Shortly after Liu Erlong left in grief.
Suddenly, a loud eagle cry pierced the sky, followed by a swift figure descending from above with a powerful Aura, it was Flender, who had left and returned.
He withdrew his Martial Soul, landed on the ground, and his gaze quickly swept across the entire scene.
When he saw Tang Hao, whose face was cold and Aura imposing.
And Master, who was slumped on the ground, dishevelled and looking as if he had been pulled from a pool of blood.
And then he saw the mountains of Soul Beast corpses piled around, as well as the strange Clear Sky Hammer not far away, emitting a foul stench and covered in maggots, and Tang San in a weakened state.
Flender's face was filled with shock and confusion.
However, his confusion seemed to be feigned.
"Xiaogang! Your Excellency Tang Hao? What... what exactly happened here just now?!"
Hearing this, Tang Hao merely gave Flender a cold glance, letting out a disdainful snort from his nose, but did not reply, evidently too lazy to explain anything to him.
Upon seeing Flender, Master was like a drowning man grasping at a straw. He didn't bother to explain the whole story, enduring the intense pain, and urgently shouted:
"Flender! You... you've come just in time!"
"Quick! Take me away from here, back to Shrek Academy!"
The next second, he raised his hand and pointed in the direction Erlong had left, his face showing a mix of anxiety and an indescribable complex expression, and he urgently said:
"Erlong... Erlong misunderstood me just now and ran off in anger. We must catch up to her as soon as possible and explain everything clearly!"
Following this, Master seemed to recall something extremely important and added.
"After we return to Shrek and settle down, I must immediately go to Spirit City! I have something extremely important to do!"
Go to Spirit City?
A flicker of imperceptible light flashed in Flender's eyes. He first cautiously looked at Tang Hao, as the latter's attitude was crucial for taking Master away.
Tang Hao remained expressionless.
But in the end, he nodded slightly, implicitly agreeing to Flender taking Master away.
Having received Tang Hao's approval, Flender quickly walked to Master's side, bent down, and said in a deep voice, "Gangzi, get on, I'll carry you out."
Hearing this, Master felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He moved his body with difficulty and lay prostrate on Flender's back, which, though not broad, seemed incredibly reliable at that moment.
"Hold on tight, Gangzi! Time to fly!"
Taking a deep breath, Flender circulated the Soul Power within him, and the huge phantom wings of an owl once again spread out behind him. He bent his legs slightly, then pushed off sharply, flapping his wings with force.
"Whoosh—!"
A strong current of air stirred up dust and fallen leaves on the ground, forming a small whirlwind.
In the blink of an eye, Flender, carrying Master on his back, steadily ascended into the air.
"What did you call me? Gangzi!?"
Master was stunned by the words. After lying on the other's back, he couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Flender, why are you suddenly calling me that? I remember... you used to call me Xiaogang."
"I remember the only person who called me that was that little bastard, Tang Chuan!"
Evidently, this slightly crude appellation made him feel a sense of unfamiliarity and abruptness.
Flender, however, chuckled superficially, trying to gloss over it, and gave two dry laughs, saying:
"Oh, today... today I'm just in a good mood, you see. Changing the address makes us brothers feel closer, hehe."
"Good mood?" Hearing this, Master's voice immediately took on a hint of exasperation, even some anger, and he said, "I'm beaten to this state, Erlong ran off in a huff, and Your Excellency Tang Hao is still furious. You... you actually say you're in a good mood?"
"Flender, no... why do I feel like you're... strange today? Your tone of voice, and this reaction... it's a bit... a bit unlike you!"
Lying on Flender's back, Master could clearly feel that the muscles in the person beneath him had tensed almost imperceptibly the moment he asked that question!
"Gangzi, you're just dazed from the beating, what are you thinking nonsense about! Am I not fine? Hold on tight, we need to hurry and catch up to Erlong to explain!"
Flender immediately covered it up with a relaxed tone.
At this moment, he was carrying Master, flapping his wings, and swiftly moving through the forest.
