Departure for Heaven Dou City

The next day, Spirit Pagoda, Eastsea City.

Li Jinsheng felt sore all over and utterly exhausted. This seemed to be a side effect of serving as the power vessel for his Future Self yesterday.

Fortunately, that power had the same origin as his own, so it had held back at the time.

He raised his head and looked at the ceiling, beginning to ponder the future.

He had already been dragged by the Plane Master's schemes into a fight to the death with the Sea God. Tang San should still be in the Space-Time turbulence, playing a tower-pushing game with the God Kings of the other God Realms, preparing to establish the Great God Circle himself.

Given Tang San's personality, he would definitely bring the other God Kings of the Great God Circle along.

One against twelve?

How had the future him managed that?

Did he rely on the Ultimate of Life to stubbornly outlast and disgust all twelve God Kings to death?

Or had he relied on Destruction?!

In this era, he could only become a god on his own, and after becoming one, the godhood he condensed could only be attached to the Cosmic Law like the Dragon God's.

"The Golden Dragon King's Divine Core doesn't feel like enough for me to fully grow..."

Even the Golden Dragon King at his peak could not possibly contend with twelve God Kings at once. But for now, the most important thing was to save the Golden Tree Spirit first.

It seemed he would have to make a trip to Shrek Academy.

With Na'er as his pass, sneaking into the Inner Court would not be difficult.

The youth stretched, his bones crackling. The pain was carried away by the wind, turning into a faint emerald hue in his eyes.

Outside the window, the morning mist was being torn apart by sunlight, which streamed into Gu Yue's room.

After sensing last night's aura, she had been unable to sleep all night.

The Dragon God's aura had been deeply imprinted in her mind, shaking her spirit.

Excitement and unease tugged against each other along the same nerve.

A few days ago, Tang Wulin had been surrounded by Di Tian and the others, who had intended to forcibly strip away his Golden Dragon King Bloodline. Then, they had seen a Golden Trident beat the Star Dou Fierce Beasts until they howled in pain.

Di Tian had suffered the lightest injuries. The other Fierce Beasts had all been seriously wounded and were still receiving Bi Ji's treatment in the Star Dou Great Forest.

She had originally intended to wait quietly for another opportunity, but she had never expected to sense Lord Dragon God's aura.

Di Tian had just come to report that the Golden Dragon King aura on Tang Wulin's body had vanished into thin air overnight.

There had once been a dense Golden Dragon King aura, but now his Martial Soul was, at most, a Blue Silver Emperor that had absorbed Golden Dragon blood essence.

Her gaze turned toward the sea beyond the window as she murmured to herself, "What exactly happened last night?!"

That had absolutely been the Dragon God's aura. She could not possibly have mistaken it.

Could the Dragon God truly have returned and even devoured the Golden Dragon King's power within Tang Wulin?

She did not know, but her heart was inexplicably filled with panic.

The Dragon God's return was clearly a good thing, so why...

Gu Yue covered her chest, her eyes filled with confusion and uncertainty.

Just then, the Soul Guide Communicators of both Gu Yue and Li Jinsheng, who was lying dead in the other room, rang at the same time.

The screens lit up with a notice from Leng Yaozhu: gather at ten.

The two of them said the same two words without prior agreement. "Understood!"

Gu Yue briefly tidied her clothes and long hair, then strode out of the room with crisp energy.

Li Jinsheng, meanwhile, pulled on a white shirt and white trousers before heading straight for the cafeteria.

Five minutes before ten, the two were already standing before the Heavenly Phoenix Mech, waiting for Leng Yaozhu to arrive.

The morning sunlight slanted down, gleaming white off the Black Mecha's shell with a chilling glare.

The clatter of footsteps came from afar. Leng Yaozhu emerged from the elevator, her red hair lifted by the wind like burning flames. The sunlight plated her in a golden halo, making her appear even more breathtakingly beautiful.

"You two came early!" Leng Yaozhu smiled faintly and lightly drew a line through the air with her fingertip. The mech's hatch opened in response.

