Li Chen set out once more for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
This time, though,
Xiao Hongchen and his sister wanted to go too. They had been cooped up in the Flowing Cloud Mountain Range for nearly half a month and wanted to get out and look around.
Fortunately,
thanks to the excellent metal Spirit Hall had delivered, Li Chen and the others had each built themselves a Flying Soul Tool. They no longer needed Kong Deming to carry them through the air, so two more people made little difference.
After breakfast, the five of them set off.
"Woohoo!"
Meng Hongchen spun through the air, delighted.
"The vegetation on the Douluo Continent ten thousand years ago was so lush! Even the air is fresh!"
"Li Chen, do you think there's an Immortal Herb that suits me?"
Meng Hongchen flew up beside Li Chen and asked with a smile.
Xiao Hongchen looked over curiously too.
"There is, my friend, there is. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is a treasure trove. There's bound to be an Immortal Herb that suits each of you."
"That's wonderful!"
Meng Hongchen shouted with delight.
Her Martial Soul, the Red-Eyed Ice Toad, carried a deadly poison that mingled ice and fire.
Normally, Meng Hongchen could use her Soul Power to keep the poison suppressed within her Martial Soul.
But!
If she faced a powerful enemy and exhausted her Soul Power, she could no longer hold the poison back.
The Red-Eyed Ice Toad's ice-and-fire poison would then spread through her body. When Meng Hongchen had fought Huo Yuhao in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament, her hair had turned white and her eyes red—a sign that the poison had turned against her.
Even her grandfather Jing Hongchen had no way to cure it completely. He could only suppress it with Soul Tools and medicine.
For that reason,
what Meng Hongchen wanted most was an Immortal Herb that could suppress her Martial Soul's poison.
She had read the historical records too. Knowing that Tang San had once cured Poison Douluo's poison at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well ten thousand years ago, she held out hope.
Huo Yuhao, meanwhile, said nothing.
He had been there before, though only to the well as it existed ten thousand years later. He already knew that the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew was the Immortal Herb for him.
Back then,
he had gone to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to pick the Lovesick Heartbreak Red that would save Dong'er.
But now...
Everything had changed.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was still there, but Dong'er was gone.
Huo Yuhao sniffed. To say he was not hurting would have been a lie.
Li Chen patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder.
"Yuhao, don't worry. I've received a God King's inheritance and begun my Divine Examination. If I become a god, I promise I'll help you bring Dong'er back."
"What?!"
Huo Yuhao was stunned.
Beside him, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were just as shocked.
But Kong Deming was the most astonished of all.
"You received a Divine Examination inheritance?!"
"Mm." Li Chen nodded. They were all his own people; he had nothing to hide.
Besides,
a Divine Examination was not a Soul Bone. No one could kill Li Chen and take it from him, so there was no harm in telling them.
"I'm jealous!"
Xiao Hongchen laughed and shook Li Chen's arm.
"I remember when you first entered the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy, my sister and I were still your upperclassmen! Overtaking us again and again wasn't enough for you—now you've got a Godhood Inheritance too!"
"Brother, a thick, tragic wall now stands between us!"
Xiao Hongchen looked heartbroken.
"Waaah... It's over. Once you become a god, Brother Li Chen, I'll have no choice but to grow old and die on the Douluo Continent..."
Meng Hongchen was happy for Li Chen, but she could not help feeling sad for herself.
People might not seem so different at a glance, but put them side by side, and the gap became painfully clear.
Granted, in the Douluo I Era, Titled Douluo and Limit Douluo lived longer than they did in Douluo II.
But,
human life was finite in the end.
Without becoming a god,
one would someday turn to dust.
"You two, don't get ahead of yourselves. A Limit Douluo can live a thousand years. Focus on becoming Limit Douluo first."
Kong Deming spoke up, bringing them back to reality.
In truth,
becoming a Limit Douluo was Kong Deming's own hope now.
