country had a titled Douluo protecting him, but he didn't consider the other party a threat from the beginning.

Huo Yuhao's smile vanished, his eyes sharp as he stared directly at the old man, his tone devoid of its previous affability.

“You seem to have misunderstood something. It’s not me begging you to buy now, but you begging me to sell. I hold the power of negotiation, and your sincerity has never been a consideration in my eyes from the beginning.”

The old man was taken aback. He felt a chilling aura that went straight to the depths of his soul from Huo Yuhao's eyes.

But the feeling quickly disappeared; I wonder if it was just my imagination.

Xue Lan seemed oblivious to the old man's odd behavior and frowned, saying, "Senior, it's not that I can't afford more money, but this soul-guided vehicle is ultimately just a civilian-use level three soul-guided device. One million gold soul coins is enough to buy a top-tier level seven or even level eight attack soul-guided device."

He hadn't expected Huo Yuhao to refuse at first, because in his view, since the Soul Guidance Vehicle was already being sold normally on the market, it must not involve any secrets.

Dou Ling could have gone through a roundabout way, getting a vehicle through the influence of forces within the Star Luo Heavenly Soul Kingdom, but it would have been better to simply give Huo Yuhao a kickback and do him a favor. However, Huo Yuhao flatly refused.

The old man came to his senses and bowed to Xue Lan in a low voice, reminding her, "Your Highness, since this soul-guided vehicle is not of a high level, we can study it ourselves."

"Even though the Douling Empire's technology is still rudimentary, it can request assistance from Shrek Academy. In recent years, their soul tool technology has also made rapid progress."

Huo Yuhao praised without expression: "Your negotiation skills and approach are correct. You introduced another force to try to break our monopoly and thus gain bargaining power. Unfortunately, your judgment of the situation still needs improvement."

"If Shrek Academy has that capability, then why haven't they figured it out yet?" The old man scoffed, "That's just because they haven't started researching it yet. It's not some cutting-edge technology; it's not difficult for Shrek Academy at all."

"It's nothing more than a substitute for a horse-drawn carriage; it's not worth studying."

When Shrek Academy was mentioned, a look of joy and confidence appeared in the old man's eyes, indicating that he had quite a connection with the academy.

Huo Yuhao frowned. He vaguely sensed that this unfamiliar old man was targeting him. Was it because of his connection to Shrek Academy, and he wanted to take this opportunity to dampen Huo Yuhao's spirit?

"Hmph." He sneered, "Do you think this is just a simple soul-guided vehicle? This is the culmination of the wisdom of countless generations, the culmination of technological achievements in my hands."

"This is not just a simple means of transportation; it represents a logistics and transportation system that connects the entire continent."

"No value? Then I'll tell you what its value is."

"Its value lies in the fact that it allows an ordinary person who is powerless to drive alone from Mingdu, thousands of kilometers away, to deliver a fixed-position soul-guided missile to the capital of your Douling Empire."

The cold words were filled with a strong sense of hostility.

The old man was somewhat annoyed. He was only responsible for protecting Xue Lan, but he was still of a high status. Even His Majesty respected him greatly, and he had not been disrespected by anyone for many years. Huo Yuhao's words were clearly a threat.

His expression immediately changed, and he no longer concealed his aura, coldly saying, "Insolence! This is neither the Sun Moon Empire nor the Bright Battle Academy, so it's not your place to spout nonsense."

"The dignity of the Douling Xue family will not be challenged by an outsider like you."

The oppressive aura of a Title Douluo was unleashed, enough to make a Soul Douluo powerhouse look embarrassed.

Huo Yuhao, however, remained unfazed, treating the oppressive aura as nothing. He leaned back slightly, stretching his body in a relaxed posture, and sat back on the sofa, his tone even more indifferent.

"The Xue family of Douling? I have a friend whose surname is also Xue. Would you like to invite her over to have a chat with you?"

The next moment, the old man's face turned deathly pale, and he unconsciously took a step back.

A terrifying spiritual force emanated from the young man before him, devouring his own oppressive aura before reflecting back onto him.

He never expected that he would be the one to lose in the contest of momentum.

Xue Lan's expression changed slightly. She wanted to dissuade the two, but when she realized that she was just trying to get involved, she felt a strong sense of suffocation.

“I have an elder who has some friendship with Senior Tianyang. I will not bother you today because of him.”

Huo Yuhao stood up and walked straight out the door. Before leaving, he seemed to remember something and turned back to remind him: "Oh right, remember not to buy cars from other people to take apart and study them yourself. Every soul-guided vehicle has a self-destruct device inside."

After saying that, he left the room on his own. As the terrifying mental energy disappeared, the pressure on the old man also vanished, leaving only his back soaked with sweat.

At this moment, the figure of another tall old man appeared in the room.

Xue Lan quickly stood up and respectfully said, "Senior Tianyang."

"When did he discover me? But he does have some of Brother Poison's qualities."

The old man said calmly, "He is Tianyang Douluo, the strongest in the Douling Empire."

Tianyang Douluo said to Xue Lan, "Remember not to antagonize him. His cultivation has probably reached the peak of Soul Douluo, and he is only one step away from breaking through to the title level."

Contra Peak?
Xue Lan's pupils contracted involuntarily. He clearly remembered that Huo Yuhao's cultivation level in the competition was only six rings five years ago.

He quickly came to his senses and hesitated, "But what about Shrek Academy..."

Tianyang Douluo shook his head: "Let's wait and see."

After Huo Yuhao left the room, he met Huo Qiu'er, who had been waiting for him, at the bottom of the stairs.

Huo Qiu'er said leisurely, "It seems the talks didn't go well."

Huo Yuhao snorted: "I taught that old geezer a lesson."

Huo Qiu'er said, "Let me remind you, the Douling Empire is mostly in cahoots with Shrek Academy. I saw their team members training together in Xingdou before."

Huo Yuhao paused for a moment, then softly replied, "Yes, I understand."