Return Journey

"Teacher Zhao! Is everyone alright?"

Yang Tian and the other two jogged up to the group, immediately stunning everyone.

Zhao Wuji rubbed his eyes, staring at the unharmed trio in disbelief. "You... are you people or ghosts?"

Yang Tian's face darkened. Choosing to ignore Zhao Wuji, he looked straight at Tang San. "What happened to Xiao San?"

Xiao Wu noticed Tang San's condition as well and immediately tried to run over, but Dai Mubai stopped her. "Don't go over there. Those spider lances are poisonous!"

Yang Tian swept his gaze over the group and immediately noticed that everyone had injuries of varying severity. Ma Hongjun looked the worst; one of his arms was swollen and purple. He had probably been poisoned by the venom on Tang San's spider lances.

"Yang Tian, what happened to you?" Zhao Wuji had recovered his senses by now and immediately asked.

Yang Tian gave the excuse he had prepared long ago, then added, "Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But if it hadn't been that ridiculous, we'd all have become that soul beast's food. Alright, let me deal with Fatty's poison first."

Not giving them a chance to continue questioning him, Yang Tian went to Fatty's side and waved a hand, burning the sleeve on his arm directly to ash.

Yang Tian frowned. "It's not a serious problem, but it may be painful. Bear with it, Fatty."

Ma Hongjun nodded with a pale face. Then he felt a wave of scorching energy suddenly enter his body—it was Yang Tian's Heavenly Flames.

Fortunately, Fatty was acting like a real man right then, clenching his teeth tight.

Threads of Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame roamed through Fatty's body, burning away the spreading poison before following his arm and forcing the main concentration of venom out through his meridians.

The process was not quick. To destroy the poison without harming Fatty's vitality, Yang Tian needed to carefully control the intensity of the Heavenly Flames.

Ten minutes later, Fatty was on the verge of passing out. He looked like he had just been hauled out of the water, his clothes soaked through with sweat.

"You're pretty tough. You didn't even cry out in pain." Yang Tian smiled as he withdrew the Heavenly Flames, then casually evaporated the sweat from Fatty's body.

Once the Heavenly Flames left his body, the light in Fatty's tiny eyes brightened somewhat. He spoke weakly, "A real man... doesn't cry out in pain!"

The group burst into laughter, but they could not help admiring him. From Fatty's performance, they could tell just how much pain he had endured.

Yang Tian took out a bottle of Holy Spring Water and shoved it straight into Fatty's mouth. After several gulps, Fatty groaned aloud.

"Ahh... that feels good..."

Although Holy Spring Water could not increase Soul Power, its restorative effects were immediate.

Yang Tian did not take back the remaining Holy Spring Water. Instead, he handed it to Zhao Wuji. "Teacher Zhao is injured too. You and Dai Mubai can split the rest. Its recovery effect is quite good."

Zhao Wuji did not stand on ceremony with Yang Tian. Fatty's miserable state was enough to prove how miraculous this water was.

They quickly divided up the remaining half-bottle, and the Holy Spring Water's effects showed themselves within minutes. Zhao Wuji moved his body about and laughed heartily. "I feel like I can use my Martial Soul Avatar again!"

A Martial Soul Avatar consumed an enormous amount of energy. Ordinarily, even a Soul Sage needed several days of rest after using it once before they could use it again. Yet in just a few short minutes, Zhao Wuji had fully recovered, and even more than half his injuries had eased.

Zhao Wuji patted Yang Tian on the shoulder. He had long stopped treating Yang Tian as a student; he simply could not teach a student like him. "Yang Tian, where do you keep finding all these strange things?"

"Picked them up."

Yang Tian also fed Tang San several mouthfuls of Holy Spring Water. Finally, half an hour later, Tang San slowly opened his blood-red eyes. His voice was hoarse as he immediately cried, "Xiao Wu... Heavenly Brother! I... I need to go..."

"Brother, we're fine. Don't scare me like this, Brother." Xiao Wu ran to Tang San's side with reddened eyes. Tang San looked as though he had gone mad, but when his blood-red eyes saw Xiao Wu, they gradually regained their clarity.

"Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu, are you alright?"

"Of course I'm alright. Worry about yourself first. Put away that soul bone, or you'll hurt someone."

Yang Tian spoke, and Tang San abruptly turned his head toward him. He immediately choked up with sobs. "That's wonderful, that's wonderful. Heavenly Brother and Xiao Wu are both alright."

Yang Tian furrowed his brow, feeling a complicated bitterness in his heart. After nodding at Tang San, he silently stepped aside and watched Tang San slowly retract the Eight Spider Lances into his body.

Everyone watched Tang San with concern. Only Zhu Zhuqing walked over to Yang Tian's side. "I didn't expect you to be so sentimental."

Hearing the faintly playful tone in Zhu Zhuqing's voice, Yang Tian rolled his eyes. He truly had not expected that he held such an important place in Tang San's heart.

When he had sworn brotherhood with Tang San, it had mostly been for the Theft Coupon.

In their everyday interactions, he had not shown them much concern. At most, he gave them pointers on Self-Created Soul Skills and occasionally taught them some techniques for using Soul Power.

He had thought that after coming to Douluo, he should remain detached from the world. Other than falling for women, he would have no friendships.

But now, he seemed to be enjoying this feeling somewhat. The feeling of being cared for was quite comfortable.

Half an hour later, Tang San's condition had finally improved somewhat. He also asked Yang Tian what had happened, but Yang Tian's answer was as perfunctory as ever. Tang San did not ask again; he was already used to being brushed off.

By noon, the group had walked out of the Star Dou Great Forest, and they all let out long sighs of relief. This time, they truly had escaped death by a hair.

They exchanged smiles. Having gone through hardship together, a different kind of bond had formed among them.

Thanks to Yang Tian's Holy Spring Water, everyone was in good condition. They did not linger, and by the following evening, when they saw the gates of Shrek Academy, Zhao Wuji smiled and said, "Little monsters, hurry back and rest. The Dean will arrange your classes tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Teacher Zhao."

Everyone answered in unison, then returned to the dorms in twos and threes.

At the very back, Yang Tian and Zhu Zhuqing trailed leisurely behind the group. Seeing that Zhu Zhuqing seemed hesitant to speak, Yang Tian suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. "What do you want to ask? If you don't ask now, I'm going to sleep."

Zhu Zhuqing made a token struggle, trying to pull her hand from Yang Tian's palm, but she ultimately failed. Giving up helplessly, she softly said, "Thank you."

"That's it?" Yang Tian asked.

Zhu Zhuqing's beautiful eyes darted about uncertainly. Then she glanced toward the cafeteria, then at Yang Tian. "We'll talk later."

With that, she broke free of Yang Tian's hand, jogged forward a couple of steps, and moved ahead of him.

Yang Tian grinned as he caught up, walking shoulder to shoulder with her.

The little gestures between the two could not escape the notice of those ahead, but no one pointed them out. Tang San and Xiao Wu were delighted to see it, while Oscar and Fatty were somewhat envious. Ning Rongrong pretended not to see anything, having completely forgotten her vow to sabotage Yang Tian's pursuit of girls. Even Dai Mubai... seemed to have accepted it. He rarely paid attention to Zhu Zhuqing anymore.

Yang Tian returned to his room and was just about to begin cultivating when the system notification sounded again.

"Ding! Mission issued: Build the Super Shrek Team and make the Shrek Seven Devils into a legendary team (time limit: one year).

Mission reward: To be determined according to mission completion."

Yang Tian frowned. This mission... did not quite align with his intentions. He had not wanted to get involved in the war between Shrek and Spirit Hall.

But asking him to give up a Theft Coupon that might be legendary was not very realistic either.

What Yang Tian did not know was that the missions issued by the system were inevitably connected to the future...

This chapter might drive some readers away. There will definitely be people saying I'm sucking up to Tang San and Shrek, right?

Sigh, say whatever you want. All I can say is that these things will be useful later. After all, the protagonist coming to Douluo will definitely bring new developments.

If you don't like it, please don't flame me. Come quietly, leave quietly, and let everyone be at peace.

Enough said. Back to writing.