After the group from Shrek Academy left Heaven Dou Royal Academy, everyone was in low spirits.
"Dean, what do we do next?"
Qin Ming stepped forward and asked Flender and the other teachers.
"Ah, if all else fails, we'll go back and reopen Shrek Academy!"
"Even if we went back and reopened Shrek Academy, it would be too much trouble. Why not find an academy here in Heaven Dou City?"
Zhao Su hurriedly spoke up to steer the group.
"Teachers, look! There's a Blue Tyrant Academy recruiting teachers here."
Just as everyone was struggling to decide, Ma Hongjun pointed at a recruitment advertisement on the noticeboard by the city gates and called out.
Flender and the others hurried over and read it carefully.
Although the benefits were not as generous as those at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they were not far behind.
"Blue Tyrant Academy? Ming, do you know this Blue Tyrant Academy?"
Flender asked Qin Ming.
Clearly, Flender already had a plan of his own.
"It's a rather unusual academy in Heaven Dou City. It only accepts commoners, not nobles. I don't know much else about it."
"Only commoners?" Flender nodded. "Good, that's the one. We'll use this Blue Tyrant Academy to take on Heaven Dou Royal Academy, which only accepts nobles."
"Zhao Su?"
Led by Qin Ming, the group was heading toward Blue Tyrant Academy.
A woman's gentle voice rang out, calling Zhao Su's name.
Hearing the call, everyone turned toward the voice.
They saw a woman in a long black dress, her dark hair falling loosely around her, gazing at Zhao Su with a smile on her breathtakingly beautiful face.
Compared with her beauty, her figure was even more flawless.
Her voluptuous curves rivaled Zhu Zhuqing's, if not surpassed them.
Most importantly, along with those curves, she possessed a captivating, womanly charm that Zhu Zhuqing lacked.
It made her all the more alluring.
"It really is you! It's been years. What brings you to Heaven Dou City?"
She was none other than Shadow, whom Zhao Su had sent to Heaven Dou City five years earlier to get close to Liu Erlong.
Zhao Su had not expected Shadow to be so alluring after shedding the black robe she wore every day and changing into ordinary clothes.
"We came here to beg for a meal. I never expected to run into you!"
As they spoke, Shadow had already reached Zhao Su's side and casually slipped her arm through his.
She made no attempt to hide the tenderness in her eyes as she looked at him.
In fact, Zhao Su had not arranged this encounter.
It truly was a coincidence.
"Beg for a meal?" A trace of confusion flashed through Shadow's eyes, but she did not ask further. "We haven't seen each other in years, so let me provide your first meal!"
As she spoke, Shadow turned to Flender and the others and continued, "Are these all your friends? Would you like to join us? My treat!"
"Who wants your treat?"
Before Flender could speak, Zhu Zhuqing, who had been watching Shadow's intimacy with Zhao Su, spoke first.
Then she turned and hurried away.
"Since you're old friends catching up, we won't intrude." Worried that Zhu Zhuqing might be in danger, Flender gave Tang San and the others a meaningful look, telling them to follow her. Then he looked at Zhao Su and continued, "Zhao Su, we'll wait for you at Blue Tyrant Academy!"
"All right!"
Zhao Su merely nodded without saying anything more.
After watching Flender's group leave, Zhao Su turned to Shadow beside him and said, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"What do you mean, on purpose? Weren't you the one who told me not to conceal my aura when I saw you?"
Shadow turned her head away, too guilty to meet Zhao Su's eyes.
Her reply made Zhao Su laugh despite his irritation, though he had indeed said that himself.
He shook his head helplessly.
"Are you at Blue Tyrant Academy now?" Zhao Su asked Shadow as they walked toward a nearby restaurant.
"Yes. Not only am I at Blue Tyrant Academy, but Liu Erlong and I are practically best friends now!"
Shadow showed a slightly proud, self-satisfied smile.
After five years apart, Shadow seemed much more cheerful. It seemed people really should not spend every day living alone in their own darkness.
"I learned from Liu Erlong that when the three of them perform Martial Soul Fusion, they summon a Golden Sacred Dragon. From her description, it's the Golden Sacred Dragon you're looking for, Master!"
Inside a private room at the restaurant, Shadow returned to her former cold demeanor.
She told Zhao Su everything she had discovered.
"I can't rely solely on her account. I need to see it with my own eyes to know whether it really is the Golden Sacred Dragon!"
"That might be difficult!"
Shadow looked troubled and continued, "There seems to be some rift between Liu Erlong and Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang. I've asked Liu Erlong about it several times, but she always brushes me off."
"It isn't a rift. Do you know what their relationship is?"
"Of course. They're teammates-the Golden Iron Triangle!"
"Wrong. Liu Erlong is the wife Yu Xiaogang went through a wedding ceremony with, but she's also his younger cousin. That's why they haven't seen each other for twenty years!"
"His wife? His cousin?"
Those two terms should never have appeared together. It defied both morality and society's conventions!
This was also one of the reasons Zhao Su disliked Yu Xiaogang.
It was true that he had only learned Liu Erlong was his second uncle's daughter after falling in love with her.
But Yu Xiaogang had simply run away, leaving Liu Erlong alone to bear the condemnation of their family and the world.
Then, after reuniting with Liu Erlong, he had continued entangling himself with her.
In the end, they had even become so-called soulmates.
He had taken his selfishness and hypocrisy to the extreme, dressing it up with the fine words that they should not care how the world saw them.
"What kind of relationship is that?"
Shadow murmured to herself for a moment, then asked Zhao Su in confusion.
"All right, let's stop talking about that. Have you shown Liu Erlong your strength as a Titled Douluo?"
"I have. How else could I have become a senior guest elder at Blue Tyrant Academy?"
"Good. When we return to Blue Tyrant Academy, don't let our relationship slip. Just say we met while traveling to hone our skills."
"Couldn't I use another excuse?"
Shadow rose from her seat across from Zhao Su and sat down beside him before continuing, "For example, that something happened between us!"
"Say whatever you like, but don't take it too far."
Zhao Su stood up to leave. He needed to reach the heart of Sunset Forest as quickly as possible.
If he arrived too late, he might miss the Golden Iron Triangle performing their fusion technique and summoning the Golden Sacred Dragon.
But Zhao Su was not certain whether Dugu Bo would abduct Tang San as he had in the original story, or whether Grandmaster, Flender, and Liu Erlong would go to rescue him.
After all, events had already begun gradually straying from the original plot.
Earlier that day, Tang San had not caught Dugu Bo's interest.
Moreover, Zhao Su's intervention had made Dugu Bo realize he was no match for him. Whether he would still dare go to Blue Tyrant Academy remained uncertain.
That, too, was an unknown.
At that thought, Zhao Su could not help regretting that he had failed to restrain himself from acting that day.
Yet when Zhao Su arrived at Sunset Forest, he saw a golden light shoot into the sky not far away.
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