The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

Keke hesitated for a moment before looking at Xu Zihuang with an embarrassed smile.

"Um, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you."

"It's alright, Senior Keke." Xu Zihuang exchanged a meaningful glance with Ju Zi, then smiled warmly and ladled a bowl of meat soup from the pot, handing it to Keke.

"Senior Keke, the Nightmare Man-Eating Flower's poison is very potent. Although the Nightmare Toxin in your body has been cleared, you'll still be weak for a while. Drink some meat soup to replenish your strength."

"Then I won't be polite."

Keke happily accepted the soup and drank it without any regard for her image. However, neither Ju Zi beside her nor Xu Zihuang opposite her noticed that the moment the porcelain bowl obscured her large eyes, her lips moved slightly.

They were lip-reading: Sure enough, there's something going on.

Girls wear certain private items of clothing in a rather unusual way, and she was certain that her clothes were not put on by Orange.

The fact that Orange deliberately concealed this makes it hard not to have some doubts.

Coco is simple-minded, but that doesn't mean she's brainless. In many ways, she's even more perceptive than Orange.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind.

Wouldn't that mean he saw everything about Sister Orange?

Thinking of this, a hint of ambiguity appeared in her gaze as she looked at the orange.

"What's wrong?" Feeling guilty, Orange felt uneasy under Keke's gaze, but remembering that Keke was usually very single-minded, she didn't think much of it.

Keke shook her head vigorously, her face full of innocence.

"It's nothing, Sister Orange. I was just thinking, how come this guy's cooking is so good? His meat soup is even better than yours."

After speaking, her gaze returned to Xu Zihuang, her beautiful eyes flashing with a strange light.

"Hmph, you got off easy, you stinky guy. If you were a few years older, I would have clung to you no matter what. But for now, hehe, I'll let Sister Orange have it. You were teasing me earlier, saying that a woman five years older is like an old mother, it seems you want to play that old mother role, Sister Orange."

After a few bowls of meat soup, Keke and Ju Zi both felt warm and comfortable all over. Their physical weakness was also greatly relieved.

The two women sat together by the campfire, warming themselves.

The Mingdou Great Forest is located in the southern part of the continent, and it is currently summer, so the nighttime temperature should not be too low. However, the two were severely exhausted, their blood circulation was poor, and their limbs were icy cold. Warming themselves by the fire provided some relief.

Xu Zihuang had clearly taken this into account, and all of this was subtly increasing Ju Zi and Ke Ke's goodwill towards him.

However, due to severe physical exhaustion, Ju Zi and Ke Ke were unable to use their martial spirits and soul power to fight for the next few days.

Night deepened, and the dense, lush trees obscured the starlight and moonlight. The three people, trapped in the Mingdou Great Forest, felt as if they had fallen into endless darkness. Only the light from the campfire preserved a last vestige of peace.

Xu Zihuang took out the two head soul bones from the two-headed Netherwolf from the soul tool.

The small, translucent, crystal-like skeleton emitted a faint green light, instantly attracting the attention of Orange and Coco.

"This is a head soul bone?! And there are two of them?!" Keke couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Orange also exclaimed in surprise, "These two soul bones couldn't have been dropped from that two-headed Netherwolf, could they?"

The eerie green light emanating from the soul bone was very similar to the feeling they got when the two-headed Netherwolf used the Light of Nothingness, making it easy to connect the three.

"Senior Orange, you're right. These two soul bones did indeed originate from that two-headed Netherwolf. Perhaps because it's a mutated soul beast, it happened by chance to drop these two identical head soul bones. I'm certain that the soul skills attached to these two soul bones are the same ethereal skills used by that two-headed Netherwolf, which can be absorbed by any soul master with any martial soul without causing any conflict. Since we're here to train together, Senior Orange, you and Senior Keke will also have a share."

As he spoke, Xu Zihuang used his soul power to guide the two soul bones to float in front of the two women, where they hovered in the air and pulsated slowly.

Even if he were to fuse these two soul bones into a higher-quality soul bone, it still wouldn't catch his eye. He wouldn't do something like deliberately hiding and keeping these two soul bones for himself, nor would he deign to do it.

