Tang Wulin appraised her in a rather speechless manner. In his mind, Gu Yue's power had never been inferior to his, and in fact, she was most likely more powerful than him. However, she had transformed into a little girl who was completely dependent on him.

"It's alright, I'll protect you." Tang Wulin stroked her long hair, and she rested her head against his chest with a content expression on her face.

"You're the best, Father!"

Tang Wulin's hand immediately stiffened. How was he supposed to face her after she regained her memories?

He heaved an internal sigh and regained his composure before beginning to assess their surroundings.

The training he'd undergone on the demonic island had taught him how to remain calm regardless of what kind of situation he was in. Even if he were experiencing extremely strong emotions, he had to calm himself down as quickly as possible as he could only make the best judgments in a calm and tranquil state.

It was undoubtedly the case that they were in a primitive forest. The more he looked at this place, the more he felt like it resembled the Star Dou Forest simulated in the Spirit Ascension Plane. The only difference was that the plants here appeared to be lusher and older than the plants he had seen in the Spirit Ascension Plane.

If he really were in the Spirit Ascension Plane, then this definitely wasn’t the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane. He'd been to the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane before, and the plants in there definitely weren't as lush as the plants here. Furthermore, it shouldn't have been that easy for him to encounter a soul beast that was not inferior to him in power in the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane

Thinking back to the power that the Crimson Fire Monkey King had just displayed, Tang Wulin concluded that he'd have to don his suit of battle armor if he wanted to defeat it.

His soul power rank was only at 55 at the moment, but even the average six-ring Soul Emperor would be no match for him. With the enhancements from his battle armor and Golden Dragon Spear, Tang Wulin could be considered to be just as powerful as a high-grade Soul Master.

As such, that Crimson Fire Monkey King had to at least be a 20,000-year-old soul beast.

So was this the advanced Spirit Ascension Plane? He knew nothing about that place, and he'd only heard Gu Yue mention it briefly in the past. According to her, that place was the core resource of the Spirit Pagoda.

However, he was able to make some standard judgments based on common sense. For example, the more powerful the soul beasts in a place were, the fewer soul beasts there would be in that place. This was because all powerful soul beasts had their own territory that they wouldn't allow others to encroach upon. It was quite clear that they were currently situated in the territory of the Crimson Fire Monkey King.

Only after entering another territory would they potentially encounter other soul beasts. However, the main problem at the moment was, how were they supposed to get out of here?

If this were the Spirit Ascension Plane, then all of the people that entered it would be given special buttons that they could press to get themselves out of this place. Alternatively, they could die in this plane, and that would also bring them back to the real world, but they'd suffer some emotional trauma as a result.

The issue was that neither of them had those special eject buttons that could get them out of here. Could he perhaps try to die in here instead?

Tang Wulin didn't know if that would work, and there was no way to try this out. After all, what if he were to really end up dead?

Furthermore, Tang Wulin had heard that the highest level of the Spirit Ascension Plane was an actual world. If he and Gu Yue were currently situated on that level, then dying here would truly mean death.

Hence, he had to treat this situation with the utmost caution.

After considering all of these possibilities, Tang Wulin wasn't in a hurry to advance onward. This was the territory of the Crimson Fire Monkey King, and at the very least, this was a soul beast that he could match in battle, so this place was relatively safe. Furthermore, his omniscient-eye-like ability could constantly monitor their surroundings, thereby allowing him to detect any potential dangers very early on. As such, the best option for them now was to rest here for a while and ascertain which direction they should go in.

If this really were the highest level of the Spirit Ascension Plane, then this place was most likely the core region of the Star Dou Forest, which actually still existed in the real world. This was a place of extreme peril, and he could even run into 100,000-year-old soul beasts here!

If he were to forge ahead in a rash manner, only to encounter a 100,000-year-old soul beast, then it was over for him and Gu Yue.

If this really were the core region of the Star Dou Forest, then as long as he could pick the right direction that would take them away from this area, they should be able to emerge from the forest eventually.

Tang Wulin naturally wasn't able to ascertain which direction they should go in with his eyes alone. However, he could ask around using his Bluesilver Emperor vines. Who was he going to ask? The plants here, of course! The plants in this area knew far more about this place than he did.

With that in mind, Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue, and said, "Gu Yue, I'm going to meditate for a while to find a way out of here. Make sure you don't stray far away from me."

"Alright," Gu Yue replied in an obedient manner.

Tang Wulin was slightly dazed for a moment at the sight of this version of Gu Yue. In his mind, Gu Yue had always been an independent girl who seemed to constantly have something on her mind. There had always been a special sense of intimacy between them, and their relationship had been gradually nurtured in a subtle manner over the course of many years.

This Gu Yue didn't even seem like the Gu Yue he once knew. However, there was also a part of him that wished that Gu Yue would always remain this pure and innocent. At the very least, she'd be able to lead a happy life. Back when Gu Yue had left him, he had been in a lot of pain, but as long as Gu Yue truly loved him, her pain could only have been more unbearable than his.

The only difference was that she knew how to find him, yet he had no idea how to find her.

She had returned on this occasion, and he wasn't going to let her leave no matter what. Of course, he also had to ascertain that this really was Gu Yue. After all, he wouldn't dare to get intimate with her unless he could eliminate the possibility that this was actually Na'er.

Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed and began to concentrate. His will was released outward along his Bluesilver Emperor vines, and it slowly combined with the plants in the surrounding area, thereby facilitating communication.

Prior to attaining intelligence, plants were the simplest of life forms. They were like spirit refined metals; they possessed life, but not sentience.

However, after they attained intelligence and became plant-type soul beasts, then there was a very good chance that they'd be more powerful than normal soul beasts. It was just that there were extremely few plants that ever became soul beasts.

However, Tang Wulin had a way to work around this. He didn't need to contact intelligent plants; all he had to do was ask the plants which direction was dangerous and which direction was safe.

He received an answer very quickly!

The ordinary plants on the ground didn't give much reciprocation to his question, and it seemed that they were completely incapable of processing his inquiry. However, the tall trees gave him a clear answer. From their perspectives, one direction was like a dark abyss while another direction was filled with bright sunlight. It was easy to ascertain which direction they should be heading toward.

Tang Wulin was very elated by that discovery, and he opened his eyes before rising to his feet.

However, his heart immediately jolted with shock as he discovered that Gu Yue wasn't by his side.

He hurriedly released his spiritual power and used his omniscient eye ability to search for her, and thankfully, she hadn't gone very far. She was only around 300 meters away from him, and she wore a wide smile on her face as traversed through the forest with her head lowered, seemingly looking for something. There was already a bouquet of wildflowers of different colors in her left hand, and she was looking very elated.

However, her joyful display made Tang Wulin's heart throb with pain. As students of Shrek Academy, they didn't get to enjoy the pleasures that other people of their age experienced, and only in this state of memory loss could she truly enjoy herself.

Right at this moment, two figures suddenly appeared at the same time under his omniscient eye. One of them rushed toward him while the other hurtled directly toward Gu Yue.

Both of them had appeared extremely abruptly, and they were traveling at astonishing speeds.