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"After the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Dueling Tournament," Lan Yinzi replied honestly, "As you know, their relationship was already ambiguous. Besides, there's Guang Ling, then Ning Rongrong, and later Huo wu."
"Four?" Zhu Zhuqing's eyes widened in disbelief. However, instead of thinking badly of Tang San, she found him excessively attractive to women.
It was understandable for Xiao Wu and Guang Ling to have feelings for Tang San, given their long-term companionship and shared growth.
But Ning Rongrong and Huo wu were different.
One was the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the other was an exceptionally talented fire-type soul master. Both were incredibly proud; how could they tolerate their partner seeking other women?
It must be that Tang San was too outstanding in every regard.
Realizing this, Zhu Zhuqing felt her face flush. Despite her embarrassment, she maintained her composure in front of Lan Yinzi and steadied her emotions before asking, "And you?"
Lan Yinzi shrugged and said, "My relationship with him is very close, but it's more like a mother's care for her son."
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly thought that this pure and lively Lan Yinzi was the most playful one of all.
A mother-son role-play?
If it were true, she would view Tang San as the "father" and Lan Yinzi as the "daughter." It seemed Lan Yinzi was planning a power reversal act.
"Believe it or not," Lan Yinzi noted Zhu Zhuqing's strange and disbelieving look, but she did not push further. Instead, she suggested, "If you really like Tang San, my advice is to make a bold move and actively join in. Tang San is someone who prefers to be passive, but once the passivity is overcome, he becomes proactive."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded thoughtfully, then realized something odd: "How do you know so much?"
"As his 'mother,' it's only natural for me to know his little secrets, right?" Lan Yinzi said with a matter-of-fact expression.
Zhu Zhuqing: "..."
She hadn't expected Lan Yinzi to be a voyeur. She'd need to be cautious around her and keep such secrets tightly guarded.
Ultimately, Zhu Zhuqing didn't have the courage to intrude into Tang San and Xiao Wu's room, and she didn't bring it up during their journey to Spirit City.
Such matters felt awkward to discuss for her.
To avoid an uncomfortable silence, Zhu Zhuqing shifted the topic to something else: the Xingguan Sect's exploration of the sea.
"Hao Hai Tian Zhou?" Upon hearing Zhu Zhuqing describe her secret encounter with the Xingguan Sect's voyage and the ship she saw, Tang San immediately recognized the ship's origin. It was likely that a powerful figure from the Xingguan Sect had ventured into the core of the Infinite Desert three hundred years ago, survived, and left behind the Hao Hai Tian Zhou.
No wonder the leader of the Xingguan Sect, Xing Lao, had some understanding of the core area's rules when they met in the Infinite Desert.
"So the ship is named Hao Hai Tian Zhou," Zhu Zhuqing realized after hearing Tang San's description of the core area of the Infinite Desert. She became even more vigilant towards the Xingguan Sect.
Although the Dai and Zhu families had some information about the core area of the Infinite Desert, their records only mentioned sandstorms and the periodic openings, with no mention of spirit-guided mechas.
The Xingguan Sect had concealed this matter from the Dai and Zhu families!
"Xu Xing should have set out to explore the ocean or perhaps overseas islands. With his exceptional talent, once he reaches Soul Sage rank, he is likely to awaken the domain he showcased in the Continental Elite Tournament." Compared to the entire Xingguan Sect, Zhu Zhuqing was most wary of Xu Xing.
His talent was extraordinarily strong, especially with the Star Domain, which, once activated, would allow him to control the time and space within it.
Although Xu Xing had needed to rely on others' star power to fully utilize his abilities during the tournament and had been restrained by Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor and the domain barriers it created, preventing him from altering his domain's positioning, he could very well achieve the Space-Time Domain or Star Domain if he truly matured and awakened his powers.
"Xu Xing is a very ambitious person," Zhu Zhuqing continued, "Though my understanding of him is limited, he is not content to be subordinate to others."
Tang San didn't comment on this, as he himself was not content to be subordinate—unless it was in bed... ahem, he only meant that he had the ability to make Bibi Dong concede.
Xu Xing, however, did not have the power to make Dai Legao back down.
"Exploring the ocean is also important, but not right now. We need to focus on developing and utilizing the land first. After all, the current ocean cannot grow crops," Tang San said. He was indifferent about Xu Xing's potential oceanic development. In his previous life, even with modern technology, human exploration of the oceans was only a drop in the ocean. With only one Hao Hai Tian Zhou at Xu Xing's disposal, he couldn't possibly achieve significant oceanic development.
Unless, of course, he awakens a system and cheats.
Thus, Xu Xing's exploration of the sea might only lead him to discover other islands or lands. Tang San speculated that Xu Xing might aspire to become the Magellan of the Douluo world, circumnavigating the globe and discovering new continents—such as the Sun Moon Continent.
According to Tang San's guess, in a million years, the Sun Moon Continent might collide with Douluo Continent due to two possibilities:
1. The Sun Moon Continent was already close to Douluo Continent.
2. Some force pushed this event, expanding the Douluo Continent.
Otherwise, in the real world, continental plates would not drift and collide within a million years unless the planet's core and spatial consciousness actively pushed this process… which might be plausible, given that in the Douluo series, Tang Hao and Ah Yin retreated to the Douluo Continent after becoming gods...
Cutting off these tangents, Tang San continued, "If you're truly concerned, you can keep an eye on the Xingguan Sect's activities. However, I estimate that there won't be any major moves from the Xingguan Sect for at least three to five years."
"That's true. The ocean is vast and mysterious. Even with the Hao Hai Tian Zhou, there's a chance they might get lost," Zhu Zhuqing agreed. She understood the challenges of ocean exploration. Even the two great empires and the Spirit Hall, after Tang San discussed the effects of whale oil, had only started training naval and soul master teams for coastal exploration, without delving into deeper ocean areas.
The main obstacles to exploring the ocean were not just the lack of skilled navigators but also the countless Sea Soul Beasts, many of which were of the ten-thousand-year rank.
This was the greatest barrier to the three major forces on Douluo Continent exploring the ocean.
Tang San's attitude towards ocean exploration was straightforward: it was something for the future. For now, preparations could be made, but blind actions were unwise.
Luck was important, but thorough preparation before setting out was even more crucial.
After all, while Tang San had more Hao Hai Tian Zhou than anyone, he had not directly given them to the Spirit Hall because the spirit-guided devices inside the Hao Hai Tian Zhou were not yet fully understood...
....
Meanwhile, aboard the Hao Hai Tian Zhou, after about three years of navigation and several instances of losing direction, they finally discovered a new coastline...
(End of Chapter)