"No, Old Xuan," Huo Yuhao shook his head repeatedly. "Has the Academy not heard any news from Big Brother Wang yet?"
Xuan Zi naturally knew who Huo Yuhao's "Big Brother Wang" was and gently shook his head. "Since he left the Academy, there has been no news of him for the past two years."
"Is that so?" Huo Yuhao frowned.
"Don't worry, Yuhao. Your Big Brother Wang is quite strong and won't encounter any danger. Perhaps he just went into seclusion to train. It's not uncommon for human Spirit Masters to spend several years in seclusion," Tianmeng Iceworm's voice echoed in Huo Yuhao's mental force sea.
"Thank you, Tianmeng Ge, I understand."
Xuan Zi didn't know about Huo Yuhao's conversation with Tianmeng Iceworm. He just walked over, gently patted his shoulder, and then looked up at the Golden Tree with him.
Elder Mu, your disciple is truly outstanding.
Meanwhile, the "Big Brother Wang" Huo Yuhao mentioned had already entered Star Luo City.
Perhaps due to the war, Star Luo City seemed much more serious than before. Although the population appeared to have increased significantly, it no longer had its former liveliness.
Wang Nan merely glanced around without lingering, heading towards his family's direction. However, before he even got close, his expression subtly changed.
The place where Wang Xing lived was not too bad, and most of the residents near their family also had spirit power cultivation.
But as Wang Nan's mental force swept over, he discovered more than one gaze fixed on their family, and the neighbor next door had, at some point, become a Spirit Douluo.
Calming himself, Wang Nan continued walking towards his home, his cultivation completely restrained, appearing just like an ordinary person.
The moment he pushed open the door, several gazes fell upon him, and simultaneously, his father Wang Xing's voice rang out.
"Nan'er!" Seeing Wang Nan, Wang Xing's face was filled with both surprise and joy. He quickly came before Wang Nan, scrutinizing him from head to toe. "Where have you been for the past two years?"
Two years?
Although Wang Nan knew that the time he spent in the Dragon Tomb would not be too short, he only now realized the exact duration.
Absorbing the Spirit Bone, tempering his bones, condensing his second Spirit Core, and absorbing his ninth spirit ring—all of this had taken a full two years.
"I had some opportunities and went into seclusion for a period."
"Good, good, it's good that you're alright." Wang Xing nodded repeatedly. "Come in and sit."
Wang Xing said as he pulled Wang Nan into the room. However, the next moment, two sets of footsteps sounded at the door.
Wang Nan's gaze sharpened. He turned, shielding Wang Xing behind him, and then looked towards the doorway.
Two middle-aged men walked in. They looked somewhat similar, like a pair of brothers, with an unconcealable sense of exhaustion on their faces. They were among those who had been secretly watching Wang Nan earlier, though their aura and cultivation did not seem particularly high.
Stepping into the courtyard, before they even spoke, the two men knelt down before Wang Nan with a "thud."
Wang Nan was startled at first, then he subtly raised his right hand, and the two men's bodies involuntarily stood up. "Who are you, and what is this about?"
The two middle-aged men felt the force supporting their bodies and immediately brightened. They exchanged a look, then spoke in unison, "Please, Old Ancestor, save us!"
No, wait.
Even with Wang Nan's composure, he almost couldn't control his expression at this moment. He had too many things to say but didn't know where to start.
"Wait, who are you? Why are you calling me 'Old Ancestor'?"
"This—" After a moment's hesitation, the older-looking middle-aged man spoke. "Old Ancestor, please allow me to explain. We are from the Long Family."
Hearing the words "Old Ancestor," Wang Nan felt completely uncomfortable. By his own reckoning, he was only twenty-four years old. Being called "Old Ancestor" at such an age was truly too strange.
"Don't call me Old Ancestor. Just tell me what happened first."
"Yes." Even though his body was affected by Wang Nan's power and he couldn't kneel, the middle-aged man still bowed respectfully to Wang Nan. "My name is Long Zungui, and I am a descendant of the Qian Family."
Hearing this, Wang Nan's gaze sharpened slightly, and he scrutinized the two men before him again. When Pan Huai, who possessed the Coiling Dragon Staff Spirit, came to their door, he did mention that the Qian Family, which had been around for ten thousand years, had gone into hiding due to the destruction of the Spirit Hall, with the main family changing their surnames to "Pan" and "Long."
The earlier Pan Huai was a descendant of the Pan Family, so these two brothers before him were descendants of the Long Family.
Seeing Wang Nan remain silent, Long Zungui, as if to prove his identity, activated his spirit power, and a red long rod appeared in his hand, adorned with swirling patterns, like a giant Dragon.
Wang Xing had only heard Wang Nan mention that there were other inheritors of the Coiling Dragon Staff, but this was the first time he had personally seen a Coiling Dragon Staff Spirit belonging to someone outside their family. His gaze involuntarily fell on Long Zungui.
"What do you want from me?"
"Alas." Long Zungui sighed. "Like the Pan Family, when the Qian Family first changed their surname to Long, there were still people in the family who could awaken the Dragon Soul within the Coiling Dragon Staff. However, later, fewer and fewer people were able to awaken the Dragon Soul."
"We always thought it was because our descendants lacked talent and disgraced our ancestors' name, until some time ago when the Pan Family sent news that they had obtained the Ancestral Legacy. Only then did we learn the truth about the Dragon Soul, and that the Dragon Soul is related to our Spirit Master's will."
"The Qian Family declined, and at that time, many in the family harbored resentment towards others due to the family's decline. Later, they only thought about how to avoid the world and how to go into hiding, making it even more impossible to activate the Dragon Soul, which symbolizes integrity and indomitable spirit."
"After receiving news from the Pan Family, we also made some attempts. However, due to the limitations of our talent, only some young people in our family, whose innocent hearts had not yet faded, truly awakened the Dragon Soul after obtaining the Ancestral method."
"If that were all, you shouldn't have come to me, right?"
"I dare not conceal anything. You also awakened the Dragon Soul, so you should know the suppression the Evil-Dispelling Dragon has over Evil Soul Masters."
Wang Nan wanted to interrupt when he heard Long Zungui's respectful address, but seeing his timid demeanor, he could only let him continue.
"You mean the children in your family who awakened the Dragon Soul were captured by Evil Soul Masters?"
"Precisely."
Wang Nan watched as the Long Zungui brothers bowed again, sighing inwardly, but he wasn't too surprised by the Evil Soul Masters' actions.
The characteristics of the Evil-Dispelling Dragon allowed Coiling Dragon Staff Spirit Masters to exert extraordinary power when facing Evil Soul Masters. Even when Wang Nan's own Evil Breaking Dragon had not fully awakened, it had a very obvious suppressive effect on the power of Evil Soul Masters.
When his cultivation was low, he spent most of his time at Shrek Academy, but the people of the Pan Family and Long Family had no one to protect them.