On the training grounds of Shrek Academy, Dai Mubai was sparring with Tang San, Oscar, and the others. White Tiger soul power surged around his body.
When the Martial Soul Rankings information arrived like a thunderclap, the three words "Zhu Zhuqing" struck his heart like a heavy hammer.
His entire body stiffened. The White Tiger martial soul instantly collapsed, and his face was filled with stunned disbelief.
"Zhu Zhuqing… Dark Devil Evil God Tiger? A martial soul that surpasses the God King tier?"
Dai Mubai muttered to himself, his voice trembling as the image of that cold, aloof figure surfaced in his mind.
His fiancée. The young lady of the Ghost Duke's estate who had been bound to him by a marriage contract since childhood, yet whom he had never truly grown close to, nor even met.
He clenched his fists, his fingernails digging deep into his palms, his eyes filled with tangled emotions.
Shock, unwillingness, and a trace of concern that even he himself had not noticed.
Tang San sensed his abnormality and frowned.
"Mubai, what's wrong with you? Do you know this Zhu Zhuqing?"
Dai Mubai snapped back to his senses, shook his head, and forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart.
"I wouldn't say I know her. I've just… heard her name."
He did not want to mention the engagement, brushing it off vaguely, yet the fire in his eyes only grew hotter.
"I never imagined she would have such a terrifying martial soul and strength, and that she would even enter Heavenly Path Academy."
Oscar smacked his lips.
"Heavenly Path Academy is way too outrageous. First there was God King Yun Ming, and now Zhu Zhuqing. What kind of divine place is this academy? And somehow no one even knows where it is!"
Dai Mubai fell silent for a moment. A trace of determination flashed through his eyes.
He did not say that he would go look for Zhu Zhuqing, but a goal had already formed in his heart.
That name which had once existed only within a marriage contract had now become a top-tier powerhouse of the continent. The blazing fire in his heart was reignited.
If Zhu Zhuqing were willing to support him and marry according to the engagement, then the Star Luo throne would inevitably be his.
Only, whether someone like him was worthy of Zhu Zhuqing was obvious even without saying it.
Within Heavenly Path Academy, the golden beam from the rankings poured down like a cascade of molten gold, surging entirely into Zhu Zhuqing's body and instantly setting off an energy storm that swept through her limbs and bones.
Her black clothes fluttered violently without wind. Behind her, a ferocious giant tiger with wings on its back and a barbed tail roared as if it were about to devour the heavens and earth.
The Netherworld chill that once surrounded her was enveloped by golden divine energy, gradually merging with six ultimate attributes of time and space, wind and lightning, evil, and strength, transforming into intertwined streams of multicolored radiance.
Within her dantian, the bottleneck at level fifty-one shattered like thin ice. Vast energy propelled her soul power upward at a terrifying speed.
Over the past few years, under Li Tianyi's meticulous cultivation, Zhu Zhuqing's level had skyrocketed. At only twelve years old, she had already reached level fifty-one, earning the title of the continent's number one genius.
The barrier at level sixty broke apart. The heavy sensation of soul ring ages increasing by forty thousand years followed immediately.
Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, five soul rings rose beneath her feet.
The original ten-thousand-year soul rings had now transformed into sixty-thousand-year rings. Their deep black color carried faint golden patterns, and their pressure grew increasingly profound.
Black. Black. Black. Black. Black.
Five black soul rings appeared beneath her feet, with the last one already showing traces of red, clearly approaching the hundred-thousand-year level.
Fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three… all the way to sixty-one.
Zhu Zhuqing's soul power level surged continuously. The power flowing through her meridians was no longer simple soul power, but a divine energy refined by six ultimate attributes. As it circulated, it even caused faint ripples in the surrounding space.
At her brow, the phantom of the Dark Devil Evil God Tiger flashed briefly. Those vertical pupils that contained the mysteries of time and space slowly opened and closed.
The final trace of side effects from the Death Arena secret technique was erased by golden light like dust. The restraints deep within her soul were completely removed, granting her far smoother control over this time-reversing technique.
