Douluo Continent II: The Peerless Tang Sect: Starting with a Bond to God King Tang San

Chapter 166 Return to Shrek Academy

Deng Mu packed his bags quietly, took a few immortal herbs before leaving the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye.

A short while later, Deng Mu left the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and came to the outside of it.

"Hmm, I'll return to Shrek Academy after completing the second trial of the God of Destruction," Deng Mu muttered to himself after a moment's thought.

Deng Mu silently recited the test in his heart, and then he felt a flash of light before his eyes.

He was pulled by a powerful and mysterious force, instantly leaving the Sunset Forest and entering a strange world.

What came into view was a hazy, gray world, with thick fog filling the sky, making it difficult to discern directions.

The surrounding scenery was distorted and illusory, sometimes resembling a barren desert with scorching sand raging in the wind; at other times, it transformed into a deep seabed with enormous sea monsters moving about indistinctly.

Deng Mu took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He knew that all of this was an illusion created by the Illusionary Realm, with the purpose of interfering with his mind and preventing him from concentrating on finding the core energy node.

"Don't be fooled by appearances," Deng Mu reminded himself silently.

He closed his eyes, shutting out all external distractions, and focused all his attention on the power belonging to the God of Destruction within his body.

As his perception deepened, the destructive power within him was awakened like a sleeping beast, slowly surging and emanating a cold yet powerful aura.

When Deng Mu opened his eyes again, a determined light shone in them.

He raised his right hand, and a ball of black destructive power gathered in his palm. The power spun and compressed continuously, emitting a chilling fluctuation.

Deng Mu waved his right hand, unleashing destructive power towards the mist ahead.

With a deafening roar, the fog was instantly blasted open, creating a huge hole. However, before Deng Mu could even see what was in front of him, the fog around the hole quickly closed up again, as if nothing had ever happened.

"It seems this illusionary realm is more troublesome than I imagined." Deng Mu frowned, but showed no intention of backing down.

He knew that simply launching a strong attack would not solve the problem; he had to find the weakness in the illusionary realm.

So Deng Mu began to explore this illusory world cautiously. With each step, he carefully scanned his surroundings with his senses, trying to discover the core energy node hidden behind the mist.

During his exploration, Deng Mu encountered various strange illusion attacks.

Sometimes a group of enormous magical beasts would pounce, their claws and teeth gleaming with a cold light, seemingly capable of easily tearing everything apart; other times, sharp sword energies would shoot in from all directions, moving at incredible speeds, making them impossible to defend against.

Faced with these attacks, Deng Mu remained calm, skillfully using the power of destruction to defend and counterattack.

Whenever a monster lunged close, he would unleash his destructive power to form a black barrier, keeping the monster at bay; as for the sword energy, he would simply annihilate it with his destructive power.

As time went on, Deng Mu gradually discovered a pattern: whenever the intensity of the illusion attack reached a peak, the surrounding space would experience an extremely subtle fluctuation.

He keenly realized that this slight fluctuation might be the key clue to finding the core energy node.

Therefore, Deng Mu deliberately summoned more illusions to attack him, constantly pushing the intensity of the illusion attacks to even greater heights.

Finally, during a fierce exchange, Deng Mu noticed that the fluctuations in the surrounding space had become more pronounced.

He looked in the direction of the fluctuation and, deep in the mist, he could vaguely see an object emitting a faint light.

"That's it!" Deng Mu was overjoyed and rushed in that direction without hesitation.

As they rushed toward their target, the illusions' attacks became even more frenzied, as if they too realized that Deng Mu was about to find the core energy node and were desperately trying to stop him.

Deng Mu charged forward recklessly, each swing unleashing destructive power.

When Deng Mu finally arrived in front of the radiant object, he discovered that it was a crystal ball-like thing floating in the air. Inside the crystal ball, complex runes shimmered, intertwining to form a mysterious energy cycle.

Deng Mu knew that this was the core energy node of the Illusionary Realm.

He took a deep breath, gathering all the destructive power within him into his hands, the black light emanating from them illuminating almost the entire space.

"Break it!"

Deng Mu slammed both hands down on the core energy node.

The power of destruction surged into the crystal ball like a raging tide. The runes began to tremble violently under the impact of the destructive power, and their light became flickering.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the core energy node finally succumbed to the destructive force and shattered completely.

In an instant, the entire illusionary realm began to shake violently, the surrounding mist quickly dissipated, and the illusory scene burst like a bubble.

[The second of the Nine Trials of the God of Destruction is complete. Reward: 15% affinity with the God of Destruction.]

"All done, back to Shrek Academy."

Seeing the prompt in front of him, Deng Mu nodded in satisfaction.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Deng Mu continued his journey through the Sunset Forest without encountering any further obstacles.

He walked briskly, his mood exceptionally pleasant as he completed the second trial of the God of Destruction.

A few hours later, Deng Mu left Sunset Forest and quickly headed to the nearest town.

Deng Mu quickly arrived at the nearest town, and the aroma of food wafting through the streets instantly awakened his hunger.

He found a restaurant and had a simple meal.

After a hearty meal, Deng Mu went to a hotel, booked a quiet room, washed up briefly, and then went to bed for a good rest.

The next day, Deng Mu packed his bags, checked out of his hotel, and went to the town's carriage and horse shop.

The carriage shop was filled with all kinds of carriages, and the drivers gathered in small groups to chat.

Deng Mu stepped forward and began talking to a driver who looked experienced. The driver was burly, with deep wrinkles etched on his face, and his eyes revealed a shrewdness and competence honed from years of traveling.

"Uncle, I want to go to Shrek Academy. Can your carriage take me there as soon as possible?" Deng Mu asked politely.

The driver sized Deng Mu up and down, grinned, revealing a set of slightly crooked teeth: "Hey, young man, you've come to the right person! I know this route like the back of my hand, I guarantee I'll get you safely and smoothly to the academy gate. But, the price..."

The driver drawled out his words, a sly glint in his eyes.

Deng Mu understood that negotiating prices was common when traveling, so he wasn't in a hurry and patiently listened to the driver's quote.

After some back-and-forth bargaining, the two finally reached an agreement. Deng Mu readily paid the deposit, and the coachman began preparing the carriage for him.

Not long after, a fairly sturdy-looking carriage was pulled out.

The driver patted the horse's back and said with a smile, "Young man, this horse is very spirited and fast. Let's set off now!"

Deng Mu placed his luggage on the carriage and then got in. The coachman cracked his whip, and the carriage slowly drove out of the carriage depot.

(End of this chapter)