Huo Yuhao knew that it was almost time. If he went any further, he would hurt her.
He didn't immediately remove his spiritual pressure. That wouldn't be good for Nan Qiuqiu. Instead, he slowly lowered the pressure and let her gradually adapt to it. As the pressure decreased, Nan Qiuqiu's spiritual state of mind also started to weaken.
Finally, she collapsed to the ground after Huo Yuhao removed all the pressure.
Huo Yuhao came to her side. He lifted his hand and rubbed the perspiration off his forehead. While he only let out at most forty percent of his spiritual power, he was carefully controlling it throughout this one hour. He had to get close to Nan Qiuqiu's limit without hurting her, which was sort of a test of his control. If this was before he had formed his soul core, he wouldn't have been able to do it.
He squatted down beside Nan Qiuqiu and placed his hand on her brow. After sensing for a brief moment, he was sure that her spiritual sea was undamaged. It was just that she had been overly drained. After this, he nodded satisfactorily.
The method of using spiritual pressure to strengthen someone else's spiritual power was built on the premise that the person possessed immense spiritual power in the first place. Otherwise, the other party might be critically hurt if things went wrong.
However, this was undoubtedly the best method, and it was the most effective on the first try. Huo Yuhao estimated that Nan Qiuqiu's spiritual power would experience a significant increase after this experience.
However, she was overly drained, and wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Huo Yuhao spontaneously opened his spectral demiplane and placed her inside. After unleashing some enchantments, he chased away some specters and protected her inside the demiplane. At the same time, he left behind a streak of his spirit to protect her inside the demiplane. The moment she woke up, he would be aware of it.
After finishing all that, he stood up before continuing his journey.
Without Nan Qiuqiu slowing him down, Huo Yuhao was as quick as lightning as he flew in the air. This time, he didn't use any flying-type soul tools. He relied on his soul power to fly.
As he flew, Huo Yuhao sensed that his soul power was slowly being drained.
After forming his soul core, he hadn't had time to carefully test it yet. He had only briefly tested it in the Sea God's Pavilion. After the fusion, his soul power had actually jumped two ranks. He was now at Rank 76. Such an increase left him close to Rank 80. In just a year, he had managed to improve by leaps and bounds.
However, Huo Yuhao wasn't satisfied with his current cultivation. The war might carry on at any time. A seven-ringed Soul Sage was considered pretty high-ranked, but he wouldn't be of much help if he wanted to affect the situation at the highest tier. He needed greater strength.
Due to the rank of his soul power, his soul power was obviously being drained at a slower speed. Huo Yuhao was more astonished with the recovery speed of his soul power.
After more than ten percent of his soul power had been drained, he didn't need to deliberately do anything. On his forehead, the black whirlpool that belonged to a different dimension naturally opened. There was boundless darkness inside this whirlpool. A strong suction force instantaneously appeared and sucked all the origin energy in the air to replenish Huo Yuhao's body. He recovered as quickly as he was drained. It was as if he wasn't affected at all.
No wonder it was only a Titled Douluo that could possess a soul core! Given this recovery speed, he wasn't afraid of being drained in the process of flying.
Furthermore, Huo Yuhao was stunned to discover that his soul core didn't just replenish his soul power. It also replenished his spiritual power.
To help Nan Qiuqiu earlier, his spiritual sea was revolving in a weird trajectory, but his spiritual power was now recovering too.
Simply put, this soul core was like another Huo Yuhao in a different dimension. In this world, Huo Yuhao might be flying. However, he was resting and cultivating in the other dimension. This feeling wasn't just new; it was fantastic too.
Huo Yuhao understood that his cultivation speed had doubled at the very least after obtaining this soul core. Within a year or two, he could become a Soul Douluo.
Right now, he was just twenty years old.
As he flew and sensed the changes in his soul core, Huo Yuhao's flying speed kept on increasing. He was like a beam of flowing light in the air. More magically, this beam of flowing light was slowly dimming as it flew. It was as if it were combining with heaven and earth.
If Elder Mu could be by Huo Yuhao's side right now, he would be shocked. He would also tell Huo Yuhao that this was the Unity of Heaven and Man. Even Transcendent Douluo might not reach such a realm. After reaching such a realm, not only would one's life energy decrease at a slower speed, but his affinity with the origin energy of heaven and earth would also increase. During the process of cultivation and recovery, such a soul master would do better than other soul masters of the same cultivation. In addition, such a soul master would also be better at concealing himself.
Huo Yuhao was delayed because he was helping Nan Qiuqiu earlier, but he soon caught up with his astonishing speed. In the evening, he could already see the outline of Dragon City.
