The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

In fact, he had always felt guilty towards Xu Zihuang's family. Although it was Xu Zihuang's father who made the decision, the palace coup at the Sun and Moon Palace did indeed involve Xu Zihuang's family.

He was able to escape because Xu Zihuang's father, his third uncle, led a group of soldiers from the Imperial Dragon Soul Master Corps stationed in Mingdu to fight desperately against the evil soul masters who stormed the palace and his second uncle's rebel army.

He had thought that Xu Zihuang was doomed, but now that he saw Xu Zihuang in front of him, the feeling of turning from sorrow to joy and the emotions that had been suppressed in his heart for six years finally erupted.

In contrast, although Xu Zihuang's emotions were also churning, his reaction was much smaller than He Caitou's. This was because he knew from the beginning that He Caitou was still alive.

In the end, it turned into Xu Zihuang, who looked younger in age and build, comforting He Caitou.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for He Caitou to calm down, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Zihuang, what have you been through all these years?"

Xu Zihuang's expression also changed slightly. The thousands of words he had been preparing in his heart turned into a sigh at this moment.

"Phew—it's nothing to brag about. At most, it just went through some ups and downs and wasn't so smooth."

Chapter 147 Past and Binding

In the end, Xu Zihuang briefly told He Caitou about his three years of imprisonment and how he was rescued by his father's former subordinates.

Xu Zihuang spoke lightly, as if he were describing something unrelated to himself, but He Caitou felt it deeply.

He was imprisoned overseas for three years without freedom, and his life was not even guaranteed. Every day he must have suffered immense mental anguish. In comparison, he was much luckier.

With the help of Xu Zihuang's father, his mother managed to slip him into a secret passage in the palace, allowing him to escape.

Although the former crown prince had fallen to the level of a beggar, he was fortunate enough to be rescued by Fan Yu after escaping into the territory of the Heavenly Soul Empire.

“Zihuang, it’s our family that has implicated you.” He Caitou, kneeling before Xu Zihuang, was filled with guilt, his head bowed and his fists clenched tightly.

"If it weren't for protecting our family, Uncle San could have easily taken advantage of the chaos to break through."

"Brother, it's all in the past now. And those things weren't your fault."

Xu Zihuang took a deep breath and placed his right hand on He Caitou's broad shoulder.

"I came to Shrek Academy hoping to improve my strength and build connections as quickly as possible. When the time is right, I hope to take revenge on Xu Tianran's family one day. I didn't expect to run into you, my royal brother, at the Soul Guidance Department. Although you have changed your appearance, I still recognized you at a glance. Out of caution, I waited for such a suitable opportunity before revealing my identity to you."

As he spoke, Xu Zihuang maintained his indifferent expression, but his deep purple eyes held endless hatred and coldness.

"Brother, are you willing to help me?"

Awakening his past life memories is his biggest secret, and even when facing He Caitou, who was once very close to him, he still decides to bury this secret deep in his heart.

He Caitou raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. His once honest face was now contorted with rage, his hatred reaching its peak.

"Zihuang, I have never forgotten this blood feud. Over the years, I have been working hard to learn how to make soul tools under the guidance of my teacher, but my strength alone is too insignificant. You are different. You have reached the Soul Master realm at the age of twelve and have twin martial souls. Once you grow up, you will have unlimited potential."

"Your appearance has given me hope for revenge. When the teacher told me that you might be trained as an extreme individual soldier in the future, I had many considerations, but now that problem has been solved." The ferocious expression on He Caitou's face softened a bit.

Xu Zihuang raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise.

"Extreme solo combat?"

He Caitou nodded heavily and said, "This is also one of the most important plans of our Soul Guidance Department. It was created to enable us to rival the Soul Guidance Masters of the Sun Moon Empire."

"The so-called extreme individual soldier refers to someone who can change the outcome of a local war with their own strength. A person who has this ability is an extreme individual soldier."

"Ultimate Soldiers exist for war. They not only need to be strong individually, but also know how to use and create various soul tools. They are skilled in stealth, infiltration, and sabotage, and can keenly find the key points of a war to disrupt or assist. Ultimate Soldiers are not commanders, but artists who can change a war. Title Douluos are simply strong individually, but their role in a war is far inferior to that of Ultimate Soldiers."

"If you are trained as an elite individual soldier in the future, I am willing to serve as your support individual soldier and do my best to assist you."

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Zihuang said solemnly, "Brother, if Teacher Fanyu mentions this plan to me, I will agree."

Although the Soul Guidance Technology of the three major empires that Douluo originally belonged to was far behind that of the Sun Moon Empire, this Extreme Individual Soldier Plan still had its merits.

