At Ye Yuan's command, the nine Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Dragons let out another deafening roar. They swung the Golden Sedan Chair around and flew toward Tian Dou Imperial City at breakneck speed.
Inside the extravagantly luxurious sedan chair, the air carried faint sandalwood incense and the distinctive scent of women.
Ye Yuan reclined in a soft white fox-fur armchair, his eyes closed as he rested.
"Xiao Yuan, tired? You broke through that old fellow Niu Gao's Plate Armor Rhinoceros defense with one strike. Is your Soul Power flowing all right?"
A soft, slightly husky woman's voice sounded beside his ear.
Ye Yuan opened his eyes and saw Bibi Dong sitting gracefully to his right.
A strand of gentle, pure Soul Power befitting a Ninety-Ninth Tier Titled Douluo wound around Bibi Dong's fingers, pale as white jade. She pressed his temples in a steady rhythm, easing the mental exhaustion left by his earlier exertion with the Primal Genesis Sword.
As she moved, her ample figure brushed against his shoulder now and then, radiating the mature allure of a pope in her prime.
"Dong'er, I'm fine. My Soul Power is actually flowing more smoothly through my meridians."
Ye Yuan gave an awkward laugh, his body a little stiff.
"Hmph. His Holiness the Pope certainly knows how to dote on someone."
A charming but unmistakably jealous snort came from his left.
Qian Renxue tilted her head, her golden hair spilling over her shoulders like a waterfall. She wore a fitted platinum-colored miniskirt today, and her shapely feet, clad in sheer white stockings, rested on Ye Yuan's knees as though they belonged there. Through the fabric of his clothes, her stockinged feet rubbed restlessly against the side of his leg.
Qian Renxue shot Bibi Dong a sidelong glare. She nudged Ye Yuan with the toe of her white stocking, pressed most of her body into his embrace, and peeled a Sweet Snow Orange from the Star Dou Great Forest. Then she held it to his lips, looking at him expectantly. "Xiao Yuan, have some. It's sweet and juicy, perfect for quenching your thirst. Later, Xue'er will use the Holy Soul Power of the Six-Winged Angel to nourish your meridians. Its holy nature is gentler than anything else. I guarantee your Level 39 Soul Power will settle completely, and you'll be ready to hunt your fourth Soul Ring and advance to Soul Ancestor whenever you like!"
With the two women on either side—one in black stockings, one in white; one a Ninety-Ninth Tier Peerless Douluo, the other a Six-Winged Angel with supreme Holy Soul Power—Ye Yuan felt trapped between ice and fire.
Ye Yuan drew in a sharp breath. Feeling the softness of the white stockings against his leg and the astonishing warmth against his shoulder, he groaned inwardly.
I'm doomed... How is anyone supposed to withstand this?!
Meanwhile, in a dark, damp underground cavern on the outskirts of Heaven Dou City.
"Old Bai... I can't keep going... The tunnel forks up ahead. Which way do we take?"
Tai Tan knelt on one knee, drenched in sweat and muddy water.
Bone Douluo Gu Rong lay silent across his left shoulder, while the barely breathing Tang Hao was strapped to his back. His movements had grown sluggish.
Bai He, pale as a sheet, scouted ahead. His Soul Power was nearly exhausted too.
"We can't go south. Spirit Hall's Temple Knights will seal off Gengxin City sooner or later. We don't even know where Master Ning and the others are. If we show ourselves now, we're dead!"
"Young Master... how do you feel?"
Tai Tan looked down at the five-year-old Tang San in his arms, his face deathly pale and his body covered in blood. His voice caught.
Tang San clenched his teeth. Humiliation and pain had twisted his little face beyond recognition.
"Ye Yuan... Spirit Hall... I, Tang San, will never admit defeat!"
"Cough... cough!"
Just then, Gu Rong convulsed violently on Tai Tan's shoulder and spat out a mouthful of black blood flecked with fragments of his organs. His tightly shut eyes flew open in one last flare of life!
"Bone Douluo! You're awake!" Tai Tan cried in delight.
There was not a trace of color in Gu Rong's gaunt face. With the last of his strength, he seized Tai Tan's collar. His rasping voice sounded like a whisper from a vengeful ghost.
"Don't... don't go anywhere else... Go back to the outskirts of Heaven Dou City..."
"Bone Douluo, have you lost your mind?" Bai He exclaimed in horror.
"Heaven Dou City is crawling with Salas's spies. Going back is walking straight into their net!"
"Fools..."
Gu Rong gave a bitter laugh, a sinister glint in his eyes.
"Fengzhi... Fengzhi has lived a second life. How could he have made no preparations? The branch in Heaven Dou City is just an empty shell to draw Qian Daoliu's attention. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's main force and every evacuated direct descendant... were secretly sent to Blue Tyrant Academy on the city's outskirts long ago!"
"Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Dugu Bo... are all hiding behind Blue Tyrant Academy right now!"
"Go to Blue Tyrant Academy... Hide right beneath their noses! Hurry!!"
With that, Gu Rong's eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious again.
At the words "Blue Tyrant Academy," unprecedented joy burst into Tang San's dim eyes.
Blue Tyrant Academy! Its dean, Liu Erlong!
She's the love of my teacher Yu Xiaogang's life! With Liu Erlong there, plus Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and Poison Douluo holding the fort, we'll finally be safe!
Ye Yuan, just you wait! Once I've recovered behind Blue Tyrant Academy and awakened my Twin Martial Souls, your days will be numbered!
"Grandpa Tai Tan, back to Heaven Dou City! To Blue Tyrant Academy!"
Tang San growled, his voice burning with vengeance.
"All right! Back to the outskirts of Heaven Dou City! Let's go!"
Tai Tan and Bai He rallied. At the end of the hidden passage, they changed course and followed another branch, slipping silently back toward the outskirts of Heaven Dou City.
Meanwhile, on the official road to Longxing City.
Yu Xiaogang limped through the mud like an abandoned stray dog.
He had lost one of his tattered cloth shoes during his desperate run. Sharp stones had cut his bare foot bloody, leaving stark red prints in the mud.
The long trek had drained every last trace of his Level 29 Soul Power. He had meant to find Tang San in Longxing City, but now he lacked even the strength to stand.
Rumble!
A dragon's roar suddenly sounded overhead.
Yu Xiaogang raised his head numbly, just in time to see the Golden Sedan Chair, symbol of Spirit Hall's supreme authority, roar past above him under the escort of several Titled Douluo. It was heading back toward Tian Dou Imperial City.
"They've turned back!"
"Spirit Hall is returning to Heaven Dou City now?!"
Yu Xiaogang sat stunned in the muddy water, his rigid face full of shock and confusion.
He had no idea what had happened in Longxing City, much less where Tang San had gone.
Spirit Hall's sudden return could mean only one thing: either everything in Longxing City was over, or Spirit Hall had lost Tang San's trail there and been forced to withdraw!
Damn it... I have no Soul Power and no information. If I keep trudging blindly toward Longxing City and find nothing, I'll die before I get there!
Before you continue