153 Huang Jialong

"Master, will this branch be the same as Senior Ouyang's?" Sheng Feilong casually asked while he and She Meixiao were walking down a dirt pathway towards a wooden hut in the middle of nowhere.

She Meixiao glanced at him, then thought about it for a moment. "...Probably not. Branchmaster Ouyang was one of the few brachmasters who aren't interested in becoming the leader of the Star Luo Continent's Daedalus. The we'll meet today, Branchmaster Lu, is one of the most ambitious among them."

Sheng Feilong's expression sunk lightly. If this Branchmaster Lu really was an ambitious person, then he would probably make it hard for She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong to do their check-up. She Meixiao seemed to understand worries and answered in a light hearted manner. "Don't worry. Although Branchmaster Lu is ambitious, he reveres the strong even more."

She then smiled lightly, seemingly even somewhat mockingly. "He only is that ambitious because all the Branchmasters here on the Star Luo Continent are at about the same level. He's one of the youngest and think of himself as the most talented and therefore most fit to lead them all."

A light frown could be seen on Sheng Feilong after the last part of She Meixiao's explanation. "You don't seem to like him much, Master. Is there a reason for that?" For a moment, She Meixiao was quiet, but still decided to speak. "You're right, I don't like him much. Or to be more precise: I don't like his attitude."

Sheng Feilong nodded his head, but still looked at She Meixiao with a questioning gaze; He understood that Branchmaster Lu seems to be somewhat who bullies the weak and fears the strong, though not excessively, but that shouldn't be enough for She Meixiao to dislike him this much.

"Branchmaster Lu thinks of himself as having a personal feud with me. Back when I was appointed as a Vice-Leader of Daedalus' headquarters, he was coincidentally present as well. He even protested against my promotion because, at the the time, my cultivation was weaker than his." She Meixiao said this with a hint of annoyance, while Sheng Feilong nodded understandingly.

The two of them continued onwards before She Meixiao spoke up again after a while. "Ah, that's right. Feilong, when we get there, you might need to fight against someone. I've heard that Branchmaster Lu took in a personal disciple about three years ago, so he'll probably tell this disciple to challenge you. Especially since they've most likely heard of your victory against Long Yue."

Sheng Feilong nodded and lightly thanked his Master for the heads up. Soon after, they arrived at a rather small, woodcutters hut in the midst of the forest. An old lady sat on the veranda, greeting them when they came here. She Meixiao introduced herself and Sheng Feilong and the old lady hurriedly bowed to them before leading them inside.

Through the basement, they entered an elevator that brought them down into the real Daedalus branch, once again causing Sheng Feilong to think about how strange the Daedalus quarters are. Down in the base, they were lead to a waiting area where a young man informed them that he would immediately inform the Branchmaster. The old lady had already returned to the house above.

Just a few minutes later, four people unhurriedly came to meet She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong; A middle aged man with short, black hair in the front, an old man with short grey hair by his side, a youngers about 16 or 17 with the same short, black hair as the middle aged man and the distressed young man, that went to inform the Branchmaster behind them.

The middle aged man soon arrived by their side and calmly greeted them with a casual smile. "It has been a long time, Vice-Leader She. It's good to see you again." She Meixiao had a faint smile on her lips as she glanced at the middle aged man and old man, respectively. "It has indeed been a long time, Branchmaster Lu and Senior Lao."

The old man called Senior Lao bowed lightly towards She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong, while Branchmaster Lu just smiled a bit wider. "Please excuse me for having had you wait for such a long time, Vice-Leader She; We hadn't been expecting you so soon and were in the middle of a meeting."

Branchmaster Lu and She Meixiao exchanged a few more pleasantries, while the youngster by Branchmaster Lu's side was unceasingly staring at Sheng Feilong. At first, he just nodded towards the youngster with a smile to greet him, but the latter didn't stop staring, so Sheng Feilong just ignored him.

He had already guessed that this was the personal disciple of Branchmaster Lu, of which She Meixiao had already told him about; If that youngster was the same as Branchmaster Lu, then Sheng Feilong didn't want to much to do with him. However, Branchmaster Lu seemed to have already planned for something as he quickly introduced his disciple.

