Unable to stomach even a little of it, he wanted to find someone to deal with Tang Hao. Naturally, the first people he thought of were Xiao Wu's two younger brothers.
Da Ming and Er Ming!
They were two top-tier Soul Beasts with a hundred thousand years of cultivation, and they were strong as hell.
An ordinary Titled Douluo would find even one of them troublesome. Against two, wouldn't he get the shit beaten out of him?
Even if Tang Hao was no ordinary Titled Douluo, Da Ming and Er Ming should have no trouble taking him down together... right?
But.
Tang Hao was in Nuoding City.
And Da Ming and Er Ming were in the Star Dou Great Forest.
They were separated by a hundred and eight thousand li, so getting them to run into each other wouldn't be easy. Tang Hao wouldn't be stupid enough to charge into the Core Circle of the Star Dou Great Forest for a one-against-many free-for-all with Da Ming and Er Ming, either.
So...
He would have to resort to a few tricks.
He couldn't help looking at his Space Ring, which had undergone another upgrade. No, it should be called the Void Ring now.
[Item: Void Ring] [Effect: Treasure-grade item, contains ten cubic meters of space. First Soul Skill: Space Mark. Effect: increases the number of Space Marks to 2. Second Soul Skill: Space Jump. Effect: enables spatial jumps within a ten-meter radius of the user] [Upgrade result: Great Void Ring] [Effect: Spirit-grade item, contains one hundred cubic meters of space. First Soul Skill: Space Mark. Second Soul Skill: Space Jump. Third Soul Skill: Space Confinement. Effect: can confine the space around a target.] [Upgrade requirements: 1 piece of Thousand-Refined void metal, 1 corpse of a Thousand-Year space-type Soul Beast, 1 Thousand-Year space-type Soul Bone]
Did anyone really think he had been off playing around all those days between Tang Hao's attack and his own move?
Since Tang Hao's attack that day had failed, he would surely be doubly wary of Xiao Wu, especially of anyone who approached her. Gu Chen had no way to get close to Xiao Wu directly, or Tang Hao's great hammer would be waiting to greet him.
After considering that.
He could only wait for the two pieces of Ten Refinement void metal from the smithy and the two Hundred-Year space-type Soul Beasts he had ordered from the Seven Treasure Pavilion to arrive.
Several days later.
He had everything in hand.
Using one piece of Ten Refinement void metal, one Hundred-Year space-type Soul Beast corpse, and one Hundred-Year space-type Soul Ring as the upgrade requirements, he upgraded one piece of Ten Refinement void metal into Hundred-Refined void metal.
Thus, he also met the requirements to upgrade the Void Ring.
1 piece of Hundred-Refined void metal!
1 Hundred-Year space-type Soul Beast corpse!
Originally, that one Hundred-Year space-type Soul Beast was meant for Xiao Wu to use to upgrade her Martial Soul, but circumstances had changed, so he could only use it up. After the upgrade, he obtained the Void Ring, the number of Space Marks increased to two, and he also gained the Soul Skill Space Jump.
Only then did he make his move.
First, he had someone else pass an object bearing a Space Mark to Xiao Wu. He hadn't hidden it from her when he condensed the Space Mark before, so she was sure to accept it when she saw it.
After that.
There was no need to say more.
He had hired a carriage well in advance and used the great technique of paying extra to get the driver to race willingly toward the Star Dou Great Forest. He left a Space Mark inside the carriage, while he himself returned to Nuoding City through another Space Mark and put his plan into action.
And that plan.
Was undoubtedly a great success.
It caught Tang Hao completely off guard, leaving him able only to rage impotently as he watched them vanish before his eyes.
"The Star Dou Great Forest!"
"I'm the host there. Once we see Da Ming and Er Ming, I'll definitely take you sightseeing! And tell me whatever you want to eat. I'll have Er Ming catch it for you! There are even century-old medicinal herbs and thousand-year spirit herbs."
"But, Gu Chen, shouldn't you be calling me something?"
Xiao Wu's little scheme had surfaced again.
She was always thinking about rebelling and riding on Gu Chen's head.
At that.
Gu Chen glanced at her.
"Do you think we're going to the Star Dou Great Forest for fun? Don't forget, Tang Hao had his eye on you before. This time, with my help, you managed to escape his watch, but if he sees you again, you'll be as good as dead."
"After all, once certain things have been exposed, some schemes are no longer of any use. From now on, Tang Hao will surely come after you thinking that, rather than get nothing at all, he might as well kill you and get a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone."
"The main reason we're going to the Star Dou Great Forest this time is to deal with the trouble Tang Hao poses. If you don't mind having a Titled Douluo keeping his eye on you, I can have the driver change course right now."
To him, Tang Hao was a huge problem. Ever since he had grown closer to Xiao Wu, that problem had stuck to him like a dogskin plaster, impossible to shake off.
The continent was only so big, and hiding from Tang Hao forever was no solution. He had a Leveling Cheat, but even that couldn't instantly give him the power to match Tang Hao. Rather than defend himself passively, he might as well take the initiative and deal with the problem.
And the best way.
Was still Da Ming and Er Ming. Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were much easier to talk to than humans. With Xiao Wu there as his wingman, there was at least a ninety percent chance of reaching an agreement. If talks fell apart, he could always activate a Space Mark and run.
"Brother Chen, I was only joking!"
Xiao Wu immediately put on a different face.
Seeing that.
Gu Chen curled his lip in disdain.
Silly rabbit, you think you can ride on my head like that? Go eat your melon seeds!
Several days later.
The driver brought them to the city nearest the Star Dou Great Forest. Just as he had said when Gu Chen first hired him, his carriage was famously fast.
It really was fast.
Fortunately, they had Soul Power and strong bodies. Otherwise, with the driver racing like the wind and lightning all the way, even drifting who knew how many times, they would have puked until heaven and earth went dark.
He had to hand it to him!
After promptly paying the remaining fare.
He and Xiao Wu walked toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
They quickly crossed the fringe, where there weren't many Soul Beasts, and entered the Outer Circle. Most of the Soul Beasts here were Ten-Year and Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, but that was as far as they went. Beyond it lay the Mixed Circle, where Hundred-Year and Thousand-Year Soul Beasts gathered.
The main reason they had come was that Xiao Wu had a way to contact Da Ming and Er Ming. Otherwise, Gu Chen would rather not have come to the Star Dou Great Forest.
With his little body, he wasn't even a One-Ring Soul Master. He couldn't stand up to the teeth of those Hundred-Year, Thousand-Year, and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and he didn't want to come here just to deliver a meal to a Soul Beast!
"Don't worry, I've already notified Er Ming. He'll be here to pick us up soon!"
Gu Chen watched Xiao Wu take out a crystal, inject a little Soul Power into it, and then say those words with complete confidence.
A Soul Power crystal!
Xiao Wu had told him that Er Ming had condensed this Soul Power crystal. Once Soul Power was injected into it, the Titan Giant Ape could sense it.
Sure enough.
Rumble-!!!
After only a dozen or so minutes, a gigantic creature appeared before them with a thunderous crash. Even though it hadn't deliberately directed its imposing presence at him, he still felt an inexplicable pressure.
This was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast-the Titan Giant Ape!!!