Arriving at the Sunset Forest! Xiaowu's inner struggle!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At the entrance of the Holy Spirit Village, came the crisp sound of hammering.

A man, bare-chested, wearing shorts.

The shorts were very short, above the knees.

Not because of style, but because the pants were continuously worn out from the bottom and extended upward, leaving only half of them.

Even the upper half was full of patches.

The man's hair was white as a mess, his beard was unkempt, and his eyes were dull, as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep.

He had a large frame, but his muscles were atrophied, and his body was thin.

With one hand holding pliers and gripping an iron piece, the other hand held a hammer, constantly striking.

That hammer was the Haotian Hammer!

Tang Hao!

"Hey! He's still hammering iron at the entrance of the Holy Spirit Village, still in this appearance of self-abandonment."

"Is it fate or karma?"

Ye Yang said casually.

He had always looked down on Tang Hao, for this reason: beneath Tang Hao's seemingly strong appearance, his heart was extremely fragile, far from being a true man.

However, Tang Hao's current state was truly miserable, much worse than in the original story when he was in the Holy Spirit Village.

Ordinary people couldn't see it, but Ye Yang naturally saw that Tang Hao had lost both arms up to the elbows.

And his left leg, below the knee, was also missing.

However, he used soul power to condense his arms and left leg.

The ordinary farmers in the village naturally couldn't see it.

Nor did they care.

Seven years ago, Tang Hao came to the village and worked as a blacksmith for a year, forging farm tools for the farmers.

After a year, he suddenly left, shocking Village Elder Jack. He even said that the village's blacksmith was a hidden super expert!

But the people in the village were half-believing and half-doubting, thinking that Elder Jack's eyes were failing, and he must have been mistaken.

Two months later, the blacksmith returned, looking ten years older, with a face full of frost and loss.

He proved with practical actions that Elder Jack was indeed "mistaken."

In the six years that followed, Tang Hao became an entirely ordinary blacksmith.

He was even considered half-useless, forging many farm tools, but many had defects.

However, his wages were extremely low, just enough for a simple meal.

Having the worst quality wine to drink would make him feel grateful.

Ye Yang left.

A Yin and Xiao Wu also recognized Tang Hao.

But they didn't pay much attention to him.

Leaving him behind was better than killing him, an enemy like him.

Moreover, the current Tang Hao was no longer qualified to be their enemy.

As for the possibility of a resurgence or a transformation.

Hehe, the odds might be slim. Even if he were to rise again, how strong would Ye Yang have grown by then?

Moreover, a ninth spirit ring, which was just the Title Douluo of the Ten Thousand Year Blackbacked Yoked Pig, was at the bottom among the Title Douluo.

This spirit ring wouldn't strengthen him, but would weaken his combat power.

The Tang Hao at level 89 peak, under his full strength, was almost invincible even among ordinary Title Douluo.

But now, with the addition of the ninth ten-thousand-year spirit ring, even if his cultivation didn't drop by 30 levels, he was probably no match for Ghost Douluo and Yueguan, who were just newly minted Title Douluo.

"No wonder Tang San could grow so rapidly."

"So, Tang Hao gave all his spirit bones to him for fusion."

Seeing Tang Hao's state and recalling the reports from the system about Tang San in recent years, Ye Yang suddenly realized and thoroughly understood.

"Some people are alive, but they are already dead."

"Some people are dead, but they are still alive."

Ye Yang murmured to himself, leading the three women and continuing to rush towards the inner part of the Heavenly Dou Empire.

Along the way, they walked and stopped like on a hiking trip.

They passed through several cities of the Heavenly Dou Empire.

During this period, Ye Yang reminisced about the human New Year.

In any world with four seasons, people will inevitably have festivals to commemorate the beginning of the new year.

The Douluo Continent is no exception.

They celebrate "Li Chun" as their New Year's festival.

In other words, the first day of the New Year is also the first day of spring.

Ye Yang had also considered the threats he might encounter in the Heavenly Dou Empire.

However, there were very few Super Douluo in the Heavenly Dou Empire, just a handful.

There were two from Haotian Sect, Tang Xiaotian, and the Great Elder.

