Chapter 43: Matters

Zhou Heng had just returned to his own body when he saw a large hand swinging toward his face.

Seeing this, Zhou Heng hurriedly rolled on the spot to dodge the attack.

He then immediately stood up and assumed a defensive posture in the direction the palm had come from, guarding against the next strike from the attacker.

However, the next moment, Zhou Heng saw Dugu Yan's palm stopped in mid-air and the onlookers' gazes as if watching a show.

Zhou Heng instantly realized that he was in the Hunting Soul Forest, and no one would openly attack him.

Looking closely, Dugu Yan was holding a handkerchief in her hand; it appeared she had intended to wipe the sweat from his face.

Zhou Heng hurriedly withdrew his stance and said to Dugu Yan, "Miss Dugu Yan, I didn't react in time just now, please forgive me."

Dugu Yan ignored Zhou Heng's previous actions; after all, her own prior movement had indeed been a bit much, and it was normal for it to cause a misunderstanding.

"It's fine, this was my fault. I still have to thank classmate Zhou Heng for his help earlier," Dugu Yan said, even standing up as if to bow to Zhou Huan.

Zhou Heng hurriedly stepped forward and raised his hand to stop Dugu Yan's movement: "Miss Dugu Yan, your body is still very weak; you should find a place to rest properly."

Ye Lingling supported Dugu Yan as they walked to a large tree and sat down to rest.

"Sister Yanyan, it seems you have taken a liking to Zhou Heng," Ye Lingling whispered to Dugu Yan.

Dugu Yan did not refute Ye Lingling's words and said with a smile, "Indeed, he has the ability to counter the backlash of the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison, an ability even my grandfather lacks. He should be able to completely resolve the issue of the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison backlash in our family."

"Moreover, Zhou Heng's appearance and manners are both excellent; it would not be a bad thing to unite with him."

Ye Lingling nodded in agreement and said, "I also agree with Sister Yanyan's idea, but it would be best to tell Grandfather Dugu Bo first."

"What if Grandfather Dugu Bo has already found a way to resolve the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison backlash? Then, wouldn't you be able to do whatever you want according to your own wishes?"

Ye Lingling's words sparked a glimmer of hope in Dugu Yan's heart. It was indeed true; her grandfather was a Title Douluo. If her grandfather could truly find a way to solve the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison backlash, she could then tell him about Zhou Heng's existence.

At that time, relying on her grandfather's status, whether it was entering into a marriage alliance with Zhou Heng or the two of them naturally falling in love and uniting, it would all be much easier.

(In the original work, Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng became lovers. I think part of the reason is that Yu Tianheng came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, with strong talent and background; another reason is that I feel Dugu Yan has a bit of a tendency to admire the strong.)

(Now, with the protagonist, who is stronger, appearing before Dugu Yan, she naturally will no longer pay attention to the mediocre Yu Tianheng.)

(As for the rest, Dugu Yan's grandfather is a Title Douluo. Although not as good as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, the protagonist and Dugu Yan uniting might not necessarily be inferior to the union of Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng in the original work.)

Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were whispering between friends, while Gu Can and Tie Luoxi had already arranged the remaining matters, waiting for Zhou Heng and Dugu Yan to rest for a while before returning to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.

Zhou Heng, on the other hand, was closing his eyes to rest and recover his expenditure on the other side.

At the same time, he recalled in his heart the situation of mobilizing the Yi Wood Power to counter the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison inside Dugu Yan's body.

When mobilizing the Yi Wood Power inside Dugu Yan's body to counter the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison, Zhou Huan felt that his mobilization of the Yi Wood Power had achieved zero delay.

This had never happened before. Previously, even when controlling the Yi Wood Power to nourish his own liver, Zhou Heng had never felt that sense of being as responsive as an arm and as smooth as one's own will.

Zhou Heng had only felt a similar sensation from his grandmaster, Qian Daoliu.

If he could also make this state his normal ability, his future achievements would definitely not be lower than Qian Daoliu's Limit Douluo level.

