"You little beast, I'm going to kill you!" Elder Tang's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, his face flushed red with rage, veins of varying thickness bulging on his forehead. He roared at Zhu Ziyang, his voice hoarse, clearly overwhelmed with frustration.
"Tch!" Zhu Ziyang dismissed Elder Tang's threat with disdain, delivering another solid slap across the elder's face. He said, "Behave yourself!"
"You, you, you..." Elder Tang was completely stunned. He hadn't expected Zhu Ziyang to slap him again, and more importantly, Zhu Ziyang's attitude treated him like a child being toyed with. When had he ever suffered such humiliation? His eyes bloodshot, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, he succumbed to rage, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fainted.
"He fainted just like that?" Zhu Ziyang was somewhat surprised. Looking at the old man limp in his hand like a dead dog, he felt bored. With a flick of his hand, he tossed him toward the Titan Giant Ape.
The Titan Giant Ape hurriedly caught Elder Tang, his eyes full of anxiety as if his own father had died while checking the elder's injuries. Discovering that he had only passed out, the ape let out a heavy sigh of relief. Lifting his eyes, filled with anger, he glared at Zhu Ziyang and roared, "Is Shrek Academy really prepared to tear faces with our Haotian Sect?"
"Ha?" Hearing the Titan Giant Ape's questioning, Zhu Ziyang was so amused by the absurdity that he laughed. He countered, "Are you joking? It was your Haotian Sect that first injured our Shrek Academy's Elder Xuan, not us injuring yours! Get this straight—it was your Haotian Sect that tore faces with Shrek Academy!
What? Do you think Shrek Academy shouldn't hold your injury to Elder Xuan against you and should instead apologize to you?"
"..." The Titan Giant Ape was momentarily at a loss for words, though he did indeed think that way, as his expression revealed. He said, "Aren't you afraid of the Sea God's wrath? You know, the Sea God is surnamed Tang!"
"Because the Sea God is surnamed Tang, does that mean Shrek Academy has to enshrine the Haotian Sect?" Zhu Ziyang sneered and said, "How ridiculous. Even if the Sea God were surnamed Qian, he is still a student of Shrek Academy. Could he possibly betray his teachers and ancestors? Hmph!"
"You..." The Titan Giant Ape was speechless, only able to stare blankly at Zhu Ziyang. What Zhu Ziyang said was truly irreverent, but he was helpless. The strength Zhu Ziyang had displayed showed that the ape was no match for him. In this world, strength reigned supreme after all. Even if his backer was the Sea God, distant water couldn't quench a nearby fire, so when it was time to back down, it was best to do so.
"Let me ask you, is Xiao Xiao in your Haotian Sect?" Seeing the Titan Giant Ape fall silent, Zhu Ziyang knew he had likely chosen to yield and asked.
"She left Haotian Fortress one or two months ago." The Titan Giant Ape's face was expressionless, but a strange glint flickered in his eyes as he answered Zhu Ziyang's question.
"Left?" Huo Yuhao, who had been quiet for a long time nearby, immediately pressed, "You mean Xiao Xiao woke up? Right?"
"Mm!" The Titan Giant Ape nodded silently.
"Then do you know where she went? Why didn't she return to the academy?" Huo Yuhao was very anxious and puzzled as he asked.
The Titan Giant Ape did not answer, remaining silent. Seeing this, Zhu Ziyang immediately let out a cold snort. The Titan Giant Ape's body shuddered at the sound, and he quickly replied, "I don't know either. She said she was going to travel the continent. At this time, I'm not sure where she might be."
"I see." Huo Yuhao still had considerable worries and doubts in his heart, but the joy visibly spreading across his face was unmistakable. No matter what, he now knew that Xiao Xiao had awakened and was even able to travel the continent, which meant her physical condition was at least good.
"What about Wang Dong'er?" Zhu Ziyang, however, sensed something strange and inquired.
"Win-Winter..." The Titan Giant Ape was stunned, a trace of sadness clearly flashing deep in his eyes, but his face remained calm as he answered, "She should be with Xiao Xiao, I suppose."
"Is that so?" Zhu Ziyang looked deeply at the Titan Giant Ape, clearly sensing there was more to his words. At the very least, Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong'er's situations were definitely not as good as Huo Yuhao imagined. However, he did not pursue it further, as there was no need. He said, "I hope you're not lying to us. Yuhao, let's go!"
"Mm-hmm!" Huo Yuhao was overjoyed at this moment, at least having received news of Xiao Xiao, at least knowing she had survived.
