—The timeline remains two years ago—
Zhu Zhuqing and Uncle Zhu entered the Star Dou Great Forest. On the third day, they finally found the Black Wind Leopard, which was quite old, close to 700 years old. With the help of Uncle Zhu, a Soul King, Zhu Zhuqing killed the crippled Black Wind Leopard with almost no effort.
Uncle Zhu said, "Miss, quickly absorb this soul ring. I, Old Zhu, will watch over you!"
Hearing this, a hint of emotion flashed across Zhu Zhuqing's cold face. For some reason, she had felt uneasy these past few days. But relying on her trust in her guard over the years, she still sat down and began to absorb the soul ring.
Uncle Zhu was on high alert beside her. Soon, half an hour passed.
Suddenly, a sharp female voice came from afar.
"Haha! My good sister, I've finally waited for you."
Uncle Zhu was shocked. Why did the other party appear at the exact moment his young lady was absorbing the soul ring? It seemed to have been premeditated!
Without hesitation, Uncle Zhu summoned his Martial Soul, the Mad Leopard, and shouted sharply, "Who is it?"
Five black figures instantly appeared, surrounding Uncle Zhu and Zhu Zhuqing. Although all five were masked, their figures clearly indicated they were women, and very beautiful ones at that.
Looking at the familiar figures before him, Uncle Zhu smiled bitterly and sighed helplessly, "I didn't expect it to be you, Miss."
The leading black-clad figure was none other than Zhu Zhuyun, the eldest daughter of the Zhu family of the Star Luo Empire. Even after realizing she had been exposed, she wasn't angry; instead, she laughed again, though her voice was much colder than before, filled with a chilling aura.
"Haha, Uncle Zhu, you have good eyesight! But it's a pity you didn't have to die today."
Changing her tone, Zhu Zhuyun shouted, "A-Biao, kill him!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the earth began to tremble, and a giant nearly two meters tall walked over with heavy steps. Behind him appeared a four-meter-tall black bear phantom, yellow and purple, with five spirit rings rising from its feet, circling around its body. It turned out he was also a Soul King.
The burly man didn't waste any words; the black bear phantom materialized, attaching itself to his body and instantly transforming into a standing humanoid black bear. Then, he charged towards Uncle Zhu and Zhu Zhuqing at incredible speed.
In the past, Uncle Zhu, also a Soul King, wouldn't have been afraid of the burly man. He could have easily used his agility-based Soul Master's strengths to dodge the charge and counterattack. But now he couldn't, because Zhu Zhuqing was sitting behind him. Helpless, Uncle
Zhu had to activate his Martial Soul and charge forward, blocking the burly man's attack. But being an agility-based Soul Master, he could
n't withstand a strength-based Soul Master of the same level. Suffering a weakness in strength, he quickly fell into a disadvantageous position. Zhu Zhuyun, the leader, wouldn't wait for them to settle their score. This was the best opportunity to kill Zhu Zhuqing. Currently, Zhu Zhuqing was absorbing her second Soul Ring and had no power to resist. If not now, when?
For this reason, she had even followed them from afar, patiently waiting until now.
"Make your move!" Zhu Zhuyun pointed at Zhu Zhuqing.
The four people around her all belonged to Zhu Zhuyun's faction. Even if their target was their own second young lady, they wouldn't show any mercy to those from opposing factions. After their martial spirits were activated, they shot out, attacking Zhu Zhuqing.
At the critical moment, Uncle Zhu bypassed the burly bear-like soul master and returned to defend at lightning speed, blocking the four attackers.
The two sides were once again locked in a stalemate.
Just then, Zhu Zhuqing regained consciousness. After absorbing the Black Wind Leopard's soul ring, she successfully broke through to level twenty-one and gained her second soul skill—Netherworld Hundred Claws.
Noticing the men in black around her, and looking at Uncle Zhu, who was standing in front of her with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Zhu Zhuqing's face grew even colder. She said in a chilling voice, "Uncle Zhu, what happened?"
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Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Uncle Zhu lowered his voice, speaking in a tone only the two of them could hear, "Miss, these are the eldest young lady and the others. You run, I'll hold them off."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing felt even more furious. Her older sister had really gone to great lengths.
She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, drawing blood. She glanced at the masked Zhu Zhuyun, gritted her teeth, and said in a low voice, "Take care."
She had considered staying to help Uncle Zhu fight her sister, but she knew even more clearly that the other side's target was her.
Although she had absorbed her second soul ring and increased her soul power to level twenty-one, she was still no match for Zhu Zhuyun, a Soul Master. Only by leaving Uncle Zhu would she be safe, and besides, with Uncle Zhu's agility-type soul master strength, escaping alone wouldn't be a problem.
With a leap, Zhu Zhuqing jumped onto a tree trunk and fled into the distance.
Zhu Zhuyun and the others followed closely behind.
Despite Uncle Zhu's desperate resistance, they were ultimately outnumbered. After holding off the Soul Master, Soul King, and two Soul Masters, Zhu Zhuyun, a Soul Venerable, led two other Soul Venerables to follow.
On the other side of the Star Dou Great Forest,
the zuzong, who had recently broken through to level 30, was swiftly traversing the jungle. His plan was for his first Soul Skill to focus on control and inflict poison, his second to increase damage, and therefore his third Soul Skill to be a strong control skill, preferably a group control skill. Otherwise, no matter how powerful his second Soul Skill's attack was, it would likely miss against a Soul Master skilled in speed.
Learning from Tang San's experience, the zu zong's third Soul Ring, the Earth Demon Spider, was the best choice without much hesitation. However, for over half a month, he wandered through the Star Dou Great Forest without finding anything.
"Damn it, I've been searching for half a month! Where is this damned Cave Demon Spider? I should have spent more time running around Sunset Forest."
Seeing this, some might ask: Doesn't the protagonist have a system?
Well, the zu zong has searched, spending countless hatred points, but the system only found a general area. They found plenty of other spider-like soul beasts, but not a single Cave Demon Spider.
zu zong(rolling eyes): You damn system!
System (laughing): I'm screwing you over! It's your fault for not letting me appear even after more than ten chapters.
Suddenly, the sound of fighting came from afar!
The zu zong raised an eyebrow and muttered to himself, "Hmm? There's movement. It's in the direction of the cliff I passed earlier. Never mind, let's go check it out!"
In a flash, the zu zong disappeared from his spot, his feet imbued with soul power, and sped towards the cliff.
With life-saving techniques like the Three Bodies Technique and the Instantaneous Movement Technique, the zu zong could practically move freely within and around the Star Dou Great Forest, as long as they didn't run into those few 100,000-year-old fools in the core area.
After a short while, the zu zong finally spotted the source of the commotion.
Three men in black, wielding blood-stained daggers, were chasing a little girl who looked only about ten years old. It was Zhu Zhuqing and Zhu Zhuyun's group of three. The little girl was clearly outmatched; her arms had been slashed several times, deep enough to expose bone, and blood was trickling from them. "Holy crap, how could they do this! Should
I save her or not?" (End of Chapter)