--- Chapter 56 ---
"Giana, give us the route to the Star Dou Forest."
A blue-haired young man casually sat on the edge of a cliff and ate his sandwich. Huo Yuhao waved his legs around and enjoyed the breakfast his mom cooked. A blue hologram map appeared before Huo Yuhao's eyes, mapping the whole Douluo Continent.
"Here, I've used the Spirit Radar to create a pocket map in the Algorithm," Giana answered through Huo Yuhao's earpieces. "Do you need something else, Onii-chan~!"
Huo Yuhao choked on his sandwich and groaned, "Okay, don't tease me like that."
"Hehe~!" Giana's giggle echoed in the earpiece.
Huo Yuhao sighed because the AI he created had become more mischievous. Maybe he should update Giana's algorithm and core codes. 'Nah, The current Giana is already perfect.' He noted inside as Giana "truthfully." loved by everyone in the Dragon Nest community. Her precise calculation and remote control of technology helped them a lot.
And updating Giana's algorithm and core codes would be a pain in the ass. Huo Yuhao doesn't want to waste his time and let the AI learn the world herself.
"You're lucky, Giana." Huo Yuhao commented while finishing his sandwich.
"Eh??"
...
...
Huo Yuhao summoned one of the Shadow Generals, the Azure Sky Dragon, for their flying transportation. A shadow expanded into a slender western dragon with four wings, and Its body was over 20ft and covered with shadowy azure flame scales, burning dimly under the sun.
"Hmm, I'll call you Skye from now on." He said while patting the actual Sabtush. Fun fact, this is the Spirit Beast who governs over the small continent he destroyed when fighting with Scathach.
[You have renamed Azure Sky Dragon, Skye] Evo announced monotonously.
"Thank you, my lord..."
Skye quietly growled under Huo Yuhao's pats and enjoyed the treatment. After becoming the young man's shadow, he became more powerful and even gained a chance to be his general.
"Wow~!" Qianye Ying'er arrived at the cliff and looked at Skye with an awed gaze. Even though she had seen the Azure Sky Dragon, it still looked as majestic as ever.
Scathach suddenly landed beside Qianye Ying'er and gave Skye a praising look because such a majestic ride befitted Huo Yuhao and her. "Umu, not bad." She said naturally.
"Get on." Huo Yuhao jumped onto Skye's back and felt the solid texture of the dragon scale. He was shocked because that explained his Shadow General's overall defense.
Without further ado, Qianye Ying'er and Scathach followed Huo Yuhao to Skye's back. As they stepped onto the Azure Sky Dragon's Shadow, the creature roared and flapped his wings.
"To the west."
Huo Yuhao pointed his finger at the vast horizon in the Star Dou Forest's direction, causing Skye to blast the surrounding air and soar at supersonic speed. A translucent, almost invisible dark aura covered Skye's body, so none of them received a whiplash.
"Light Reflection." Qianye Ying'er added another layer of protection, which caused Skye and them to disappear from ordinary's eyes.
Scathach was about to apply an Invincibility Rune and smiled inside when seeing this because Qianye Ying'er made a good decision. She doesn't like people prying into her personal space, especially people with an annoying amount of curiosity.
SWOOSH!
Skye glided through the atmosphere and passed over several kingdoms within the blink of an eye. Huo Yuhao checked the map and laughed because they would reach the Star Dou Forest in no time at this speed.
"Can you fly faster, Skye?" Huo Yuhao couldn't help but challenge the Shadow General.
ROAR!
"Challenge accepted, my lord..." Skye responded with a broken human language. He prepared the second pair of wings and charged the Spirit Energy in his shadowy body, grinning with the sharp toothy mouth.
BOOM!
Skye generated a massive shockwave and created a ripple in the air, sending his slender body forward and accelerating his flying speed even further. He was known as the Sky Lord, and speed was his domination.
Huo Yuhao saw the map rapidly refreshing because Skye moved too fast for the Spirit Radar to handle. "Keep going." He grabbed one of the Azure Sky Dragon's scales.
SWOOSH!
...
...
Star Dou Forest.
"Uugh..." Qianye Ying'er gently rubbed her temple and slowly jumped off Skye's back. She felt slightly nauseous because her vision couldn't keep up with the Azure Sky Dragon's speed.
"Are you okay?" Huo Yuhao asked with a weak smile.
"That might be a little too much."
Qianye Ying'er frowned when hearing "a little too much." from Huo Yuhao's mouth. However, she suddenly remembered something and acted a little more ill. "I need a rest, Yuhao. Can you carry me~?" She asked with such a hopeful tone.
