Outside Shrek Academy.
"Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, I'll be back as soon as I can."
Huo Yuhao said goodbye to Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong, who had come to see him off. Wang Dong looked visibly reluctant to part, yet still put on a haughty front.
"Class monitor, take care of yourself."
Xiao Xiao spoke with concern.
"Mm."
Huo Yuhao nodded earnestly.
Tang Chuan stood nearby and said gently to Xiao Xiao, "Xiao Xiao, I'll be back soon once I've finished my business. Don't let me catch you slacking off."
"Teacher, I would never!"
Xiao Xiao planted her hands on her hips, looking thoroughly unconvinced.
"Hahaha..."
Just then, Tang Ya hurried over, waving to them from a distance. Panting, she placed a small pouch in Tang Chuan's hand.
"Teacher, these are your travel funds from the Tang Sect Master herself! Take them and treat little Yuhao to something nice on the road."
Tang Ya put her hands on her hips and grinned.
Tang Chuan did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Now, Xiao Ya, this..."
Tang Ya waved it off, indicating that she did not mind, and reminded Tang Chuan and Huo Yuhao, "Teacher, little Yuhao, make sure you come back safely. I'll take care of our little junior sister while you're away."
Tang Ya thumped her chest in assurance.
Xiao Xiao nodded earnestly.
Tang Chuan smiled. After he and Huo Yuhao said goodbye to Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong, and Tang Ya, they boarded a soul-powered car and left Shrek City directly. Xiao Xiao watched them go, feeling reluctant to part.
"Wang Dong, why do you seem even sadder than me?"
Xiao Xiao could not help asking curiously.
"Who's sad? I'm not."
Wang Dong gave a light huff.
"Hehe, Wang Dong, why don't you consider becoming Teacher's disciple too? Then I'd be your senior sister."
Tang Ya grew interested when she heard this.
"Great, so I'd have another little junior sister?"
Xiao Xiao leaned toward Wang Dong with a mischievous grin as she asked. Wang Dong immediately began to hesitate. That guy?
"Is he... really Tang San?"
Wang Dong was full of doubts.
Not long ago, she had already sent a letter home to ask her two fathers to verify it. If he really was Tang San, the two of them ought to know.
"There should be an answer soon..."
"Teacher, you're going to Sunset Forest? In that case, we should be heading the same way for a while."
Huo Yuhao was somewhat surprised to learn that Tang Chuan's destination was Sunset Forest. Sunset Forest lay within the Heaven Dou Empire, and the territory he needed to pass through to reach the Far North...
Was precisely the Heaven Dou Empire!
"That's right. I'm going to retrieve some nice things."
Tang Chuan nodded slightly.
If he could bring back some immortal herbs that would help Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao cultivate on this trip, he himself could also receive an extremely tremendous boost, and...
I wonder whether, now that I have the Life Dragon Wings, I can find some opportunities of my own at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Tang Chuan sank into thought.
After they traveled together for a while, it was time to part ways with Huo Yuhao. Once Huo Yuhao reluctantly said goodbye to Tang Chuan, he hurried toward the Far North without stopping.
As for Tang Chuan...
He, too, set off for Sunset Forest!
Several days later, Sunset Forest.
"There don't seem to be any soul beasts living here anymore. That poisonous miasma covering almost the entire forest... is actually going to be the hardest part of this trip."
Tang Chuan walked along the outskirts of Sunset Forest. The poisonous miasma here was not particularly dense yet, but with his plant emperor martial soul, the Blue Silver Emperor, he could already sense the poisonous miasma permeating the air.
Buzzz!
Tang Chuan released his Blue Silver Emperor.
A surging blue-and-gold aura abruptly swept outward. It was an aura suffused with supreme vitality, enveloping Tang Chuan like mist.
Immediately afterward.
Tang Chuan noticed that the poisonous miasma in the surrounding air seemed to have encountered something terrifying. The Blue Silver Emperor drove it straight back, purifying the air around his body until it was exceptionally clean.
"The Blue Silver Emperor itself has no direct ability to grant immunity to poison, but given the unique nature of its plant emperor bloodline, immunity to certain poisons is perfectly normal."
"Besides..."
Tang Chuan noticed the increasingly brilliant golden patterns on his Blue Silver Emperor.
As the Blue Silver Emperor's degree of evolution increased...
Its traits also grew stronger, naturally producing the effect of making Tang Chuan immune to the poisonous miasma.
Whoosh!
Without further ado, Tang Chuan charged into the forest ahead.
Before long.
As Tang Chuan ventured deeper and deeper, the surrounding poisonous miasma grew as thick as a mire. Yet under the Blue Silver Emperor's protection, he remained untouched by it throughout.
Only when he had fully entered the heart of Sunset Forest and caught the smell of sulfur permeating the air did Tang Chuan let out a breath of relief.
"Finally here."
The instant Tang Chuan stepped into the valley, a voice suddenly rang out ahead. Then an aromatic silk beauty, an immortal herb purple all over with golden accents, appeared before him.
"Halt, human!"
Youyou pointed at Tang Chuan.
"Human, making it here means you qualify for the opportunities this place holds, but you must pass our trial first."
Tang Chuan smiled faintly.
Then he spoke in a familiar tone. "Youyou, surely I don't need to take a trial to come here?"
"You are..."
Only then did Youyou look closely at Tang Chuan. When she saw that familiar face and smile, she immediately froze in place, and her voice began to tremble.
"You... you're... that person?"
The surrounding immortal herbs were all stunned as well.
They remembered Tang San. The tradition of setting trials had also been left behind by Tang San back then, and now...
This person had actually returned?
"It's me. I'm Tang San."
Tang Chuan spoke without a change in expression. The lie "I am Lord Tang Wang" had now reached 20% credibility, making it clearly easier to convince others than when it had been at 0%.
Boom!
Immediately afterward.
His two great martial souls, the Blue Silver Emperor and Clear Sky Hammer, manifested simultaneously, displaying themselves before Youyou and the other immortal herbs.
"The same martial souls as that person, the same face... he really has returned."
A Jiao stepped forward and spoke.
"After planting you here all those years ago, I never returned. Now that I've descended from the Divine Realm to the Douluo Continent, I've come back to see you."
Tang Chuan addressed the many immortal herbs. Simple-minded as they were, how could they imagine that Tang Chuan was not Tang San? They had merely sensed a familiar aura, the same martial souls, and the same appearance.
"It really is you!"
Youyou, too, believed this to be true.
["I am Lord Tang Wang" lie credibility: 25%. Host receives: one use of Sea God's Light, which can stimulate immortal herbs to increase their cultivation!]
Buzzz!
Tang Chuan gave a mysterious smile, then unhesitatingly unleashed Sea God's Light, bathing every immortal herb present in it.
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