If he were to seek revenge and seize the throne in the future, he would inevitably need to go deep into the battlefield. Moreover, with He Caitou's assistance, he wouldn't need to devote too much energy to it.

"Okay." He Caitou stretched out his large, thick hand, the whiteness of his palm contrasting sharply with the blackness of the back of his hand.

Xu Zihuang also reached out and shook hands with him tightly.

"Brother, let us encourage each other and work together. There will come a day when they will pay for their crimes in blood."

The joy of reunion gradually overshadowed the intense hatred in Cai Tou's heart, and only then did he focus his attention on Xu Zihuang's drastically changed face.

"Zihuang, did you also use the royal family's secret technique to disguise yourself?"

“Brother, this is actually what I originally looked like.”

Xu Zihuang smiled and shook his head. The two then talked for nearly half an hour, with Xu Zihuang even telling He Caitou about his ability to use ultimate lightning.

The ultimate thunderbolt will be exposed sooner or later; there's no need to deliberately hide it from He Caitou.

However, the two of them tacitly avoided discussing such heavy matters as the coup at the Sun Moon Palace, and instead reminisced about the past.

Half an hour later, two dazzling trails of flame streaked across the sky once again. Xu Zihuang and He Caitou, who were flying side by side using their flying soul tools, had both returned to their previous appearances.

A gentle and handsome young man and a seemingly honest and simple-minded big man.

In the southeastern corner of the Heavenly Soul Empire lies Soto City, which ten thousand years ago belonged to the Barak Kingdom. Soto City was renowned as the grain capital of the Barak Kingdom. With the passage of time, the Barak Kingdom and Soto City no longer exist, but this region still produces various grain crops that are transported to all parts of the continent.

Eighty percent of them were sold to nearby Shrek City.

Xu Zihuang and He Caitou flew swiftly through the air, and looking down, they saw vast fields of farmland on both sides of the official road.

After flying for about fifteen more minutes, it seemed that we had left the wide and flat Lima Plain, and the surrounding terrain had become visibly uneven.

Hills, no more than 500 meters high, rise abruptly from the ground, naturally reducing the area of ​​farmland.

Xu Zihuang and He Caitou looked ahead at the same time. About five kilometers away, a small village came into view.

With the astonishing eyesight granted by his Golden Eyes, Xu Zihuang could clearly discern that the village wasn't large, probably only about a hundred households. A wooden fence surrounded the village, seemingly for protection against wild animals. At the village entrance, there were two wooden watchtowers, each about ten meters high.

A large number of people had gathered near the watchtower at the village entrance, and there were also a considerable number of soul beast corpses of various shapes and sizes on the ground.

"Senior Brother, let's land here first."

As Xu Zihuang controlled the flying soul tool behind him to descend slowly, he spoke to He Caitou beside him.

To avoid revealing their secrets while at Shrek Academy, they agreed that unless there was something important or an emergency, they would continue to treat each other as before.

He Caitou chuckled憨憨地 and landed on the ground behind Xu Zihuang. As for disguise, he had been doing so for six or seven years at Shrek Academy, as if this was his true personality.

Upon approaching the village, even He Caitou noticed something amiss. A large crowd had indeed gathered at the village entrance, transforming this once remote village into a bustling hub of activity.

Dozens of horse-drawn carriages were still parked around the village entrance, and some merchants were bargaining with small groups of Soul Masters whose clothes were stained with blood, discussing the purchase of the Soul Beast corpses.

Xu Zihuang could clearly sense some fluctuations in soul power emanating from these people. The vast majority of them had soul power cultivation levels around ten or so, and there wasn't even a single one with soul power exceeding level twenty.

With such strength, one can only hunt down the lowest-level ten-year-old soul beasts in forests where soul beasts occasionally roam.

Even the lowest-level ten-year soul beast can yield considerable benefits.

For example, the ten-year-old bull, which is over three meters long and has a huge body, is placed not far in front of Xu Zihuang. The fine beef from its body, which can be made into high-end dishes, is worth at least fifty gold soul coins.

After all, this ten-year-old bull has at least a thousand pounds of beef on it.

What puzzled Xu Zihuang was the sheer number of spirit beasts that had wandered into the forest near the village. It was almost as large as a man-made spirit beast forest.

He Caitou was also a little confused.

"That's strange. Didn't the teacher say that only occasional spirit beasts wander into this area?"

"Senior Brother, let's go into the village and rest for a bit," Xu Zihuang reminded him, then started walking towards the village to recover his soul power.

