Chapter 34: Return to the Kingdom
The next morning, the border town was barely waking up as the Shrek Academy students gathered outside the inn. The crisp dawn air was biting, but the lingering tension from the previous night kept everyone thoroughly awake.
Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun looked significantly worse for wear. Ye Zhiqiu's freezing spirit power had left them shivering through the night, and their bruised ribs ached with every breath. However, their pride had been battered far worse than their bodies. They stood in absolute silence, completely avoiding eye contact with Bai Ming.
Bai Ming emerged from the inn looking as immaculate as ever. His silver silk robes caught the pale morning light, completely unwrinkled and devoid of any dirt.
He casually raised his right hand, the void-black spatial ring flashing. "The terrain ahead is far too dense for wheels, and the spirit-crystal engine would merely attract unwanted attention from the lower-tier beasts," Bai noted smoothly. He didn't summon the luxury carriage. "We walk from here."
Dai Mubai let out a quiet breath of relief, thankful he wouldn't have to jog beside that humiliating box today.
"Alright, listen up!" Zhao Wuji barked, his heavy boots crunching on the gravel as he took the lead. "This is the final stretch. Stay sharp, conserve your spirit power, and keep your eyes on the horizon. We march!"
For the next hour, the group moved in a tense, focused silence. As they left the beaten path of the border town, the landscape rapidly shifted. The sparse, scrubby plains gave way to thick, overgrown vegetation.
Then, the air changed.
It grew incredibly thick, heavy, and ancient. A profound, suffocating humidity rolled over them, carrying the rich, primal scent of rotting leaves, wet earth, and raw, untamed spirit power.
They crested a small ridge and finally saw it. The edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
It was a wall of absolute green. Towering, prehistoric trees, some so wide that ten grown men couldn't link arms around them, stretched hundreds of feet into the sky, their massive canopies completely blocking out the rising sun. The shadows within the tree line were pitch black. From deep within those shadows, the low, reverberating roars of distant, massive spirit beasts echoed, vibrating right through the soles of their boots.
It was the most dangerous, merciless ecosystem on the entire Douluo Continent.
"Stop!" Zhao Wuji commanded, holding up a thick fist. He looked back at his students, his expression dead serious. "We are crossing the boundary. From this point forward, you are on your own. I am strictly here as your safety net. You track, you fight, and you secure the camps. I will only step in if a beast severely out of your league attacks."
He crossed his thick arms over his chest. "Combat formation, now! Dai Mubai, Tang San, take the vanguard. Zhuqing, flank scouting. Fatty, rear guard. Oscar, Rongrong, stay directly in the center. Do not step out of formation for any reason!"
The students immediately scrambled into position, summoning their Martial Souls. Rings of white, yellow, and purple illuminated the dim light of the forest edge. Their faces were pale, their hearts pounding against their ribs.
Except for one.
Bai Ming completely ignored Zhao Wuji's orders. He didn't join the center with the support masters, nor did he take a vanguard position. He simply walked past the tense, glowing students, his hands casually hanging at his sides.
He stepped over the threshold, his pristine boots sinking into the soft, ancient moss of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Bai Ming stopped. The aristocratic mask—the polite, mocking, and rigid posture of 'Young Master Bai'—melted away entirely. His shoulders dropped into a loose, comfortable slouch. He closed his pitch-black eyes, tilting his head back toward the towering canopy.
He took a massive, deep breath, pulling the heavy, primal air deep into his Saiyan lungs.
A slow, incredibly genuine, and completely relaxed smile spread across his face.
"Finally," Bai Ming whispered, his voice losing its metallic, aristocratic edge. It sounded soft, nostalgic, and deeply content. He let out a long, heavy exhale. "Finally back here again."
The entire Shrek group froze, their combat formations forgotten as they stared at him in utter bewilderment.
"Back... back here?" Oscar stammered, lowering his hands. "Ming, what are you talking about? This is the Star Dou Great Forest! It's a death trap!"
