Returning to the Star Dou Great Forest
Time flies, and a month passed in the blink of an eye while Zhou Huan and Zhang Lexuan were secretly showing off their affection every day.
Early one morning, in the small square on Sea God Island.
When Zhou Huan and Wen Xiaoshuai arrived, there were already quite a few people in the small square.
Huo Gua, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Wang Qiu'er, and two Inner Court Senior Student Zhou Huan had never met before—based on his memories of the original novel, Zhou Huan guessed that they were Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan.
After the group introduced themselves, Zhou Huan confirmed that his guess was correct.
Li Yongyue, with the Martial Soul Moon Blade, is Agility Attack System Soul Master; Mo Xuan, with the Martial Soul Halo, is a ranged Support System Soul Master.
Including Huo Gua, Xiao Xiao, Wang Qiu'er, and Wen Xiaoshuai, there are a total of six people going to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain Soul Ring this time.
Except for Huo Gua, who needs to acquire the fifth Soul Ring of the Spirit Eye, the other five all need to acquire the sixth Soul Ring.
However, the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring Mental Attribute Huo Gua needs is obviously harder to find than those of others.
Of course, this is the opinion of everyone except Zhou Huan.
After all, Zhou Huan well that what the Son of Destiny needed would usually appear by chance, but the process of obtaining it would not be so smooth.
Before Zhou Huan could think much about it, Zhang Lexuan, Ma Xiaotao, and Han Ruoruo arrived. To Zhou Huan's surprise, Cai Mei'er, the Martial Soul Department Vice Dean, also came.
Zhou Huan thought about it and understood. Huo Gua was now the chosen successor of the Sea God Pavilion, so his safety was of utmost importance.
In addition, Xiao Xiao is Xuanzi's Disciple, Wen Xiaoshuai has Shrek Academy bigwig behind him, and Zhou Huan and others have all consumed Immortal Herb, so they are definitely key targets for cultivation.
Therefore, it's not surprising that there's such a level of protection.
The group didn't exchange many pleasantries in the small square on Sea God Island. After a few brief words, they headed together towards the Star Dou Great Forest.
A day and a half later, Zhou Huan and his group arrived at the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
It was noon, so the group ate lunch and rested by a small river.
Huo Gua clearly put his signature skill to use – Huo-style Grilled Fish!
It has to be said that it's a real shame that Huo Gua, who possesses the Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, isn't a chef. He's definitely at the level of a head chef in a five-star hotel!
Even Zhou Huan, after eating it, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, saying he didn't have such excellent cooking skills.
"Sister Lexuan, here, tissues." Seeing that Zhang Lexuan had finished eating the grilled fish, Zhou Huan immediately took out the wet tissues she had prepared in advance.
As the saying goes, details determine destiny.
Don't think that you can be careless just because you're together. Zhou Huan is quite experienced in taking care of people; it's not like it's the first time she's gone out with Zhang Lexuan.
Without so much meticulous care, how could he have won over the Senior Disciple Sister so easily?
However, Zhou Huan's obsequious behavior gave Xiao Xiao goosebumps.
Throughout the journey, Zhou Huan and Zhang Lexuan did not directly announce their relationship, but they also did not hide it either, acting exactly as a couple should.
Anyone with half a brain can see the relationship between these two.
However, seeing Master Zhou's incredibly cheesy behavior, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but complain, "Zhou Huan, you're going to lose friends like this, you know that?"
As she spoke, the little girl looked at her hands, which had just held the grilled fish. Hmm, they were a bit dirty, but no one offered her a tissue.
After hearing Xiao Xiao's words, Zhou Huan showed no embarrassment whatsoever. Instead, she shamelessly replied, "Xiao Xiao, single people will never understand this kind of happiness."
"Zhou Huan, you're such a sycophant."
"That's incredibly sycophantic! Senior Disciple Sister must have been fooled by you in this way."
"That's right, that's right, they actually managed to sneak away with our Senior Disciple Sister."
"Zhou Huan, tell me, are you cheating?"
"..."
As soon as Zhou Huan finished speaking, he was met with a chorus of teasing from the crowd.
But after laughing, Li Yongyue, Mo Xuan, and the others realized they were still single. What was the point of laughing at others?
Of everyone present, Wang Qiu'er was the only one who remained silent.
Zhou Huan could tell out of the corner of her eye that this Little Soul beast was completely out of place with people, and her gaze was mostly fixed on Huo Gua.
This is actually quite normal, since Huo Gua shared some of his memories with her when they first met.
