Douluo Continent: The Phoenix God Returns

Chapter 23 Titan Ape

"She's my sister. Could you please do me this favor? I will definitely remember it." Ye Li said without batting an eye, showing no sign of lying.

Chao Tianxiang frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "I will naturally give face to your sister, but child, think carefully. Are you really going to bring up your sister for a mere thousand-year-old phoenix-tailed crested snake?"

Can a mere thousand-year-old Phoenix-tailed Crested Serpent compare to the favor bestowed upon the Spirit Hall? The two are not even in the same league. A lost spirit beast can be replaced, but a favor from a top-tier power is not so easy to obtain. Moreover, the Spirit Hall's "Holy Maiden" will inevitably assume the position of Pope in the future, and this favor will certainly be greater than that of the Phoenix-tailed Crested Serpent.

Seeing that Granny Snake was about to give up, Meng Yiran said urgently, "Grandma!"

Chao Tianxiang raised her hand, signaling her not to speak yet, and stared intently at Ye Li, who was of noble status, in front of her.

"Since my sister gave me this token, she probably won't care how I use it. If you encounter any trouble in the future, you can rely on this token to resolve it," Ye Li said with a calm smile.

"Since that's the case, I'll give you face. Let's go." Chao Tianxiang gripped the token tightly and glanced at Ye Li with a complicated expression.

"grandmother!"

The Phoenix-tailed Cockscomb Serpent had readily relinquished its power, but Meng Yiran was far from resigned. She raised her serpent staff, pointing it directly at Ye Li, her face showing a hint of anger and resentment. In the end, she gritted her teeth, hesitated, and let out a cold snort. Meng Yiran put away her serpent staff and left with Chaotianxiang. Oscar breathed a sigh of relief; his soul ring was finally safe.

The Shrek members didn't ask Ye Li why the token could command such respect from the Snake Granny of the Peerless Dragon and Snake Sect. After all, everyone has secrets, and it was clear that Ye Li's backing was strong enough to make the Peerless Dragon and Snake Sect wary.

Ye Li looked at Oscar, "Little Oscar, absorb it as soon as possible."

Oscar nodded, drew his short blade, and quickly ended the life of the Phoenix-tailed Crested Serpent. The others protected Oscar, while Zhao Wuji was on guard against the Peerless Dragon Serpent's possible counterattack. However, in Ye Li's opinion, this protection was obviously unnecessary.

After about half an hour, Oscar finally finished absorbing the spirit rings of the Phoenix-tailed Crested Serpent. He let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes. Seven-colored light flashed in his eyes, which looked somewhat similar to the mist exhaled by the Phoenix-tailed Crested Serpent earlier. Three spirit rings, two yellow and one purple, rose from his feet, indicating that Oscar had entered the ranks of Spirit Masters.

Zhao Wuji smiled slightly and said, "Congratulations, Xiao Ao."

Dai Mubai's hearty laughter rang out, "Xiao Ao, you're the third among us to break through level 30. Congratulations! Let us see what your third spirit ring skill is."

"Uh..." Oscar's excitement suddenly froze, and he said awkwardly, "Let's talk about this when we get back."

Ma Hongjun said irritably, "Xiao Ao, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid we'll laugh at you?"

Oscar nodded helplessly. "However, we agreed that we absolutely mustn't laugh."

Everyone nodded, and except for Ye Li, there were already some smiles on their faces. Oscar sighed, raised his right hand, and finally recited his third soul incantation, "I have a mushroom sausage."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter almost instantly, even Zhao Wuji couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Oscar's eyes widened. "Didn't we agree not to laugh?"

These words only backfired, making everyone laugh even harder. Zhao Wuji was the first to suppress his laughter and said, "Tell me, Oscar, what's the effect of your mushroom sausage?"

"Hmph." Oscar toyed with the mushroom sausage that appeared in his hand and said, "Mushroom sausage, third soul skill, effect: flight, fly at the speed of a phoenix-tailed crested snake, lasting for three minutes, currently it can produce about thirty mushroom sausages at a time."

"It seems that the three-thousand-year-level spirit ring has brought Oscar a pretty good boost. He's gained a full two minutes, and it's not as short as before," Ye Li thought to herself.

Zhao Wuji said with satisfaction, "Alright, everyone get ready, we'll leave here immediately and return to the academy."

"Teacher Zhao, I'm afraid we can't leave yet," Tang San suddenly said.

Zhao Wuji was taken aback. "Can't we leave? Why? Little San, this Star Dou Great Forest isn't a place for playing around."

Tang San quickly said, "I also need a spirit ring. Why don't we just find a spirit beast this time? That way we won't have to make another trip later."

Zhao Wuji suddenly realized what he meant and said, "What did you say? You've broken through to level 30?"

Tang San nodded and said, "Yes, I've broken through to level 30."

"That's great, brother!" Xiao Wu excitedly hugged Tang San's arm.

