No Fate!

After finishing their picnic and rest, Wang Chuan and Wang Lie did not return immediately.

Because Wang Chuan lacked practical combat experience, he suggested to Wang Lie that they find some soul beasts in the Sunset Forest to improve his overall combat capabilities.

To this, Wang Lie naturally had no objections.

#

"No~!"

The next day, Wang Chuan let out a mournful cry.

He had been too tired yesterday to fully understand his new state, but now, after a brief check, he discovered the problem.

First, the good news.

Relying on the massive energy contained within the thousand-year soul ring, Wang Chuan bypassed over a year of arduous cultivation, his strength directly breaking through to level twelve.

Furthermore, not only had the combat organs on Golden Scale grown stronger.

At the same time, the ability to undergo physical changes after Martial Soul Possession, which should have appeared on a beast soul master, was reflected directly onto it from Wang Chuan.

Now, Golden Scale could shrink to a minimum of one meter or expand to a maximum of three meters.

This should have been good news.

But along with this ability that should have been granted to the soul master, it also took the True Body Armor that Wang Chuan had been longing for.

And this was the reason for Wang Chuan's lament.

Only then did Wang Chuan remember that the True Body Armor itself was a manifestation of a martial soul that replaced the beast-transformation seen in the novels with the version from the comics.

Now that it was a detached beast martial soul, this ability naturally belonged to Golden Scale; besides, in the comics, Yu Xiaogang had indeed never displayed that form.

So, harboring grief and indignation in his heart, Wang Chuan once again set off with Wang Lie toward the mixed zone.

For a time, many ten-thousand-year soul beasts in the mixed zone suffered.

"Watch my trapezius muscle crash!"

"A-da! Crow sits on the plane!"

"Tornado destroys the parking lot!"

"Yura yura yura!!!"

Watching Wang Chuan shout these abstract move names and perform bizarre combat motions.

Wang Lie, standing to the side, found it a bit hard to accept, yet Wang Chuan's attacks were surprisingly effective, leaving him at a loss for words and completely bewildered in the wind.

In the end, Wang Chuan hunted two ten-thousand-year soul beasts.

He didn't kill them, but tied them up tightly, intending to go to the soul-hunting town outside with Wang Lie to sell their soul rings.

As for the remaining meat, Wang Chuan naturally accepted it with a smile.

Because the massive amount of Bloodline Power fed back through devouring the Titan Golden Python had left Wang Chuan very satisfied, far beyond what he could get from the second-hand goods he ate at home.

Therefore, Wang Chuan set his sights on these high-level soul beasts.

As for whether Wang Chuan felt any guilt about selling these soul beasts, which already possessed the intelligence of a seven or eight-year-old?

Wang Chuan indicated he felt absolutely none; he only opposed meaningless killing. In a situation where humans and soul beasts were inherently locked in a life-or-death struggle, he didn't feel that killing for the sake of his own stomach would cause any harm to his morals.

However, on the return journey, Wang Chuan also had some doubts.

According to Wang Lie, selling just one ten-thousand-year soul beast, even just its flesh and blood, was worth thousands of Gold Soul Coins.

So how did the original Shrek Academy end up in such a miserable state?

They weren't exactly paragons of virtue, and they were so close to the Star Dou Forest.

But soon, Wang Chuan cast these thoughts to the back of his mind.

He never cared much about how the original characters turned out anyway.

Or rather, he never believed this world would follow the path of the novels and comics, as those works all contained a series of embellishments or the author's subjective consciousness.

If one were to take it too seriously, it would end up like complaining about Naruto—"San Shao, you don't know a damn thing about Douluo."

So now, Wang Chuan just wanted to live his own life well.

And just as Wang Chuan was huffing and puffing while dragging the two soul beasts, his mind filled with wild thoughts.

Wang Lie, who was clearing the path ahead, suddenly stopped, and Wang Chuan bumped into him, caught off guard.

Shaking his head and putting some distance between himself and Wang Lie, Wang Chuan asked out of subconscious curiosity.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?"

It was at this moment that Wang Chuan saw, on a patch of withered yellow leaves not far away, a... man? ...sprawled out, dressed in dark green robes.

Wang Chuan examined him suspiciously.

Because the person's hair was extremely long and other parts of their body were covered, it was hard for him not to find it slightly difficult to distinguish their gender.

And as a foul, fishy stench drifted through the air, Wang Chuan had just begun to guess the person's identity when Wang Lie hurriedly used his soul power to blow the air away for dozens of meters.

"Hold your breath, the air is poisonous," Wang Lie warned urgently.

Wang Chuan secretly thought as expected; the person who had fainted on the ground was indeed Dugu Bo.

Immediately, Wang Lie directly unleashed his fifth soul skill, Wind Control, forming a massive vortex of wind around the grandfather and grandson to block the encroachment of the poisonous gas before saying, "I've blocked the poison, you can breathe now."

Wang Chuan watched this scene with envy; a mage who could command the elements with a mere wave of his hand was truly cool, but it was a pity he didn't seem to have any potential in that regard.

Wang Lie did not leave, but instead stood quietly with Wang Chuan not far away, waiting for Dugu Bo to wake up.

Wang Chuan felt this was normal.

After all, the two sides had a good relationship in the past, and since he likely knew the secret of the poison in the other's body, it was only right to stand guard for him.

In the time that followed, Dugu Bo kept letting out painful whimpers, his entire body twisting and struggling on the ground; it looked incredibly agonizing.

Taking this opportunity, Wang Chuan was able to see Dugu Bo's appearance clearly.

Unlike how he was depicted in the comic spin-offs, Dugu Bo, now in his fifties, had a face full of the vicissitudes and signs of aging typical of a middle-aged man.

After about half an hour passed like this, the sounds of Dugu Bo's painful groans finally faded away.

He then fell into a deep sleep, not slowly opening his eyes until the afternoon, letting out the meaningless whimpers of someone who had just woken up.

At this moment, Wang Lie said, "Little Poison Snake, long time no see."

Dugu Bo's pupils constricted, his gaze shifting rapidly from confusion to clarity, and with a kip-up, he leaped onto a nearby ancient tree.

There was no helping it; in the Soul Hunting Forest, soul masters were even more terrifying than soul beasts. Anyone could potentially stab you in the back, and for Dugu Bo, who was currently a lone wolf, this was purely a stress response.

But when Dugu Bo saw that familiar face of Wang Lie clearly.

The muscles that had been tense all over his body suddenly relaxed, and a wry, incredulous expression appeared on his face.

After all, if someone really wanted to do him harm, they would have done it while he was unconscious; there would be no need to greet him like that.

Dugu Bo jumped down while offering a greeting.

"Long time no see, Brother Wang Erge, how have you been all these years?"

Wang Lie responded kindly, and the atmosphere between the two was harmonious, completely lacking the tension that had occurred when Tang San exposed the problems with Dugu Bo's body.

After a round of pleasantries, Dugu Bo noticed Wang Chuan and subconsciously asked.

"Brother, who is this little guy?"

Wang Lie stepped aside to let Dugu Bo see Wang Chuan fully, then patted Wang Chuan on the shoulder, his face filled with nostalgia as he said.

"This is Big Brother's grandson, Wang Chuan; you can call him Xiao Chuan."

Upon hearing that Wang Chuan was the grandson of his former elder brother, Dugu Bo immediately became enthusiastic.