Seven Treasure Glass Sect had one, Sword Douluo Chen Xin, and Bone Douluo could be considered half of one.

However, the first auxiliary Martial Soul wasn't just bragging; if they had Ning Fengzhi's assistance, their strength would double!

The Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Family, Clan Chief Yu Yuanzhen, his specific strength was not mentioned in the original work.

But logically, being one of the Upper Three Sects, even if their own cultivation wasn't at the Super Douluo level, they most likely possessed powerful Martial Souls, soul bones, and other means to enhance their strength, making them equivalent to Super Douluo.

In addition, the top experts in the family, such as the Grand Elders, were likely to be Title Douluo as well.

A single Title Douluo couldn't support the reputation of the Upper Three Sects.

However, these people posed at most a slight threat to Ye Yang.

Killing him was almost impossible.

In fact, among all the strong experts on the Douluo Continent, there were very few that Ye Yang truly dreaded.

The Three Supreme Limit Douluo, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, Emperor Tian, Snow Emperor, and Xiong Jun.

...

Finally, after three months of leaving the Star Dou Great Forest, they arrived at the Sunset Forest.

If divided according to the geographical climate of Earth, the Sunset Forest belonged to a temperate climate.

The Star Dou Great Forest was half subtropical and half tropical.

Looking around, the Sunset Forest seemed sparse, with many deciduous trees.

At this time, they were all bare.

Only on some branches, a few tender buds were beginning to sprout.

On some high mountains and in the dark parts of the forest, there were still a lot of unmelted snow.

Compared to the vastness and danger of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Sunset Forest appeared much more peaceful.

Especially now, as the four of them arrived in the evening, the setting sun cast a beautiful glow over the Sunset Forest, rendering the whole forest extremely colorful.

"The Sunset Forest is indeed well-deserving of its name!"

Ye Yang exclaimed in admiration.

"Yeah, it's so beautiful."

"This forest seems more suitable for our plant-type spirit beasts' cultivation."

A Yin said with a smile, her big eyes shimmering with a starry light, like stars in the night sky.

Ye Yang nodded and said, "Exactly!"

"There is a treasure land inside that has tremendous benefits for our cultivation!"

Xiao Wu's eyes brightened, and she quickly asked, "Can it help me surpass that guy Tang San?"

Six years ago, Tang San received three high-level ten-thousand-year soul bones from his father Tang Hao and rapidly advanced with the help of Tang Xiaotian and Yu Xiao Gang.

The originally superior Xiao Wu was surpassed in one fell swoop.

In the six years since, Xiao Wu had worked diligently in her cultivation to catch up.

But even so, she was only at the peak of level 39.

Tang San had already broken through to level 40 a year ago.

Of course, this was also because Ye Yang had been suppressing Xiao Wu, not allowing her to break through.

Before leaving the Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Wu had been at the peak of level 39 for two months.

Now, after three months of traveling and sightseeing, Ye Yang still hadn't allowed her to break through.

"Surpassing him is a piece of cake!"

Ye Yang smiled.

Xiao Wu immediately smiled, feeling relieved.

Her big eyes turned again, "It is said that fixed soul rings can be further improved under certain conditions."

"Can my third soul ring also have a chance to break through to ten thousand years?"

Hearing Xiao Wu's words, Ye Yang also felt a bit helpless.

He knew that this was Xiao Wu's true concern!

Soul power could catch up, but adding soul rings to increase their age limit was almost impossible.

Four years ago, it took Xiao Wu a little over two years to go from level 23 to level 30, with Ye Yang continuously laying a solid foundation for her.

However, Xiao Wu's last soul ring was still only a little over eight thousand years.

She was still far from the ten-thousand-year milestone.

This made Xiao Wu extremely unwilling.

In the following four years, she trained even harder.

But it was incredibly difficult to increase the age limit of fixed soul rings.

Ye Yang only knew that the rewards from divine spirits could do it.

The Holy Spirit Cult, the evil soul masters, could also do it through certain means.

But those were harmful and malevolent methods that were not advisable.

Whether the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes could do it, Ye Yang wasn't certain.

However, soon Ye Yang thought of something and smiled.