Chapter 234

Tang Wulin put away the letter in his hand, looked up at the ceiling, and a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

The letter he received was from the Academy; according to them, Ma Xiaotao went missing while on a mission not long ago, and they asked him to help keep an eye out for her.

He couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile.

"Really, there's not a single clue—how am I supposed to find her?"

Although Tang Wulin disliked Ma Xiaotao, he didn't go so far as to wish her dead; if there were any clues to her disappearance, he wouldn't mind paying attention and helping out.

But the problem is, aside from knowing Ma Xiaotao went missing during a mission, there are no clues at all—he doesn't know the exact location, time, or manner of her disappearance, which really makes it difficult for him to help.

Since Tang Wulin discovered traces of the Holy Spirit Sect, nine months have already passed.

After Shrek learned of the Holy Spirit Sect's existence, just as Tang Wulin had expected, the entire academy fell into shock and began mobilizing all its forces to investigate the sect's presence.

However, strangely, after Tang Wulin and the others left, the Holy Spirit Sect seemed to have vanished from the world altogether, with no movement at all.

Even the underground human trafficking market in Tianyun City vanished without a trace; when Shrek's personnel arrived, only ruins remained. Although the ruins still symbolized that they had indeed existed, no clues could be found to follow the vine.

Upon hearing this news, Tang Wulin couldn't help but feel a chill creep up from behind.

Such swift and decisive action shows that the Holy Spirit Sect not only detected the destruction of its Tianyun City branch immediately, but also quickly identified the person responsible for all this.

Moreover, being able to mobilize with such high efficiency in such a short time suggests that the cooperation between the Ri Yue Di Guo and the Holy Spirit Sect is likely far from ordinary; it is very possible that the royal family is colluding with the Holy Spirit Sect.

This made his heart inevitably feel somewhat heavy.

After sighing, Tang Wulin reached for another letter on the table in order to change his mood.

This was a letter sent by Huo Yutong from the Royal Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy, stating that the academy's annual vacation had arrived and she would come to see him.

He had initially agreed with Huo Yutong to send her a letter every week; although not long after sending the first letter, Tang Wulin received news from the Academy saying Huo Yutong had entered deep meditation after sparring with a fellow student from the Royal Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy, yet he never broke his promise, persistently writing to Huo Yutong once a week as agreed.

Only two months ago did Huo Yutong wake up, after which the two resumed their correspondence.

From the content of Huo Yutong's letter, it seems she is doing quite well at the Royal Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy.

According to her, the classmates here are all friendly, there are reliable and lovable senior girls, teachers and the dean who are gentle in their dealings, proactive and enterprising classmates, and each day is very fulfilling, giving her life great vigor.

But Tang Wulin always felt something was off; based on his understanding of Huo Yutong, the chance that this girl was lying was not zero—in fact, it was rather high.

He silently made up his mind that after they meet, he must ask her thoroughly and must not be swayed by her.

Although during the Extreme Solo Soldier program his ability to lie and to detect lies had never surpassed Huo Yutong's, after such a long time, who can say for sure?

"Sigh."

Tang Wulin sighed anxiously, not knowing why he constantly felt a bit depressed and had a lingering bad premonition.

Moreover, this feeling grew stronger as time passed, giving him an increasing sense of dread.

Tang Wulin rose silently, sprinted out of the room, and raced toward the outskirts of the city.

Since he awakened as a Natural Son, his intuition about danger has been consistently accurate. After he told Mu En about this situation, Mu En pondered for a moment and told him that it might be the plants giving him a warning.

All things have emotions, and plants are no exception; when they sense that Tang Wulin, as a Natural Son, is facing danger, they convey a bad premonition to him through their emotions.

Of course, this is merely Mu En's conjecture; no one knows what the truth actually is.

Tang Wulin quickly reached the outskirts and plunged into the nearby forest.

The city he is in is surrounded by forests, which is why he rushed here at once after sensing danger.

Various signs indicate that the Ri Yue Di Guo authorities have already colluded with the Holy Spirit Sect, so he never expected to be able to secure Ri Yue Di Guo's support if he fought within the city.

The forest still made him feel more at ease.

However, terrifyingly, even after he fled into the forest, that sense of dread did not disappear; instead, it grew stronger with time.

Golden dragon scales appeared on Tang Wulin's body; he inhaled deeply, concealed his form using the plants, and gathered his spirit, staying ready to react to any impending attack.

Suddenly, a flash of silver light streaked by; he leapt away in an instant, narrowly dodging the strike.

He lifted his spear, anxiously looking toward the direction from which the silver light came.

"Ha, you missed the shot, no wonder you could kill so many of us; you really have some skill."

Under his gaze, a silhouette slowly materialized in the air, offering him a hollow smile.

Tang Wulin asked in a deep voice, "May I ask who you are? Why did you attack me?"

The newcomer raised a friendly smile.

"I am a candidate elder of the Holy Spirit Sect headquarters, Yang Xiao; that should make sense to you, right?"

"……"

Indeed, I understand.

Tang Wulin hasn't been idle for these nine months; he's been hunting Evil Soul Masters everywhere.

Because of his extraordinary strength and the concealment skills honed during the Extreme Solo Soldier program, the Holy Spirit Sect members have never been able to catch him.

But now it seems he ultimately slipped up.

Tang Wulin recalled the intelligence he had gathered about the Holy Spirit Sect over the past nine months.

All the elders at the Holy Spirit Sect headquarters are Honored Douluo‑level strongmen, and since this Yang Xiao before him has been rated as an elder candidate at the headquarters, it indicates he certainly possesses at least Soul Douluo‑level power.

That's terrible, because Evil Soul Masters are stronger than ordinary Soul Masters of the same rank, and an Evil Soul Master at the Soul Douluo level is already not far behind a typical Honored Douluo.

At this moment, Tang Wulin had silently finalized his plan: the upcoming battle's primary goal was to flee, and he must not become attached to fighting.

(End of Chapter)