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The farce ended, and Li Luochen led the Shrek group back to their accommodations.
Zhao Wuji hadn't made an appearance throughout the entire incident, so he didn't end up beating that turtle as he originally would have. Zhao Wuji's role was solely to protect the students' safety. As for teaching, that was Li Luochen's responsibility—he wasn't cut out for it anyway.
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The Next Day
The Shrek group packed up and continued their journey. The small town was not far from the Star Dou Great Forest—about half an hour at full speed. Upon reaching the forest, Oscar immediately put everyone on high alert.
There was a minor incident along the way. When Dai Mubai was clearing away some weeds, Tang San, ever the moralist, spoke up: "Try to avoid harming other soul beasts."
What a joke! If you don't harm soul beasts, they'll eat you. The law of survival in the soul beast world is even harsher than among humans. It was just like Tang San to be so pure-hearted—he only killed evil soul beasts, while others killing soul beasts was somehow wrong?
Tsk, tsk, double standards. I kill soul beasts to grow stronger. Only immense power can change the rules. Besides, this system where soul beasts drop spirit rings is itself a twisted rule set by the gods.
It was the Dragon God, the ruler of all soul beasts, who decreed that soul beasts couldn't ascend to godhood. So why are you acting so sanctimonious?
Li Luochen had already internally ranted endlessly. Not long after, they encountered a Feng Wei Chicken Crest Snake with over fourteen hundred years of cultivation. Li Luochen swiftly subdued it.
Li Luochen calmly waited—the Snake Grandmother of the Dragon-Snake duo should arrive soon.
"Stop!"
Indeed! Her voice preceded her arrival. A sixty- or seventy-year-old grandmother appeared, accompanied by an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old beautiful girl.
The grandmother released her spirit rings: two yellow, three purple, one black. The aura of a Soul Emperor emerged.
Zhao Wuji and Li Luochen stood at the front. Li Luochen revealed six absurdly powerful spirit rings—one yellow, two purple, three black—while Zhao Wuji displayed his eight spirit rings: two yellow, two purple, four black. This display instantly intimidated the Snake Mother.
The Snake Mother realized these people were untouchable and immediately adopted a humble demeanor.
"Greetings, noble Soul Douluo and young Soul Emperor. My name is Chao Tianxiang, known in the spirit master world as the Snake Grandma. This Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent was meant to be a spirit ring for my granddaughter, but it escaped accidentally."
Li Luochen found her humility completely normal. Even if the Dragon Lord himself had come, he'd still have to speak politely to Li Luochen. A Soul Douluo? He wasn't afraid of them.
"Oh! So you're the Snake Grandma of the Dragon-Snake couple, Sister Chao. I am Zhao Wuji, the Immovable Bright King. Beside me is my junior, Li Luochen, and behind us are my seven students.
This soul beast is yours. Our students aren't suited for it."
Zhao Wuji clasped his hands together respectfully. For commoners like the Dragon-Snake duo, he remained courteous. Besides, the Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent wasn't what they were looking for, so there was no need to fight over it. Might as well do them a favor.
On the Snake Mother's side, she was utterly shocked. The once infamous Immovable Bright King Zhao Wuji had become a Soul Douluo, and this young man was none other than Li Luochen, hailed as the strongest genius of the younger generation?
Her husband, also a Soul Douluo, held significant status in the upper echelons of the spirit master world. Their Spirit Fusion Technique could even rival ordinary Title Douluos.
They carried considerable influence. Her husband had mentioned more than once a prodigy named Li Luochen, who became a Soul Emperor at a young age. At just eighteen, he was granted the Pope's Decree by the current Pope.
Emperor Xue Ye of the Tian Dou Empire directly bestowed a large tract of land to win Li Luochen's favor. Moreover, Li Luochen was currently a teacher at his academy.
Even more astonishingly, Li Luochen had a Title Douluo backing him. Her husband suspected it might be the Poison Dominator of the world, Dugu Bo, whose cultivation had greatly advanced in recent years, reaching level ninety-five.