This was also a major reason why the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, in disguise as Wang Qiu'er, was drawn into the human world.
Just then, Cai Mei'er spoke up, "Alright, stop fooling around. Lexuan, how about we split into two teams? There are too many people trying to obtain Soul Ring this time. Searching for them one by one is too time-consuming, and spending too much time in the Core Zone isn't a good thing either. Luckily, there are four of us: you, me, Xiaotao, and Ruo Ruo. Two of us can each lead one team, which will save us more time."
According to Cai Mei'er's idea, she, a Level 94 Titled Douluo, plus Ma Xiaotao, a high-level Soul Sage with the Extreme Fire, could easily lead a team.
Zhang Lexuan's strength surpasses hers, and with Han Ruoruo also involved, they can naturally lead another team.
Traveling in separate teams is no more dangerous than traveling together.
Because if they were extremely unlucky and encountered Ferocious Beast, having Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo wouldn't be of much use to Cai Mei'er; on the contrary, she would have to protect even more Inner Court disciple who were together.
Even if they encountered an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Cai Mei'er and Ma Xiaotao, though unable to defeat it, could still escape with several Inner Court disciple.
As for ordinary Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, there's not much to worry about.
The same applies to Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo.
In short, when encountering extremely powerful Soul Beast, or even Ferocious Beast, it's better for two people to lead the team than four, because four people still can't defeat them, and there's a possibility of total annihilation.
Of course, this is the worst-case scenario, and the probability is low.
In most cases, even in the Core Zone of Star Dou Great Forest, having a level 93 or Level 94 Titled Douluo leading the team ensures safety as long as one doesn't deliberately court death.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Cai Mei'er decided to split up the teams and shorten the time spent in the Core Zone, which would actually improve safety.
However, after listening to Cai Mei'er's suggestion, Zhang Lexuan thought for a moment and said, "Splitting into teams is indeed feasible. How about this, I'll take Zhou Huan, Xiao Xiao, Wen Xiaoshuai, and Li Yongyue to form one team; Dean Cai, you, Xiaotao, and Ruoruo will take Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, Wang Qiu'er, and Mo Xuan to form the other team."
Zhang Lexuan reasoned that with her and Zhou Huan there, they could protect Xiao Xiao and the other two. Moreover, unless they encountered an extreme situation, Zhou Huan wouldn't even need to lift a finger; she could handle it herself.
However, Cai Mei'er heard her words differently, since she didn't know Zhou Huan's true strength.
Therefore, Cai Mei'er's first reaction was naturally to disagree. "Lexuan, although you are strong, it's difficult for you to take care of four people at the same time, right? Let Ruoruo be on your team too."
However, Zhang Lexuan insisted on her opinion. "Dean Cai, don't worry, I won't do anything I'm not sure of. Besides, it's not easy to find Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with Yu Hao's Mental Attribute, so you'll definitely have to spend more time. Therefore, it's best if Ruoruo and Xiaotao stay with you. We might be able to find a suitable Soul Beast in the Mixed Zone. If there's an emergency, we can just send a message to notify you."
Upon hearing this, Cai Mei'er thought about it seriously and ultimately agreed with Zhang Lexuan's statement.
After all, she had watched Zhang Lexuan grow up since she was a child, and knew her personality. She would never act impulsively, much less risk the Life of the academy's Disciple.
The decision of team formation was naturally made entirely by Cai Mei'er and Zhang Lexuan, as both of them were Martial Soul Department Vice Dean.
The others naturally had no objections.
However, Zhou Huan was completely bewildered. He had been considering whether to have Zhang Lexuan kill the Zhongli Three Brothers if they encountered them, and then see how Wang Qiu'er and Huo Gua's relationship would develop, and what the influence of the Destiny Force was.
So, we have to split up and go in teams now?
Therefore, it's practically impossible for him to be the first to encounter the Zhongli Three Brothers.
Could this also be considered a form of influence from the Destiny Force?
Zhou Huan, in any case, didn't quite believe that God King Tang could exert influence in this way.
Zhou Huan was 100% convinced that God King Tang would secretly do something underhanded, but the decision to "go in separate teams" was the result of a combination of factors and could not have been easily arranged by one person or one god.
In particular, neither Zhang Lexuan nor he were assigned to the same team as Huo Gua.
From the perspective of team strength, you could say this was Zhang Lexuan's most reasonable arrangement, but from Zhou Huan's God's perspective, this coincidence was just too much of a coincidence.
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