Chapter 58: Qian Renxue's Recruitment—Just You?
"Yes, that's right. There are two Titled Douluo not far outside."
"And they're already moving toward your direction."
Bai Lu leaned back against the spiritual throne and spoke calmly.
"If I run immediately after finishing absorbing the soul ring, would I still make it in time?"
Zhu Zhuqing's mood was as cold and stiff as her youthful face.
"You can try."
Bai Lu replied noncommittally.
"Then I'll try."
Zhu Zhuqing steadied her mind and stabilized the soul ring at the fastest speed possible.
"Whoosh!"
Half a minute later, the girl opened her eyes and exhaled a long breath.
"I need to leave."
Just as the thought formed in her mind and she was about to activate her fourth soul ring to escape—
Suddenly—
"Rustle… rustle."
Soft footsteps sounded from ahead.
A woman slowly walked out from the depths of the dense forest.
She looked to be in her early twenties, with a tall and graceful figure.
Her long golden hair flowed like a waterfall, radiating brilliant light.
Her facial features were delicate and noble, and there was an innate pride in her expression.
She wore a gold-and-white dress adorned with intricate feather patterns. Every movement carried the dignified aura of nobility.
"There are soul masters in a place like this?"
The golden-haired woman spoke softly, her voice crisp and pleasant.
She instinctively sized up the girl.
But after just one glance, her pupils suddenly shrank.
Those clear sapphire-blue eyes instantly locked onto Zhu Zhuqing—
No.
More precisely, they locked onto the deep black ten-thousand-year soul ring beneath Zhu Zhuqing's feet.
"A ten-thousand-year soul ring?"
"One! Two! Three! Four?"
"A ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring?"
"How is that possible?!"
The woman's expression changed drastically, her face filled with disbelief and shock that bordered on losing composure.
Almost at the same moment, two figures appeared behind her.
They too stared in shock at the soul ring beneath Zhu Zhuqing's feet.
"Uncle She… Uncle Ci… I… I'm not seeing things, am I?"
Qian Renxue's voice trembled slightly as she asked.
She almost didn't dare trust her own eyes.
"Y-Young Miss, you're not mistaken."
"It really is… a fourth ten-thousand-year soul ring."
Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo spoke with equally trembling voices.
According to the widely accepted optimal soul ring configuration, the fourth soul ring should be a thousand-year purple ring.
Yet this girl…
Her fourth ring was ten thousand years.
And not just that—
"It's a fifty-thousand-year soul ring!"
Their gazes shifted to the corpse of the Shadow Spirit Cat nearby, and all three of them felt their throats run dry.
What did a fifty-thousand-year soul ring represent?
By common knowledge, one would need to be at least a rank 70 Soul Saint to absorb it.
Yet this girl, merely a Soul Ancestor, had absorbed a fifty-thousand-year soul ring.
This was simply unheard of.
Qian Renxue examined Zhu Zhuqing carefully.
Her youthful face and full figure clearly showed she was under fifteen.
"My name is Qian Renxue. My martial soul is the Six-Winged Angel. I'm twenty-two years old, rank sixty-one Soul Emperor."
"What about you?"
Their eyes met, and Qian Renxue could not help speaking first.
With two Titled Douluo behind her, she had no need to hide her identity.
"Don't hide it. Tell her."
Bai Lu focused intently, his eyes locked on the three of them.
He was preparing to play a big move.
If it succeeded, everything would be perfect.
If it failed… he would log in himself and run.
"Zhu Zhuqing, Martial Soul: Hell Spirit Cat, twelve years old, Rank forty-eight Soul Ancestor."
Zhu Zhuqing looked calmly at Qian Renxue, her voice extremely composed.
Although she had no Titled Douluo behind her…
She had Bai Lu.
And Bai Lu was her confidence.
"Twelve years old… rank forty-eight…"
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue suddenly laughed.
She possessed a god-level martial soul and rank 20 innate soul power. She was an unparalleled genius.
Yet when she was twelve, she had not reached rank forty-eight.
More importantly, the girl before her had personally hunted a fifty-thousand-year Shadow Spirit Cat at rank forty.
Even at rank fifty, Qian Renxue doubted she could accomplish that.
And the thing Qian Renxue had always been most proud of in her life… Was her talent.
But now she could feel it clearly.
Her pride had shattered.
Shattered into pieces by the girl who suddenly barged into her world.
"…"
Zhu Zhuqing said nothing and simply looked at her calmly.
In her mind, Bai Lu's voice sounded.
"A Six-Winged Angel martial soul with the surname Qian. If I remember correctly, the former Pope was Qian Xunji, and the High Priest of Spirit Hall is Qian Daoliu."
Zhu Zhuqing immediately understood.
"You mean… Qian Renxue is their descendant and successor?"
"Exactly."
Bai Lu nodded lightly and explained,
"As far as I know, Six-Winged Angel martial soul users possess rank 20 innate soul power."
"Twenty levels?!"
A trace of surprise flashed through Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.
No wonder this Qian Renxue had already become a Soul Emperor at just twenty-two.
She had been born superior to others.
At the same time, Zhu Zhuqing now understood Qian Renxue's shock.
"What a genius…"
After recovering from her shock, Qian Renxue suddenly sighed softly.
She admitted that she had indeed lost her composure earlier.
But strangely, after the shock faded, a strange emotion began to rise in her heart.
Not sadness.
Not jealousy.
Not hostility.
But…
A desire to conquer.
"Zhu Zhuqing… What a beautiful name. Are you from the Zhu family of the Star Luo Empire?"
Qian Renxue's eyes carried a certain fiery seriousness.
She had developed a tremendous interest in Zhu Zhuqing.
An interest that rivaled even her grand plan of usurping a nation.
"…"
Zhu Zhuqing looked at her quietly, clearly having no intention of answering.
"Seems like it."
Qian Renxue was not angered. Instead, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
She continued speaking calmly.
"You have a family, yet you rely on none of its power. You don't even have any attendants with you."
"That means your relationship with your family is not harmonious, perhaps even severed."
"And the fact that you possess a ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring cannot be achieved by talent and effort alone."
"Even if my life restarted a hundred times, I still wouldn't be confident I could obtain such a high-level soul ring."
"So… you must have encountered an extraordinary opportunity that no one else could replicate."
"And you must have endured hardships unimaginable to ordinary people."
"…"
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed slightly.
An extraordinary opportunity… that definitely existed.
And for the next ten thousand years, it was unlikely anyone else would have an opportunity greater than hers.
But hardship…
Honestly, aside from the pain of the bone sacrifice at the beginning…
Everything else had been fairly normal.
The hardest thing now seemed to be constantly outwitting Bai Lu while protecting her "gold mine."
"You're truly special… very interesting."
Qian Renxue slowly walked forward, circling around Zhu Zhuqing.
Her gaze carried undisguised admiration.
That gaze was even more intense and unsettling than Bai Lu's.
It made the girl slightly uncomfortable.
"So… you want to recruit me?"
"Exactly."
Qian Renxue stopped in front of Zhu Zhuqing and spoke seriously.
"With your abilities, why should you wander alone?"
"If the Star Luo Empire abandoned you, that was their foolishness."
"Come help me. I can give you a platform far beyond anything you could imagine."
"There, you will not need to hide your talent. You can display your strength freely."
"Will you follow me?"
"…"
Zhu Zhuqing remained silent for a long time.
Just when Qian Renxue thought the girl was about to agree—
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly smiled.
Her tone changed sharply, revealing a cutting edge.
"Just you?"
End of Chapter