The Lord, Er Ming Comes to the Rescue!

Everyone gathered around Tang San, offering their congratulations. Gu Chen and Gu Yuena also smiled faintly and said in unison, "Congratulations, Little San."

"Teacher Zhao, do you think we can stay and find a suitable soul beast for me?" Tang San asked tentatively.

Zhao Wuji smiled faintly. "Of course. You've earned it. Not only will we find a soul beast for your third soul ring, we'll find one that suits you best. It seems our time in the Star Dou Great Forest will have to be extended."

After a night of rest, everyone had recovered to their peak condition.

Early the next morning, they resumed their search for soul beasts. This time, however, Tang San was the one seeking a soul beast rather than Oscar.

Grandmaster had long since planned out what kind of soul beast Tang San should choose for his third soul ring. Tang San therefore believed his search would be easier than Oscar's. After all, some of the soul beasts in Grandmaster's plan were fairly common. As long as their cultivation age was suitable, they could become his third soul ring.

But things did not go as planned. Two full days passed, and despite everyone's careful search under Zhao Wuji's lead, they still failed to find a soul beast suitable for Tang San.

Although they encountered several thousand-year soul beasts along the way, none of them suited Tang San. The rest were merely hundred-year soul beasts.

Two days had passed. Although food supplies were not a problem for them, living every day in a dangerous forest still kept them under constant strain and made exhaustion come more easily.

In truth, calling it dangerous was not entirely accurate.

Most soul beasts were sensed by Gu Chen as soon as they came within a hundred meters of the group. As long as they were unsuitable for Tang San, Gu Chen would usually release Dragon Might to drive them away, leaving only a few to approach so the others would not grow suspicious.

Night fell, and it was time to rest again. Fires could not be lit in the Star Dou Great Forest. While most soul beasts feared flames, a small number were extremely drawn to fire—and most of those were deadly creatures.

There was no need for Zhao Wuji to give orders anymore. The male students set up the temporary tents while the female students prepared food. Of course, Oscar was an exception; Dai Mubai and Tang San directly classified him among the female students.

"Little San, are you getting anxious?" Zhao Wuji suddenly asked with a smile as he looked at the youth before him.

Tang San shook his head. "Finding a soul beast is a matter of luck. Being anxious won't help. Don't worry, Teacher Zhao. I'm patient."

The two sat down and began chatting.

Suddenly, the smile in Zhao Wuji's eyes vanished. One hand shot out and grabbed Tang San's shoulder, pulling him behind himself. An icy, overwhelmingly fierce aura burst from Zhao Wuji's body. With a low roar, he directly summoned his martial soul, and the Great Strength Vajra Bear instantly possessed him.

"Everyone, get out of the tents, now!" Zhao Wuji growled, his deep voice carrying into the tents.

After several days of working together, the students had already developed a degree of coordination. They quickly scrambled out of the tents.

"Teacher Zhao, what's wrong?" Dai Mubai rushed to Zhao Wuji's side and asked in confusion.

Zhao Wuji did not answer his question. "Everyone, get behind me. If anything happens later, don't worry about me. Leave this place immediately and get out of the Star Dou Great Forest first. Mubai, if I'm not here, I'm entrusting everyone's safety to you."

In the direction Zhao Wuji was staring, two towering trees slowly parted to either side. A massive figure silently emerged from between them.

It was a creature like a mountain. Its dark black fur glimmered faintly beneath the dim starlight and moonlight. Though it walked on all fours, its shoulders stood well over seven meters high.

If it stood upright, it would likely be more than fifteen meters tall.

It looked somewhat like an ape and somewhat like a chimpanzee. Its entire body was black, save for a pair of lantern-sized eyes that shone with a yellow crystal-like glow. In the darkness of night, if it had not been moving, its body would have been nearly impossible to see.

The Titan Giant Ape arrived before them and let out a thunderous roar, "Roar!"

My Lord, Er Ming has come to rescue you!

Gu Chen rubbed his forehead and used Sound Transmission into Strings to send a message to Er Ming. "Don't hurt them. Find an opportunity to take me, Na'er, and Xiao Wu with you."

Er Ming lowered his head in a humanlike manner.

"Honored King of the Forest, we mean no offense. If this is your territory, we are willing to withdraw immediately," Zhao Wuji said gravely. He knew that the Titan Giant Ape could understand human speech. Especially this Titan Giant Ape before him, which was so powerful that its cultivation had clearly surpassed ten thousand years. He truly could not imagine any soul beast stronger than the one before them.

