Bab 106: Tang San's Suspicions
At night, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong would always hear Xiao Wu sneaking out of bed and running outside, only to return after quite a while.
One time, the two sisters, unable to resist their curiosity, followed her in secret. They saw Xiao Wu squatting by a pond, vomiting heavily.
At first, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong didn't think too much of it. But after several nights of following Xiao Wu, they kept witnessing her squatting by the pond, suffering from severe morning sickness.
By then, the two had their suspicions. Later, when they saw Xiao Wu's belly growing bigger by the day, their guesses were confirmed—she was indeed pregnant.
Zhu Zhuqing was smart and observant, but even she didn't think of Chen Xuan. She assumed that something had happened between Xiao Wu and Tang San, that they hadn't taken precautions, and she had ended up accidentally pregnant.
It wasn't just them who noticed. Xiao Wu's belly had grown significantly, and it was obvious to everyone. It clearly wasn't the result of weight gain.
In the past, Tang San was so focused on cultivating and studying the Tang Sect's hidden weapons that he hadn't noticed anything amiss. Recently, though, he finally realized the abnormality—Xiao Wu had gained a lot of weight.
…
After the promotion tournament ended, Emperor Xue Ye granted a three-day break, allowing all the participating teams to return to their academies to rest, recover from injuries, and prepare for the next journey.
The following day, the three days finally passed, and it was time to set off.
Chen Xuan packed all his gear, putting everything he needed into his storage soul tool. Then, he left all the remaining gold soul coins at home.
Recently, he had commissioned a well-known local craftsman to forge a weapon made from the best-quality materials—his current cyan-gold spear, which cost him fifty to sixty thousand gold soul coins.
According to the craftsman, the spear was incredibly sturdy, made from the hardest materials on the continent, and impossible to break for anyone below a Soul Saint.
In this era, such quality was considered extremely high, especially since soul tools had not been developed to the extent they would be in the future, where even ninth-grade soul tools would be available.
In the current era, the more powerful a soul master was, the less they needed weapons. Their own martial souls were strong enough, and only beast martial souls or agility-attack types used weapons to boost their attack power.
"Yi Yi, I'm leaving now." Chen Xuan bid farewell to his sister and walked out the door, heading toward the gathering place.
"Take care, brother. Be safe on the road." At the door, Chen Yiyi waved, watching her brother leave.
After leaving home, Chen Xuan didn't return to Shrek Academy but headed straight to the gathering place, where many people were already gathered.
Not long after Chen Xuan arrived at the location outside the city, Flender and Liu Erlong led the Shrek group to the scene as well.
There were many familiar and unfamiliar faces—teams from Blazing Academy, Tianshui Academy, Godwind Academy, and the long-absent Heaven Dou Royal Academy, who finally made their appearance today.
They were a guaranteed team, able to skip the preliminary rounds.
"Everyone's here. Let's move out!"
The thousand-plus group, well-prepared and in formation, marched toward Spirit City in a grand procession.
This team of over a thousand people consisted not only of academy participants and teachers but also included eight hundred elite soldiers, each strong and sturdy, as well as two hundred knights. Together, they formed a military escort of a thousand people, ensuring the safety of the students.
The empire had deployed such a large force to prove just how much Emperor Xue Ye valued the safety of the contestants.
Twenty massive carriages carried each promoted academy, surrounded by the knight regiment for maximum protection, providing a sense of security.
From inside the carriage, Chen Xuan poked his head out the window, noticing that the carriage next to theirs belonged to Tianshui Academy.
"Chen Xuan, are you spying on us?" A blue-haired girl with a round face stuck her head out of the opposite window. It was Shui Yue'er from Tianshui Academy's female group.
Hearing the commotion, another person appeared at the window—the team leader, Shui Bing'er.
"Chen Xuan, what are you up to?" The humiliation from the competition was still fresh in her mind, so she didn't look too happy.
Shrek could have easily swept through their team with one fighter, but they insisted on switching people out, which felt like a deliberate insult in her eyes.
"Damn it, can't a guy just get some fresh air without bothering you?" Chen Xuan, feeling helpless, pulled his head back inside.
Shrek Academy had been divided into two carriages. Chen Xuan was in the one with the four substitute members, along with Ma Hongjun. He wasn't in the same carriage as Tang San and Dai Mubai.
Due to Tai Long's inability to bear being around Chen Xuan, he had switched to Tang San's group.
"Chen Xuan, I thought I heard some girls talking," Ma Hongjun said as he squeezed over to the window, trying to take a peek.
Chen Xuan, lost in thought, was jolted out of it by the rotund Ma Hongjun attempting to shove his head out of the window. However, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er had already retreated, leaving him with nothing to see.
Meanwhile…
Tang San, Dai Mubai, Oscar, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong shared another carriage, with Flender and Liu Erlong riding with them.
"Sigh, I wonder how Xiao Gang is doing. I've been feeling uneasy these past couple of days." Liu Erlong, frowning, was deeply worried about Grandmaster's safety.
Grandmaster had set out ahead of them, and over the last three days, Liu Erlong had been on edge, unable to shake a sense of foreboding.
"Erlong, don't worry. Two Soul King knights are accompanying him. He'll be fine." Flender reassured her, sharing the details.
Tang San was also uneasy, with a similar bad feeling. The Grandmaster had set out early to find a method for cultivating twin martial souls for him. If anything happened to Yu Xiaogang because of him, Tang San would never forgive himself.
"A teacher is like a father for life." Without Yu Xiaogang, he would never have achieved his current success, reaching level forty-two at the age of fourteen.
The others remained silent, closing their eyes to rest in the carriage.
Oscar, meanwhile, was chatting with Ning Rongrong at every opportunity, even though she wasn't really responding. He remained as passionate as ever, undeterred by her lack of interest.
Ning Rongrong wasn't in the mood to talk. Her thoughts were heavy because her father, Ning Fengzhi, had recently made it clear that she should cut ties with the food-type soul master at the academy. This was a decision made by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's elders.
The elders had stated that a partner for the clan's disciples had to be a powerful battle soul master. Moreover, as the eldest princess of the clan and the future successor, how could she possibly be with someone without any background, a mere food-type soul master?
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was already the most powerful auxiliary martial soul in the world. What it lacked most was combat power and self-defense. A food-type soul master? Unheard of.
Though Ning Rongrong was a bit spoiled and proud, she understood the importance of her clan. She couldn't act on impulse. Besides, she didn't actually love Oscar; she was merely moved by his passion.
Ning Fengzhi hoped she would understand the burden she carried and consider stronger companions like Tang San or Chen Xuan.
Tang San was clearly in love with Xiao Wu, which Ning Fengzhi knew, so he hoped Ning Rongrong would set her sights on someone like Chen Xuan, who was exceptionally talented. The elders would surely approve of him.
Hearing Oscar babbling on beside her only worsened Ning Rongrong's mood.
"Oscar, can you please be quiet? I want to rest." She frowned, clearly displeased.
Whether Oscar lacked emotional intelligence or simply lost his wit when in love, the result was the same—he faced rejection, with his affection not only ignored but actively disliked.
The others exchanged glances but said nothing, respecting Ning Rongrong's wishes.
Xiao Wu, meanwhile, deliberately avoided Tang San, sitting next to Zhu Zhuqing, using her sister's figure to hide her growing belly.
However, this very behavior only deepened Tang San's suspicions.
"Xiao Wu, you should watch your diet. You've been putting on a lot of weight recently."
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Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone