Although he knew that upon emerging from seclusion, he would face many troubles, Zhu Ziyang, after simple preparations, still walked out of the Tianyuan Pavilion.
"Whew!" Standing outside the Tianyuan Pavilion and looking at the azure sky, Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but stretch lazily, letting out a light, cheerful sound, a brilliant smile appearing on his face.
"Ziyang! You're out of seclusion?!" At that moment, a surprised voice came from not far away. He turned to look and saw it was Yan Shaozhe, with Cai Mei'er, Xian Lin'er, and Qian Duoduo by his side.
"Yes, Eldest Senior Brother." Zhu Ziyang smiled and said, his gaze falling on Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo, sensing something. "Eldest Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, you've returned to the academy. It seems things went very smoothly for Sister Lexuan!"
However, what puzzled Zhu Ziyang was that despite his smiling face, Xian Lin'er unusually rolled her eyes at him, snorted coldly, and said, "Hmph! Scumbag!"
"Huh?" Zhu Ziyang was stunned, completely bewildered. Just as he was about to ask Xian Lin'er why she said that, she had already turned and left, with Cai Mei'er leaving alongside her, leaving only Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo standing there, smiling awkwardly.
"Eldest Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, did I offend the two Senior Sisters somehow?" Zhu Ziyang grew even more depressed, looking at Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo in confusion as he asked.
"Well," Qian Duoduo smiled awkwardly and said, "Ziyang, don't you know? Lexuan gave birth to two children for you!"
"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Ziyang froze completely, his face full of shock, mouth agape, stunned as he said, "When did this happen?"
"It was during your seclusion, about three or four months ago," Qian Duoduo said.
"This…" Zhu Ziyang was utterly dumbfounded, for he had never imagined that the words Zhang Lexuan said during their intimate moment were serious. He had really become a father? A complex emotion arose in Zhu Ziyang's heart—a mix of fear, anticipation, excitement, and bewilderment, making his expression quite complicated.
Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo did not disturb Zhu Ziyang. In fact, the two were also feeling somewhat lost at the moment. They exchanged a glance, seeing helplessness and envy in each other's eyes. Sigh, they truly envied Zhu Ziyang—not only for his extraordinary talent and cultivation that had surpassed them later on, but even his love life was better than theirs. He already had children! How could they, as his senior brothers, bear this!
After a long while, Zhu Ziyang finally sorted out his emotions. Suppressing the urge to head to the Sun Moon Empire, he looked at Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo and asked, "Two Senior Brothers, first tell me what has happened over this past year."
"Alright." Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo nodded in agreement, then one on the left and one on the right began answering Zhu Ziyang's questions and recounting the events.
First, the most important and attention-grabbing event on the continent during Zhu Ziyang's year of seclusion was naturally the ascension of the new emperor of the Sun Moon Empire.
Yes, Zhang Lexuan had successfully ascended the throne in the Sun Moon Empire, becoming the new empress. Since she could ascend and proclaim herself emperor, it naturally meant that she—or rather, her team—had fully taken control of the Sun Moon Empire.
The facts were indeed so. According to Qian Duoduo, a direct participant in the events, all the armies of the Sun Moon Empire were now under Zhang Lexuan's control—note, under Zhang Lexuan's control, not her team's. This meant that all the armies of the Sun Moon Empire were now essentially Zhang Lexuan's private forces.
How had Zhang Lexuan achieved this? It actually involved three people.
The first was naturally Zhu Ziyang's soul spirit, Quan'er. As a Limit Douluo-level powerhouse, Quan'er was the strength guarantee for Zhang Lexuan's control over all the empire's armies. The second was Kong Deming. As the publicly recognised pillar of the Sun Moon Empire, Kong Deming's allegiance brought Zhang Lexuan immense prestige. The third person surprised Zhu Ziyang—it was Ju Zi, the former crown prince's consort. Ju Zi's identity was very special; she was not only the former crown prince's consort but also a legion commander who had risen from an ordinary soldier, deeply loved by the common troops. No one knew how Zhang Lexuan had won Ju Zi over.
After ascending the throne, Zhang Lexuan launched a series of actions and reforms within the Sun Moon Empire with great momentum. This caused the originally tense hearts of the former Douluo Three Kingdoms, due to her ascension, to relax once again, for Zhang Lexuan's series of actions clearly could not launch a war in the short term—this was what the former Douluo Three Kingdoms wanted to see.
Second were some personal matters Zhu Ziyang was concerned about.
