"Wulin, did your dad really agree to let you bring this girl along?"
Niu Tian pulled Tang Wulin aside for a private chat. Looking at Xiao Xiao among the group, he asked with an odd expression. Had that bastard Tang San really agreed to let an outsider into his garden?
"Ahem, Dad already agreed."
Tang Wulin blushed again, while warmth welled up in his heart. His father cared about him so much.
(Tang San: Son, I'm the one who cares about you most. As for how I show it, don't worry about that.)
"Ooh~~~"
"So that's how it is."
Niu Tian spoke meaningfully. Back in the Divine Realm, Sister Xiao Wu had always dragged them over to talk about every little detail of her life with Tang San. The two had started deepening their bond at six years old, and now something seemed a little unusual about Tang Wulin. Come to think of it, that was a family tradition.
As for Niu Tian, he cared even less about such things. He was a soul beast, after all, and could hardly wait for Tang Wulin to have a few sweet little kids for him to play with.
"Uncle!"
Tang Wulin grew flustered. Niu Tian's attitude made him even more embarrassed, and he genuinely began wondering whether he had fallen for Xiao Xiao. Otherwise, why did he react so strongly every time?
Niu Tian had no idea he had inadvertently played wingman. Laughing heartily, he pulled Tang Wulin back to the group.
Niu Tian led the group, whose members were Tang Wulin, Wang Dong, Huo Yuhao, and Xiao Xiao. Every one of them had twin martial souls.
As for Tai Tan, he was currently venting his frustration by sparring with Mu En.
His soul power had been sealed at level 98, but his true body was still that of a divine beast. That meant he could neither cross a spatial rift himself nor be brought through one by someone else.
He had considered breaking the seal, but Niu Tian had stopped him. After all, the situation in the Divine Realm was unknown. If they were discovered later, wouldn't that cause trouble for Sister Xiao Wu? They could hardly explain that he had unsealed his strength just to tag along with the Tang siblings.
Thus, Tai Tan had no choice but to stay at Shrek Academy and wait for the group to return, seeking out Mu En to vent his anger.
Mu En did not refuse, either. Although his opponent's soul power level was lower than his on paper, that true body was still there, with its thick hide and tough flesh. He was just the right opponent for Mu En to stretch his limbs against after recovering his strength.
"Ahem, next I'll take you through space. Don't panic. Just hold one another's hands."
Niu Tian cleared his throat lightly and signaled for them to line up.
Tang Wulin was the first to take Niu Tian's hand, placing himself at the front. Huo Yuhao wanted to hold Tang Wulin's other hand. After all, they could perform a Perfect Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and once they held hands, soul power would automatically circulate through both their bodies. They could cultivate even while walking.
But Wang Dong acted first. She had never properly held her little brother's hand before, and hesitation was not in her nature. She claimed Tang Wulin's other hand.
Seeing Wang Dong take his hand, Huo Yuhao instead breathed a sigh of relief. Xiao Xiao liked Wang Dong, so all he needed to do now was take the last spot.
Watching Huo Yuhao voluntarily run to the back of the line, Xiao Xiao's eyes dimmed. She stepped forward and took Wang Dong's hand, but she did not look nearly as delighted as he had imagined, leaving Huo Yuhao utterly puzzled.
Wang Dong did not mind that Xiao Xiao was the one holding her hand today. Her heart was full of excitement, and she was intensely curious about the treasure land her little brother had mentioned. At the same time, a faint trace of resentment lingered in her heart. Why had he kept her in the dark again?
The group formed up in this peculiar yet perfectly natural arrangement, and Niu Tian enveloped them in soul power.
Then he lightly swept his other hand through the air before him. A deep, dark rift slowly widened, soon becoming an opening more than two meters wide and tall. Tang Wulin peered at the spatial rift from beside Niu Tian, somehow feeling as though it were an eye watching him.
"Let's go."
Niu Tian led the group inside.
Endless darkness lay before them, though occasionally a streak of white light shot backward like an arrow loosed from its bow. They all gazed at the sight in astonishment.
A fierce white light swept over them. When they opened their eyes again, Niu Tian had brought them to a wasteland. Yellow-gray terrain stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see, looking utterly barren and desolate.
"How do you feel? Any discomfort?"
Niu Tian turned and lowered his head to ask how they were feeling. After all, this was long-distance teleportation, and discomfort was quite possible.
"I'm fine."
"I'm fine, First Dad."
They all shook their heads. Perhaps because Niu Tian was so powerful, crossing space with him had been exceptionally smooth. They had felt no discomfort at all.
Tang Wulin felt especially refreshed. For some reason, being in the spatial passage had actually filled him with pleasure.
"Good. Then let's continue."
Niu Tian looked over their faces. Once he saw that nothing was wrong, he opened another spatial rift and led them inside to cross another vast distance.
With each successive crossing, Tang Wulin felt as though something inside his body was about to leap out.
"We're here."
Niu Tian stopped at the outskirts of the area. Jade phosphorus seven-absolute flowers had been growing here for ten thousand years, and the poisonous miasma they produced had long since become extraordinarily complex. Since they were not far away anyway, walking would make it easier to keep the children safe.
"Uncle Da Ming, help me! I want to stay in the spatial passage a little longer!"
Tang Wulin clutched his chest. He felt as though his heart were about to leap out, but it was not painful. Rather, it felt as though something was about to break free of its shackles.
Niu Tian's gaze sharpened. With a sweep of his divine soul, he naturally detected that another change seemed to be occurring in Tang Wulin's body.
"Third Brother!"
"Wulin!"
They all cried out in alarm. How could something like this happen?
"Wulin is fine. Stay here, all of you, and don't wander off."
Niu Tian grabbed Tang Wulin and rushed back into the spatial passage with him.
Only someone like him, a divine beast whose power had been sealed down to that of a Limit Douluo, could manipulate space with such mastery.
The spatial passage was silent and still. After entering it, Tang Wulin did not feel his condition improve. Instead, it grew even more intense, as though something really were about to burst out.
Boom!
A deafening sound erupted in Tang Wulin's mind, then instantly gave way to deathly silence, as though the sound had merely been an illusion.
As Tang Wulin reeled from one shock to another, heat spread throughout his body. Countless silver streaks of light emerged from the spatial passage, then streamed into him one after another.
Every streak that entered eased the scorching heat inside Tang Wulin. Only once that sensation vanished did his whole body feel relaxed. The feeling of something trying to break free of its shackles was gone, as though nothing had happened at all.
"Uncle Da Ming, take me back out."
The hint of joy in Tang Wulin's voice soothed Da Ming's unease, and the two finally returned to their previous location.
"Third Brother!"
Wang Dong threw herself straight at him, her voice choked with tears. She had nearly worried herself to death.
Seeing Wang Dong embrace Tang Wulin, Huo Yuhao drew back the foot he had just stepped forward with. Only his reddened eyes betrayed that he was not nearly as calm as he appeared.
Xiao Xiao also watched Tang Wulin with a worried expression. Although Tang Wulin's father had threatened her, she could tell that Tang Wulin was a good child. No matter what, she could not blame him.
"I'm back. It's all right."
Tang Wulin flashed a smile that showed eight teeth, doing his best to reassure them.
Before you continue