Douluo Dalu II: The Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 114 The Miserable Inner Court Disciples!

"Your Excellency, Son of Light, a group of humans has appeared ahead." Zhu Ziyang was still immersed in his spiritual sea when he heard the voice of the Great Starry Unicorn, Luo Xingxia.

Zhu Ziyang was slightly taken aback, then immediately snapped out of it and asked, "Where?"

"It's just a short distance to the side," said the Great Starry Unicorn, pointing in a direction with its horn.

"Quick, let's go take a look," Zhu Ziyang said immediately.

"Yes." The Great Starry Unicorn immediately ran in that direction.

A moment later, the group of humans came into Zhu Ziyang's view, and his face immediately showed surprise, excitement, and a little anger. Without any hesitation, he immediately urged the Great Star Radiance Unicorn to rush out.

-

Zhang Lexuan now walks with trepidation, because if even a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast were to emerge, they would truly perish in this Star Dou Great Forest.

It turns out that Zhang Lexuan barely managed to absorb the spirit ring of the Ghost Moon Serpent King in a day. However, forcibly absorbing the 100,000-year spirit ring damaged her life essence. Combined with her previously damaged martial spirit essence, this meant that although Zhang Lexuan was now an 81-level Soul Douluo, her combat power was probably only comparable to that of a Soul Venerable.

Every few steps she took, she would turn back to look at her junior brothers and sisters following closely behind. These prodigies of Shrek Academy's inner court were now all in a sorry state, like beggars. Not one of them was unharmed; everyone was injured and could only support each other to barely move forward. Their combat strength was even inferior to that of a one-ring Soul Master at this moment.

Perhaps their bad luck was exhausted by encountering the Ghost Moon Serpent King. Since they set off last night, they have only traveled two or three kilometers, but they have been very lucky and have not encountered any soul beasts.

"Senior Sister, let's rest for a bit." Ma Xiaotao supported Zhang Weiwei, her face pale, her eyes dull, and her voice choked with sobs, saying, "Sister Weiwei is about to pass away."

This group of inner court disciples were truly out of supplies. All the resources they had for healing and recovery had been used to save a few dying companions, and the rest of them had been hungry since last night.

"But this place is too close to the core area!" Zhang Lexuan's face was conflicted. Looking at her junior brothers and sisters, whose faces were ashen, her heart ached. But she couldn't stop. She said, "If we stop, it will easily attract soul beasts. At that time, we might all be..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone else understood what she meant.

"It's alright, Senior Sister, I can still hold on!" Zhang Weiwei, who was already close to unconsciousness, said with her slightly cracked lips, trying to suppress her exhaustion.

"Let's keep going!" Zhang Lexuan said resolutely, then added reassuringly, "Perhaps Elder Xuan has already returned to the academy and is coming to pick us up! We absolutely cannot give up on ourselves!"

"Elder Xuan...hehe," Shen Xu sneered, his face filled with resentment as he spoke. This usually taciturn Taixu Sword Soul Saint was now silent.

It wasn't just him; everyone else shared the same thought. As the team leader, Xuanzi bore 90% of the responsibility for their ordeal. If it weren't for his dereliction of duty, how could they have suffered such a calamity! This was the thought of everyone except Zhang Lexuan. In fact, even Zhang Lexuan, the senior sister of the inner courtyard who had spent the most time with Xuanzi and had received many favors from him, was filled with resentment and dissatisfaction towards him, but she couldn't show it.

Because she is the senior sister.

"Senior Sister!" Su Meng suddenly cried out in panic, her eyes wide with terror as she looked ahead, "It's a soul beast!"

Zhang Lexuan immediately spotted the soul beast Su Meng had mentioned. A look of despair instantly appeared on her pale face. Without hesitation, she mobilized her soul power, preparing to perish together with the suddenly appearing soul beast. She could die, but her fellow disciples could not be harmed again!

The soul beast drew closer and closer, gradually revealing its appearance: a golden horn, pure white fur, and enormous wings. Zhang Lexuan's heart sank. Although she didn't know the specifics of this soul beast, the unicorn's appearance was still very distinctive. Could she really take this unicorn away?

Zhang Lexuan had some doubts.

"Senior Sister!"