After all, an ordinary human soul master could not understand the true mysteries of the Star Dou Great Forest.

To them, their knowledge of the Star Dou Great Forest was limited to the Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming.

The Titan Giant Ape ignored Zhao Wuji's words. It merely made one simple movement, yet everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.

It took a step forward.

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Wuji said in a low voice, "I'll hold it back. Eat Oscar's Mushroom Sausages and leave immediately. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for long. You have to move quickly." With that, Zhao Wuji took a deep breath. The seven rings around his body blazed with light as he charged toward the Titan Giant Ape.

Well then, another melodramatic scene was about to unfold.

"Go! Hurry and go! Don't worry about me!"

"No! I can't abandon you! I want to stay with you!"

"Seriously!" Gu Chen slapped his forehead, his face dark with exasperation.

After putting on a brief show of fighting Tang San and the others, Er Ming scooped up Xiao Wu with one hand and extended his other hand. Gu Chen held Gu Yuena's hand, and the two jumped onto it without anyone noticing.

"No! Let go of Brother Chen, Sister Na'er, and Xiao Wu!" Seeing Gu Chen and the other two fall into the Titan Giant Ape's grasp, Tang San's eyes instantly reddened. Before he could even steady himself on the ground, he kicked off fiercely and shot into the air. Using a nearby tree, he leaped forward, his hands flashing across his waist like lightning. More than ten streaks of cold light rose at once, shooting straight for the Titan Giant Ape's eyes.

Tang San's heart had already sunk to the bottom. He knew perfectly well that with the Titan Giant Ape's strength, even the slightest tightening of its hand would leave Gu Chen and the others with no chance of survival. No matter how powerful they were, they could not possibly live through it.

Zhao Wuji finally landed as well, and he too witnessed Gu Chen and the others falling into the Titan Giant Ape's grasp.

Zhao Wuji unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar and charged forward, only to be sent flying by a blow from Er Ming's arm. Blood surged in his chest.

Tang San was also smashed into a tree and slowly slid down, blood staining the corners of his mouth. He had clearly suffered serious injuries.

Er Ming quickly departed with Gu Chen and the others.

"Didn't I tell you not to hurt them? What, you don't even listen to me now?" Gu Chen looked coldly at Er Ming.

"Wuu~"

Er Ming whimpered and lowered his head, his face full of innocence. My Lord, they attacked me. I was only defending myself.

"Fine. Remember this—there won't be a next time," Gu Chen said.

At that moment, Gu Chen noticed a spider in Er Ming's path. It was a strange giant spider with a body more than one and a half meters in diameter and eight spear-like legs over three meters long. Its entire body was covered in glossy black armor. The tips of its long legs were slender, and every silent step pierced into the ground, showing just how sharp they were.

Gu Chen released his spiritual power and looked through the spider toward its abdomen.

On the spider's lower abdomen were white markings that stood in stark contrast to its black body. Those markings formed the shape of a vicious human face. Eight small eyes glimmering with faint purple light were pressed close to its lower abdomen. However, two of those eyes seemed to have been smashed apart, leaving behind a bloody mess. Even the armor on its lower abdomen bore several cracks.

"This must be Little San's Man Faced Demon Spider," Gu Chen muttered. He then instructed Er Ming, "Er Ming, severely injure that spider."

In the original story, this Man Faced Demon Spider had been severely wounded by Meng Shu and Chao Tianxiang before Tang San killed it. If it were at full strength, it would be difficult to guarantee that Tang San could successfully obtain its soul ring.

Er Ming nodded and smashed down with one fist. The poor Man Faced Demon Spider took Er Ming's blow, and its armor instantly cracked apart as venom flowed out.

As for the Dragon God's strength.

I based it on the physical edition of Douluo Dalu Gaiden: Legend of the God Realm, page 49, line 8: "For example, the Dragon God, who ascended from the human world into the God Realm, once possessed power surpassing that of a Level One Deity."

Based on that sentence, I reached the following conclusions:

1. The Dragon God's strength was above that of a Level One Deity. There is no doubt about that.

2. The Dragon God's strength likely had not reached the level of a God King. Otherwise, the text would have said it surpassed a God King rather than a Level One Deity.

That is why I set the Dragon God's strength this way. Everyone may have found the Dragon God to be much stronger in other original works...

Emmm, Third Young Master keeps changing the settings and destroying his own settings. What can I do?

Just pick one version and write with that, alright? Please be understanding.