Jiang Nannan had emerged from seclusion two months ago, her soul power reaching level 89. After selecting a soul bone from the Inner Courtyard's treasure vault, she left the academy. As for where she went, she said she was going to find Zhang Lexuan. Uh, heh heh, so Jiang Nannan should now be a Titled Douluo.
Ma Xiaotao had briefly emerged from seclusion half a year ago. Seeing that Zhu Ziyang and the others were all in seclusion, she rested for two or three days before choosing to seclude herself again. When she last emerged, her cultivation had reached level 94, not far from level 95, making Yan Shaozhe, Cai Mei'er, and others extremely envious.
Qian Lingyi was the earliest of the three women to emerge from seclusion. Less than three months into Zhu Ziyang's seclusion, she came out, her cultivation reaching the Soul Douluo level. After obtaining her eighth soul ring through a soul spirit, she chose to leave the academy and go out to train. Before leaving, she left a message for Zhu Ziyang: The Angel God is never cultivated but sublimated in the process of purifying the world's evils.
Oh, right, there was also Huo Yuhao. Not long after he and Zhu Ziyang returned from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he also chose seclusion. However, after half a year, he emerged and then left the academy. The reason made Yan Shaozhe feel ashamed: Xiao Xiao, who was in the Golden Ancient Tree, had disappeared, along with Wang Dong'er.
Clearly, Xiao Xiao had been taken by Wang Dong'er. In the first few days after their disappearance, the academy and Tang Sect immediately mobilised a large number of people to search for them, even specifically going to the Haotian Sect, but to no avail. Perhaps Wang Dong'er was inside the Haotian Sect, but the Haotian Sect showed no intention of negotiating with them and even domineeringly drove them all away. As a result, Xuan Zi, whose injuries had just healed, was injured again.
Helpless, Tang Ya had no choice but to wake Huo Yuhao from seclusion and tell him everything exactly as it happened. Huo Yuhao's reaction at the time was extremely intense. However, when he entered the Golden Ancient Tree and came out again, he had become calm. Then he left the academy to train outside. Before leaving, he also left a message for Zhu Ziyang: Senior Brother, I will definitely find a way to become a god and bring Xiao Xiao back!
Regarding this matter, Zhu Ziyang didn't need to guess to know that it was definitely the Sea God King's doing. As for why he took Xiao Xiao's body again, it was probably to make Xiao Xiao another pawn to control Huo Yuhao. However, what puzzled Zhu Ziyang greatly was why the Sea God was so confident. Didn't he know that Huo Yuhao was a person with flesh, blood, and thoughts? His various actions had already incurred Huo Yuhao's hatred. Did he have some special method?
It was truly hair-loss-inducing.
Finally, there was the recent situation that had caught Shrek Academy's attention. In the past two months, frequent anomalies had occurred in the Star Dou Great Forest, and a beast tide was highly likely.
Hearing Yan Shaozhe's speculation, Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but twitch his lips. Fortunately, he had emerged in time; otherwise, a conflict between the Star Dou Great Forest and Shrek Academy might really have occurred. If that happened, a good thing would turn bad, and he would be annoyed to death.
Thus, he quickly dispelled Yan Shaozhe's concerns and told him about his plan to cooperate with Di Tian to build the soul spirit system, asking Yan Shaozhe to select a group of Inner Courtyard disciples needing soul rings in the near future. Upon hearing Zhu Ziyang's explanation, Yan Shaozhe's face showed nothing but continuous surprise and nodding.
With the matters basically understood, Zhu Ziyang could no longer suppress the excitement and anticipation in his heart. He tossed three original golden pills to Yan Shaozhe, instructing him to dissolve them in water to form a medicinal liquid and distribute it to the three senior brothers and sisters, as well as core elders like Xuan Zi and Elder Lin. Then he flashed away, leaving Shrek Academy and flying at full speed toward the Sun Moon Empire.
——
At this moment, in the Sun Moon Empire, Mingdu, the imperial palace.
A stunningly beautiful young woman dressed in luxurious imperial robes, exuding noble temperament, sat in a garden pavilion. Beside her sat another equally stunning but younger beauty. Both wore constant smiles on their faces, speaking softly about something. In front of them were two cribs, in which two exquisitely carved babies were sound asleep.
Beside the cribs sat an older, middle-aged beauty, her face filled with a kind smile, knitting small clothes in her hands—clearly prepared for the two little ones.
When Zhu Ziyang arrived and saw this scene, aside from feeling warmth, the only thing was a tingling scalp telling him: either step forward and face death or temporarily avoid the edge.
What to do? He was so panicked!
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"The novel is already finished on Patreon."
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