Zhu Zhuqing was also taken aback. Two dimples appeared on Ning Rongrong's gentle face. The fat man opened his mouth wide. Oscar let go of the sausage and dropped it on the ground. Even Dai Mubai, who was standing to the side, was also stunned.

At twelve years old, level thirty—only Li Ye among their group had achieved that. Zhao Wuji looked at Li Ye, then at Tang San, and couldn't help but laugh, "It seems our academy has gained another monster among monsters."

Tang San tentatively asked, "Then, Teacher Zhao, could you find me a spirit ring?"

Zhao Wuji laughed and said, "Everyone, get ready first thing tomorrow morning to find the most suitable spirit ring for Tang San!"

The next morning, the group continued their journey to find a soul beast. Two full days passed, and they still hadn't found a suitable soul beast for Tang San. This was naturally Ye Li's doing. At the same time, he sent a message to Gu Yuena through the silver dragon skull, asking Sister Biji to wait nearby with the soul beast specially prepared for Tang San.

At night, Shrek and his group set up camp. The boys were in charge of setting up tents, while the girls searched for food.

After estimating the time, Ye Li said, "The Titan Ape should be here soon, right? If this brute dares to touch me, I'll have Uncle Di Tian beat him up afterwards. I'll make sure he can't beat me, then I'll call for backup."

"Everyone get out of the tent, quick!" Zhao Wuji roared, his deep voice echoing into the tent.

After several days of working together, the trainees had already reached a certain level of understanding and quickly crawled out of the tent.

"Teacher Zhao, what's wrong?" Dai Mubai rushed to Zhao Wuji's side and asked in confusion.

Zhao Wuji did not answer his question, but said, "Everyone, get behind me. If anything happens later, don't worry about me, just leave here immediately. Mu Bai, Xiao Ye, while I'm gone, I'll entrust the responsibility of protecting everyone to you."

Dai Mubai still didn't understand what had happened. Not only him, but Tang San and the others were also confused. Only Ye Li and Xiao Wu knew the truth. One was keeping track of the time, and the other looked helpless. In the direction Zhao Wuji was looking, two tall trees suddenly slowly parted to the sides, and a huge figure silently walked out from there.

Upon seeing this enormous creature, everyone seemed to hold their breath, and only then did they understand what Zhao Wuji was truly worried about.

"It's the King of the Forest, the Titan Giant Ape!" Tang San was the first to recognize it, and even his usually calm voice changed slightly.

"Your Majesty, King of the Forest, we have no intention of offending you. If this is your territory, we are willing to leave immediately," Zhao Wuji said in a deep voice. He knew that this Titan Ape could understand human speech.

Titan Ape ignored Zhao Wuji's words. It made a simple move that made everyone at Shrek Academy jump to their throats. It took a step forward, which was not a friendly gesture. Zhao Wuji's brain was racing at that moment, but the only three words that came to mind were, "What should we do?"

With a determined look, Zhao Wuji said in a deep voice, "I'll hold him off! You all eat Oscar's mushroom sausages and get out of here immediately! I'm afraid I can't hold out for much longer, so you'd better be quick!" After saying that, the seven spirit rings on Zhao Wuji's body shone brightly, and he charged forward without hesitation.

"You guys go ahead, I'll go help Teacher Zhao." Dai Mubai activated the White Tiger Vajra Transformation and charged forward with a roar to the sky.

"You all go, but I can't leave because I need to help them." A gentle yet firm voice rang out, and the magnificent Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda spun out from Ning Rongrong's palm.

Just as Ye Li and the others were preparing to act, the Titan Giant Ape suddenly roared and shattered Zhao Wuji's Martial Soul True Body with a whirlwind of power. Tang San had just caught the falling Zhao Wuji when he realized something was wrong and turned back to say, "Xiao Wu, get out of the way!"

However, it was too late. The Titan Giant Ape bypassed Tang San and Zhao Wuji and grabbed Xiao Wu in its hand!

"No—Xiao Wu!" Tang San's eyes turned red. Before he could even steady himself on the ground, he kicked the ground and sprang up, using a nearby tree as a springboard to leap away. His hands flashed across his waist as countless hidden weapons attacked the Titan Giant Ape's eyes.

Zhao Wuji had just had his Martial Soul True Body shattered, and the backlash he suffered was extremely severe. He tried to stop Tang San from acting impulsively, but it was too late. The Titan Giant Ape closed its eyes, and Tang San's hidden weapon hit its eyelids as if it had hit steel, making a series of clanging sounds, but it did not cause any damage to the Titan Giant Ape.

The Titan Ape used its hind legs to propel itself into the air, its mountain-like body leaping over a hundred meters away. In just a few leaps, the Titan Ape vanished without a trace.

Ye Li, who had been sent flying by the Titan Ape, looked at his body, which was about to fall apart, and glared angrily at the departing Titan Ape: "Fine, very well, you'll be severely injured even if you don't die. I said even Jesus couldn't save you."

.........

(End of this chapter)