Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong stood in their spots, rooted, and stared at She Meixiao's back, while Senior Lao stared at her with wide eyes . Branchmaster Lu was seething in anger . "She Meixiao, you . . . "

"Branchmaster Lu, in the name of Daedalus, I once again thank you for your cooperation with yesterday's inspection and your hospitality . If there is nothing else, we'll be taking our leave now . " She Meixiao cut him off, still with the same sickly sweet smile on her face before turning around and preparing to leave .

"What are the two of you waiting for?" Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong still stood in their places, only moving after She Meixiao beckoned for them . They hurriedly scurried after her, leaving Senior Lao and Branchmaster Lu behind .

The latter was still seething, his knuckled turning white from how hard he was clutching his fists, trying not to explode in anger . Senior Lao looked at the backs of the three leaving figures with a unreadable expression before turning to Branchmaster Lu . "Let's go back in, old friend . Today, we truly lost . "

"Lao Zhuwong, you expect me to just bow my head after this?" Branchmaster Lu's voice was eerily calm despite his seething anger and shaking body . Senior Lao, Lao Zhuwong, frowned lightly and spoke in a solemn voice . "Let her have her win today . It won't be long until the headquarters break down . I've already gotten notice of She Tianhao's ascertained death . She Meixiao won't be able to keep it a secret much longer . "

Branchmaster Lu took a deep breath, still staring in the direction She Meixiao and the others left before turning around and walking back into the base . "Let's go . We have to prepare to take over the other branches . I don't care about She Meixiao's inspections; There's nothing she can do and once she left, we'll set the plan into motion . "

---------------------

"Master, what you said back there, did you really mean it . . ?" Sheng Feilong finally couldn't refrain from asking any longer . They had been walking for about an hour now without talking and they had reached the outskirts of the city by now .

Huang Jialong's expression also focused on She Meixiao as soon as Sheng Feilong had finished; He was most likely even more concerned about it than Sheng Feilong . She Meixiao stopped and turned around to face the two of them with a small, genuine smile . "Of course I meant what I said . "

She paused, waiting for Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong to calm down a bit before continuing while looking at the latter . "I've already had you sign a contract that you'd remain with Daedalus, but with Branchmaster Lu's character, who knows what would happen if you stayed on the Star Luo Continent . "

Huang Jialong frowned, and carefully nodded his head; Branchmaster Lu wasn't someone he could take lightly, especially now that he had angered the latter . She Meixiao continued with a light-hearted tone . "So, I'll take you back to the Douluo Continent . Moreover, among all members of Daedalus, considering your Spirit Essence, who would be more qualified to be your Master than me?"

2Then, that means . . . ?" Huang Jialong carefully forced out a few words and She Meixiao looked at him with a steady gaze . "I won't take you as as personal disciple . Instead, you'll become my in-name disciple . You will learn together with Feilong and I'll help you as much as any real Master should . However, I will not teach you my personal core techniques . "

"I couldn't ask for more . " Huang Jialong remained silent for about half a second before kneeling down on one knee with a gratified expression and bowed deeply . "Disciple Huang Jialong greets Master . "

She Meixiao nodded, again with a small on her face, and turned towards Sheng Feilong, speaking to both of the boys . "Jialong, you'll travel with Feilong and I to the different branches of Daedalus on the Star Luo continent and will return with us once this matter is settled . I will begin teaching you once we're back at the Daedalus headquarters . "

"Yes . " Huang Jialong once again bowed and respectfully stepped back to Sheng Feilong's side . However, the latter looked at Huang Jialong and She Meixiao with a concerned expression . "Master . . . What about Brother Jialong's family . . ?"

She Meixiao's expression was still as calm as before, but Sheng Feilong didn't notice the change in Huang Jialong's mood . She Meixiao rea.s.sured Sheng Feilong with a faint smile . "There won't be any problems, Feilong . Don't worry . "

"But, he can't just leave them behind, can he?" Sheng Feilong frowned, even more concerned, and looked at Huang Jialong, only to see the latter smile wryly with a slightly remorseful expression . "Brother Feilong, thanks, but just as Master said, there wont be a problem . "

He paused for a moment and his expression returned to normal before he spoke with a calm voice . "I'm an orphan; There is no family for me to take into consideration . . . " Sheng Feilong froze and his face fell . He quickly apologized to Huang Jialong, but the latter just lightly shook his head with a smile . "You don't need to apologize . If anything, Daedalus is my family . "

At that point, She Meixiao pitched in with a soft tone . "We can talk it out later . For now, let's find a place to stay . We'll take a train to the city closest to the next branch tomorrow . "

Following this, the three of them looked around to find a hotel in the city and booked three rooms next to each other . Afterwards, She Meixiao went to the train station to reserve tickets for them so they would be able to board first thing in the morning, while Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong settled in in their hotel rooms .

