Tang Sui floated in the dark and silent sea of the abyss. After an unknown period, she slowly opened her eyes.
[You shouldn't have been so impulsive. If Sword Douluo Chen Xin hadn't arrived in time, you would be gone by now.]
The system's voice was rarely cold.
Tang Sui's long eyelashes fluttered. Her pupils, unfocused, stared into the deep blackness. Her lips moved slightly, "But I had no other choice... I couldn't just stand by and watch those who cared about me, and those I cared about, die before my eyes..."
[Entrusting your emotions to others is foolish. In your previous life, didn't you understand this principle yet?]
The system's voice drifted from all directions. In an instant, many people's murmurs seemed to fill Tang Sui's ears, flooding into her brain and making her spirit even more weary.
—'No one will stand by your side from beginning to end.'
They babbled on.
—'The only ones who can stay by your side are us. You and we are destined to be bound together.'
Like a curse or a promise, it was clearly branded onto Tang Sui's heart.
She wearily closed her eyes, her spirit empty, letting herself continue to drift in this dark spiritual sea.
She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she thought she heard a cold snort.
...
The Heaven Dou Empire's participating soul master team continued to advance. As Ning Fengzhi had said, there were no more large numbers of powerful "robbers" blocking their way for the rest of the journey.
More than four hundred people from the Royal Knights escorted them. However, just in case, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe had dispatched some Iron Armored troops from cities they passed along the way to assist the knights in their guard duties, filling in any gaps.
Along the way, the atmosphere among the members of the Shrek Academy was somewhat somber.
Tang Sui had been in a deep slumber, unconscious. In the meantime, Dugu Bo and others had examined Tang Sui's condition separately and found that she was merely sleeping due to extreme weakness.
If Tang Sui's pulse hadn't been only slightly weak and considered stable, Tang San would have long since lost his composure.
Xiao Wu also checked on Tang Sui from time to time. Upon noticing that Tang Sui seemed to have entered a self-protective slumber, she observed Tang Sui with a thoughtful gaze.
That sense of déjà vu returned.
Sui Sui's cultivation methods were so similar to theirs. When soul beasts were severely injured, they would also find a quiet place to enter a slumber to accelerate healing.
Unless they were poisoned with something that couldn't be easily dissolved, everything else could be slowly converted into energy to repair the body during their slumber.
But... when those few Titled Douluo were present, they hadn't shown any unusual signs.
Could it be that Sui Sui also had something on her that hid her aura?
But...
Xiao Wu looked suspiciously at Tang San, who was meditating with his eyes closed in another carriage, murmuring to herself.
But Xiao San was truly, unequivocally, a human.
What was going on?
Xiao Wu couldn't figure it out, so she could only continue cultivating with her doubts and questions.
Her efforts paid off. With five days left until they reached Spirit City, Xiao Wu finally broke through to level forty.
To help her obtain her fourth spirit ring as soon as possible, Liu Erlong took the oddly-faced Xiao Wu and temporarily left the team to search for a suitable soul beast. They would reunite with the others after settling down in Spirit City.
Watching Xiao Wu's reluctant expression, Ma Hongjun muttered, "It's such a good thing that someone is eager to help hunt soul beasts, why does Xiao Wu look so unwilling?"
Oscar scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, why doesn't Xiao Wu seem to want Teacher Erlong to accompany her?" Su Dan Novel Network
Tang San watched Xiao Wu being pulled away by Liu Erlong, his lips twitching, "She probably... feels like she's grown up."
Colloquially: her wings have hardened, and she can fly on her own.
Ma Hongjun and Oscar: "......"
Strange.
After several more days of travel, the entire team finally arrived at Spirit City within the expected time.
Due to the special regulations of Spirit City, Xue Qinghe ordered the Iron Armored Army and the Royal Knights to be stationed outside the city and led the fifteen soul master teams into Spirit City himself.
Compared to the vast cities of Heaven Dou City and Suotuo City, Spirit City was much smaller. It wasn't even a tenth of the area of Heaven Dou City. However, it still brought considerable shock to the soul masters.
Despite its small size, the city walls of Spirit City were undoubtedly built to the specifications of a capital city. The eighty-meter-high walls looked extremely majestic from the outside, and the wall thickness exceeded thirty meters. They were entirely constructed from hard granite.
Even the financially wealthy Ning Fengzhi sighed in admiration when he saw Spirit City.
It was important to remember that this was originally a barren land, and every brick and tile on it was funded and built by the Spirit Hall itself.
The entire city, though not large, displayed exceptional financial strength.
Spirit City was hexagonal on the outside, meaning it had six city walls.
Guards in the uniform of the Spirit Hall were stationed on them, and the figures of small patrol teams could occasionally be seen.
On these six city walls, each was carved with a large relief.
Although their patterns differed, they were all identical to the token of the Spirit Hall, symbolizing six powerful martial spirits.
Entering Spirit City, the overall feeling was one of spaciousness.
There were few pedestrians on the streets, and even fewer shops. The shops mostly sold items needed by soul masters, and even soul guiding devices for spatial storage were available, though their quality was somewhat inferior.
Tang San, carrying Tang Sui on his back, looked past the shops selling daily necessities for soul masters and his gaze fell on the sparse food stalls.
Looking around, there were only two or three families selling food, and they were selling ordinary snacks. He figured Sui Sui wouldn't be very interested.
With this in mind, Tang San shifted the weight of Tang Sui on his back and continued to follow the main group.