As the sun sank in the west, the last rays of sunset dyed the flowers red, the grass red, and Su Yuntao, standing at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, red as well.
After a long, dusty journey from Nuoding City, Su Yuntao had finally reached the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest. Everything he was doing was top secret, so night would make the best cover.
Su Yuntao placed Xiao Wu's personal belongings at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, then sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes, waiting for a certain moment to arrive.
He knew that the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python would soon receive word. In the original story, Xiao Wu had returned to the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest many times, despite lacking the strength to cross the entire forest.
After careful study, Su Yuntao had figured out how it worked. Perhaps as long as Xiao Wu's aura appeared in the outer reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest, tiny Soul Beasts like the Ant Worms would detect it.
The Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python only had to subdue the leaders of those groups, and they would naturally learn of Xiao Wu's whereabouts at once and come from the core region to meet her.
Sure enough, deep into the night, Su Yuntao's half-closed eyes snapped open. A faint stir came from the distant forest, growing more and more intense with each passing moment. Fleeing birds and beasts soon filled his view.
Su Yuntao slowly rose to his feet. Though he was about to face a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast overlord, there was no fear in his eyes.
He knew he had done everything he could. If something went wrong, perhaps that was simply his fate. He had no talent, no connections, no system, no cheat. Though he was a transmigrator, he had struggled at every step on the Douluo Continent, unable to make any headway.
If he wanted to cultivate, if he wanted to become a god, he had to face everything that was coming!
With a crash, a massive Soul Beast appeared before Su Yuntao. Its body towered like a mountain, standing over ten zhang tall by a rough estimate. Muscles as sturdy as granite covered its entire body, and its enormous fists were each as big as a house. It was hard to imagine the devastation a single punch from it would unleash!
There was no doubt about it: this was the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Su Yuntao had been waiting for—the Titan Giant Ape!
Though it lived only at the very edge of the Star Dou Great Forest's core region, serving as little more than a gatekeeper in a sense, it had still lived for over a hundred thousand years. Its origins were extraordinary, its talent exceptional, and its combat power was enough to suppress a human Title Douluo of level ninety-five. Compared to it, Su Yuntao, at level thirty-seven, was nothing but an ant beneath its feet.
The Titan Giant Ape now saw the human before it, along with the personal belongings of Xiao Wu lying in front of him.
In an instant, its eyes turned blood-red. Without a moment's thought, it raised its enormous fists and slammed them down!
"If I die, Xiao Wu dies. If I'm hurt, Xiao Wu is hurt." Facing the earth-shattering blow about to fall, Su Yuntao felt no fear and made no move to retreat. Instead, he firmly spoke the words that would send the forest overlord, the Titan Giant Ape, into a fury.
With a crash, a frenzied roar shook the heavens and earth, resounding across the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest. Countless birds and beasts scattered in panic.
The roar left Su Yuntao deaf for a moment.
"Human!" The Titan Giant Ape spoke in human tongue, roaring, "If Sister Xiao Wu dies, I'll smash you to bits!"
Su Yuntao was temporarily deaf, and though he could barely hear, he understood the gist of what the Titan Giant Ape had said.
"Titan Giant Ape, take me to the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest now. I want to see your elder brother, the Sky Azure Bull Python."
Su Yuntao looked composed, his words firm and clear. Though the gulf between his strength and the Titan Giant Ape's was vast, and their standing utterly unequal, he had a brave heart.
"Human, let Sister Xiao Wu go at once, and I'll let you leave!" the Titan Giant Ape rumbled.
"Titan Giant Ape, I've already made my request clear. Take me to the core region. Whatever needs to be discussed, I'll discuss with your elder brother, the Sky Azure Bull Python. If you insist on doing this, there's nothing I can do. But I'll tell you this: if you wait too long, Xiao Wu may lose her life!"
The Titan Giant Ape's eyes were bloodshot. It ripped up one great tree after another, and its enormous fists smashed boulder after boulder. If it had not already cultivated for a hundred thousand years and fully awakened its intelligence, its naturally rash self would have beaten Su Yuntao into a bloody pulp by now.
Su Yuntao had insisted on speaking with the Sky Azure Bull Python precisely because the Titan Giant Ape was impulsive by nature and often couldn't control itself. To put it plainly, it was a hotheaded fool.
That was why the Sky Azure Bull Python was the best choice for the negotiations to come. Once he met it, Su Yuntao believed that, after weighing the pros and cons, he would get everything he wanted.
Only after a long while did the Titan Giant Ape begin to vent the rage in its heart.
"Vile human, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Su Yuntao replied calmly, "Titan Giant Ape, I've already told you. What you need to do now is take me to the core region. I need to discuss this with your elder brother, the Sky Azure Bull Python!"
The Titan Giant Ape roared, "Vile human, what tricks are you playing? Let Sister Xiao Wu go, or I'll make sure you have no place to be buried!"
Su Yuntao said slowly, "Titan Giant Ape, since I came here, I've already prepared for the worst. I told you: if I die, Xiao Wu dies; if I'm hurt, Xiao Wu is hurt. Whatever happens to me will happen to Xiao Wu. If I haven't reached an agreement with the Sky Azure Bull Python by tomorrow night, then Xiao Wu will truly never come back!"
The Titan Giant Ape's eyes were blazing, and its enormous fists trembled, but in the end, reason won out over instinct. Clearly, when it came to Xiao Wu, the Titan Giant Ape was willing to change a great deal.
It snatched Su Yuntao up in one hand, then turned and charged deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest. Though it badly wanted to crush the detestable human, the Titan Giant Ape didn't dare.
Su Yuntao's heart suddenly grew calm, as though he had seen through all the world's myriad ways. A trace of uncertainty stirred within him. He had changed so much for the sake of going home. What would he become in the future?
Over the past ten years, Su Yuntao had changed so much, yet he had still held fast to his final line. Using Xiao Wu as a bargaining chip was indeed despicable, and there was no way to make it seem honorable, no matter how he looked at it. But deep down, Su Yuntao had already made a silent vow.
He would make the Sky Azure Bull Python a promise: if he became a god, he would personally revive it in the Divine Realm and take it there to live forever, beyond death!