A while later, Sheng Feilong went to Huang Jialong's room knocked on the door and the two of them sat down on a table . Sheng Feilong didn't really know what to say, but thankfully, Huang Jialong was incredibly straight forward with it . "You want to ask what happened to my family, right?"

Sheng Feilong nodded, failing to hide his curious expression despite his empathy for Huang Jialong . The latter shrugged with a smile before leaning back into his chair . "Evil Soul Masters killed them . It happened a few weeks after I awakened my Spirit Essence at the age of six . Word got around about it and the evil Soul Master came to take me with them . "

He paused for a moment and his expression soured somewhat, obviously pained by remembering what had happened . "Naturally, my family didn't want to hand me over, so a fight broke out . My grandfather, parents and both aunts died that day; They were all I had for family . When I was about to be taken away, a few more Soul Masters appeared, also ones with evil Spirit Essences . "

Sheng Feilong understood quickly who the people of this second batch of evil Soul Masters were, but remained silent and let Huang Jialong finish his tale . "That second batch, they were from Daedalus . Under Senior Lao's lead, they killed all the true evil Soul Master, while a woman among them took care of me . Later, I followed them back to the branch, while Senior Lao reported this incident to the Empire . "

Huang Jialong's smile turned softer as he continued to speak . "The woman took care of me, she became a second mother to me . Even after I became Branchmaster Lu's disciple, she took care of me . At first, he was a really good Master, but that changed when my second mother died in action a few years ago . Branchmaster Lu became colder and didn't keep the pretenses any longer, becoming much harsher with me . "

"Well, you pretty much know the rest of what happened . " Huang Jialong finished while stretching his shoulders . His expression returned to show his usual relaxed smile . Sheng Feilong smiled seeing him return to normal and the two of them continued to talk for a while longer .

Huang Jialong was intrigued about Sheng Feilong's experiences as well and the latter started to talk about himself for a while . Soon after, Huang Jialong looked at him with an incredulous expression . "No way, that Sheng Hentian kicked you out despite your talent?"

"Yeah, he did, though he was also right; Heaven Dou Primary Academy was the right place for me to go . If he didn't kick me out, I probably would've never met Master . Ah, my first Master, Song Weihan, I mean . I only met Master She a few years later . " Sheng Feilong clarified while laughing .

However, Huang Jialong's eyes widened slightly . "You have two Masters? No wait, more importantly, Song Weihan? 'The' Spirit Flamingo Douluo Song Weihan? The creator of the Artificial Soul Bones?" Sheng Feilong smiled smugly and nodded his head .

He explained how he and Song Weihan met, also mentioning that Song Weihan was 'only' a Rank 89 Soul Douluo at the time, as well as what his first Spirit Soul was . Again, Huang Jialong was dumbfounded . "He actually gave you the Spirit Soul he prepared for himself to break through the t.i.tled Douluo boundary? Isn't that a bit excessive?"

"If you think that's already excessive, then you won't believe me when I tell you want gift he gave me for graduating from the Intermediate Academy . " Sheng Feilog said with a smile, trying to hold his laughter back . Huang Jialong looked at him suspiciously . "What did he give you . . ?"

"The first and most powerful Artificial Soul Bone to have been created to this date . " Sheng Feilong said without batting an eyelid . This time, Huang Jialong just sneered . "No way . You're lying . "

Instead of answering, Sheng Feilong incited the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Artificial Soul Bone to make an appearance and soon after, the crown like Soul Bone appeared on his head, followed by the golden lion's silhouette superimposing with Sheng Feilong . Huang Jialong's body shook; The spiritual pressure that was generated by the release alone enough to drench him in cold sweat .