Chapter 399: Du Bais Advancement
Chapter 399: Du Bai's Advancement
But just then, a strange scene occurred. The warm-colored flowers, which had begun to turn cold, suddenly seemed to rejuvenate, their warmth blooming anew. Their reddish glow became even more intense than before.
The comfortable feeling made the four of them stop instinctively. Immediately, a familiar voice sounded in their ears.
"I'm back."
A figure appeared out of thin air and gently landed beside them. Who could it be but Tang San?
Wu Bingji and the others were overjoyed.
Du Bai rushed to Tang San's side. "You're finally back. We were so worried. Are you okay?" he asked, looking Tang San up and down.
Tang San seemed unchanged on the surface, but as someone with the Celestial Fox Transformation, Du Bai instantly sensed something different about him. In Du Bai's eyes, Tang San seemed to have become somewhat ethereal, with an aura of transcendence.
Tang San glanced at the distant exit light pillar and said, "Let's talk while we walk. We don't have much time."
Wu Bingji nodded and said, "Then I'll use ice..."
Tang San interrupted him, "No need, eldest brother, just follow me."
As Tang San spoke, he placed his right hand on Du Bai's shoulder.
Du Bai was about to say something when he suddenly felt a strange energy surge into his body, bringing an indescribable comfort. His blood seemed to warm, heating every cell in his body, causing him to moan involuntarily.
The white shadow of a three-tailed Celestial Fox emerged from above Du Bai's head. In mid-air, the three long tails swayed gently. The fox emitted a soft glow which was clearly growing stronger.
Tang San's Discerning Eye of Heaven had already been raised to the peak of the seventh order. Although it hadn't reached the eighth order, he had absorbed a large amount of luck power from the Heaven Garden. This luck power could help him advance and naturally benefited Du Bai's Celestial Fox Transformation bloodline greatly.
At this moment, he was infusing Du Bai with the luck power he had stored within himself from the Heaven Garden. This would slightly reduce the cultivation of Tang San's Discerning Eye of Heaven, but the benefit to Du Bai was undoubtedly immense.
As the saying goes, one should not forget the well-digger when drinking water. Without Du Bai, Tang San wouldn't have gained the powerful Celestial Fox Transformation. Moreover, if he didn't give this luck power to Du Bai, some of it would dissipate after leaving the Heaven Garden.
The luck power surged, causing the black and white imprint of the Discerning Eye of Heaven in Tang San's dantian to spin violently. The surrounding flowers changed colors strangely; now they were blue, now they were red; but even when they were cool-colored, they didn't show any intention of attacking the Shrek Squad.
A burst of white light brightened, and a fourth tail suddenly emerged from the Celestial Fox behind Du Bai's head, swaying in the air with the other three.
Under Tang San's infusion of luck, Du Bai's Celestial Fox Transformation was forcibly elevated to the seventh order, the four-tailed Celestial Fox level.
Du Bai's whole figure seemed to become more upright. His eyes turned bright and clear, shimmering with black and white light.
If the sixth-order Celestial Fox Transformation was able to detect, produce, and control misfortune, then the seventh-order, four-tailed Celestial Fox was able to harmonize fortune and misfortune, these ethereal and indefinite yet omnipresent energies.
In other words, from the four-tail level, the Celestial Fox clan members had some ability to protect themselves.
"Little Tang, you..."
Tang San pointed in the direction of the distant exit, leading everyone to set off together. As they moved quickly, he explained to his companions, "In the depths of this Hell Garden, there's another garden that I think should be called the Heaven Garden. The flowers guarding it are all of the ninth order. I was fortunate to enter the Heaven Garden. It contains a vast amount of luck power, and I brought some out, which I've given to you. Also, I gained some opportunities there and I now have a unique power that affects the flowers in the Hell Garden. It prevents them from attacking me. That's more or less the situation."
He briefly recounted his experiences without going into detail, as some things were hard to explain. Fortunately, Crystalline had transformed into an imprint and was sleeping inside him. Otherwise, just explaining the issue of Crystalline would be quite troublesome. How could he explain to his comrades the reason he had returned with a daughter...
According to their plan decided upon with the Aetherhorn Merchant Association, they were to wait for an opportunity at the exit. The strongest team in this team battle had been bribed by the merchant convoy and would clear obstacles for them. Then, they would swap their badges with another group, effectively changing their identities upon departure. That group had no background to speak of, and they would no longer be bothered by anyone.
This operation sounded simple, but without the Aetherhorn Merchant Association's strong financial backing, it would be simply impossible. It was only because of Tang San's group's relationship with the array master, which provided sufficient value, that the Aetherhorn Merchant Association considered it worthwhile.
However, they had been delayed for a long time, and he didn't know what the situation at the exit was now.
Tang San's original plan was to take this opportunity to hunt down some strong demon clan members participating in the team battle and see if there were any suitable imprints for himself. He had eight imprint slots but only six imprints. However, due to the discovery of the Heaven Garden, they had ended up wasting too much time. He had intended to add just one imprint and leave one slot empty, but the slot he had intended to use for an additional ability was now occupied by Crystalline.
He also tried to activate the imprint where Crystalline resided to see if the little girl could provide him with abilities like his other imprints. But it didn't work. Crystalline seemed to be an imprint while she slept there, but he couldn’t control or affect her in any way.
Tang San didn't dare to push his luck too much, so he decided to leave things as they were for now.
What Tang San didn’t tell his companions was that he had uncovered the core secret of the Hell Garden, which in turn was a clue to a secret concerning the entire Daemon Continent. With his current strength, if the top powerhouses of the demon and nymph races discovered he had discovered this secret, even ten lives wouldn’t suffice. Therefore, leaving here as discreetly as possible was the best choice. This garden, where Hell and Heaven coexisted in the human world, had already sparked countless possibilities in Tang San's mind.
As the cool-colored flowers around them naturally turned warm-colored as they passed by, transmitting only warmth and abundant natural energy to them, the group couldn't help but show expressions of amazement. This once-dangerous world seemed to have truly become Tang San's own garden.
"Have you become the master of this place?" Du Bai couldn't help but ask.
Tang San gestured at him to keep quiet and said, "Remember, after we leave, don't tell anyone about this. Only the few of us should know. This Hell Garden likely involves a major secret of the Ancestral Court, but I'm still only speculating. No one must know that we ventured deep into it."
Wu Bingji nodded and said, "Tang San, you don't need to tell us what you found. Just don't say anything. If we don't know, we can’t tell others. When you think we need to know, you can tell us."
Tang San looked at his eldest senior brother. In his eyes, Tang San saw trust, absolute trust.