Encountering the Imperial Dou Team on the Road

"Brother Lang Lei, are we lost?"

In the Star Dou Great Forest, Griseo, whose hand Lang Lei was holding, suddenly asked.

"Haha... How could that be?" A few drops of cold sweat appeared on Lang Lei's forehead.

"But we've passed this place many times already." Griseo pointed at a rather distinctive tree.

"Just a coincidence... probably?" Lang Lei tried to struggle a little longer.

"It's not a coincidence. It's the same tree~" Griseo mercilessly shattered Lang Lei's last shred of hope.

Lang Lei collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest. "Fine, I admit it. I'm lost..."

"How about... having Madam take us up into the sky for a look?" Griseo took out her paintbrush and looked at Lang Lei.

"Fine..." Lang Lei successfully yielded to reality.

After a while, seeing that Griseo had yet to move, Lang Lei looked at her in confusion.

"There are people over there." Griseo pointed toward a patch of grass.

"People?" Lang Lei looked in the direction Griseo indicated and summoned his martial soul.

"First Soul Skill, Thousand Transformations Shaping."

Lang Lei controlled the Earth Dragon Dust, turning it into several needles that shot into the patch of grass Griseo had pointed at.

"Awooo—Little brother, don't attack! We mean no harm!"

A strange cry rang out, and Lang Lei calmly withdrew his martial soul.

Anyone who could be hurt by his Soul Power was most likely no threat to him.

As for Griseo... who knew how many creations were secretly protecting her? There was no need to worry at all.

A group of people gradually emerged from the grass. They did not look very old, probably around fourteen or fifteen. Of course, that was only how they looked. On Douluo Continent, the relationship between height, build, and age was utterly baffling...

"Wow, little brother, that was way too vicious..." One of the skinny soul masters clutched his arm and complained. "Ling Ling, hurry up and heal me..."

"Weren't you the ones spying on us first?" Lang Lei replied neither servilely nor arrogantly.

"Sorry, little brother. We may have misunderstood something earlier." The leading youth apologized. "I'm Yu Tianheng, captain of this team. We're all students of Star Dou Royal Academy. May I ask your name?"

"Lang Lei, a lone cultivator." Lang Lei introduced himself concisely. "This is my little sister, Griseo."

Of course, Lang Lei recognized the people before him. After all, they had appeared fairly often in the early and middle parts of the original story.

If nothing unexpected happened, their teacher, Qin Ming... should be watching from the shadows right now, shouldn't he?

That worked out nicely, though. He could use them to judge the current progression of the plot. Qian Renxue from before... had really been difficult to place.

All he could tell was that Tang San and Shrek had yet to gain any fame, and Blue Tyrant Academy in Heaven Dou City had not yet been renamed Shrek Academy.

"A lone cultivator?" The others were somewhat puzzled, but they did not rudely press the matter. They simply assumed Lang Lei did not want to say more.

"Oh, right. The lady beside me is Dugu Yan, our vice-captain. The one clutching his arm and crying out in pain earlier is Osler. These two who look rather honest are Shi Mo and Shi Mo, biological brothers. The remaining gentleman who looks rather aloof is Yu Feng. And the one in the middle of the group is our support soul master, Ye Ling Ling." Yu Tianheng introduced them one by one, and each person nodded in greeting when introduced.

"Mm, hello, everyone." Since they were being so friendly, Lang Lei had no reason to put on airs and returned the greeting amicably.

Of course, the main reason was that the display Lang Lei had made earlier had earned their respect. Otherwise, they were geniuses themselves and naturally had some pride. How could they possibly be so warm toward an ordinary person on their own initiative?

"Little brother Lang Lei, are you also here in the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a soul ring?" Yu Tianheng took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Mm. I came to hunt my second soul ring. I've already found a satisfactory one and was preparing to leave." Lang Lei nodded. There was nothing to hide.

"Wow! What a coincidence, little brother—"

"What a coincidence. So are we." Yu Tianheng suddenly became talkative. "Originally, we were planning to travel around the Soul Fighting Arenas throughout Heaven Dou and battle along the way. But Yu Feng and Osler actually broke through at the same time, so we made a detour to the Star Dou Great Forest. We're also getting ready to head back now. How about we leave together? We can look out for each other."

"Then I'll have to trouble you all." Lang Lei nodded. He truly needed someone to guide the way.

Yu Tianheng had other thoughts as well. At such an age, Lang Lei dared to bring a little girl who seemed to have no combat ability into the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, and his strength was not bad either. He was someone worth befriending. Though, in Yu Tianheng's eyes, there had to be someone secretly protecting them. Still, that courage was indeed worthy of recognition.

"By the way, why were you hiding in the grass just now?" Lang Lei asked.

"Ah, well... We mainly thought you were an illusion created by some mental-type soul beast..." Yu Tianheng scratched his head awkwardly. "After all, we saw you appear several times in such a short while."

"..." Lang Lei fell silent. So it had all been because he was lost!

"Haha, little brother Lang Lei, you weren't lost, were you?" Osler stepped forward with a grin.

"No." Lang Lei answered expressionlessly.

"Brother Lang Lei was lost." At that moment, Griseo, who had been hiding behind Lang Lei, poked out half her head.

"Wow, what an adorable little girl!" Dugu Yan's maidenly heart was instantly struck, and she immediately wanted to rush over and pinch Griseo's cheeks.

Seeing this, Griseo hid behind Lang Lei again.

"Cough, cough, Yanyan..." Yu Tianheng reminded her, only to find that even the usually aloof Ye Ling Ling was staring intensely at Lang Lei—or, more precisely, at the little girl hiding behind him. "Uh..."

"Haha, so little brother Lang Lei isn't even as honest as an adorable little girl." Osler recovered from his shock and cracked a joke.

"..." Lang Lei took Griseo's hand and headed in one direction. He felt like his fists could no longer hold back. "Let's get going."

"Um, little brother Lang Lei..." Yu Tianheng hesitated before speaking. "The way out is this way..."

Lang Lei's footsteps halted. Amid everyone's laughter, he silently changed direction.

"Alright, let's get moving too." Yu Tianheng looked at the other members of the Imperial Dou Team.

When Yu Tianheng, who was responsible for clearing the path at the front of the group, caught up to Lang Lei, he immediately asked, "Little brother Lang Lei, what type of soul master are you?"

"An Assault System Battle Soul Master." Lang Lei answered without hesitation. "Don't worry about us. I'll clear the way with you."

As he spoke, Lang Lei carried Griseo on his back to prevent the others from becoming unnecessarily suspicious of her. Griseo obediently wrapped her arms around Lang Lei's neck and rested her head against his back.

The people behind them cast envious looks their way.

They wanted to carry such an obedient little cutie too! They were not afraid of getting tired!

"Alright..." Seeing this, Yu Tianheng nodded. "If you can't keep up, remember to tell me."

With that, Yu Tianheng activated the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon martial soul.

Lang Lei nodded. What a joke. By conservative estimates, his physical constitution was nearly on par with a Soul Douluo. Would he fail to keep up with a mere Soul Elder?