...
After struggling to regulate his breathing for half an hour in the desolate valley, Xuan Hao was able to barely suppress the churning blood and qi within his body.
He dragged his leaden body to his feet and activated the 100,000-year-old Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone.
Pale blue light slowly flowed across his right leg, granting him the ability to fly.
Normally, this distance of a hundred miles would be nothing more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
But at this moment, Xuan Hao's soul power was almost completely depleted, and his meridians were throbbing with pain as if pricked by needles.
He could barely maintain the most basic flight altitude, like an old man with faltering steps, swaying and staggering in the night sky as he flew little by little towards Soto City.
By the time he scaled the high city wall and silently leaped through the window into his room at the Soto Grand Hotel, a pale, fish-belly white had already appeared on the eastern horizon.
It's almost dawn.
Xuan Hao breathed a sigh of relief and was about to take off his dusty coat.
"Squeak—"
The bedroom door on the inside of the suite was suddenly pulled open, and a petite silver figure darted out without warning.
"elder brother?"
Na'er had only come out to check after hearing the noise, but after seeing Xuan Hao's current state, her beautiful purple eyes widened instantly, and her lingering sleepiness vanished.
Xuan Hao's face was as pale as paper, his black outfit was covered in dirt and stone chips, and there was even dried blood at the corner of his mouth.
His usually upright posture was now somewhat hunched, and his whole body exuded an undeniable weakness.
"where have you been?!"
Na'er rushed forward and grabbed Xuan Hao's arm, her eyes filled with anxiety and heartache:
"Did you get into a fight? How did you end up like this!"
"It's nothing..." Xuan Hao forced a somewhat awkward smile, raised his heavy hand and ruffled her soft silver hair.
"I'm just a little exhausted.
Let me sleep and rest for a bit and I'll be fine."
But Na'er wasn't about to let it slide.
She stared intently at Xuan Hao's pale face, her eyes welling up with tears, and bit her lip as she pressed, "Don't lie to me! Who did it?"
Na'er knew Xuan Hao's background all too well.
In this Douluo Continent, there were very few people who could push Xuan Hao to this point.
With his current combat power, ordinary Soul Saints wouldn't even be able to break through his defenses unless they activated their Martial Soul True Body right away!
Even those Soul Douluos who are over level 80 could never possibly beat Xuan Hao to the point of exhaustion and vomiting blood with sheer strength!
The only explanation... is that the other party is a Title Douluo!
But if a Title Douluo was going to kill Xuan Hao, and it came to that life-or-death moment, why didn't the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King within Xuan Hao come to his aid?
How could they just stand by and watch Xuan Hao get beaten like that?
"Alright, my little darling..."
Xuan Hao sighed helplessly, leaned forward, and rested his almost unsteady body on Na'er's petite but soft shoulder.
He stretched out his heavy arms and pulled Na'er tightly into his embrace.
"I'm really fine, I wasn't in any life-threatening danger.
That person didn't intend to kill me, I was just... completely overwhelmed by his strength and got a beating."
Xuan Hao closed his eyes and murmured, "Be good, don't ask anymore. Let me hug you, or... you can hug me too."
Feeling the unusually heavy and weak breathing of the boy in her arms, Na'er swallowed back all the questions she was about to ask.
She could hear the weariness and dependence in Xuan Hao's tone.
Na'er sighed with heartache, her anxiety turning into tenderness.
She didn't ask another question, but obediently stretched out her slender arms, as if comforting a child who had been wronged outside, and gently hugged Xuan Hao's head, so that he could lean against her more comfortably and securely.
"Okay, I won't ask anymore."
Na'er gently patted his back, her voice as soft as water.
"You should rest well..."
The first rays of morning sunlight streamed into the room through the cracks in the window, quietly illuminating the two people embracing and bringing a sense of peaceful warmth.
Xuanhao slept very soundly.
To avoid disturbing him, Na'er stood guard outside the door like a dutiful little protector, only telling people that Xuan Hao was feeling unwell and needed to rest quietly.
Although the girls were worried, seeing Na'er's resolute attitude, they didn't rush in to disturb him.
The tightly closed door was finally opened the next morning.
Xuan Hao stretched and walked out of the room.
After a full day and night of deep sleep and soul energy recuperation, his originally pale complexion had returned to a rosy hue, and his internal injuries had basically stabilized.
Apart from a trace of fatigue still hidden deep in his eyes, there was no sign of him having been beaten.
Upon hearing the door open, the girls who had been waiting in the lobby immediately surrounded them.
"Brother Xuanhao, are you alright?"
Ning Rongrong leaned forward, looking him up and down with concern.
"Brother, are you feeling better?"
Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu asked as well.
Xuan Hao smiled and ruffled Ning Rongrong's hair, indicating that everyone could rest assured:
"It's nothing, she just had too much mental exertion recently, she'll be fine after a good night's sleep."
Seeing that he looked quite well, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Xuan Hao walked to the table, poured himself a glass of warm water to moisten his throat, and then announced to everyone, "Everyone, pack your things, I plan to return to Tiandou City."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
"The main purpose of leaving Tiandou City this time was to bring Rongrong back with me."
Xuan Hao put down his water glass and said in a relaxed tone, "It's just that some things went wrong in the middle, and I also arranged some special training for you guys, which is why I was delayed in Soto City for so long."
He glanced out the window and continued, "Now that everything that needed to be done has been done, there's no real value in staying in the Soto Arena any longer.
It's time to go back."
No one had any objections to this decision.
Ning Rongrong was going home anyway, and Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing were going with Xuan Hao anyway, so they would go wherever Xuan Hao went.
At this moment, Dugu Yan pulled Ye Lingling over and said decisively, "Since you are leaving, Lingling and I will go back to Tiandou City with you."
"You're not going to join the Royal Fighting Team anymore?"
Xuan Hao raised an eyebrow.
"The Royal Fighting Team's training and challenges at the Soto Grand Arena are almost over."
Dugu Yan waved her hand.
"Teacher Qin's original plan was to wrap things up in the next few days.
Judging by the time, everyone should be heading back to Heaven Dou City soon.
Lingling and I will go with you ahead of time, it's fine."
Ye Lingling, standing behind him, nodded slightly, clearly preferring to leave with Xuan Hao.
"Okay." Xuan Hao thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and then added, "But you should still go and say hello to Qin Ming and Yu Tianheng.
Ask about the situation.
If the Royal Fighting Team doesn't have any other arrangements, you can all go back together."
Dugu Yan readily agreed: "No problem, I'll go next door and ask Tianheng and the others later."
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