"A soul bone!" Keke held out her hands and cupped one of the soul bones in her hands, her eyes filled with fascination.

The Sun Moon Empire's resources of soul beasts are far inferior to those of the three original empires of the Douluo Continent, making soul bones even scarcer in the market.

Keke came from a commoner background, and this was actually the first time she had ever been so close to a soul bone. After all, even a low-quality thousand-year soul bone could sell for hundreds of thousands or even close to a million.

These are treasures that are always in high demand and short supply at major auction houses.

However, her gaze did not linger on it for long before she pushed the soul bone back to Xu Zihuang and said in an old-fashioned manner.

"You dealt with the two-headed Netherwolf, and these two soul bones have nothing to do with me. Besides, I'm a mid-to-long-range burst-type soul master, so fusing a ethereal skill wouldn't make much difference. I appreciate your kindness, but I can't accept your benefits for nothing."

“Keke is right, these two soul bones should have been yours.” Orange responded in the same way.

"It is said that you originally came from the Douluo Continent and had a method for synthesizing soul bones. Only by combining these two soul bones and then fusing them can their effects be maximized. You might as well find an opportunity to fuse these two soul bones. Your Shrek Academy should have mastered such a method."

"Soul bone synthesis?" Keke looked at Ju Zi blankly, not expecting that Ju Zi knew such a secret.

Orange could only offer a brief explanation to Keke.

Just like the most advanced soul tools researched at the Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, the research on soul bone synthesis technology in the Douluo Continent was also highly confidential. Most people didn't even know that soul bones of the same type could be fused together.

Since Ju Zi and Ke Ke had both said so, Xu Zihuang naturally wouldn't refuse any longer and put the two soul bones back into his storage soul tool.

Just then, a series of piercing chirping sounds suddenly rang out, and shadows darted over from the mountains not far away.

It was as if they had surrounded Xu Zihuang and his two companions in an organized manner, but did not approach rashly.

Their shadows can be seen in the canopy and the treetops.

"A soul beast is approaching."

Orange and Coco became alert, while Xu Zihuang gestured for them to calm down, his golden eyes flashing with light.

"It's the Crimson Fire Monkeys. They've come down from the mountains where the Nether Wolves used to live, and they're probably trying to take over territory."

The Crimson Fire Monkey is a very common type of spirit beast. It is fire-attribute, gregarious, extremely short-tempered, and very vengeful. If classified according to the type of spirit master, they belong to the agility-attack type, especially skilled in ranged fire-attribute attacks.

Xu Zihuang's guess was correct. The two-headed Netherwolf pack had clashed with the Crimson Fire Monkey pack several times over territory. The overall strength of the two groups was roughly equal.

However, because the two-headed Netherwolf was slightly stronger than the leader of the Crimson Fire Monkey clan, a Crimson Fire Monkey King with four thousand years of cultivation, the Crimson Fire Monkey clan did not gain much advantage in several battles.

Now that the two-headed Netherwolf has perished at Xu Zihuang's hands, and sensing the disappearance of the leader's aura, the group of Crimson Fire Monkeys immediately came knocking.

While wolf-type soul beasts are known for their cunning and vengeful nature, these ape-type soul beasts are no better.

"Senior Orange, Senior Keke, leave it to me." Xu Zihuang calmly stood up, and a tangible spiritual fluctuation suddenly enveloped a radius of two kilometers centered on his body.

A flash of brilliant golden spiritual energy passed by, its dazzling light exuding an aura of supreme authority.

Then Orange and Coco heard the 'plop' sounds of the Red Fire Monkeys falling from the treetops and canopies to the ground, as well as the terrified screams of the leader, the Red Fire Monkey King.

The most surprised and suspicious people were not Orange and Coco, but the Crimson Fire Monkey King.

It was horrified to discover that nearly two hundred of its tribesmen had all lost consciousness, including three Crimson Fire Monkeys with a thousand-year cultivation level.

Under that terrifying mental pressure, it too became weak and fled in panic.

These are, of course, Xu Zihuang's masterpieces.

He was using the "Ruling the World" technique taught to him by Elder Mu, but it was a technique that relied purely on mental power.

It has the effect of intimidating and impacting the mind and spirit.

It can be integrated into any of his spirit attribute soul skills.

