At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing had been forced to the edge of a cliff that was a hundred meters deep. She barely maintained a defensive stance, vigilantly watching those four Spirit Masters.
"Little lady, why be like this? As long as you serve us well, not only will we heal your injuries, we can even bestow massive amounts of gold soul coins upon you."
"Come, be obedient. You're just a cat girl who can't fly. Don't joke around with your life. This cliff is at least a hundred meters deep. If you fall down, you'll truly be ground to dust."
That Spirit Elder was using words to divert Zhu Zhuqing's attention. Suddenly, when he saw Zhu Zhuqing stumble, his expression tightened.
"Attack!"
Two Spider-type martial soul Spirit Masters quickly activated their second spirit skills. Two purple webs simultaneously shot out from Zhu Zhuqing's flanks, with the spider silk covered in sticky and extremely horrifying green spider poison.
When Zhu Zhuqing realized their attack and prepared to dodge, it was already too late. The two webs tightly bound her body, especially her limbs, which seemed nailed to an iron plate. No matter how she struggled, the webs only grew tighter.
"You scum of the Spirit Master world will face retribution someday."
At this moment, bound by the restraints, Zhu Zhuqing watched the four Spirit Masters rubbing their hands together and approaching her with extremely lewd expressions. She felt an unprecedented sense of fear.
She had once escaped Zhu Zhuyun's pursuit, but never expected to fall into the hands of these four greedy and lustful Spirit Masters today. She didn't believe in fate, but it seemed this was her ultimate destiny.
Two teardrops slowly fell from the corners of her eyes. At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing had completely lost her previous fierce resistance, staring vacantly at the azure sky above. For whatever would happen next, she had already prepared herself to perish together with them.
However, just as the Spirit Elder was about to pounce on top of Zhu Zhuqing to experience what it meant that there are always people beyond people and skies beyond skies—
A dark red bloody spear crackling with electric arcs tore through the sky. Ignaz controlled his strength perfectly; the Blood Thunder War Spear directly pierced through the Spirit Elder's skull, with the spear tip stopping less than 0.01 centimeters from Zhu Zhuqing's forehead.
In an instant, the already dead Spirit Elder's flesh and bones separated. His body turned into wisps of blood energy that were devoured by the war spear. Just as the entire skeleton was about to collapse onto Zhu Zhuqing's chest, the whole bone structure became like rotten deadwood. As a small breeze passed by, the skeleton completely turned to ash, becoming dust before Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.
The three Spirit Grandmasters who were preparing for a second round of "test driving" saw their boss reduced to nothing in less than a second. They immediately turned and fled in terror.
"Since I've encountered you, then stay and keep me company."
A powerful pressure from a Spirit King level forcibly pressed the three Spirit Grandmasters who hadn't run far to the ground, unable to move.
"Lord Spirit Master, spare our lives!"
Ignaz gracefully descended from beneath a large tree. Zhu Zhuqing, freed from her restraints, barely managed to sit up. Looking at this powerful white-haired handsome man before her, her heart was filled with terror.
"What's your name?"
"I, I'm called Zhu, Zhu Zhuqing."
Zhu Zhuqing replied weakly with a trembling voice.
Ignaz looked at Zhu Zhuqing before him. Originally, he had planned to let her personally kill the three Spirit Grandmasters, but when he saw that Zhu Zhuqing was now showing signs of poisoning and fainting—
"You three, die."
The spirit power pressure suddenly intensified, and those three Spirit Grandmasters prostrate on the ground were completely crushed by the spirit power pressure.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Zhuqing was indeed startled. Although this person had indirectly saved her life, his strength was truly too powerful. If he were to do those beastly things to her, what could she do?
Just as Ignaz was about to inquire about Zhu Zhuqing's detailed situation, she collapsed from the spider poison and her old injuries flaring up. Ignaz quickly caught her, then carried her on his shoulder and headed toward where the main force was located.
Ignaz emerged from the forest carrying Zhu Zhuqing and immediately boarded a nearby carriage. When he was about to remove her clothes to examine her injuries, Ignaz suddenly realized the difference between men and women. He immediately jumped off the carriage and had a female pharmacist from the Yang family treat her injuries.
Several hours later, Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes to find herself lying in a carriage, especially with gauze wrapped around her waist. The burning sensation made her feel pain while her injuries were also rapidly healing.
"Who are you? What happened to me? You didn't—?"
"You're currently injured, so stay calm. If I really wanted to take advantage of you, why would I go through the trouble of bringing you back and treating your injuries?"
Only then did Zhu Zhuqing realize that the man before her hadn't taken advantage of her vulnerability but had genuinely saved and helped her. Her heart was filled with gratitude.
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing relax, Ignaz continued:
"My name is Ignaz. May I ask where you came from and where you plan to go?"
Zhu Zhuqing didn't answer Ignaz but looked at him with a surprised expression.
"You're that Heaven Dou Royal Academy student who had already reached Spirit Ancestor level three years ago?"
"That's me."
Ignaz waited for a long time. After Zhu Zhuqing thought for a long while, she finally spoke slowly:
"Don't worry, I won't cause you trouble. As soon as my injuries improve somewhat, I'll leave."
Facing Zhu Zhuqing, this type of person who kept others at a distance and buried all her concerns in her own heart, Ignaz felt quite helpless. Based on his current analysis, Zhu Zhuqing with her heavy thoughts was most likely completely disappointed in Dai Mubai.
At the same time, she had also fallen into a period filled with confusion about the future, not knowing where to go. It was precisely because of this that she encountered those four truly evil Spirit Masters. Otherwise, under Shrek's protection, how could she have been in such a sorry state?
Ignaz quite appreciated Zhu Zhuqing as a person. The reason her thoughts were so heavy was because she had been overshadowed by her two sisters' brilliance since childhood, plus being treated as a political marriage bargaining chip from a young age.
This led to her working doubly hard while also burying deep in her heart a painful experience of hardship and oppression, ultimately creating her character of being hardworking while desperately hiding her past experiences.
"Sigh! So be it, as you wish."
Since she was unwilling to speak, he wouldn't force her. Originally, according to his plan, the current Heaven Dou Royal Academy first team, besides Shi Mó, Shi Mò, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling, still had three open spots.
The last spot could perfectly accommodate Zhu Zhuqing, but now he would have to consider a new person.