Return to Heaven Dou

Something occurred to Jiang Baiyu. He turned and looked Dugu Bo in the eye. "Old Poison, do you want a Soul Bone?"

"What?" Dugu Bo stared at him.

"A Soul Bone. An External Soul Bone. Do you want one? It'd be perfect for Sister Yan. What do you think?"

"Yes! Of course I do!" Dugu Bo blurted out. "What, do you know where to find one?" "All right," Jiang Baiyu said. "Let's head back to Heaven Dou Royal Academy first. I can make some pills for Sister Yan and the others to raise their Soul Power. Once she reaches Soul Ancestor, we can all go to Star Dou Forest together. Her fourth Soul Ring might be a little low in age, though. I can provide some draconic aura, but it definitely won't reach ten thousand years." He sounded regretful, but all Dugu Bo heard was that Jiang Baiyu could help Yan reach Soul Ancestor soon—and had already found her a suitable Soul Beast and External Soul Bone. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

He could hardly wait and immediately began urging them on.

Jiang Baiyu turned to Su Wu. "Old man, don't absorb a Soul Ring yet. Let me look into it and see if I can get you a hundred-thousand-year one."

Before Su Wu could answer, Dugu Bo had already grabbed him and Jiang Baiyu and dragged them away.

With Dugu Bo in such a hurry, the three did not linger in Sunset Forest. They set off for Heaven Dou City.

Carriage

The carriage crossed open plains on the outskirts, and soon the towering, solid walls of Heaven Dou City came into view, with pavilions and palaces stretching beyond them as far as the eye could see.

They passed through the city gates and continued to Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Its grand entrance still stood before them, the white marble pillars gleaming beneath an ornate gatehouse. The guards saw the three return, saluted, and promptly let them through. Inside, courtyards and buildings stood among streams of students, and the presence of Soul Masters could be felt everywhere.

The two secluded courtyards where Jiang Baiyu and Zhu Zhuqing had lived remained quiet in the depths of the academy.

They had been away for days, but the three who returned were profoundly changed.

Jiang Baiyu concealed his outward dragon might, yet the immense power deep within him—power that governed yin and yang and held a small world—still showed faintly. He kept the strength of the Dragon King Soul Bones in his arms completely hidden. But there was no concealing the aura that made all living things bow to him and life itself favor him.

Su Wu suppressed every trace of his Title Douluo pressure, allowing only a deep, steady fluctuation of Soul Power to escape. To outsiders, he seemed merely a high-ranking Soul Master with extraordinary reserves; they could not perceive his true rank. A faint scent of herbs and greenery clung to him.

Dugu Bo walked beside them, his appearance transformed. His hair had turned black. Even his emerald eyes had lost the chilling ferocity of Poison Douluo. He wore fine clothes, though he could not entirely hide the power of heaven and earth that came with forming a Soul Core.

Students and academy staff glanced over as they passed. Many recognized Dugu Bo and were secretly shocked. They took Su Wu for a formidable elder traveling with Poison Douluo, likely a Soul Douluo at least, and unconsciously moved aside. Before long, the three reached their private courtyard.

Zhu Zhuqing was training there. Sensing a familiar presence, she stopped circulating her Soul Power and looked up. Surprise flickered through her dark eyes when she saw Jiang Baiyu. Then she rose and threw her arms around him. Breathing in his comforting scent of greenery, she held him tight, afraid he might leave again.

During the half month she had spent training alone, she had missed Jiang Baiyu constantly. She knew she had long since fallen for her brilliant senior disciple brother. Now that he was here, she could no longer hide how much she had missed him and clung to him tightly.

"All right, all right, I'm back. Don't worry. See? Your senior disciple brother made it home safe—and I've gotten stronger, too." Jiang Baiyu stopped concealing his aura, revealing the presence of a Soul Ancestor.

Then he whispered, "Come on, let go. The old man's watching."

Zhu Zhuqing jerked her head up and found Su Wu watching them with an amused smile.

With a startled cry, Zhu Zhuqing put her speed as an agility-type Soul Master to full use. She became a streak of shadow and vanished into Jiang Baiyu's room.

"That girl!" Su Wu said. He let the teasing drop. "She's worked hard, though. She's already Level 24." Since Jiang Baiyu had left, Zhu Zhuqing's determination to grow stronger had only deepened. She trained every day under the Blue Silver Emperor's life-giving aura, and her Soul Power had risen steadily.

Jiang Baiyu walked into the courtyard. A breeze stirred the flowers and plants, and he spoke to the Blue Silver Emperor as it extended its stems and leaves:

"We're back."

Su Wu looked over the courtyard's greenery, smiling gently.

"We gained so much from our trip to Sunset Forest. Your martial soul is finally complete."

Dugu Bo had already run off to find Dugu Yan. He wanted to show her how much his Soul Power had grown, then tell her about the tremendous opportunity Jiang Baiyu had in store for her.

Meanwhile, word quietly reached the Education Committee: Jiang Baiyu had returned from Sunset Forest with Poison Douluo Dugu Bo and an unfamiliar high-ranking Soul Master whose aura was exceptionally deep.

That other Soul Master must be Su Wu, Meng Shenji thought. He's showing himself openly, without worrying anyone might recognize him. Could it be—

Excitement flashed across his face. He called for the other two committee members, Bai Baoshan and Zhi Lin, and hurried toward Jiang Baiyu's courtyard.

Jiang Baiyu and Su Wu had been in the courtyard only a moment when three steady, powerful Soul Power fluctuations approached from outside. The three committee members had arrived.

Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin came together, the three veteran Soul Douluo looking solemn.

The news that Jiang Baiyu had returned with Poison Douluo Dugu Bo was too important to ignore. The three had come to see them in person at once. The wooden gate stood open, and they walked slowly into the courtyard. Their eyes went straight to Jiang Baiyu; the rich aura of plants surrounding him was impossible to miss.

Then Su Wu's presence caught their attention.

"Su Wu, you..." Meng Shenji stiffened. Disbelief filled his face, and even his voice faltered.

Su Wu looked younger. That was something that happened only upon becoming a Titled Douluo!

And Su Wu was still remarkably young. All three men's pupils contracted, their composure vanishing at once.

Su Wu had deliberately restrained his pressure and suppressed his Title Douluo aura to the utmost, but he could not hide the nature of his Soul Power or the level he had reached from veterans like them.

Within Su Wu's seemingly ordinary body lay Soul Power that was whole, immense, and enduring. It was the deep foundation only someone who had broken through the barrier of Level 90 and reached the rank of Titled Douluo could possess!

"Well..." Meng Shenji was at a loss for words. When they had last met, he had joked that he would have to call Su Wu Your Eminence next time. He had never expected his words to come true!