Even without deliberate activation, it would automatically trigger when she faced a fatal threat.
Previously, the Death Arena pulled her opponent into an illusion, pitting six-year-old against six-year-old. With the Dark Devil Evil God Tiger's overwhelming strength, she would almost never lose.
Now, however, its effect had changed. The enemy would be dragged back to their childhood or the moment their martial soul first awakened. Based on Zhu Zhuqing's current understanding, she could only fight as her nine-year-old self.
Even so, that was more than enough.
After all, at nine years old, she was already capable of battling a Soul Ancestor.
As her comprehension of this secret technique continued to deepen, there would eventually come a day when she could fight at her full peak state.
When that day arrived, no one would be able to stop her.
When her soul power finally stabilized at level sixty-one, Zhu Zhuqing slowly opened her eyes.
Her cold pupils reflected six circulating halos of attribute light. With every movement, the power of time and space quietly lingered around her, making her figure appear increasingly elusive and unfathomable.
She raised her hand and clenched it. Six ultimate powers condensed in her palm, forming a small dark-gold tiger-shaped short blade. Wind and lightning flowed along its edge, and merely touching it allowed one to sense a sharpness capable of tearing space apart.
"Level sixty-one."
Zhu Zhuqing felt the surging yet perfectly controlled power within her body. Her cold voice carried a trace of relief.
The sluggishness that once arose during cultivation due to conflicting attributes had completely vanished.
The rewards from the golden rankings not only increased her level and soul ring ages, but also smoothed the pathways of her six attributes, allowing them to merge like streams flowing into a vast river, perfectly unified.
Her figure flickered. In an instant, multiple afterimages were left behind. Her speed had increased severalfold compared to before, even faintly breaking through spatial limits and leaving behind subtle folds in time and space.
A palm strike wrapped in wind and lightning collided with the ground, tearing open a gully several zhang long. Within it lingered an erosion of evil attribute power that was slow to dissipate.
"The six attributes have fully merged, and my soul power foundation far exceeds that of soul masters at the same level."
When Zhu Zhuqing landed, the soul rings beneath her feet slowly retracted. The energy fluctuations around her also settled, leaving only the occasional flash of golden light in her eyes to signal her terrifying current strength.
Level sixty-one soul power, paired with a martial soul that surpassed the God King tier, sixty-thousand-year soul rings, a time secret technique without side effects, and further growth after absorbing her next soul ring.
Her combat power had long surpassed that of ordinary Soul Emperors and was even capable of facing a Titled Douluo head-on.
This was not delusion, but genuine, tangible growth in strength.
At worst, she could simply drag her opponent into the Death Arena.
She turned her gaze toward Li Tianyi and Yun Ming and gave a slight nod. The firmness in her cold eyes deepened.
As for the two-hundred-thousand-year soul bone reward, she chose a skull bone. Only after she accepted it did the people of Heavenly Path Academy finally gather around her.
"Wow… Zhuqing, your strength is incredible. A twelve-year-old level sixty-one Soul Emperor."
"Exactly. With talent like yours only ranking third, I really can't imagine what kind of monsters the top two are."
The envy in their eyes completely undisguised.
That was third place on the rankings. A single reward granted ten levels of soul power, sixty-thousand-year soul ring ages, and not to mention a two-hundred-thousand-year soul bone. It was simply beyond human comprehension.
"Do you think our teacher hasn't appeared on the rankings yet. Will he be first or second?"
"I'm guessing first!"
Shui Yue'er, Ye Lingling, and Shui Bing'er almost all supported Li Tianyi taking first place.
"Don't you believe the teacher could dominate the top two?"
"Unless the teacher has twin martial souls…"
Shui Bing'er suddenly fell silent.
It seemed that Li Tianyi had never actually said that he did not have twin martial souls.
"Hiss… could it be…"
At that moment, the second place on the Martial Soul Rankings was revealed.
[Martial Soul Rankings Second Place: Xuanyuan Sword]
(TL/N: LET'S GOOOO)
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