One must know that this is an ability that even Golden Crocodile Douluo and the other Honorary Elders have not mastered.

According to his grandmaster, this is an absolute mastery over one's own power, capable of exerting all of one's abilities to at least one hundred percent of the power they should have.

This ability had made Zhou Heng covet it for a long time. Now that he had successfully completed such an operation once, didn't that mean he could comprehend it and use this special ability in actual combat?

The moment Zhou Heng thought about how he wouldn't even need to move when performing various techniques in the future, with just a thought, whatever he wanted would happen—thinking of this, Zhou Heng couldn't help but want to laugh out loud.

Ten-odd minutes later, Zhou Heng and Dugu Yan's physical strength had recovered somewhat, and the entire team set off, preparing to return to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.

The group slowly returned along the path they had come, and after a while, they arrived at the location where the carriages were stored.

There were still people waiting here for the academy group's return.

After boarding the carriage, Zhou Heng continued to rest.

The carriage then headed toward Heaven Dou City.

The journey was not long, still a one-hour trip.

One hour later, everyone returned to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, and the team leaders Gu Can and Tie Luoxi told everyone to return to their dormitories to rest and prepare for their own affairs.

Everyone had long wanted to have a good rest, and now that they had the opportunity, they naturally ran toward their respective dormitories, washed up, and then lay on their beds and fell fast asleep.

Even those female students were no exception; not a single one suggested wanting to go out for a walk or go shopping.

Zhou Heng was no exception; he returned to his dormitory and collapsed onto the bed to sleep.

Meanwhile, Gu Can and Tie Luoxi hurriedly went to report everything that had happened during this actual combat training to the three Education Committee Members of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.

Within Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, on top of a tall mountain peak, the office locations and living quarters of the three Education Committee Members were established here.

After Gu Can and Tie Luoxi arrived here, the Chief of the Education Committee Meng Shenji, the Second Seat Bai Baoshan, and the Third Seat Zhilin immediately received the two of them.

Originally, the three Education Committee Members had not taken this actual combat training to heart.

After all, it was just an actual combat training trip to the Hunting Soul Forest; what kind of accidents could possibly occur?

The three listened quietly to Gu Can's report. When they learned that someone had been able to single-handedly fight a thousand-year-level Wind Demon Xiao, a trace of joy appeared on all three of their faces.

They were happy that a genius could appear in the Heaven Dou Empire.

However, when they learned that they had encountered five Spirit Beasts between three and five thousand years old while continuing deeper into the Hunting Soul Forest, their expressions had already turned ugly.

Upon further learning that seven or eight noble children had chosen to withdraw from the academy, their expressions became even uglier.

Bai Baoshan even angrily slapped his thigh and cursed: "Boss, look, I said it long ago, don't recruit too many noble children. These people bully the weak and fear the strong, fawn over their superiors and deceive their subordinates, and only know how to flatter."

"They are not the main target of our teaching; it would be best to throw them out."

"Now it's good, such a thing has happened, how much of our academy's face it has lost!"

Bai Baoshan's words did not make Meng Shenji change his expression. Zhilin spoke to Bai Baoshan: "Second Brother, stop talking. Let's listen to the whole process first before discussing subsequent arrangements."

Seeing that his eldest brother did not speak, Bai Baoshan had no choice but to sit down according to Zhilin's words.

The two, Gu Can, continued to speak about the subsequent process.

When they heard that Zhou Heng had trapped five Spirit Beasts with his own power, Meng Shenji and the other two's eyes lit up as they looked at Gu Can and his companion.

When they heard that Yu Tianheng had made a move and released the three Spirit Beasts, the expressions of Bai Baoshan and Zhilin turned disdainful and contemptuous.

Finally, upon learning that Dugu Yan had been treated by Zhou Heng, the expressions of Meng Shenji and the other two relaxed quite a bit. Bai Baoshan looked at Gu Can and said: "When did this Zhou Heng enroll in the school? Why haven't I seen him at the enrollment ceremony?"