Master suppressed the doubts and unease in his heart, carefully observing the scenery below and the direction of flight. At first, it seemed they were still flying towards the outer perimeter.
But soon, he keenly noticed.
The surrounding trees grew taller and denser, and the Soul Beast Aura permeating the air became more powerful. This was clearly heading deeper into the core region of Sunset Forest!
"Flender!"
A moment later, Master's face drastically changed. He could no longer hold back and shouted sharply:
"You... where are you taking me?! This direction is not towards Heaven Dou City at all! What exactly do you want to do?!"
Hearing this, Flender's flying speed increased instead of decreasing, and at the same time, he let out a bone-chilling sneer, utterly different from his usual one, saying:
"Hmph, where am I taking you? Of course... I'm taking you to meet the King of Hell!"
As soon as he finished speaking, his body suddenly jolted, and a clever force instantly erupted.
The unprepared Master only felt a huge force coming from behind him, and he was thrown out like a sack. With a cry of alarm, he was directly flung out from the high-speed flight!
"Bang! Crash—!"
Master's frail body tumbled helplessly in the air, then crashed heavily onto the thick bushes and humus layer below, rolling several times before stopping. He was bruised and swollen, dizzy, and his whole body felt as if his bones were about to fall apart. The injuries that Tang Hao's Soul Power had barely stabilized earlier worsened again, and blood continuously overflowed from his mouth and nose.
"Ugh..."
Master let out a painful groan. Immediately after, he struggled to lift his head.
However, before he could clearly see the true face of the person in front of him, a blue-gold figure appeared behind him like a Gui Mei, with unimaginable speed!
Immediately after, Master felt a sudden chill in the area of his spine. A sharp, incredibly cold force, like a red-hot iron skewer, precisely and ruthlessly pierced through his skin and muscles, plunging fiercely into his spine!
Instantly, an indescribable agony swept through his entire body.
"Ah!!"
He let out a shrill, distorted scream.
Master's body convulsed violently as if electrocuted, then his vision suddenly went black. All consciousness and sensation receded like a tide, and he completely fainted, without another sound.
A moment later.
A remarkably handsome young man with long, water-blue hair slowly emerged.
At his feet, Master lay slumped on the ground like a boneless maggot, his face ashen like paper, his breath so faint as to be almost imperceptible, his Life Qi almost completely extinguished.
"Heh... Last time, due to time constraints, I didn't extract it completely, leaving a bit of its Origin."
"Now it's done... I've completely extracted it for you. This Origin Bloodline of the Golden Sacred Dragon, to be left on a waste like you, is truly a waste of heavenly treasures."
...Meanwhile, in the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial City, at the Crown Princes Mansion.
In the back garden, a myriad of flowers bloomed, their fragrance rich.
Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, dressed in casual clothes and exuding an elegant and noble Aura, was holding an exquisite white jade watering can, watering a rare Neon Skirt Peony with a focused and serene expression.
The sunlight spilled onto him, as if plating him with a golden edge.
Everything seemed so peaceful and tranquil.
However, this tranquility was shattered the next moment.
A blurry black shadow appeared silently like a Gui Mei in the shadows behind her, kneeling on one knee, its Aura restrained, clearly a well-trained Soul Master.
"Young Lord." The black-robed man's voice was low and respectful.
The watering can in Xue Qinghe's hand paused almost imperceptibly, the flow of water momentarily stopping.
She did not turn around, maintaining her posture of watering flowers, but her beautiful brows furrowed slightly, and her voice was calm and unruffled, yet carried an undeniable authority as she said:
"Speak."
Nodding slightly, the black-robed man immediately reported respectfully:
"There's been unusual activity on Spirit City's side. Recently, no less than ten Platinum Cardinals and over thirty Cardinals from various branch halls have been gathering towards Spirit City, either secretly or openly, under various pretexts. Such a large-scale high-level transfer is far from ordinary."
"Evidently, soon... there will likely be a major operation."
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