"Thank you, esteemed ones. Come, Meng Yiran, slay it and become a Soul Elder."
Meng Yiran summoned her snake staff martial soul and swiftly dealt with the Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent, absorbing its third spirit skill on the spot. The Shrek group said nothing and took their leave—they still had other soul beasts to hunt.
Tang San needed to hunt for his third spirit ring, Ma Hongjun required a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, and no one knew that Zhu Zhuqing had already reached level thirty.
After searching for a while, Li Luochen continuously used his spiritual power to scan the surroundings. He noticed no powerful soul beasts approaching. He secretly observed Xiao Wu, but even with his Title Douluo-level spiritual power, he couldn't penetrate her aura.
Zhao Wuji couldn't see through her either. Earlier, he had asked Dugu Bo if he could sense anything about Xiao Wu. Dugu Bo said Xiao Wu gave him a strange feeling—a faintly familiar presence.
Li Luochen guessed that the Titan Giant Ape wouldn't come. It likely couldn't detect Xiao Wu's presence, so it wouldn't show up. As for the Human-Faced Demon Spider, who knew if they'd encounter it?
After a long time, the group found an eighteen-hundred-year Earth Hole Magic Pearl.
Tang San decided to use this soul beast for his third spirit ring. Hearing this, Li Luochen burst into silent laughter inside. Surely this Earth Hole Magic Pearl wouldn't drop an external spirit bone, right?
To make things easier, Li Luochen knocked the Earth Hole Magic Pearl unconscious, and Tang San eventually absorbed its spirit ring.
They just needed to wait for Tang San to regain consciousness before heading back. Li Luochen instructed Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu to stay behind with Zhao Wuji to guard Tang San while Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing went off to continue hunting.
Li Luochen had carefully considered taking this group. Ma Hongjun needed his fourth spirit ring, and Zhu Zhuqing needed her third. These two had to go. Bringing Oscar and Ning Rongrong along provided better support—no issues there.
The only concern was Ning Rongrong. She might learn a lot this time, such as Ma Hongjun absorbing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring and Zhu Zhuqing reaching level thirty to absorb her third spirit ring.
But it wasn't a big problem. Li Luocheng had already noticed something off about the glances exchanged between Oscar and Ning Rongrong. Seriously, weren't they originally not this close?
I've changed so much, yet you two still end up together? Destined lovers? I find that hard to believe. Could it really be love at first sight? Ning Rongrong looked at Oscar with sparkling eyes, while Oscar's gaze… well, old habits die hard. Despite all my efforts, they're still like this. Li Luochen felt deeply wounded.
As for Ma Hongjun, what happened to him? He used to be the flirtatious Phoenix, but now he's acting like a cold, aloof Phoenix—completely different people. Strong, handsome, and taciturn, he's become the perfect male lead. Li Luochen felt he had unintentionally raised another "perfect" specimen.
Regarding him bringing them alone to hunt spirits, it wasn't a big issue. As long as the soul beasts weren't over eighty thousand years old, Li Luocheng could handle them. Anything under forty thousand years was easily manageable.
Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, Li Luochen sensed a strange presence. A two-thousand-year-old Human-Faced Demon Spider suddenly charged out, appearing to have been running nonstop.
Li Luochen detected chaotic energy emanating from this soul beast, along with traces of other auras. Could it be…?
Without hesitation, Li Luochen knocked the Human-Faced Demon Spider unconscious and instructed Zhu Zhuqing to kill and absorb it. He suspected this might be the Eight Spider Legs—one of Tang San's greatest opportunities. Intercepting it was always the right move.
However, he didn't need it. His back was already full, and Dugu Yan no longer needed poison. Her Azure Dragon Terror Claw was now incredibly formidable. As for Dugu Bo? With his current cultivation, he didn't need an external spirit bone.
So let Zhu Zhuqing absorb it. Would Zhu Zhuqing run away with the spirit bone? Hah, did she really think Li Luochen's things were so easy to take? Sorry, it's not just the spirit bone—sooner or later, even Zhu Zhuqing herself would belong to the Li family.
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