"What's wrong with you?"
Wang Dong'er snapped back to reality, shook her head, and said in a raspy voice, "I'm fine."
"Are you really okay?"
"I'm really fine," Wang Dong'er replied, gritting her teeth.
Although this Tang San wasn't entirely her "father" in the complete sense—his memories were fragmented and many details were blurred—she could still be certain of a few things.
In Tang San's fragmented memories, she clearly saw that to her high-and-mighty "father," she was never a daughter worthy of love, but merely a "tool" that could be utilized and sacrificed.
The so-called familial affection was nothing more than a facade, put on for show.
A certain illusion was shattered. Wang Dong'er no longer held even a shred of expectation for this biological father of hers; all that remained was cold hatred.
Kong Mingan looked at her thoughtfully. He didn't ask further, nor did he offer any words of comfort.
Having fragmented memories since childhood, she had yearned for familial love, only to suddenly discover that it was all a lie. She was just a tool to be used, and even her Soul had been torn apart by his own hands.
The fact that Wang Dong'er could still maintain relative composure at this moment showed she had decent psychological resilience. This kind of trauma still required her to slowly digest and accept it on her own.
With everything finished, the group did not linger. Ripples in space spread out once more, swallowing the figures of the three.
As they left, the "Slowness Domain" enveloping the camp and the consciousness interference from the "Spiritual Pivot" also quietly dissipated.
Everything returned to normal.
The wind continued to blow, the leaves continued to sway, the students continued to converse in low voices, and the teachers remained on high alert.
Meanwhile, Tang San looked at the deep, ten-thousand-year spirit ring before him, his eyes filled with excitement.
He had done it! He had actually done it! Absorbing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring beyond his level—as expected of his world-shaking power!
Just as he was struggling to calm his emotions, the voice belonging to the Divine Trial rang out in his ear at the perfect moment:
[The Fifth Sea Divine Trial has begun]
The corners of Tang San's mouth curled up, having long expected this. However, just as Tang San was about to check the Divine Trial buried deep within his Soul, the next moment happened.
"AHHHH—!!!"
An indescribable, agonizing pain of tearing from his SoulOrigin suddenly exploded in Tang San's mind like a tsunami.
With a shrill scream, Tang San sprang up from the ground as if his bones had been sucked out, then crashed back down, rolling frantically while clutching his head.
His eyes were bloodshot, and beast-like rasps came from his throat. The extreme agony traveled from his Soul to his entire body, making it feel as if he were being torn apart.
Then, in the next moment, as if the pain had exceeded a certain limit, Tang San's body swayed and he collapsed directly onto the ground.
Tang San could not get up again.
"What happened?!"
"It's Tang San!"
The surrounding students and teachers were startled by this sudden turn of events and rushed over to surround him.
A Titled Douluo teacher quickly stepped forward to check. After a moment, he furrowed his brows, sighed, and spoke solemnly to the suspicious students around him:
"Do you see? This is the price of forcibly absorbing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring beyond one's level! The Soul cannot withstand the impact of the Spirit Beast's remnant Soul!
"Tang San's Soul is now damaged! Fortunately, his luck is good and the injury isn't too severe, but he will need to rest for a long time to recover."
Everyone looked at Tang San, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog, twitching occasionally. For a moment, they were speechless, gaining a more direct understanding of the dangers of absorbing spirit rings beyond one's level.
Why did this happen so suddenly? It was simple, really. It was just that while Wang Dong'er was flipping through Tang San's memories, her actions were slightly too aggressive due to her surging emotions. It wasn't a big deal.
See, even the victim didn't say anything, so it must be fine.
Anyway, he won't die.
...
...
The spatial gate opened quietly in Kong Mingan's private Laboratory at the Chamber of Commerce, and the three figures reappeared.
After a few brief words and instructions, Wang Dong'er took a deep breath. She lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes concealing the swirling emotions within. She then bowed slightly to Kong Mingan and Meng Hongchen before slowly leaving the Laboratory.
Standing at the entrance of the Chamber of Commerce, the evening breeze brought a hint of coolness, clearing her head slightly.
Although the contribution points needed to redeem Big Father and Second Father were a despairingly astronomical figure, she hadn't completely lost heart.
It was nothing more than spending ten, twenty, or even more years to save up contribution points.
Compared to searching for clues aimlessly before, she now at least had a visible goal; there was hope.
She needed to plan her future carefully, thinking about how to earn contribution points more efficiently and how to increase her strength faster.
Of course, the latter was a higher priority. After all, strength was the foundation of everything. The contribution points a Titled Douluo earned from a random mission were dozens of times what she could earn now.
She had to Cultivate even harder to pay off the debt!
Wang Dong'er was full of fighting spirit, but then she thought of her job as a Laboratory assistant, and her gaze became complicated again.
Whatever, she'd take it one step at a time. If she couldn't resist, she'd just lie down and accept it.
Preoccupied with these thoughts, Wang Dong'er returned to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
However, just as she was about to reach the dormitory entrance, her footsteps couldn't help but pause.
Standing not far away was a blonde, red-eyed girl who seemed to have just returned as well.
Wang Dong'er wasn't in a great mood and didn't really want to exchange pleasantries, but since she couldn't avoid her, she forced a smile and greeted her:
"Good evening, Qiuer."
Qiuer blinked and naturally walked forward. Her golden eyes lingered on Wang Dong'er's face for a moment, seemingly detecting something.
"Good evening, Donger. Why haven't I seen you all day? Where did you go?"
Wang Dong'er's eyes flickered as she avoided the main point, saying, "Nothing much, I just went to the Chamber of Commerce to handle some things. I'm getting ready to head back to the dorm to rest."
She chose to keep things hidden for now. There were too many things involved with her, and she didn't want to drag her friend at the academy into it.
"The Chamber of Commerce?" Qiuer nodded but didn't ask further, replying calmly, "Then go back and get some rest early, Donger."
Wang Dong'er nodded and then hurriedly brushed past Qiuer, walking quickly into the dormitory.
Qiuer stood in place, watching Wang Dong'er's slightly hurried back disappear around the corner of the hallway, her red eyes thoughtful.
She had approached Wang Dong'er on her Master Sister's orders, attempting to find clues about the "Son of Destiny" through this girl who carried special traces of destiny.
A while ago, because she sensed that the aura she cared about might originate from the "Kong Residence," she had actually been lying in wait around the outskirts of the Kong Residence.
But unfortunately, it seemed her "luck" wasn't very good; she had come up empty-handed and hadn't been able to see anyone.
(End of Chapter)
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