Zhu Ziyang took Huo Yuhao and leaped away, leaving Haotian Fortress. The Titan Giant Ape watched Zhu Ziyang depart and finally let out a sigh of relief. However, just as he was about to pat his chest to ease his mood, Zhu Ziyang's warning came through his ears.
"When that old guy wakes up, tell him to keep his tail between his legs from now on and stop being so arrogant! Oh, and the same goes for you—don't jump out looking for trouble again, or that green snake will be your end!"
The Titan Giant Ape's body suddenly stiffened, a huge wave of sorrow surging in his heart.
Shifting back to Zhu Ziyang and the others, they had now reached the foot of the mountain. Huo Yuhao was radiating excitement and joy all over. He said to Zhu Ziyang, "Senior Brother, this is great, this is great! Xiao Xiao has come back to life! I want to go find her!"
"Yuhao, I advise you not to be so optimistic." Zhu Ziyang looked at the excited Huo Yuhao. Though reluctant to dampen his spirits, he still cautioned, "This matter is full of strangeness."
"..." Huo Yuhao's excitement visibly cooled down. He became much calmer and said, "Senior Brother, do you mean that person is lying to us?"
"Hard to say." Zhu Ziyang shook his head and analyzed, "I actually hope he's lying to us, but if what he said is true, then things are troublesome."
"This..." Huo Yuhao's expression turned somewhat numb. He understood Zhu Ziyang's meaning and felt a pang of panic in his heart. "Senior Brother, this..."
"If everything that person said is true, then we should think about why, after waking up, Xiao Xiao didn't return to the academy immediately, but instead went to travel the continent." Zhu Ziyang analyzed, "There are only two possibilities. The first is that Xiao Xiao lost her memory and doesn't remember what happened before, so she didn't return to the academy right away."
"The second possibility is that she's being controlled by the Sea God!" Huo Yuhao continued Zhu Ziyang's words, his face looking very ugly. Having gone through so much, if he couldn't even see through this, he would be too foolish.
"Let's hope it's the first one!" Zhu Ziyang said somewhat helplessly.
"Senior Brother, I want to go find Xiao Xiao!" Huo Yuhao expressed this desire again. He now urgently wanted to find Xiao Xiao, to see what trick the Sea God was trying to play!
"No need." Zhu Ziyang shook his head and refused his request. He said, "Since the Sea God's target is you, he will definitely have Xiao Xiao appear in front of you herself, so there's absolutely no need for you to go find her. It would be better to wait in the academy."
"That makes sense!" Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he said, "Alright then, we'll wait in the academy!"
After returning to Shrek Academy, Zhu Ziyang began the final preparations before inheriting the Death God position.
He gave Wu Huan'er two bottles of Origin Golden Elixir liquid, letting her use one herself and giving the other to Ma Xiaotao. Then he summoned the three elders, Xian Lin'er, Cai Mei'er, and Elder Lin, and explained the academy affairs after his seclusion. Hearing that Zhu Ziyang was about to take that final step, the three elders were overjoyed, and all assured him that they would take good care of the academy's matters.
Zhu Ziyang met with Huo Yuhao once more, also giving him a bottle of Origin Golden Elixir liquid, and told him that he would be in seclusion for a period of time. No matter what happened, he must not act impulsively and should consult Xian Lin'er and the others. Huo Yuhao seriously promised to do so.
Then Zhu Ziyang left the academy and found Qian Lingyi, who was traveling the continent. After two years of traveling, Qian Lingyi's cultivation had reached the Title Douluo realm, now only lacking one soul ring to become a true Title Douluo. Zhu Ziyang thus accompanied Qian Lingyi to hunt for her ninth soul ring. In the Sun Moon Empire's territory, they found a 100,000-year-old cultivation Sun Insect Emperor and, through physical persuasion, convinced it to become Qian Lingyi's soul spirit. Qian Lingyi's cultivation leaped to level 94, which was quite exaggerated.
Zhu Ziyang informed Qian Lingyi that he was preparing for seclusion to accept the god position inheritance and asked what she planned to do next. Qian Lingyi's answer was straightforward: continue traveling the continent and eliminate evil soul masters. Zhu Ziyang was not surprised by this answer, so after leaving her a bottle of Origin Golden Elixir liquid, he parted ways with her.
In the final period of time, Zhu Ziyang went to Mingdu and stayed in the Mingdu imperial palace for several days before returning to Shrek Academy's Tianyuan Pavilion.
With all affairs arranged, using exactly one month, his state of mind was now calm as still water. With a thought, he disappeared from Tianyuan Pavilion.
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"The novel is already finished on Patreon."
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