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Before the words had even faded, Zhu Zhuqing was already surrounded by the members of the Star Luo Royal Team.
The Royal Team consisted of seven people, five of whom had already reached the Soul Ancestor realm.
At that moment, a cold and mocking voice drifted over:
"Oh my, my poor little sister. You went through all that trouble to run away, and yet you can't even find your man?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Zhu Zhuqing instantly raised her head. Standing beside Davis was a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her.
"Elder Sister!"
This was Zhu Zhuyun, Zhu Zhuqing's older sister, a forty-fifth-rank Soul Ancestor.
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's wary expression, Zhu Zhuyun covered her mouth and teased, "Oh my, I didn't think my little sister would still recognize me as her elder sister. That makes me feel so guilty."
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes narrowed as memories of Zhu Zhuyun's past cruelty resurfaced in her mind.
Indeed, she was not worthy of being called a sister.
Before Zhu Zhuqing could reply, Zhu Zhuyun's voice rang out again, her words dripping with undisguised mockery.
"Sister, you—a mere Soul Grandmaster—came to participate in this kind of competition? Do you have a death wish? Or have you already given up on yourself since you couldn't find your man?"
At her words, the Star Luo Royal Team immediately burst into raucous laughter.
Davis looked deeply disappointed. He had expected Dai Mubai to at least give him some kind of surprise, but he had turned out to be nothing more than a coward who didn't even dare to face his own fiancée.
Yet Zhu Zhuqing showed not a trace of anger in the face of their ridicule.
Because they weren't wrong. Dai Mubai was indeed a coward, a waste.
But she was no longer the same person she once was.
"I don't need that coward Dai Mubai's help. I will rely on my own strength to shatter this damned fate!"
Davis froze for a moment, then burst into wild laughter.
"Hahaha! You—a mere Soul Grandmaster—dare to spout such arrogant nonsense? Isn't this even more ridiculous than impotent rage?"
Zhu Zhuyun sneered in agreement, "Sister, don't be delusional. Just accept your fate obediently, and you'll suffer far less."
The Star Luo Royal Team laughed openly, as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
But Zhu Zhuqing did not falter. Her soul power surged, and four rings—yellow, yellow, purple, and black—appeared simultaneously.
The Netherworld Civet possessed her body as her first and second rings lit up at once.
"First Soul Skill: Nether Thrust!"
"Second Soul Skill: Hundred Claws of the Netherworld!"
She lunged straight at the Star Luo Royal Team's two support-type Soul Masters, Dong Hui and Yang Mingxin.
Before they could even react, Zhu Zhuqing was already behind them.
In an instant, hundreds of claw shadows rained down upon their backs.
Rip!
Their clothes were shredded in an instant, scraps of fabric mixed with blood scattering wildly through the air.
Dong Hui and Yang Mingxin let out shrill screams, but it was already too late. Gravely injured, they collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.
Davis's eyes went wide with fury as he stared at Zhu Zhuqing's four soul rings. For a moment, he even forgot about his injured teammates.
"Impossible! How can she be a Soul Ancestor?! And her fourth soul ring—how could it possibly be a ten-thousand-year ring?!"
The expressions of the Star Luo Royal Team members grew unprecedentedly grave.
Zhu Zhuyun's mouth hung open, her eyes overflowing with disbelief.
And it wasn't just them. Contestants near the stage and even the elders in the spectator stands erupted into an uproar.
Especially the instructors of the Elemental Academies, who knew nothing of the situation.
"A ten-thousand-year soul ring?! It's actually a ten-thousand-year soul ring! Are my eyes deceiving me?"
"This completely overturns the optimal soul ring configuration—unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable!"
Even those who had already heard about this from Tang San, the members of the Upper Three Sects, were still shaken to their core.
Yu Yuanzhen, Tang Xiao, and Gu Rong all had the same thought at once:
"A ten-thousand-year fourth ring! This secret—we must obtain it!"
If they could seize this knowledge, the younger generation of their sects would undergo a qualitative leap in strength.
Their gazes all shifted toward Lan Nianhua, as if they wished to dig every secret out of his body.
Lan Nianhua, unwilling to be ogled like some performing animal, cast a cold glance toward the positions of those who were spying on him.
Seeing his look, Yu Yuanzhen and the others hastily withdrew their gazes.
Sensing the prying stares disappear, Lan Nianhua gave a faint sneer. "This is nothing. You'll be even more shocked by what's to come."
Back on the stage, Zhu Zhuqing tried to take advantage of Davis and the others' stunned silence to break through their encirclement.
Seeing this, Davis roared angrily, "Tang Hongning, Li Yang—stop her!"
He had already sensed the danger emanating from Zhu Zhuqing. If she was allowed to continue growing stronger, she might truly defeat him one day.
She had to be eliminated now, or she would become an endless source of trouble!
Yet although Tang Hongning and Li Yang were both agility-type Soul Masters, they were only at the forty-first rank.
Zhu Zhuqing, however, was already at the forty-second rank, and her speed was a cut above theirs.
If she focused solely on breaking through, the two of them had no chance of catching her.
But just as Zhu Zhuqing was about to escape, several Haotian Hammers suddenly hurtled toward her, cutting off her path.
Boom!
The hammers smashed into the ground, and the resulting shockwave forced Zhu Zhuqing back into the Royal Team's encirclement.
"Damn it, I was so close!"
Looking at the enemies surrounding her, a sense of helplessness welled up in her heart.
Seeing this, Davis let out a sigh of relief. He turned to the Haotian Sect disciples and said, "Thank you for your assistance. In the future, I, Davis, will be sure to repay you generously."
The leader of those Haotian Sect disciples was not Tang Long—it was Tang Zhen, a forty-seventh-rank Soul Ancestor.
Tang Zhen chuckled softly at Davis's words. "Your Highness, don't misunderstand. We merely share the same goal."
They were disciples of the Haotian Sect, and since the sect now stood with the Heaven Dou Empire, they had no reason to give Davis a pleasant reception.
As for why Tang Long was not leading them, it was because he had received Tang Xiao's order to watch the tigers fight from the mountain, waiting for the right moment to swoop in and eliminate everyone at once.
After all, he had witnessed Oscar's astonishing speed. Unless that speed was somehow restrained, it would be impossible to act against him.
Davis's face darkened at Tang Zhen's words, but he held his tongue.
For now, his top priority was dealing with Zhu Zhuqing.
"Attack! Don't let her escape!"
At his command, the entire Star Luo Royal Team launched their attacks on Zhu Zhuqing simultaneously.
"White Tiger Vajra Transformation! White Tiger Light Wave!"
"Netherworld Slash!"
"Rampaging Bull Charge!"
"..."
They unleashed the attacks from their thousand-year soul rings without holding back, determined to finish Zhu Zhuqing in one strike.
"Is this… the end?!"
Zhu Zhuqing's heart was filled with unwillingness. But with attacks raining down from every direction, even her incredible speed could not allow her to dodge them all.
What's more, the Haotian Sect and Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples were watching like tigers, cutting off every path of escape.
Accepting her fate, she closed her eyes, and memories of recent days flashed through her mind.
The time she spent as Lan Nianhua's disciple had been the most comfortable time of her life.
For the first time, she had felt the warmth of a home.
Her lips curved faintly into a smile. She couldn't understand why, in her final moments, the one who appeared in her mind was Oscar.
Just as the Oscar in her mind opened his mouth as if to speak to her, his real voice suddenly rang in her ears.
"If you want to lay a hand on her, did you even bother to ask me first?!"
(End of Chapter)