For example, his fifth soul skill, Spirit Storm, will gain the special effect of "Reign of the World" after being integrated with it.

This is why he decided to add all the remaining soul ring slots of his Golden Eye Martial Soul to spirit attribute soul skills.

Xu Zihuang showed mercy; otherwise, given his mental strength, all of these Crimson Fire Monkeys would have perished.

"Did you just use a soul skill?" Orange and Coco asked in disbelief.

The fact that they could wipe out an entire group of soul beasts in a single move was beyond their comprehension.

Is this really only at the Soul King level? They are both Soul Kings, but they are far inferior to Yu Tianhuang.

Xu Zihuang calmly sat down again.

"It's not a soul skill, but rather a method of applying mental power. You can think of it as a special combat technique."

Orange and Coco looked at each other, but neither of them asked any more questions that might make them look foolish.

The three sat around the campfire chatting, and the night passed just like that.

Because of their poor health, Orange and Coco stayed here for seven days.

The responsibility of protecting the two naturally fell to Xu Zihuang. However, they encountered very few soul beasts during these seven days. The few soul beasts that did approach seemed quite wary of this place, perhaps knowing about the Nightmare Man-Eating Flower, and at most just observed from the outside.

Xu Zihuang chased away those soul beasts just like he did with the group of Crimson Fire Monkeys.

In addition, Xu Zihuang was responsible for providing all three meals a day.

If it weren't for the ambiguous relationship between Ju Zi and Yu Tianhuang, Ke Ke, whose stomach had already been conquered by Xu Zihuang, would probably have wavered and made up her mind to give herself to him.

Seven days later, the three continued their journey along the outer edge of the Mingdou Great Forest to test the performance of the all-terrain detection soul tool. Heading south, they could clearly feel the temperature rising.

Chapter 269 The Return Journey

The southern outer area of ​​the Mingdou Great Forest.

A deep, angry roar rang out, and countless bushes, flowers, and smaller trees instantly fell to the ground, revealing a massive, dark yellow bear.

This giant bear is over four meters long, with bulging muscles all over its body, and its imposing presence is truly astonishing.

Parts of its massive body were covered with irregular dark yellow crystals. Any plants it touched were covered with the same dark yellow crystals and then shattered into dust under its terrifying aura.

The giant bear was chasing a strange spherical metal object, from which six long metal legs extended. These legs had three segments and darted swiftly through the dense forest, dodging the bear's attacks.

It was Xu Zihuang, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke who were riding in the all-terrain detection soul tool.

Xu Zihuang sat in the main control seat at the front, calmly gripping the metal rod in front of him.

Under his control, the all-terrain detection soul tool was able to make the most accurate and timely responses every time, gradually widening the distance between itself and the giant bear.

Orange and Keke sat behind him. Orange needed to focus her attention on controlling the level 5 soul shield of the all-terrain detection soul tool. Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"A crystal bear with three thousand years of cultivation. I never expected such a powerful alien soul beast to appear on the outskirts of the Mingdou Great Forest."

The Crystal Bear and the Terrorclaw Bear are actually the same type of spirit beast, possessing the bloodline of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. However, the Crystal Bear has undergone a weakened mutation. After the mutation, its overall strength is actually inferior to that of the Terrorclaw Bear.

However, it cannot be denied that this crystal bear is still an extremely powerful soul beast. Although it only has three thousand years of cultivation, it can absolutely crush the Netherworld Two-Headed Wolf and the Crimson Fire Monkey King that Xu Zihuang and the others encountered earlier.

This is the enormous advantage that spirit beasts possess due to their race and bloodline. With a sufficiently powerful race and bloodline, challenging opponents of higher levels is a common occurrence.

The Crystal Bear, possessing the bloodline of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, has outstanding offensive and defensive capabilities, and has also mutated into a special ability.

Anything that comes into contact with it, whether it's a plant, a spirit beast, or a human, will crystallize. Upon being attacked again, it will shatter completely.

It can be considered the ultimate weakened version of Xu Zihuang's second soul skill, Mirror Annihilation.

Xu Zihuang's second soul skill, Mirror Annihilation, can be locked and released remotely using mental power. In other words, the attack range of his second soul skill is the distance that his mental power can project.