No! Xiao Wu!!

Night fell, and the Star Dou Great Forest sank into deep darkness.

The air was filled with the scent of damp earth mixed with the fresh fragrance of vegetation, occasionally tinged with a trace of blood.

Zhao Wuji was discussing something with Tang San.

The next moment, Zhao Wuji's expression changed drastically.

"Everyone, get out of the tents, now!!!" Zhao Wuji growled.

"What happened?" Dai Mubai asked.

Everyone immediately left the tents.

Zhao Wuji did not answer. "Stay behind me."

Zhao Wuji stared fixedly in one direction.

At that moment, a massive figure slowly appeared.

It looked like a black gorilla, its muscles as bulky as small hills.

"The King of the Forest, the Titan Giant Ape!!" Tang San's pupils contracted, his voice hoarse.

At his words, everyone trembled, cold sweat pouring down their backs as though they had fallen into an ice cellar.

The Titan Giant Ape!

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest!

The ruler of the Star Dou Great Forest!

One of the Soul Beasts at the very top of the pyramid!

Before Soul Masters knew about Fierce Beasts, the Titan Giant Ape had been one of the strongest Soul Beasts.

However, compared to those Fierce Beasts, it was still far inferior.

"Respected King of the Forest, we mean no harm. We can leave." Cold sweat streamed down Zhao Wuji's back. He knew that, with his strength, there was no way he could stop the Titan Giant Ape. He could only hope it bore them no ill will.

The Titan Giant Ape ignored Zhao Wuji completely and continued forward slowly.

Every step felt as if it were stomping on everyone's hearts.

"I'll hold it back. You all get out of here!"

Zhao Wuji activated his Martial Soul Avatar. The Soul Rings around him lit up one after another as he charged at the Titan Giant Ape.

Feeling the gravity bearing down on it, the Titan Giant Ape looked disdainful. Its body trembled, and the gravity was instantly shattered.

Zhao Wuji's face paled in shock. He had not expected the gap between his strength and the Titan Giant Ape's to be so enormous.

The Titan Giant Ape casually threw a punch, and a sonic boom suddenly exploded beside everyone's ears.

Boom—

Zhao Wuji was struck by the punch and sent flying like a kite with its string cut, blood scattering through the air.

Zhao Wuji slammed heavily into a massive tree.

"Teacher Zhao!!"

The others also launched attacks at the Titan Giant Ape, but those attacks were not even enough to scratch its itch.

The Titan Giant Ape was thoroughly irritated. It let out a roar.

A black shockwave surged forth, sending everyone flying.

The Titan Giant Ape reached out and grabbed Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu!! Let go of Xiao Wu!!" Tang San's eyes turned blood-red when he saw Xiao Wu seized by the Titan Giant Ape.

More than a dozen flashes of cold light shot from his hands toward the Titan Giant Ape's eyes.

The Titan Giant Ape snorted and shattered all the Hidden Weapons.

"Er Ming, don't hurt Third Brother. Let's go," Xiao Wu said softly.

The Titan Giant Ape ignored Tang San and ran toward the rear in huge strides, making the ground tremble.

"No—!! Xiao Wu!!!"

Tang San used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and chased after it.

"Tang San!" Zhao Wuji reached out, but failed to catch Tang San.

"Teacher Zhao, what do we do now?" Dai Mubai's face was pale.

"There's nothing we can do. The Titan Giant Ape isn't something we can handle. We can only hope the two of them are all right." Zhao Wuji shook his head.

"Are we just going to wait here?" Ma Hongjun asked.

"Let's wait for a week. If they still haven't returned after a week..." Zhao Wuji did not finish the sentence.

But everyone understood. Once caught by the Titan Giant Ape, Xiao Wu and Tang San were almost certainly doomed.

After a long while, Xiao Ze arrived as well. Seeing the chaos of the scene and Tang San and Xiao Wu's disappearance,

Xiao Ze knew that the Titan Giant Ape had come.

"Xiao Ze." The moment Ning Rongrong saw Xiao Ze, she rushed over.

"What happened here?" Xiao Ze asked, feigning confusion.

"We ran into the King of the Forest, the Titan Giant Ape. Xiao Wu was taken away, and Tang San went after her," Ning Rongrong said.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Titan Giant Ape?"

"That should be it." Zhao Wuji nodded.

"You really are unlucky... But why would the Titan Giant Ape take Xiao Wu and leave the rest of you behind?"

Xiao Ze asked suspiciously.

"We don't know." Dai Mubai and the others could not make sense of it either. The Titan Giant Ape had seemed to be coming specifically for Xiao Wu.

"Are we just going to wait like this?"

"Let's wait a little longer." Although Zhao Wuji did not think Tang San and Xiao Wu could survive, he had no other options.

"All right."

Xiao Ze did not care much either. Tang San and Xiao Wu would return after a while anyway.

Moving to one side, Xiao Ze began meditating and cultivating.

"Your heart really is cold. You just started cultivating right away?" Ma Hongjun said sarcastically.

"Get lost, you dead fatass." Xiao Ze shot him a disgusted glance.

To Xiao Ze, Ma Hongjun was practically synonymous with AZ. He found him filthy.

"I'm not wrong. Tang San and Xiao Wu's lives are still uncertain, yet you aren't worried at all and are even cultivating."

Other than Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, everyone looked toward Xiao Ze. He really did seem somewhat cold-hearted.

"What good would worrying about them do? Could we beat the Titan Giant Ape? Instead of wasting time, you might as well cultivate quickly and avenge them later."

"Besides, they aren't my parents. Why should I worry about them? Once you become a Soul Master, you should understand just how dangerous the road ahead will be.

Are there few Soul Masters who die while hunting Soul Beasts? Am I supposed to grieve for every single one of them?"

After saying that, Xiao Ze ignored them and slowly resumed cultivating.

He was close to Rank 30, and he was also close to leaving Shrek Academy.

His next destination would be Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

His super-useful tool, Dugu Yan, was still there.

He could not plant the Immortal Herbs of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but they could greatly improve the quality of the Agricultural Sprite.

There were also so many Spirit Grasses and Spirit Medicines. Once he learned alchemy later, it would be perfect.

His Martial Soul could only plant Common Crops, but once their quality improved, they could no longer truly be considered Common Crops.

Moreover, Xiao Ze had discovered that after processing these Crops, they could become foundational Crops with extremely high yields, though their effects were somewhat weaker than ordinary quality Crops.

But their yield made up for it.

If Xiao Ze could spread all these Crops everywhere, they would all become Merit and Faith.

But now was not the time. He had neither status nor power, so doing it would be troublesome.

He could wait until later. In any case, Faith and Merit were not urgent.

Hearing this, everyone felt that there did not seem to be anything wrong with what he said.

They began treating their injuries.

Those with lighter injuries also began cultivating.

Several days later, a disheveled Tang San returned with Xiao Wu.

"Tang San, Xiao Wu!" Zhao Wuji was somewhat surprised. The two of them were actually still alive.

"You two didn't die?" Oscar asked, utterly stunned.

"Did you really want us to die that badly?" Xiao Wu said irritably.

"Cough, cough... No, it's just that Titan Giant Ape..."

"The Titan Giant Ape was scared off by a cow's roar, so I escaped. Later, I ran into Third Brother while he was absorbing a Soul Ring, and then we came back together."