Tang San's analytical mind ground to a halt. He watched the silver-robed boy closely. Bai Ming wasn't releasing any spirit power, yet the way he stood there—loose, completely unguarded, and breathing in the scent of apex predators—was entirely unnatural. The rich noble boy who had complained about getting his shoes dirty on the dirt road was currently acting as though he had just walked into his own childhood living room.
"Are you insane?" Dai Mubai hissed, his tiger claws fully extended as he scanned the dark tree line nervously. "Get in formation! You're completely exposed!"
Bai Ming slowly opened his eyes. The oppressive, terrifying shadows of the prehistoric forest didn't seem to touch him. Instead, the shadows almost seemed to naturally curve around him, yielding to his presence.
He looked back over his shoulder at the terrified, glowing students. His smile was no longer mocking; it was simply the relaxed grin of a king welcoming guests to his domain.
"Relax, Mubai. You are far too tense," Bai Ming chuckled, casually brushing a low-hanging vine out of his way as if it were a beaded curtain. "The air here is perfect. Come along, follow me. Let us see what kind of harvest this forest has to offer."
Without waiting for the Vice Dean or the vanguard, Bai Ming turned and strolled casually into the suffocating darkness. Scrambling to catch up, Tang San and Dai Mubai immediately took point, their eyes darting left and right, completely dialed into the hostile environment while trying to maintain the formation around Bai Ming's casual lead.
They spent the entire day carving a cautious path through the dense underbrush, eventually finding a defensible clearing to set up camp for their first night.
As they gathered around a small, carefully controlled campfire, Tang San took the opportunity to share the vast, encyclopedic knowledge he had learned from his teacher, the Grandmaster.
"You must be hyper-vigilant," Tang San lectured, his tone carrying a hint of scholarly smugness. He picked up a stick and drew in the dirt. "A spirit beast's age can be roughly identified by the color of the spirit power it radiates, and the rings it produces. White for ten years, yellow for a hundred, purple for a thousand."
Tang San pointed the stick toward the dark tree line just beyond their fire. "But it isn't just the beasts. The flora here is lethal. For example, do you see that dark purple vine hanging from the ironwood branch over there? That is a Ghost-Weeping Snare. If you brush against its leaves, the neurotoxin will paralyze your limbs in seconds."
The group nodded seriously, their eyes wide as they looked at the terrifying purple vine.
Suddenly, Tang San's jaw clenched.
Standing right next to the so-called lethal plant was Bai Ming. The silver-robed aristocrat was completely ignoring Tang San's lecture. Instead, Bai Ming was casually running his bare, immaculate fingers across the highly toxic purple leaves, gently untangling a knot in the vine.
Tang San's eyes burned with silent anger. He is doing this deliberately, Tang San thought, his pride stinging. He knows I am trying to lead the group, so he is intentionally touching a poisonous plant just to prove my warnings wrong and make me look foolish.
But Tang San was entirely wrong.
Bai Ming wasn't trying to mock him. Deep down, the King Beast was simply lost in the profound, nostalgic comfort of his true home. As his fingers brushed the leaves, the Ghost-Weeping Snare—which would normally snap shut and inject venom into any human—subconsciously sensed the Sun-Ape Ki radiating from his pores. The lethal plant went completely docile, practically purring against his touch.
The undergrowth is coming in nicely this season, Bai Ming thought internally, a genuine, relaxed smile touching his lips. Da Ming and Er Ming have done a decent job maintaining the soil acidity. It really is good to be home.
Sitting by the fire, Xiao Wu watched Bai Ming intently. Her crimson eyes narrowed, her rabbit ears twitching with profound confusion.
He isn't pretending, Xiao Wu realized, a shiver running down her spine. Humans are terrified of this forest. They walk like invaders, always looking over their shoulders. But Bai... he walks like he owns the dirt he steps on. He looks as completely at home here as... as I do. Her beast instincts screamed that the silver-robed boy was an anomaly, but she couldn't quite piece the puzzle together.
