From the Soul Motion Machine onwards, the Mechanized Douluo

Chapter 257 Escaping—It's the courage to want to live! [Please read on, everyone!]

Tang San's feelings towards Chen Hong are very complicated. He hates the strong pressure Chen Hong exerts on him, but he also enjoys the various hidden conveniences Chen Hong provides.

For example, the reason he could lord it over Dugu Bo and even ask him for toilet paper was largely due to Chen Hong's extensive network of connections. Because of Chen Hong, Tang San knew in advance the significance of his father, Tang Hao; because of Chen Hong, Tang San wasn't even afraid to expose his twin martial souls, as the civilian forces were suppressed by the Clear Sky Sect and dared not covet him. The only force with the audacity and power to even consider Tang San was the Spirit Hall, and Tang San's master (Yu Xiaogang) and teacher (Chen Hong) seemed to wield immense influence within the Spirit Hall!

Yu Xiaogang possessed a Papal Decree, and Chen Hong also had one. As native Fasnos born and raised at Shrek Academy, Tang San and many others at Shrek Academy knew how Chen Hong obtained his Papal Decree. Although the Spirit Hall claimed it was given to the Technology Chamber of Commerce, anyone with a modicum of sense understood that it represented the Spirit Hall's expectations for Chen Hong's future. However, Chen Hong was too young at the time and lacked any world-shaking works, so it wasn't directly granted to him. Now, the Papal Decree's influence on Chen Hong is diminishing, and the Spirit Hall has never addressed this matter, implicitly acknowledging that the Technology Chamber of Commerce is a Papal Decree-affiliated force under the Spirit Hall.

Look, Tang San's teachers possess two Papal Decrees. So what's wrong with him, as a student, possessing two Martial Souls? Is that not allowed? Is that unreasonable? It's incredibly reasonable!

Of course, Tang San later gleaned some gossip from Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo, a secret usually reserved for Title Douluos. It was that his master, Yu Xiaogang, had once been glorious, but recently seemed to have faded into obscurity. This made Tang San realize that Chen Hong's influence within the Spirit Hall was perhaps even greater than he had imagined.

However, because of Chen Hong, even if Tang San wanted to treat Dugu Bo to a delicious meal of the Clear Sky Hammer, he still needed to consider Chen Hong's attitude. After all, who knew that Dugu Bo, this seemingly foolish but actually lucky guy, would get entangled with Chen Hong because of his granddaughter?

The nepotistic relationship between Chen Hong and Ye Lingling is like a large net that perfectly encompasses Tang San. Tang San can gain a lot of benefits from it, but at the same time, he must abide by a lot of restrictions.

"Xiao Wu, this is..." Tang San, the generous spender who rarely took on a human form, distributed the immortal items to everyone else before taking out an exquisite jade box. He personally handed it to Xiao Wu, whose face was slightly flushed, and held her soft, boneless hand, saying tenderly with affection, "The Acacia Heartbreak Red, an immortal item related to longing."

"Brother San."

"Xiao Wu."

The two held hands, gazed deeply into each other's eyes, and then embraced tightly.

"Let's disperse, let's disperse." Seeing this, the people around laughed and left, preparing to continue their cultivation.

However, as they left, Dai Mubai and Oscar both glanced at Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong with complicated expressions, then sighed silently and left with a sense of loss.

Dai Mubai was somewhat disappointed that, to this day, Zhu Zhuqing had not agreed to cultivate the Martial Soul Fusion Technique, Netherworld White Tiger, with him. Initially, Dai Mubai thought Zhu Zhuqing still harbored resentment towards him, so he kept trying to appease her. Finally, when Dai Mubai, unable to bear it any longer, personally confronted Zhu Zhuqing to demand an explanation, he heard her cold, indifferent voice reveal her true feelings:

"Dai Mubai, I have never liked you. We are strangers bound together by our respective families. When I was a child, I heard your name and knew that you should be my future husband. But unfortunately, you ran away. In the cold ending where there was basically no objection to the selection of the next crown prince of Xingluo, you ran away, abandoned everything, and fled Xingluo capital." Zhu Zhuqing's expression at that time was very cold, a true iceberg.

That coldness made Dai Mubai feel an indescribable sense of desolation: "So...you hate my weakness?"

"No." The calm voice spoke with unwavering resolve.

"I have never hated your weakness, cowardice, or weakness; these are things that are inherent in human nature. Faced with a near-death situation, running away is not a sign of weakness, but rather a courage to live. Yes, you wanted to live, so you ran away, leaving that cold capital, that cold family, carrying your courage to live, your longing for the outside world, and your acceptance of your fate after giving up the struggle for the throne."

"But you left one thing behind, a little girl whom no one cared about or paid attention to, who was just a victim of the struggle. That is, your fiancée. You left her alone in the capital, letting her face a near-desperate fate and accept that she had a fiancé who ran away out of fear."

Dai Mubai's expression froze: "."

"I came to find you, to Shrek Academy, not because I like you, but because I don't want to accept my fate, I don't want to be slaughtered. That's why I came to find you, because without you, I can't resist my destiny. But now, it's no longer necessary."

"You, who frequent brothels and are obsessed with beauty, are unaware of the unimaginable development potential of the Technology Chamber of Commerce. As a teammate of Shrek Academy, I can give you a reminder before you lose your senses. From a sufficiently long distance, the Technology Chamber of Commerce is a new Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. A revolutionary, epoch-making united force that is even more alluring than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School." Having often played with Ning Rongrong and even met Ning Lu, the mother of the Technology Chamber of Commerce, under Ning Rongrong's guidance, Zhu Zhuqing's strategic awareness has reached the level of those powerful sects.

The higher-ups of forces like the Spirit Hall realized that the Technology Chamber of Commerce was likely to become an even more powerful alliance than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, and that this force was showing a tendency to integrate into the Spirit Hall. Currently, only the Spirit Hall and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School have noticed this trend. The Spirit Hall was able to detect this because the Technology Chamber of Commerce kept attaching itself to them. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, on the other hand, deeply resonated with the Technology Chamber of Commerce's approach and was able to predict its future development.

"Dai Mubai, your future has been altered the moment you entered the sphere of influence of the Technology Chamber of Commerce. The trend of unity shown by the Technology Chamber of Commerce will surely force the Star Luo Royal Family to submit in the future."

"Also, I am not your fiancée. Your fiancée has been abandoned by you in that cold Star Luo Imperial City."

(End of this chapter)