"Board!"

As soon as the words fell, she swept past them, leaving behind a faint fragrance in the wind. Li Jinsheng and Gu Yue followed close behind and boarded the mech.

Before long, the engines let out an ear-splitting roar. The vessel rose vertically, the city's outline shrinking into a sandbox below as even the clouds were shredded into wisps by the engines.

They flew all the way toward Heaven Dou City.

After activating autopilot, Leng Yaozhu began introducing Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua to them.

A so-called Divine Craftsman was a ninth-rank blacksmith capable of forging Heavenly Forging metals, and Zhen Hua was the only Divine Craftsman of this era.

He was also the strongest member of the entire Blacksmith Association, a Titled Douluo-level existence. Of course, that was only when Shrek Academy's blacksmiths were excluded from consideration in terms of combat power.

Shrek Academy's Blacksmith Association had never been under the jurisdiction of the continent's Blacksmith Association.

And Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua had become a Divine Craftsman at the age of thirty-seven.

Before he appeared, crafting a Four-Word Battle Armor required several Saint Craftsmen working together, with the full support of a Titled Douluo. Even then, no one knew how much effort it took to barely complete one.

But that kind of Four-Word Battle Armor was not truly complete. At most, it could only be called half a step into the Four-Word realm.

Gu Yue listened quietly and understood just how important a Divine Craftsman was to the Douluo Continent. Every Four-Word Battle Armor had to pass through his hands before it could be brought into existence.

Damn Four-Word Battle Armors! Damn soul technology! If humans did not have these things, how could they so easily compress the living space of Soul Beasts?

She secretly clenched her fists. After taking human form, she had set two goals for herself. One was to devour the Golden Dragon King and become the Dragon God.

The other was to join the Spirit Pagoda and use its monopoly over Soul Spirits to eventually control the human Soul Masters.

However, some unexpected things had happened along the way—such as that Li Jinsheng thing, which was almost human.

There was also the mysterious divine consciousness protecting Tang Wulin, the Golden Dragon King Divine Core's disappearance confirmed today, and, most importantly, the aura she had sensed last night—the Dragon God!

With so many things piling together, she felt momentarily lost.

Gu Yue silently glanced at Li Jinsheng. This guy was unusually well-behaved today. He had not spoken for so long that she was almost unaccustomed to it.

"What are you looking at? Do you think I'm even more handsome today?" the boy said confidently.

Gu Yue smiled faintly and ignored him. Only at times like this did she feel inexplicably relaxed.

There was no pressure around Li Jinsheng. He did not even treat himself like a person.

Under the same sky, a Black-class Mecha tore through the clouds and soared across the heavens.

Inside the cockpit, Ya Li gently pushed the control lever. The instrument panel's reflection illuminated her breathtakingly beautiful profile, making her look gentle and captivating.

In the back seat, Na'er sat hugging her knees, her silver hair slightly mussed from rubbing against the seatback. Yet her mouth did not stop for even a moment.

"Big Brother is so miserable. He gets bullied by that big devil every single day. He's practically a legendary king of enduring pressure!"

"Gu Yue is even worse. She wears that sour expression every day, like the whole world owes her!..."

With every insult, she poked the armrest once, as though venting her frustration. Perhaps she was tired from cursing, because she finally stopped her rapid-fire tirade.

Picking up the drink beside her, she took a huge sip before saying again, "Damn Gu Yue..."

Ya Li smiled helplessly. "No matter how much you curse, Gu Yue can't hear you!"

"So what!" Na'er snapped angrily.

Ya Li shook her head. Though she did not know why Na'er held such intense hostility toward Gu Yue, Na'er's heart seemed to have already tilted toward Li Jinsheng.

Ya Li also did not understand what was so good about that child. He was straightforward to an almost absurd degree.

Na'er huffed, switched the communication channel to private, and continued muttering, her words firing as fast as a machine gun.

The mecha sped onward, and before long, it arrived at the destination of their journey: Heaven Dou City.