Xuan Zi lost an eye
"Aaaah!!!"
Xuan Zi clutched his eye, blood streaming between his fingers as his furious roar pierced the clouds.
That arrow had nearly pierced his skull.
He had underestimated Lu Cheng's all-out strike. It had absolutely been comparable to a Super Douluo's full-powered blow. Even as a Level 98 Super Douluo, he should not have taken it with his flesh alone.
But by the time he summoned his Martial Soul Avatar, it was too late.
With his other hand, Xuan Zi gripped the crimson arrow and forcibly pulled it from his eye. Blood gushed unstoppably, staining the hand covering his eye red.
That eye... had shattered.
"Xuan Zi, taking one of your eyes is the justice I demand for Lexuan..."
The excruciating pain made him tremble all over, and the arrogant words that figure had uttered in his mind sent overwhelming fury surging through his heart.
His remaining eye swept his empty surroundings. There was no trace of Lu Cheng now.
In the confusion, his Godly Taotie Bull had also severely wounded that brat, but with the brat's ability to escape as slickly as a loach, there was no telling where he had fled.
"Lu Cheng, don't let me catch you again!!!"
Xuan Zi could only roar impotently.
At the easternmost edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, near the border of the Dou Ling Empire.
On a massive rock.
A black-robed figure stood proudly. Behind him, Zhang Lexuan leaned against the rock face, her long, shapely legs drawn up and folded together. Her pale blue eyes occasionally turned toward the distant sky, carrying a trace of worry.
Suddenly, a whistling sound rang out.
A dark figure appeared on the horizon. The next instant, he had landed on the massive rock.
"Pfft-"
The moment he landed, Lu Cheng could not hold back. He dropped to one knee and spat out a mouthful of blood, as though his internal organs had been jolted out of place.
That had been a Level 98 Super Douluo's full-powered counterattack.
For someone who had not even advanced to Titled Douluo, escaping through Mirror Shadow was already extraordinarily monstrous. Being severely wounded rather than leaving his life there already counted as good luck.
"Are you all right, brat?" Wu Ya asked with a slight frown.
Lu Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced toward Zhang Lexuan on the other side. Her eyes were clearly filled with worry, yet she bit her red lip, hesitant and too awkward to speak.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with one hand and waved casually.
He swallowed the sweet, metallic taste in his throat.
"I'm fine."
"He didn't track me down."
"Why put yourself through this..." Wu Ya glanced at Zhang Lexuan, then at Lu Cheng, his tone full of feeling.
He was no fool. Naturally, he could see what was going on.
This brat had hardly gone for a spar. He had clearly gone to demand an accounting from Xuan Zi... to demand an accounting from Shrek Academy for this young woman's near death in this forest.
Who would have thought that a rising star of the Holy Spirit Cult, with power that reached the heavens and might like a god or demon, would go to such lengths for a woman of the righteous path?
"That old bastard wounded me badly, but before leaving, I gave him a generous gift too... Without timely treatment, that eye of his will most likely go completely blind."
Lu Cheng curled his lips into a brilliant smile.
Only, a trace of blood still stained his white teeth.
"So what now? Take this young woman back to the Holy Spirit Cult?" Wu Ya shook his head, unable to quite understand how this fellow's mind worked.
"No."
Lu Cheng shook his head.
"Since I arranged for you to come here, naturally, it was for something else."
"What?" Wu Ya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A fortuitous opportunity. An enormous one. Consider it my payment for your protection along the way," Lu Cheng said calmly.
"What do you mean?" Wu Ya narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Ten thousand years ago, seven humans became gods. According to ancient records, most of them had taken some sort of Immortal Herb in their earlier years, improving their constitutions and aptitudes, which allowed them to attain godhood."
"You naturally know whom I'm talking about-the seven statues standing at Shrek Academy's entrance. Over these ten thousand years, countless factions have searched for that herb garden, but every search has come to nothing."
Lu Cheng gazed toward the Sunset Forest, his voice quiet and distant.
"You mean..." Wu Ya's pupils trembled.
"Exactly. After Tang San became a god back then, he feared others would obtain it, so he moved the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well into the Sunset Forest and placed an extraordinarily poisonous flower, the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower, around the outside to guard it. Over the years, with no natural enemies to restrain it and nourishment from the power within the valley, the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower multiplied wildly, creating the scene we see today..." Lu Cheng said quietly.
"I'm not particularly curious about where you got this information." Wu Ya shook his head and studied Lu Cheng. "We're both from the Holy Spirit Cult. The world believes Evil Soul Masters to be vicious and cunning. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you and take this opportunity for myself?"
"You're welcome to try..." Lu Cheng said with a soft laugh.
"..."
Several seconds later, Wu Ya was the first to look away. "When do we leave?" he asked calmly.
"Now," Lu Cheng said.
"Though that poisonous miasma can stop Titled Douluo experts, you're still at the peak of Level 94, close to becoming a Super Douluo. With me as well, breaking through shouldn't be a problem."
Over the years, experts had attempted to enter the Sunset Forest. Even Super Douluo experts had managed to break through, only to find themselves utterly in the dark. With the poisonous miasma threatening them, they dared not linger and could only leave in disappointment.
But his other Martial Soul was Blood Pupils, a pure spiritual-type Martial Soul...
Finding that valley would not be difficult.
"All right!"
"Xuan Zi, are you all right?"
Seeing Xuan Zi return empty-handed, Ruomu had initially been full of resentment and wanted to snap a few words at this old fellow, who had nearly gotten them killed in this forest.
But seeing him covering his eye, clearly wounded, with a frighteningly dark expression, she could not help speaking in concern.
"I'm fine. That brat caught me with a dirty trick." Xuan Zi's face twitched. Beaten into such a state by a brat who had not even reached Titled Douluo-if word got out, where could he put his old face?
But as his anger gradually subsided on the return journey, he had also been pondering what Lu Cheng had said earlier.
There was probably more to Lu Cheng's defection back then... than met the eye.
"Lexuan should be safe. Never mind, let's return to the academy first," Xuan Zi said, waving his hand.
His most pressing task was to ask Mu En exactly what had happened.
And another thing...
He was the deputy pavilion master of the Sea God Pavilion, yet even he had been kept in the dark about something so important?
His martial uncle had really done him dirty!
The Sunset Forest.
In the sky above.
The farther the group traveled toward the core region, the fewer Soul Beasts there were. In such a vast forest, even Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were pitifully scarce.
The strongest were merely thousand-year ones, or Hundred-Year Soul Beasts that banded together in packs.
"This Sunset Forest really has been ravaged beyond recognition," Wu Ya said with a sigh.
Zhang Lexuan followed at the rear, her beautiful eyes studying the figure ahead, unwittingly becoming a little entranced. His back was as familiar and dependable as ever, tall and broad, giving her a sense of security.
Only now... the scenery remained, but the people had changed.
He had long since joined the Holy Spirit Cult and had now ruined one of Xuan Zi's eyes. There was no longer any possibility between them.
"Disperse the poisonous miasma. Those fellows have noticed us." Lu Cheng frowned slightly.
"All right!" Wu Ya swept his hand.
Dense darkness surged around him.