Dragon City was considered a huge city in the Heavenly Soul Empire, located in its northeast region. Its temperature was comparatively lower than the other regions. Moving north from Dragon City, Huo Yuhao could reach the Extreme North in less than four hours. He could reach the core of the Extreme North in at most eight hours. This clearly showed how low the temperature was in Dragon City.
Huo Yuhao could only see ice and snow all around.
In fact, he clearly knew why the Sun Moon Empire chose to occupy more than two-thirds of the territory of the Heavenly Soul Empire. They wanted to continue expanding their territory starting from the north.
One reason was that it was very difficult for ordinary soldiers to resist the cold in the north. This was even more advantageous for their soul engineer legions. Even the Dou Ling Empire wasn't able to provide stronger support. Another reason was naturally because of Shrek Academy.
If the Sun Moon Empire attacked the south first, they were very likely to face the combined forces of the Star Luo Empire, Heavenly Soul Empire, Dou Ling Empire and Shrek Academy. Just like Huo Yuhao's second plan, such a situation would lead to a final showdown between the Sun Moon Empire and the rest of the other empires and Shrek Academy.
Without the Star Luo Empire's attack on the Sun Moon Empire's territories, the Sun Moon Empire might perhaps still choose a final showdown. With the Holy Ghost Church to support them, a few soul engineer legions and two Ultimate Douluo, they were confident of winning.
However, if the Sun Moon Empire's territories were attacked, they would be greatly threatened, and would have no choice but to send troops to protect their own territories. Under such a condition, the situation at the frontlines was bound to be less intense.
Invading from the north could at least help them avoid the Star Luo Empire and Shrek Academy. The remaining troops of the Dou Ling and Heavenly Soul Empires would at most delay them, but not stop them. Evidently, attacking from the north instead of the south was more advantageous.
At the same time, the Sun Moon Empire needed some buffer time. Although the Heavenly Soul Empire wasn't as huge as the Star Luo Empire, it was still much bigger than the Dou Ling Empire. Compared to the Sun Moon Empire, it was still two-thirds as large. After occupying the Heavenly Soul Empire, the Sun Moon Empire still needed time to pacify the citizens and strengthen their rule. This was why the Sun Moon Empire had toned down over the past month or so.
An invasion couldn't be pulled off so easily. This was because it wasn't just an invasion. It was an annexation; the Sun Moon Empire wanted to expand its territory.
It was Huo Yuhao's first time here in Dragon City. Now that the first city in the north of the Heavenly Soul Empire was already occupied, how could one not feel hopeless?
The Heavenly Dragon and Earthdragon Sects were the two most representative sects of Dragon City. However, they were still lacking compared to the Sun Moon Empire.
The Earthdragon Sect saw it coming, and had already moved more than half of their resources and disciples to Shrek City under Nan Shuishui's charge. They only had some resources left over, but they weren't greatly affected. The situation that the Heavenly Dragon Sect was in right now was unknown.
Huo Yuhao could still clearly remember how strong the captain of the Earthdragon Sect's team, Yu Tianlong, was during the Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. His pure Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was extraordinary. Nan Shuishui had also mentioned that the Heavenly Dragon Sect was stronger than the Earth Dragon Sect, whose sect leader was a Titled Douluo. Even though it wasn't as strong as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect in the past, it was still an elite sect.
As he thought, Huo Yuhao was already getting closer and closer to Dragon City. He unleashed his spiritual power in the direction of Dragon City. Just as he had expected, there were already aerial surveillance soul tools over Dragon City.
However, there were fewer aerial surveillance soul tools here compared to the Ming Dou Mountain Range. After all, manufacturing aerial surveillance soul tools wasn't cheap. Unless they were used at particularly important places, there wouldn't be a congregation of them.
At the same time, Huo Yuhao saw that there were no troops stationed outside the city. There were only some guards on the city wall.
It seemed like the Sun Moon Empire's defense of Dragon City wasn't very strong.
Huo Yuhao found a small tree that could conceal him as he descended when he was around eight kilometers from Dragon City. He revealed himself before walking towards the city.
Nan Qiuqiu was still in a deep sleep. Huo Yuhao predicted that she would only awaken the next morning. This period of time was particularly important to her. One couldn't increase their spiritual power under normal conditions. This was why he decided to enter the city and find a place to stay first before going to the Earthdragon Sect after Nan Qiuqiu was awake.
He would need some time to walk eight kilometers. However, he wasn't in a rush, and walked slowly. There wasn't much security outside the city, and he was only briefly checked before he was allowed to enter.