Smack!
Seeing this, Xiao Wu hurriedly turned, her long scorpion braid lashing Tang San's hand like a whip.
Clatter!
Pain shot through Tang San's hand, and the dagger fell to the ground.
"What are you trying to do?"
Xiao Wu frowned and asked coldly.
"Er Ming died because of me. I'm willing to pay for his life with mine."
Tang San spoke with grief written all over his face.
In truth, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief inside.
His gamble had paid off.
Xiao Wu was merely being petulant and angry with him; she hadn't completely lost her feelings for him.
"But would doing this bring Er Ming back?"
Xiao Wu demanded, her face scrunched into a frown.
"The dead can't return to life. Even Er Ming, an overlord among soul beasts, couldn't rise from the dead."
Tang San shook his head with a bitter smile.
Forget coming back to life-he suspected Qin Xiao had already scattered Er Ming's ashes.
"Since your death can't bring Er Ming back, live on. Only by staying alive can you avenge him."
Xiao Wu's gaze gradually turned icy. "Only by killing Qin Xiao can we comfort Er Ming's spirit in heaven."
Tang San was slightly taken aback. Xiao Wu, whom he had always thought harmless to man and beast alike, now looked almost savage.
Just then, however, Xiao Wu spoke again. "Come on. I'll take you to see Da Ming, to the true heart of the Star Dou Great Forest. It's better suited for cultivation there."
"All right." Tang San nodded and followed Xiao Wu.
A long while later.
Tang San felt the view suddenly open up before him.
Before his eyes lay a lake.
Its tranquil surface looked like a magnificent sapphire!
He couldn't help murmuring, "Who would've thought that the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest weren't a dragon's pool or a tiger's den, but somewhere so peaceful and serene?"
"If humans didn't set foot here and hunt soul beasts, the entire Star Dou Great Forest would look like this."
Xiao Wu's voice sounded beside Tang San's ear.
For a moment, Tang San didn't know what to say.
"Da Ming!"
Xiao Wu came to the lakeshore and called out across the water.
Could the Sky Azure Bull Python be hiding in the water?
Tang San was a little startled.
Aside from its name, he knew nothing about an overlord-level soul beast like this.
Boom!
As Xiao Wu's voice faded, ripples first spread across the lake, then a massive column of water shot into the sky.
The column dispersed, revealing an enormous figure before Tang San and Xiao Wu.
It was a powerful soul beast with a bull's head and a python's body, dozens of meters long.
The immense pressure radiating from him made Tang San feel an urge to drop to his knees and prostrate himself.
The pressure was overwhelming!
Tang San gritted his teeth and held on.
"Da Ming, he's my friend. You can't be so rude."
Xiao Wu frowned at the sight and spoke unhappily.
"All right, then!"
The Sky Azure Bull Python actually spoke in a human tongue, but Tang San distinctly felt the pressure on him ease.
Huff...
Inhale...
Tang San gasped for breath, horror filling his heart.
So this was the Sky Azure Bull Python?
He was considerably stronger than the Titan Giant Ape!
"Why would you be friends with such a weak human?"
The Sky Azure Bull Python asked Xiao Wu.
"If I don't befriend the weak, should I go become a soul ring for the strong?"
Xiao Wu retorted irritably.
"Well..."
The Sky Azure Bull Python froze. Xiao Wu seemed to have a point.
"Where's Er Ming?"
"Didn't he go to fetch you? Has he run off somewhere to play again?"
He stopped inviting rebuffs and changed the subject.
"Er Ming, he..."
At his words, Xiao Wu immediately began to falter.
Hearing the Sky Azure Bull Python's question, Tang San instantly grew uneasy as well.
If the Sky Azure Bull Python finds out I had Er Ming go after Qin Xiao, only for him to die horribly at Qin Xiao's hands, will he kill me with a single swipe of his tail?
Instinctively, he looked at Xiao Wu, silently praying that this little lady wouldn't give him away.
"Da Ming, Er Ming, he..."
"What happened to him? Xiao Wu, could you stop hemming and hawing?"
"Er Ming isn't coming back. He died at the hands of a powerful human..."
Xiao Wu finally gathered the courage to tell Da Ming the truth.
"What!"
"Er Ming is dead!"
The Sky Azure Bull Python was utterly shocked.
His emotions surged so violently that masses of dark clouds actually appeared over the Star Dou Great Forest.
The lake beneath him churned like boiling water.
"What exactly happened?"
He asked Xiao Wu coldly.
Xiao Wu glanced at Tang San and found his eyes filled with pleading.
She instantly understood the meaning in his gaze.
Help me!
If you don't help me, I'm finished!
Whew...
Xiao Wu let out a long breath. "A human Titled Douluo discovered my identity and chased me into the Star Dou Great Forest. Er Ming fought that human Titled Douluo to help me. In the end... he gave his life to cover my escape..."
As Xiao Wu spoke, tears streamed ceaselessly from the corners of her eyes.
She felt she had wronged both Er Ming and Da Ming.
But for Tang San's sake, she had no choice but to lie...
Thankfully, Xiao Wu is on my side... After hearing her words, Tang San secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In the end, Xiao Wu had shouldered everything alone.
"Humans!"
"Humans again!"
Da Ming roared as he thrashed across the lake.
The water was no longer tranquil; towering waves over ten meters high surged up!
Boom!
Thunder resounded above the Star Dou Great Forest.
Crack!
Pale flashes of lightning crossed, making Da Ming look even more terrifying!
"Xiao Wu, tell me who he is. I'll kill him!"
Da Ming's voice was utterly cold.
When it reached Tang San's ears, he couldn't help shuddering.
"That man is called Qin Xiao, and his title is Thunder Emperor... but I don't recommend going after him for revenge just yet!"
"Why?"
"I suspect he might be immune to lightning."
"Immune to lightning?!"
Da Ming was shocked.
He possessed two elemental attributes: water and lightning.
Qin Xiao's immunity to lightning would cut his strength in half in one stroke...
After the shock, he calmed down. "This matter does indeed require careful planning."
"Xiao Wu, first tell me everything about Qin Xiao. How strong is he?"
Xiao Wu nodded.
She began from the moment she had met Qin Xiao.
A good while later.
The Sky Azure Bull Python was stunned. "So Qin Xiao, the one who hunted you, is a Titled Douluo who's only eighteen?"
"Is his talent really so heaven-defying?"
"And tempering his body with lightning-is that something a human can do?"
"At the very least, a human shouldn't be able to!"
Time flew like a shuttle.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
That morning, as the sun began to rise, two uninvited guests arrived in the sky above Shrek Academy.
One wore a black cloak.
The other wore magnificent, stately black attire, his entire bearing exuding the air of someone who stood above others.
Without a doubt, these two were the brothers Tang Hao and Tang Xiao.
Of the two, Tang Hao spoke coldly. "Qin Xiao, get out here and meet your death!"
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