Old Acquaintance Reappears

"What are you doing?"

Gu Yue felt her scalp tingle under Su Mo's somewhat sympathetic gaze. She frowned, about to flare up, when she suddenly sensed a distinct chill approaching.

As the footsteps drew nearer, Wu Zhangkong slowly appeared at the classroom door.

However, Wu Zhangkong was in an extremely bad mood today, his expression frighteningly grim.

His usual cold demeanor seemed magnified several times over, like a dark cloud hanging over the Class Zero classroom.

Wu Zhangkong did not speak. Only the sound of his footsteps echoed through the silent classroom—thud, thud, thud. Every step seemed to stomp heavily on everyone's chest, making their breathing hitch.

The entire Class Zero instantly fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Feeling the terrifying pressure emanating from Wu Zhangkong, enough to freeze the air itself, Tang Wulin and the others held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Tang Wulin wanted several times to ask Wu Zhangkong what had happened, but Wu Zhangkong's icy gaze frightened the words back down his throat every time.

Tang Wulin could swear to the heavens that after spending so long with Wu Zhangkong, this was the first time he had seen him display such a loss of composure.

As someone who knew Wu Zhangkong's background, Su Mo naturally knew why Wu Zhangkong was so furious today, but he had no intention of pointing it out.

What had happened at Shrek yesterday had left Wu Zhangkong in an extremely foul mood, and he desperately needed somewhere to vent it.

Even though Su Mo was not afraid of Wu Zhangkong, he was not foolish enough to provoke him at a time like this.

Wu Zhangkong stepped onto the podium and swept his gaze across the class like a blade. His cold, severe eyes passed over every student before finally settling on Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin sat carefully in his seat, his body taut and his expression carrying traces of nervousness and unease.

Seeing Tang Wulin's cautious appearance, Wu Zhangkong's heart jolted as he suddenly realized he had lost his composure.

Wu Zhangkong had never wanted to reveal too much emotion in front of Tang Wulin and the others, yet today, his emotions had slipped out of control.

But he could not be blamed entirely for that.

What had happened at Shrek yesterday was simply too infuriating!

Although he had long since left Shrek, merely thinking about what had happened yesterday made the surging fury in his chest nearly send him out of control again.

Just yesterday, Shrek Academy, with its long history and countless epics of glory and brilliance, had suffered an unprecedented humiliation.

That blatant provocation had not only struck at the academy's reputation, but had also slapped every Shrek person hard across the face.

Wu Zhangkong slowly clenched his fist at the edge of the podium, his knuckles whitening from the force.

What angered him even more was that, given the Sun Moon Federation's speed of information dissemination, yesterday's events had probably spread across the entire continent by now.

How would those ordinary people who had once looked up to Shrek, and those who had always been eager to see Shrek make a fool of itself, discuss Shrek now?

Just imagining the voices that might mock and ridicule Shrek made Wu Zhangkong feel as though his heart had been scorched by flames, his rage threatening to burst uncontrollably from his chest.

Wu Zhangkong took a deep breath and tried to keep his tone calm.

"Come with me. I'll take you to your final exam."

"Mm-hmm!"

Everyone nodded in unison.

A large group followed behind Wu Zhangkong and left Eastsea Academy through its gates.

A Soul Guidance Bus had already been prepared outside. As soon as they boarded, it started up and slowly headed toward the outskirts of Eastsea City.

The atmosphere inside the bus was stifling.

Wu Zhangkong sat upright in the front row, straight as a drawn sword, his coldness making everyone afraid to approach him.

Su Mo, Tang Wulin, and the others tacitly chose to keep their distance from Wu Zhangkong and took seats in the back rows.

The entire way, the atmosphere in the Soul Guidance Bus was terrifyingly quiet, with only the engine's low rumble echoing in their ears.

After holding it in for a long time, Tang Wulin finally could not help but whisper into Xie Xie's ear, "Xie Xie, do you know what's wrong with Teacher Wu? He seems... especially angry today."

Xie Xie rolled his eyes helplessly. "How would I know? I've been so busy cultivating lately that I haven't even had time to catch up on gossip."

Tang Wulin's expression fell slightly. Even Xie Xie, Class Zero's little know-it-all, did not know. That meant no one among them would know either.

"Of course it's because of this..."

Su Mo's voice suddenly sounded behind them.

Tang Wulin froze, then hurriedly turned around and saw Su Mo leaning against his seat with a calm expression.

"Su Mo, you know?"

There was a trace of surprise and curiosity in Tang Wulin's voice.

Gu Yue also turned around to look at Su Mo curiously, her eyes carrying both curiosity and a measure of wariness.

Su Mo ignored Gu Yue's gaze. He merely took out his Soul Guidance Communicator and tapped it a few times.

"I sent you the news. Read it yourselves."

Before long, a new message appeared in Class Zero's group chat.

Tang Wulin opened it immediately, and his pupils suddenly contracted the next second.

The headline read: "Shrek's Undefeated Myth Shattered—Goddess of Light May Lead a New Era for Soul Masters!"

Though the headline was only a dozen or so words, it struck Tang Wulin's heart like a massive hammer.

Tang Wulin sucked in a breath, suppressing the turbulent emotions in his chest and the unease in his heart as he continued reading.

"This... this is impossible..."

"Wasn't she already completely dead?!"

Tang San, hiding deep within Tang Wulin's spiritual world, saw the Goddess of Light's appearance. His pupils abruptly contracted, and his voice trembled with rare intensity.

As the one responsible for the deception back then, Tang San could never forget her even if she turned to ashes.

"Wulin, can you check the Goddess of Light's Martial Soul and name?"

Tang San took a deep breath and tried to keep his tone calm.

Although Tang San tried his best to sound calm, Tang Wulin still noticed that something was off in his voice.

"What's wrong, Lao Tang? Your voice sounds a little strange."

Faced with Tang Wulin's concern, Tang San immediately lied, "It's nothing. Seeing this Goddess of Light merely reminded me of an old friend."

Tang Wulin did not think much of it and quietly relayed the introduction about the Goddess of Light to Tang San word for word.

"Di Qiu'er... Her Martial Soul is the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!!!"

Hearing this, Tang San's mind boomed. His pupils abruptly contracted, and even his breathing halted for a moment.

Based on those two pieces of information alone, Tang San could determine with absolute certainty that the so-called Goddess of Light was the Emperor Auspicious Beast from the Star Dou Forest ten thousand years ago!

But there was one thing Tang San could not understand no matter what: how had Di Qiu'er's soul escaped from the depths of the Underworld and even reincarnated on Douluo Continent?

Back then, to prevent Huo Yuhao from noticing anything unusual,

after Wang Qiu'er sacrificed herself, Tang San had personally gone to the Underworld and imprisoned the portion of the soul belonging solely to the Emperor Auspicious Beast in the Abyss of the Underworld.

Logically speaking, she should never have had another chance to appear in this world, yet she had reappeared now.

Was it an accident, or...

An unprecedented gravity flashed through Tang San's eyes, and a faint sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

If this was merely a coincidence, then all would be well.

Even the God Realm had been swept away by the Space-Time Turbulence. It was perfectly normal for the Underworld to have suffered an impact as well.

If the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's soul had accidentally escaped during that great calamity and just happened to reincarnate on Douluo Continent, then everything before him could be explained.

But what if this was not a coincidence?

Tang San's chest tightened. If someone had deliberately "fished" the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's soul out of the Underworld, then things would become troublesome.