"tao, rest assured, with the great fame you’ve made for yourself, it’d be too embarrassing if i couldn’t speed up the progress," panda pounded his chest confidently, which made tao yu nod.


    "leave a message if there’s an issue. i should be heading home as soon as i reach the destination, but this time it’s just a quick visit to check in, so no need to come back especially."


    "alright."


    tao yu looked at panda and others in front of him, including jack, park ji-hyun, lee mochou, che xiuxian, and felt a touch of emotion.


    it had been almost a year since he’d inadvertently entered the abyss, and his nineteenth birthday was coming up. it would coincide nicely with a trip home to spend time with family and let them know he was safe.


    "i’m off."


    after saying that, tao yu put on his personal flying device, mounted a motorcycle, twisted the throttle, and roared away into the distance.


    the personal flying device had a limited range, and even though it was fully charged now, tao yu still planned to use it only if necessary.


    um, the main reason for riding a motorcycle was to conveniently pick a spot for the rich girl to give him a lift later, and also to relive the thrill of covering great distances in a day...


    ...


    "look, your pet is ruling the roost now."


    the rich girl dropped tao yu off at the cliff’s edge, the same spot where he’d parked the camper before.


    months had passed, and even though the camper was covered with a tarp, the surrounding area was now overgrown with weeds.


    tao yu also reconnected with the long-missed associations of little black, and cao shaolin, who was still buried in the ground.


    sensing tao yu’s presence, little black darted out from between the trees and came before him.


    behind it were several other aliens that had parasitized different animals.


    these aliens bared their teeth at tao yu, but a swipe from little black’s tail made them settle down quickly as it turned and roared at them incessantly.


    tao yu went over and petted little black, his face also revealing a trace of emotion.


    "you’re doing pretty well for yourself, almost an empress, huh? why haven’t i seen you grow any bigger, though?"


    obviously, little black had no idea about the aliens’ evolutionary state and was currently excitedly circling around tao yu.


    tao yu looked at little black, pondering whether to hang a tag on it and let it run back to the base from there, selling itself at the alien farm.


    but thinking it over, the distance was too far and too many unforeseen circumstances could arise on the way, so he dismissed the idea.


    "i’ll take you back next time. stay here for now."


    tao yu pushed away little black’s big head which kept rubbing against him, strengthened the mental seed, then mounted the jet ski and continued on his way.


    the rich girl had limited spare time, so he didn’t want to cause any delays or waste any moment.


    "be good and follow orders."


    although little black seemed reluctant to see him go, it obeyed the command – now almost ingrained in its genes – sat down, wagged its tail, and watched tao yu disappear in the blink of an eye...


    the most likely candidate in great tang is he’s jade disc.


    although it’s now highly difficult for me to activate another talent after unlocking the third one and almost impossible to succeed in one try.


    but the activation itself is cumulative; it won’t be for naught.


    if i can get the shards of the heart of the world from all three worlds, there should be a chance to forcibly awaken a new talent.


    "i still need to improve myself, i still need to strengthen my power!"


    tao yu thought of the rich little succubus and sun shiqing’s specialties. he felt pressured.


    the affairs of the suns are indeed shady...


    "however, this is the abyss..."


    ...


    tao yu had the rich little succubus drop him off in the western regions, already within sight of bright summit.


    then he completed the rest of the journey on his own using a flying machine.


    on the way, the rich little lady took him to xiangyang to assess the titans’ situation.


    everything was progressing smoothly, eren was practically a workhorse for the production team, shuttling back and forth endlessly.


    and a specially composed team of martial experts was also helping eren sweep away foes and protect him, improving their strength as they traveled and fought.


    but certainly not as efficiently as those back at the base killing aliens.


    the long-unseen zhang hao has even come out of retirement and joined eren’s team.


    the situation here seems to be going well...


    "hm?"


    just as tao yu was inwardly noting that everything was back on track, upon reaching the airspace of bright summit, he sensed that the situation on the ground wasn’t quite right. disciples were patrolling all the dangerous paths, creating a somewhat heavy atmosphere.


    when they saw tao yu flying over, they obviously all showed expressions of surprise.


    "the sect hierarch has returned."


    "it’s the sect hierarch!"


    "he’s finally back..."


    "..."


    tao yu did not land halfway, but went straight for bright summit, where he saw shi zuoshi, who appeared to have heard his arrival and hurriedly came out to meet him.


    everything was fine when he last returned, but this time shi zuoshi looked pale as paper, obviously suffering from severe injuries.


    with many of the experts from the six major sects away teaching and nurturing others, shi zuoshi’s grave injuries must mean that a crisis has arisen in the opposing world...