Why Did You Call Me Rustam?

"This ice—could actually reach god-level strength."

Star Dou Great Forest, restricted area, Silver Dragon Space.

The Silver Dragon King dispelled the chill from Chen Fan's body. In her palm, however, she was rubbing a lump of ice crystal.

It was solid ice formed from the chill she had drawn out of Chen Fan's body. Its strength surprised her. "Even Di Tian would find this stuff quite troublesome to deal with, yet you managed to suppress it outright."

"But it's a pity your flames fall a little short. If they reached the level of Ultimate Fire, perhaps you could try melting it yourself. Of course, that would take a long time—at least a month."

Chen Fan wiped the sweat from his face and let out a long breath.

He didn't answer the Silver Dragon King. Instead, he said, "I want to go back and see my parents."

"Can you let me out?"

At Chen Fan's words, the Silver Dragon King paused briefly, then smiled. "No problem."

As she spoke, she turned her hand over, and a silver dragon scale appeared in her palm. She handed it to Chen Fan. "With this token, you can return to the restricted area whenever you want."

As for the Silver Dragon King,

what she needed was to obtain the reward from the Teleportation Gate so she could rapidly recover from her injuries. Then, once the Divine Realm and Douluo Planet lost contact, she would lead the Soul Beast Clan to reclaim control of the continent, before looking for a chance to storm the Divine Realm and take back everything that had originally belonged to the dragons!

Naturally, she wasn't about to do something like keep Chen Fan here against his will.

"Thanks!"

Chen Fan exhaled and accepted the silver scale without refusing.

The Silver Dragon King raised a hand and swept it through the air. The surrounding space, filled with white mist, suddenly split open. "This spatial passage leads straight to the Star Luo Empire."

"Go and come back quickly."

"A day in that other world passes very quickly."

"Okay!"

Chen Fan didn't waste any more words. He turned and walked into the passage.

In an instant,

he felt the world spin around him. A sense of weightlessness swept over him, followed by a heavy landing.

It felt much like entering the Teleportation Gate.

"The Star Luo Empire..."

Chen Fan let out a breath, took out the map, and glanced over it. He quickly figured out which way to go and headed into the distance.

"I never thought the Silver Dragon King would help me fend off Bibi Dong's assassination attempt."

"And..."

Chen Fan's mouth twitched. "Is the Silver Dragon King a little too uninhibited?"

He had reminded her several times, but she seemed to ignore him completely. Chen Fan could hardly bear to look.

But if he didn't look at her while speaking, it seemed a little disrespectful. This was—

"Forget it. With the Silver Dragon King helping me, I don't have to worry about Bibi Dong hunting me down for now."

As he thought about it, Chen Fan couldn't help recalling his earlier fight with La Signora.

"She was only in her first form, and she still seemed to be holding back... If that's the case, perhaps only a Peerless Douluo with Yin-Yang Complementary Dual Spirit Cores could withstand her first-stage strength."

"But if she enters her second stage... her flames might be even stronger than Ultimate Fire. At their peak, they might even rival the Pyro Archon, one of the Seven Elemental Gods!"

"After all!"

"In her second stage, she's the real Eighth Harbinger of the Fatui—the woman known as the Crimson Witch of Embers: La Signora!"

Of course, that was only Chen Fan's guess. He could only find out for sure next time.

"But... why did he call me Rustam?"

Chen Fan couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it. "I wonder how Mom, Dad, and my little sister are doing."

"My lord, what do you think of this human—"

Star Dou Great Forest, restricted area.

After Chen Fan left, Beast God Di Tian seemed to sense something. A thought stirred in his mind, and he couldn't help asking.

"We'll discuss that later."

The Silver Dragon King's vague answer left Di Tian at a loss, but he didn't dare question her. He could only answer, "Yes!"

Compared with the situation in the other four camps, things in the Far North were much quieter—so quiet that it made both humans and beasts' ears ring.

"Snow Empress, how about I try next time?"

Ice Empress couldn't help speaking up. "This thing about participating in the Rite of Descension and surviving safely for three days and three nights should be no problem."

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the second country... hmm, it's that place called Liyue from before!"

"I think it should be fine."

Snow Empress glanced at her and shook her head. "Forget it. Let A-Tai and Xiao Bai try it."

If it weren't for her injuries, Snow Empress's current strength was extremely limited. Otherwise, she would have wanted to try it herself.

But it was precisely because of those injuries that she wanted to compete for the reward. The injuries caused by the failure to form Yin-Yang Complementary Dual Spirit Cores were extremely difficult to heal.

Yet the reward from the Teleportation Gate could even help Di Tian increase his cultivation. Surely, it could help her too...

"Brother!"

The moment Chen Fan arrived at the farmland, a familiar figure came rushing into his arms.

He looked down. Wasn't this little one just—

It was Chen Fan's younger sister, Chen Muxue.

She might have been as tiny as a potato, but she was only a year younger than Chen Fan. It was just that she had dwarfism and stood less than 1.5 meters tall. She probably didn't even weigh 35 kilograms.

"Xiaofan, you're back."

When Chen Yuan saw Chen Fan's face was pale, seemingly from the frost earlier, his expression stiffened. "You... you're hurt?"

"I'm fine."

Chen Fan shook his head, set Chen Muxue down, and said, "Mom, Dad, Xiao Xue, the Star Luo Empire isn't a good place either. Let's leave first."

"Where are we going?"

Chen Fan was about to say the Star Dou Great Forest, but Chen Yuan spoke earnestly. "Xiaofan, don't say we're going to the Star Dou Great Forest."

"There can't possibly be any human forces in the Star Dou Great Forest. I assume it's a force of Soul Beasts, right?"

Chen Fan froze and nodded without thinking. "Yes..."

"I've always believed that those who aren't of our kind will never share our hearts."

"Soul Beasts and Spirit Masters are mortal enemies. If they're asking you to go there, they're most likely using you because of what you can do."

Chen Fan paused briefly and asked, "Dad, do you want to return to the Spirit Hall Empire?"

"No."

Chen Yuan shook his head. "Living under someone else's roof doesn't feel good either."

He might have been a Cardinal before, but that was a Cardinal in Spirit City.

To put it in the words of a famous line, one swing of a brick could knock down a whole crowd of Cardinals!

"I'll think about it..."

Chen Fan understood what Chen Yuan meant. Leaving the Spirit Hall Empire had been one thing, but leaving the Star Dou Great Forest—

And just then!

The Teleportation Gate's solemn voice once again rang out in the hearts of all living beings!

[Auspicious hour has arrived!]

[The second group mission's first stage is now beginning: "Participate in the Rite of Descension and survive safely for three days and three nights." The Teleportation Gate is now open. Contestants from each camp must enter within fifteen minutes. Those who fail to enter in time will be considered to have forfeited and will be judged to have failed the mission!]