"Right, let me introduce you to my personal disciple." Branchmaster Lu gestured for the youngster by his side to step forward. The youngster stepped forward and bowed towards She Meixiao. "Greetings, Vice-Leader She. My name is Huang Jialong."

She Meixiao nodded in response while using her Spirit Power to check Huang Jialong's strength. Her eyebrows rose slightly and she smiled. "A peak Soul King cultivation level, impressive. How old are you?"

"Replying to senior, I have just turned 18 a few weeks ago." Huang Jialong spoke in a respectful tone, but he couldn't hide the hint of pride in his voice. She Meixiao once again nodded with a smile. "An impressive cultivation level for your age. Branchmaster Lu, you have truly found a good disciple."

Branchmaster Lu laughed lightly. "You are too kind, Vice-Leader She, ha, ha. For now, let us set the pleasantries aside and get started with the official business, shall we?" She Meixiao nodded, also fond of this development, while Sheng Feilong glanced at Huang Jialong. He knew that She Meixiao had said his cultivation level out loud for Sheng Feilong to hear.

A peak Soul King wasn't too much of a hassle, especially since he could use the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon Spirit Essence without reserve inside of Daedalus, but it was always better to know who you were up against, lest you get surprised during combat.

Sheng Feilong made sure to remember this information and Branchmaster Lu began leading them through the branch. Their entourage, not composing of five people as the young man who informed Branchleader Lu had returned to his post, went on through the branch. She Meixiao and Branchmaster Lu did most of the talking and business, while Senior Lao followed along with a calm expression and Sheng Feilong tried to get used to the business talks.

For him, as well as Huang Jialong, this was a boring tour through the branch. Huang Jialong already knew the branch like his own backyard, while Sheng Feilong had already seen other branches; Their layout was nearly identical, so there wasn't anything new to see for him, either.

Soon, they reached the training facilities and, as She Meixiao had predicted, after touring them and inspecting a few things, Branchmaster Lu suggested to let Huang Jialong and Sheng Feilong spar for a round to ease things up. Huang Jialong, who was both, bored and involved in the plan, naturally agreed immediately, while Sheng Feilong also agreed for similar reasons.

'Coincidentally', one of the arenas inside the training facilities was free for them to take and Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong could get started whenever they wished. Huang Jialong smiled when they stood on the arena and proposed something unusual. "Brother Feilong, I've heard much about your powerful Spirit Essence through the tournament a few days ago and am really interested in it. What do you think about both of us releasing our Spirit Essences before we start the match? Ah, naturally, I don't mind revealing mine first."

Sheng Feilong looked at him in surprise at first, mainly due to his formal and respectful speech, but soon nodded his head. "Sure, I don't mind, Brother Huang." The latter also nodded and took a step forward as his Soul Power suddenly surged.

(A/N: Quick side note, calling someone 'Brother' can be done in both, formally and informally, in chinese. Huang Jialong used a formal way to address Sheng Feilong.)

Behind his back, five Soul Rings appeared, four purple and one black, while his whites of his eyes turned pitch black. His irises turned vertical like a snakes, of a yellowish colour. Then, black scales began to show all over his arms and neck as the image of he five-headed, black scaled snake appeared behind his back.

In the spectators stands, She Meixiao's body shook and she stared at Huang Jialong in shock. She turned her head around to confirm her suspicion with Branchmaser Lu, but the latter only smiled at her. Then, Huang Jialong spoke in a clear voice. "Huang Jialong, 18 years of age, Soul King of rank 59. Spirit Essence: Five-Headed Black Hydra."

She Meixiao's jaw dropped and she stared back and forth between Branchmaster Lu and Huang Jialong on the stage. The Black Hydra was a Spirit Essence that was incredibly similar to her own Twin-Headed Poison Cobra, but of a much higher level; After all, her Spirit came from a mutation of her father's Black Scaled Poison Cobra Spirit Essence and her mother's Three-Headed Black Hydra Spirit Essence!