He had just traveled a distance using a flying soul tool, and his soul power was less than 80% of its optimal level. He Caitou's soul power was of far inferior quality, and his condition was even worse.

Although he didn't believe there was anything threatening them in the forest adjacent to the Star Dou Great Forest, it was always better to be cautious. Besides, testing the power of the fixed-mounted soul-guided cannon wouldn't take too long.

Neither Xu Zihuang nor He Caitou wore Shrek Academy's uniform today, because traditionally only inner court disciples are allowed to represent Shrek Academy. Outer court disciples are not permitted to wear the academy's uniform outside of Shrek Academy and Shrek City, precisely to prevent unscrupulous outer court disciples from using Shrek Academy's name for personal gain and to tarnish the academy's image.

This is also to protect the outer court disciples. As the continent's watchdog, Shrek Academy has long been seen as a thorn in the side by those evil soul masters. Out of resentment towards Shrek Academy, those evil soul masters would be happy to casually kill a few low-level outer court disciples.

Xu Zihuang was dressed in close-fitting black clothes, while He Caitou's attire was even simpler.

As the two walked into the village from the entrance where the crowd had gathered, they inevitably attracted attention. The difference was that Xu Zihuang attracted attention because of his outstanding appearance, while He Caitou attracted attention because of his overly robust physique and dark skin.

Simple, man-made paths crisscross the village, connecting the houses, or rather, the shops. It lacks the tranquility of a remote village; instead, it's extremely noisy.

"We're missing a defensive-type Soul Master to form a team to hunt Soul Beasts."

"We're missing a control-type Soul Master to form a team to hunt Soul Beasts."

Similar shouts echoed from one after another, and most of the houses on both sides of the road sold weapons and food supplies.

This no longer resembles a village where ordinary people live; it's more like a noisy and chaotic market near a forest where artificially raised soul beasts reside.

Xu Zihuang realized that the situation here might not be as simple as Fan Yu had perceived it to be.

After a short while, Xu Zihuang and He Caitou stopped in front of an open-air teahouse. The owner of the teahouse was an elderly man who looked to be over sixty years old, with white hair and beard, and a kind face covered with wrinkles.

Seeing the strange combination of Xu Zihuang and He Caitou, he was taken aback at first, then warmly greeted them, "Gentlemen, would you like something to drink?"

"Uncle, a pot of cold tea will do." Xu Zihuang replied with a smile, and sat down on a wooden chair with He Caitou.

The old man didn't seem intimidated by He Caitou's burly physique at all; instead, he nodded kindly to the two of them.

"Please wait a moment, both of you."

Before long, the old man brought over a pot of sweet and refreshing herbal tea on a tray.

It wasn't any top-grade tea, but neither Xu Zihuang nor He Caitou showed any sign of disdain. He Caitou even downed several bowls in a row, and the old man watching couldn't help but soften his smile.

Xu Zihuang's heart stirred slightly, and he voiced his question.

"Uncle, I've heard that the villagers in this village are often harassed by those wandering spirit beasts. But it seems that there are very few villagers left who originally lived here."

The old man glanced at Xu Zihuang in surprise, then sighed softly.

"The forest ten kilometers south of the village has one end very close to the Star Dou Great Forest. As the quality of the soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest has improved over the years, soul beasts have been frequently roaming over there for several years now. Later, some villagers went to the nearest city to request the army to exterminate them, but the noble lords in the city suppressed their requests. It wasn't until now, when the soul beasts that had roamed into that forest had gradually developed into some groups, that the news was finally released."

"Although the wandering soul beasts only occasionally approach the village, no one wants to live in such fear, so many people have moved away in the past few years. This has just suited the wishes of those noble lords, who have transformed this place into a market similar to the area near the Soul Hunting Forest."

Xu Zihuang, of course, understood the scheme the old man was referring to among those noble gentlemen. By doing this, they were essentially turning the forest south of the village into a natural hunting forest for souls, without having to pay any price.

The enormous benefits that can be obtained from this are to be expected.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, both of them had almost fully recovered their soul power. Xu Zihuang casually took out a silver soul coin from his soul tool and placed it on the table. Amidst the awe-inspiring gazes of the crowd, he left the village and headed towards the southern forest.

Although there were quite a few Soul Masters gathered in the village, most of them came from commoner backgrounds and weren't particularly talented. Otherwise, they wouldn't only have a Soul Power level of around ten in their twenties.

Storage soul tools, which are worth thousands of gold soul coins, are absolutely unattainable for them.

Even a fool would understand that Xu Zihuang and his companion were no ordinary people.