The next morning, the group broke camp and resumed their careful march. They were specifically hunting for a suitable beast for Oscar, who required a gentle, non-lethal spirit ring to match his food-system Martial Soul.
Around midday, a sudden, sharp hissing sound tore through the canopy above them.
"Above us! Incoming!" Tang San shouted, his Purple Demon Eye tracking a blur of vibrant colors dropping from the trees.
It was a massive snake, easily twenty feet long. It had brilliant, iridescent scales, a pair of fleshy, translucent wings, and a bright red, fleshy crest atop its head.
"A Phoenix-Tail Crested Serpent!" Tang San identified instantly. "Look at the length of its wings! It's over a thousand years old! Oscar, this is absolutely perfect for you!"
The serpent, realizing it had dropped into a nest of humans, hissed and tried to launch itself back into the canopy.
"Don't let it escape!" Dai Mubai roared. "White Tiger, Intense Light Wave!"
A blast of white light struck the serpent, stunning it. Zhu Zhuqing moved like a shadow, leaping off a tree trunk and using her Hell Rush Stab to precisely slash the thin membrane of the serpent's right wing, permanently grounding it.
The serpent hissed furiously, lunging at Zhuqing, but a thick net of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass erupted from the ground, binding its jaws and pinning its long body to the dirt. To ensure it couldn't struggle, Ma Hongjun stepped forward, unleashing a controlled burst of his Phoenix Fire Wire to scorch the grass around it, terrifying the beast into submission.
It was a flawless, perfectly executed team capture.
From the sidelines, Bai Ming stood with his hands behind his back, giving a slow, approving nod. At least they learn quickly, he thought.
"Excellent work, everyone!" Zhao Wuji stepped out of the bushes, grinning broadly. He tossed a short, heavy dagger to Oscar. "Go on, boy. It's pinned. Stab it right under the red crest to end it quickly, then begin your absorption."
Oscar caught the dagger, practically trembling with excitement. A thousand-year third ring would secure his future as a top-tier auxiliary master. He stepped up to the massive, bound snake, raising the blade.
"Stop right there!"
An old, raspy, but incredibly authoritative voice echoed through the clearing.
Oscar froze, the dagger hovering an inch above the serpent's scales.
From the dense shadows of the trees, two figures stepped into the clearing. The first was an elderly woman with silver hair, her face heavily wrinkled but her eyes sharp and dangerous. She leaned heavily on a massive, terrifying walking stick carved to look like a striking serpent. Following closely behind her was a beautiful teenage girl roughly the same age as the Shrek students, dressed in a tight-fitting martial arts outfit, her expression haughty and furious.
Zhao Wuji's eyes immediately locked onto the old woman's serpent staff. The Vice Dean's expression darkened, recognizing her instantly.
"Put the dagger down, boy," the old woman commanded, her voice ringing with spirit power. "That Phoenix-Tail Crested Serpent belongs to us."
Tang San frowned, stepping forward to shield Oscar. "With respect, Senior, we captured this beast. It is currently bound by my spirit power."
"You captured a beast that I had already hunted and exhausted," the old woman countered coldly, tapping her staff against the ground. "Look at its underbelly. You will see two parallel puncture wounds from my granddaughter's blade. We tracked it for two days before it slipped away in a panic. It is her third ring, and you will hand it over."
The beautiful girl, Meng Yiran, crossed her arms and glared at the Shrek students. "You heard my grandmother. Back away from my snake."
Zhao Wuji stepped forward, his massive frame blocking the girls from the students. "Chao Tianxiang, the Serpent Grandma of the Unrivaled Dragon Serpent duo. It is an honor to meet you. However, the rules of the spirit master world are clear: whoever strikes the final blow claims the ring. We have it pinned."
The old woman's eyes narrowed dangerously, the heavy, suffocating pressure of a high-level Spirit Emperor beginning to leak from her posture. The standoff had officially begun.