Just as despair began to creep into Zhang Lexuan's heart, a shout filled with excitement and joy suddenly rang in her ears. Zhang Lexuan froze, only then realizing that a boy was sitting on the back of the unicorn. The boy was looking at her and the others excitedly. Somewhat incredulous, she rubbed her eyes, opened her mouth, and squeezed out a few words, "Ziyang?"

"Senior Sister, you're all alright, that's wonderful!" Zhu Ziyang jumped off the Great Starry Unicorn and excitedly ran to Zhang Lexuan's side, wanting to hug her.

However, someone was faster than him. Ma Xiaotao rushed over and hugged him tightly, tears of excitement welling up in her beautiful eyes. Helpless, Zhu Ziyang could only comfort Ma Xiaotao while walking towards Zhang Lexuan, glancing at the others out of the corner of his eye. What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

Only eight people!

"Senior Sister, has Elder Xuan not returned yet?" Zhu Ziyang asked with a gloomy expression.

"Ziyang, you..." Zhang Lexuan was still surprised by Zhu Ziyang's sudden appearance, her eyes filled with wariness as she looked at the two Starry Unicorns behind Zhu Ziyang. "Them...?"

"Senior Sister, don't worry. They are Starry Unicorns; they won't harm us." Zhu Ziyang knew what Zhang Lexuan was worried about, but some things couldn't be explained in a short time, so he focused on the important points: "They will lead us out of the Star Dou Great Forest!"

"I see!" Zhang Lexuan was still a little hesitant, but she chose to trust Zhu Ziyang, so she said, "In that case, can they carry Weiwei and Ruoruo?"

"No problem, I'll communicate with them," Zhu Ziyang agreed, glancing at the inner court disciples behind Zhang Lexuan. They were all surprised by Zhu Ziyang's sudden appearance, but even more so, they were overjoyed. They had already lost two companions and didn't want to lose any more, especially this junior brother who had single-handedly saved the day. They clearly understood that if it weren't for this junior brother's crucial control at the last moment, perhaps even more of them would have died.

Seeing his fellow senior students in such poor condition, Zhu Ziyang felt a pang of sadness. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he immediately turned to the Great Starry Unicorn and called out, "Luo Xingxia, do you possess healing abilities?"

"I only know a little bit of simple healing, enough to cure basic external injuries," the Great Starry Unicorn said regretfully, shaking its head. "Your companions are all suffering from internal injuries and exhaustion; there's nothing I can do about it."

"Alright," Zhu Ziyang had no choice but to give up, and then said, "Could you help carry them?"

"As you command," replied the Great Starry Unicorn.

"Senior Sister, why don't we see Senior Brother Zhu and Senior Brother Long?" After receiving the answer from the Great Star Radiance Unicorn, Zhu Ziyang looked at Zhang Lexuan and asked the question he had wanted to ask earlier. His voice trembled slightly, as he was afraid of receiving a sad answer.

"Don't be sad, they're still alive!" Zhang Lexuan said with a bitter smile. "Because their injuries were too severe, Elder Xuan took them back to the academy." This was the only good news for everyone at the moment; no one else would die.

"Elder Xuan?!" Zhu Ziyang was stunned, then anger surged to his head. He said coldly, "So, Elder Xuan just left a bunch of students with no fighting ability here like that? How could he do that!"

Zhu Ziyang was furious. He wondered if Xuanzi had lost his mind. How could he leave a group of seriously injured students behind and run back to the training grounds? Didn't he realize the danger involved? One oversight is carelessness, but what about twice?

Seeing Zhu Ziyang's angry expression, Zhang Lexuan felt a surge of warmth in her heart and comforted him, "Ziyang, Elder Xuan lost his composure because of your disappearance. Don't you know how important you are to the academy? Besides, Elder Xuan only returned to the academy to get reinforcements after I absorbed the soul ring and gained some self-defense capabilities, preparing to come back for you."

"This..." Upon hearing this, Zhu Ziyang's anger subsided a little, and he also realized some of the reasons why Xuanzi abandoned Zhang Lexuan and the others and returned to the academy alone. However, he was still full of anger. "Senior Sister, let's leave the Star Dou Great Forest first."

"Mm!" Zhang Lexuan nodded.

As the two most clear-headed people present, they both understood that now was not the time to condemn Xuanzi; the most important thing was to leave the Star Dou Great Forest safely!

(End of this chapter)