"Sure." Huo Yuhao knew Qianye Ying'er was playing around but still followed with her act. He lowered his body and felt the young woman's growing bosom touching his back.
Scathach watched these lovebirds with slight jealousy but let them alone because she would get her moment later. She hummed and patted Skye's back, observing the Star Dou Forest's scenery.
"Well, this place is denser than I believed. The forest and surroundings filled with Spirit Energy, but the people of the Douluo Continent were too afraid. They couldn't even deal with some Spirit Beast."
Scathach called Gae Bolg Alternative and closed her eyes to sense the surroundings. Her Kenbunshoku Haki covered the whole 1km radius, feeling every creature within it.
"Not a single spirit beast here is strong enough to become my sparring partner. That's somewhat disappointing." The God Slayer sulked.
"Of course, Shishou. We are only at the entrance of Star Dou Forest." Huo Yuhao said while carrying Qianye Ying'er. "If you want to fight something stronger, let's explore the deeper part of the forest."
"Let's go!" Scathach's eyes shone with excitement.
They walked to the outer layer of the Star Dou Forest and met with several spirit beasts. However, they barely passed 500 years old, and Scathach scared them away with her presence alone.
"Tang Ya, dodge!" A youthful shout reverberated in the area.
Boom!
A small lightning clap followed, causing Scathach to narrow her red eyes slightly. They used Kenbunshoku Haki and saw a pale purple-haired young man rushing toward a pink-scaled snake.
Several meters from the young man, a young lady appeared to be around 15-16. She has very long black hair tied into a ponytail behind her back. And her pink eyes shone with a purplish light.
"Hmm, they aren't bad for Douluo Continent's standard. Those movements are refined enough to attend Dragon Nest's academy advanced class." Scathach observed both youths with little interest.
"They are not alone." Huo Yuhao added while seeing another pair of youths behind a thick tree. "Well, my past advancement changes something, huh?"
"Sanshi, provoke the Datura Snake!" The pale purple-haired youth shouted. And a red-haired guy in a black jacket jumped out of his hiding spot.
The red-haired guy flipped his middle finger to the spirit beast and yelled, "Hey, Oval Face! Watch this."
The Datura Snake hissed and rushed to the young human who angered him. However, a thick black shield suddenly appeared, and the beast smacked itself on its oval face. "Hehe, Gotcha!" The red-haired young man snickered playfully.
"Good." The purple-haired young man activated his martial soul and transformed his right arm into Dragon Arm with powerful lightning around it.
"Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track." His movement becomes faster.
Datura Snake couldn't do anything and saw Thunderous Dragon Claw attack its upper body. The Spirit Beast released a painful groan and fell onto the ground. And the three youths sighed in relief because they finally could defeat this spirit beast.
"Tang Ya, go for it." The pale purple-haired young man allowed the girl to kill and absorb the Datura Snake's spirit ring.
The girl named Tang Ya squealed in joy and replied, "Yay! Thank you, everyone."
Tang Ya sent a decisive dagger strike to the Datura Snake's eyes and killed the spirit beast instantly. She watched the emerging purple spirit ring with a giddy mood and couldn't wait to absorb it.
The last youth in the group, a young lady with flowing golden hair and two fluffy rabbit' ears, shouted, "Who's there!?"
They immediately turned around and saw Scathach, gasping at the sight of her sudden appearance. They couldn't even sense her presence as she was a few steps away from their place.
"Impressive," Scathach said while clapping her hands. "Teamwork, decisive attack, and overall roles are displayed wonderfully. The blondie over there is probably ready to use a swift attack in case the Snake gets away, right?"
"You're scaring them." Huo Yuhao walked out of the shadow and stopped beside Scathach. "Draw back your presence, Shishou."
"Oh, They are pressured with this amount of bloodlust? My bad then." Scathach responded while quickly drawing back her bloodlust and allowing the group of youths to breathe again.
"W-Who are you?" The purple-haired young man asked while shielding Tang Ya from them, especially Scathach. This woman's presence was beyond their levels.
Qianye Ying'er plopped her head off Huo Yuhao's back and answered, "We are the exchange student from Dragon Nest. Nice to meet you, Shrek Academy's students."
The four youths were shocked and stared at Huo Yuhao's groups with even more solemn expressions. Huo Yuhao lifted his arm to show they weren't enemies and slowly reassured them about it.
"Let's calm down first." Huo Yuhao said with a polite tone.
"Like what my companion has said, We are exchange students from the Dragon Nest Academy."
"My name is Huo Yuhao." He continued with a peaceful smile.
"Nice to meet you all."