His Martial Soul Talent was top-tier: Twin Martial Souls, Silver Moon and Blazing Sun.
If he had not spent so much time on Soul Tools, Kong Deming would have become a Limit Douluo long ago.
Now,
in the Douluo I Era, Kong Deming's lifespan had naturally lengthened. He was even more confident that he could become a true Limit Douluo!
"That's true."
Meng Hongchen nodded. The future was still far away. If she became a Limit Douluo, she would have a thousand years to live. Perhaps she too would find a chance to become a god.
Huo Yuhao said earnestly:
"Thanks, brother. Li Chen, if I can receive a Divine Examination in this life, help me revive Dong'er. If I can't, then don't revive her."
"Life is too bitter. If I can't take Dong'er to the Divine Realm with me, we'll only have to endure being torn apart by death again. Better to leave me alone."
Huo Yuhao's voice was sincere.
"Don't worry. You'll receive a Divine Examination."
Li Chen tried to reassure him.
He knew Huo Yuhao had more than enough talent for a Divine Examination.
It was just that,
at this point in the Douluo I Era, Rong Nianbing, the Emotion God, had not yet arrived in the Douluo God Realm.
Li Chen suspected
Huo Yuhao's Godhood would be that of the Ice God, or a god associated with the mind.
But neither of those Godhoods was a God King's.
Without being God Kings,
those gods could not communicate directly with Huo Yuhao through the Spiritual Domain. Like the Sea God and the Angel God, they could only leave behind Inheritance Ruins where Huo Yuhao could undertake a Divine Examination.
As for where those ruins were,
Huo Yuhao would have to search for them in time.
Meanwhile,
in Suotuo City of the Balak Kingdom,
at Shrek Academy,
Tang Hao lay unconscious in bed, gravely wounded and wrapped head to toe in bandages. His left arm and left leg were both gone.
After ten full days unconscious, Tang San finally opened his eyes.
Flender cried anxiously, "Xiao San! You're finally awake! Xiaogang, come quickly! Xiao San is awake!"
Yu Xiaogang rushed into the room.
"Xiao San!"
"Teacher."
Tang San struggled to sit up. Every bone in his body felt as though it had come apart, one eye was swollen and red, and he hurt everywhere.
"Xiao San, who did this?! Tell me! I'll destroy them, whatever it takes!"
Yu Xiaogang's face flushed with anger.
His dearest disciple, Tang San, who possessed Twin Martial Souls, had been hurt this badly!
Flender's face twitched beside him.
Come on, man. Can't you see what they did to Clear Sky Douluo? You're level twenty-nine, and you're going to destroy them with Luo Sanpao? You must be drunk.
"It was the Sun Moon Sect. That's what they call themselves."
"The Sun Moon Sect?!" Grandmaster froze. "You said the Sun Moon Sect?"
Flender asked, "Xiaogang, what sect is that? Have you heard of it?"
Grandmaster shook his head. "Never heard of it."
Flender nearly fainted. Then what was with that act?
"They're very strong. They have a Titled Douluo, a Soul King, and a Soul Emperor. And... and they have an incredibly powerful Hand Cannon Soul Tool!"
Grandmaster and Flender stared at each other.
"Aren't Soul Tools only for storage? They can be used in battle too?!"
Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang was stunned.
"Forget that for now. Xiao San's awake, so we should pack up and run!"
Flender sounded desperate.
"No rush."
Grandmaster sneered. "They dared hurt my student. I'll avenge Xiao San, no matter what!"
Grandmaster pulled out the Papal Decree Bibi Dong had left him. "Don't worry, Xiao San. Your teacher will avenge you!"
Just then,
a group of people arrived outside the door.
At their head, Yue Guan barked, "Is this Shrek Academy? Surround it!"
"They're harboring Tang Hao, a felon wanted by Spirit Hall. Don't let a single person from Shrek escape!"
Grandmaster: ???
Flender: !!!
Before you continue