Tang San Loses His Dignity

The next day

The morning sun rose, bringing light back to the forest.

Xiao Wu had rejoined the group, but everyone's expressions were grave. A faint sadness hung in the air.

Led by Zhao Wuji, they advanced in a defensive formation, searching the area. It seemed... they were looking for someone.

"Teacher Zhao, I want to go back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. I want someone from the sect to come find... Waaaaah!"

"Sword Grandpa is a Titled Douluo. He'll definitely be able to find Lin Yan."

Ning Rongrong's tearful voice was the first to break the silence. Everyone turned to look at her, their eyes brightening as if they'd found hope.

But soon, they seemed to remember that this hope might be impossible to realize, and the light in their eyes dimmed.

That was right—they were looking for Lin Yan... and they'd been searching all night.

The previous night, the Titan Giant Ape had taken Xiao Wu. Tang San and Lin Yan had chased after it, one right after the other. Zhao Wuji had no choice but to use Oscar's Flying Mushroom Sausage to take the remaining Shrek students after them.

But all they'd found was the corpse of a Man Faced Demon Spider. Tang San's Hidden Weapons were embedded in it, and it bore marks of scorching flames, but there was no sign of either young man.

By this point, everyone had more or less guessed the outcome...

The two of them were probably doomed!

"Rongrong, don't be like this."

Rarely did Zhu Zhuqing let her cool mask slip in front of the others. She comforted her, "Lin Yan will be fine. He... he's a healing-type Soul Master. He'll be fine."

"Exactly. The blades of grass he gave us still have energy in them. That means he's still alive," Dai Mubai said, seizing on the key point. "If we keep looking, we'll find him."

At those words, everyone's eyes brightened considerably, Zhao Wuji included. They all took out the blades of Blue Silver Grass Lin Yan had left them.

The blades brimmed with life, a sign that their owner wasn't entirely dead yet. But... where was Lin Yan?

They'd followed the Titan Giant Ape's tracks all night. They'd even run into Dragon Duke and Snake Granny along the way. There was no reason they shouldn't be able to find a man who'd lost the ability to move...

At that moment, Xiao Wu furrowed her brow and muttered silently to herself.

Could it be that Tang San is missing too...?

"Are you only looking for Lin Yan?"

That was right. Tang San hadn't returned either.

After condensing her Soul Ring, Xiao Wu had deliberately retraced her steps and looked around before finally finding the group.

She'd assumed Tang San would be with them. She hadn't expected Lin Yan to have vanished as well, and she couldn't help feeling deeply guilty.

It was all because of her. Because of Er Ming...

Before she could think further, several figures appeared in the distance. One of them cleared his throat, and soon everyone's attention turned toward them.

"Dragon Duke and Snake Granny?"

Zhao Wuji looked puzzled. He saw the Dragon Duke holding a half-dead figure in his hand, and a nameless dread welled up inside him.

Sure enough, after seeing everyone turn their way, Snake Granny stepped forward and gestured for the Dragon Duke to put the person down.

Thump~

"Brother Zhao, this one of your people?"

At those words, Ning Rongrong rushed forward in a frenzy, but whether from emotion or some other reason, she stumbled and fell after only a few steps.

Kneeling on the ground, the girl looked at the figure whose waist was covered in blood, whose clothes were gone, and who was covered only by a rag. She wept as if her heart were being torn apart.

"Lin Yan!"

"Ah..." Snake Granny sighed, her face full of pity. "He was already like this when we found him. We can just barely save his life, but as for his lower half..."

"It looks like wild beasts ate it clean off. We couldn't find any remains at the scene."

"What?"

The moment Zhu Zhuqing heard those words, her legs gave way. She collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Xiao Wu was closest and quickly caught her, asking with concern,

"Zhuqing, Zhuqing, are you all right?"

Ma Hongjun's expression crumpled. He thrust his fingers into his hair. "It's over! It's all over. Lin Yan was still a virgin! He still had to cultivate his Second Martial Soul! What are we going to do now?"

Clearly, the bloodied figure no longer had even a trace of manly vigor. In his current state, even the gods couldn't save him.

Oscar was overcome with grief. "Brother, why did you have to do this? Was it worth it, for a Tang San who opposed you at every turn?"

The day before, everyone had still been laughing and joking. Lin Yan had even helped him obtain his third Soul Ring, but after just one night...

"Ah..."

Dai Mubai clenched his fist. "I'll find my brother the best healing Soul Master on the whole continent. He can't... he can't stop here..."

Xiao Wu crouched beside Zhu Zhuqing, silently shedding tears. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault..."

"He had such a bright future ahead of him. Once we went back, he would have been able to cultivate his Second Martial Soul..."

Mention of the Second Martial Soul reminded everyone of the bold words Lin Yan had declared to the group before they set out:

"I'm going to give my Second Martial Soul a Soul Ring. I'm going to become a Battle Soul Master."

"Once I'm strong enough, I'll be the one protecting everyone."

The resolve on the young man's fair face was still vivid in their memories. But when they looked again at that broken body...

The morning sunlight gradually brought warmth to the earth, but everyone's hearts sank to the bottom and turned cold.

Zhao Wuji couldn't bear to look at the cruel scene before him. He covered his eyes tightly with both hands and sighed mournfully.

"Lin Yan, kid, how am I supposed to explain this to Flender..."

"Hm? What do you have to explain?"

"Because of you..."

Zhao Wuji suddenly looked up. A handsome, fair face appeared right before his eyes. A pair of splendid purple Dragon Wings sprouted from the young man's back, while high-temperature fire-attribute Soul Power swirled around him. As his Soul Power flowed, his hair seemed to flutter in the wind. He looked incredibly imposing.

"Lin Yan?"

Zhao Wuji let out a strange cry in shock, and right after him, everyone else cried out in astonishment.

"Lin Yan?"

Lin Yan nodded, looking down at them from above with an utterly harmless expression.

"What's wrong with you all? Why are you crying your eyes out? Everyone's here, aren't they?"

Then he seemed to remember something and turned to look at the figure in front of Dragon Duke and Snake Granny.

"Hiss..."

"What happened to Tang San?"

"Tang San?"

Xiao Wu tensed. That person stripped of his clothes and covered in blood around the waist was Tang San?

She looked at Lin Yan, then at the figure on the ground.

The next moment, she fell straight over onto the ground...