While the Shrek team was hastening toward Heaven Dou City, deep within the Sunset Forest...
Dugu Bo was leading Dugu Yan and Qi Lin in search of a suitable soul beast.
The Sunset Forest was nowhere near as vast as the Star Dou Forest, and accordingly, the number of high-level soul beasts within it was much smaller.
Now that Dugu Yan's martial soul had evolved into the Jade Phosphor Dragon, Dugu Bo naturally wanted to help her find either a sub-dragon type soul beast or one with a trace of true dragon bloodline for her next soul ring.
After three full days of searching, Dugu Bo finally set his sights on a six-thousand-year-old sub-dragon.
Although most Soul Masters usually absorbed a fourth ring between four and five thousand years, Dugu Yan was no ordinary Soul Master after having taken the Heaven-Mending Creation Pill.
And after absorbing the six-thousand-year soul ring, Dugu Yan's soul power surged all the way to Rank 48 in one go.
One must know that before taking the Heaven-Mending Creation Pill, Dugu Yan was only at Rank 38.
Such an exaggerated breakthrough shocked and delighted both Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan.
"Xiao Lin, what kind of soul beast do you want as your soul ring?"
"If we can't find the right one here in Sunset Forest, I'll take you to the Star Dou Forest. You're bound to find a satisfactory one there."
After helping Dugu Yan obtain her soul ring, Dugu Bo turned to Qi Lin.
Over the past three days, they had encountered many plant-type soul beasts, with the oldest among them being thirty thousand years.
To Dugu Bo, a thirty-thousand-year soul beast as a sixth ring was already an excellent choice—but Qi Lin was unimpressed by them all.
After hearing Dugu Bo's offer, Qi Lin shook his head with a smile. "It's alright, Senior Dugu, there's no need to go through so much trouble."
"Since we haven't found the right one over the past three days, it means the timing isn't right yet. I'll wait a bit longer to hunt for my sixth ring."
Both Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan were stunned by his casual attitude.
So carefree?
Dugu Bo tried to persuade him again, "Are you sure? While it's true you can continue cultivating without the next ring, the speed of meditation increases for high-level Soul Masters with more rings. If you wait too long, it might affect your future progress."
Qi Lin replied with a calm smile, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Dugu, but such impacts are negligible to me. It's not a problem."
Seeing that Qi Lin had made up his mind, Dugu Bo could only nod. "Very well, we'll do as you say."
After that, the trio returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Inside the valley, Dugu Bo said to Qi Lin, "Xiao Lin, from now on, treat this place like your own home. If you see any herbs you want, just take them."
Qi Lin scratched his head and glanced toward the medicinal garden.
There were still many herbs he hadn't used when refining the Heaven-Mending Creation Pill—even several immortal-grade herbs remained untouched.
For instance, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Infernal Delicate Apricot, and Lovesick Heartbroken Red—all three were still untouched.
But it seemed he had no use for them at the moment.
Even so, Qi Lin smiled at Dugu Bo and said, "Thank you for your generosity, Senior Dugu. If I need anything, I won't hold back."
Dugu Bo laughed heartily, "That's more like it! Don't be polite with me!"
Meanwhile, Dugu Yan rolled her eyes at her grandfather. No one knew his intentions better than she did.
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By the next day, Qi Lin and Dugu Yan, accompanied by Dugu Bo, returned to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
At the same time, the rest of the Shrek Seven Devils had finally arrived at the academy after four days of travel.
By now, Dai Mubai had regained consciousness. Both his arms were bandaged, his face pale and haggard, his aura weak and unstable.
Looking at the familiar scenery of Heaven Dou Academy, Dai Mubai turned toward Flender with eyes full of hope.
"Dean, do you think my arms can be healed?"
At this point, he could barely use any force with his hands, let alone fight.
Flender didn't reply immediately. From Shao Xin's reports, he knew the situation was grave—even a high-tier healing-type Soul Saint might not be able to restore Dai Mubai's shattered meridians.
As for a healing-type Soul Douluo?
It was possible... but the problem was that such individuals were as rare as Title Douluo.
Let alone inviting one—just finding one would be a miracle.
Seeing Flender's expression, Dai Mubai began to tremble.
If his arms were truly crippled, how could he ever compete with Davis?
If he lost, he'd either be killed or crippled—then raised like a dog in captivity. The thought filled Dai Mubai with darkness.
And every time that despair rose within him, one name always came to mind—Yu Xiaogang.
Shing!
Dai Mubai's eyes turned bloodshot, his breath heavy as a bull's. He whipped his head toward Yu Xiaogang, a twisted fury on his face.
"You useless teacher. If my arms really can't be healed, I will kill you!"
What Dai Mubai didn't yet know was that his meridians had ruptured not only because of Yu Xiaogang's poor guidance—but also because Tang San kept using him for experimental training.
Otherwise, with the sturdy physique of his White Tiger martial soul, his meridians wouldn't have failed so quickly.
Yu Xiaogang knew he was partly to blame. But after enduring so many cold stares from the rest of Shrek these past few days, he had already grown numb.
In fact, even when facing the crazed Dai Mubai, he still had the nerve to argue back.
"Yes, you ended up like this partly because of me. But I'm not the true culprit! I was just learning from Qi Lin. How was I supposed to know something like this would happen?"
"I'm beginning to suspect that Qi Lin agreed so readily to let me observe him on purpose."
"You all must've sensed it too—he's never liked any of you. He probably held something back while I was learning, on purpose."
"He knew your training was wrong and still said nothing. That's what caused this mess."
"So, Mubai, if you're going to blame someone, blame Qi Lin—not me."
Yu Xiaogang declared righteously.
Dai Mubai's eyes flashed with murderous hatred.
Whether it was Yu Xiaogang or Qi Lin—he hated them both!
From the crowd, Flender and Shao Xin exchanged glances, concern flickering in their eyes.
These kids weren't going to ask Qi Lin for help—they were going to start a feud with him.
Thinking of this, Flender knew he had to intervene.
He spoke gravely, "Mubai, I understand your desperation to recover, and I will help you. But when you see Qi Lin later, I don't want you showing that kind of attitude again."
His gaze swept across the group.
Clearly, his warning was meant for everyone, not just Dai Mubai.
Especially the loud-mouthed Ma Hongjun—Flender shot him a fierce glare.
"Understood, Dean!"
"I know where the line is."
Dai Mubai took a deep breath and managed to calm his expression. But deep in his eyes, the hatred still lingered.
At that moment, a voice rang out in the distance.
"Dean, you've finally arrived!"
It was Qin Ming.
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T/N: Sorry for late updates guys, I'm busy rn preparing for College and sh*t and my attention is also divided cause I'm writing an Original Fanfiction story.
Can't wait to share it with you guys.