Forced Buying and Selling

It was currently the first semester on Douluo Continent. In a few months, the semester would end, followed by a month-long break before school resumed.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy was also in the midst of its busy teaching period.

And the person Zhu Zhuqing was looking for was at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

"This makes finding someone rather troublesome!"

Heaven Dou Royal Academy covered an enormous area, occupying an entire mountain range. Unfortunately, it was filled almost entirely with spoiled young heirs.

It was not as if there were no good students, but they were simply too few.

Ye Lingling was a seeded contestant for this year's Soul Master Tournament. She should have been fifteen by now, with a Soul Power Level of around Level 32.

Based on Heaven Dou Royal Academy's class assignments, she should have been placed in Tianwei Class.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy was vast, but fortunately, Ye Lingling was also somewhat famous. From bits of information that occasionally came up in the students' conversations, Zhu Zhuqing roughly learned where Ye Lingling was.

Aside from fighting alongside her teammates, Ye Lingling usually spent all her time cultivating her Soul Power in Heaven Dou Royal Academy's Simulated Cultivation Room.

Her schedule was extremely regular, like a robot following the same three-point routine every day.

After finishing another day of training, Ye Lingling, her face veiled, pushed open the door and entered her dormitory.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy students had no shortage of anything, but their accommodations were particularly extravagant—each person had their own small villa. For no other reason than that they were rich!

If this were the Star Luo Empire, the White Tiger Great Emperor would probably have torn it down and exchanged it for resources. But to Zhu Zhuqing, this arrangement was perfect for what she had in mind!

"Ah!"

The moment Ye Lingling pushed open the door and entered the living room, she saw a black-clad girl sitting on the sofa in her dormitory, quietly watching her.

Her eyes widened. Ye Lingling was certain she did not know this person, and instinctively reached for the door behind her.

Unfortunately, the instant she turned around, a pitch-black long blade was placed against her neck.

Her entire body stiffened. Ye Lingling slightly raised her head and saw that the girl who had been on the sofa had somehow appeared in front of her door.

Suppressing the urge to scream, Ye Lingling quickly calmed down.

Under the threat of Zhu Zhuqing's long blade, Ye Lingling quietly turned around, and her eyes widened uncontrollably.

That black-clad girl was still sitting in the living room. Then...

She instinctively turned her head.

A familiar figure.

Two of them!

Under the pressure of the clone, Ye Lingling came over and sat down in front of Zhu Zhuqing.

"What do you want with me?

I'm only an Auxiliary Soul Master. If you're injured and need my help, I won't refuse. There's no need to make such a huge spectacle of it!"

After a moment of silence, Ye Lingling was the first to lose patience and ask.

She felt that Zhu Zhuqing must have had some purpose in coming for her. Otherwise, if she were an assassin, she would not have given her the chance to take another breath.

"Whew!"

Seeing Ye Lingling speak, Zhu Zhuqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Honestly, this was her first time doing something like this.

Especially when the person she was kidnapping was a beautiful girl with a temperament similar to her own.

"Your Ye Family's Heart Separation Control!"

Zhu Zhuqing said decisively.

"Impossible..."

The moment she heard that this person was after the Heart Separation Control passed down through her family for generations, Ye Lingling instinctively wanted to refuse.

But the stabbing pain from her neck made her shut her mouth at once.

Heart Separation Control was widely known across the continent, but few factions were willing to develop it in depth.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was one of them, and their Nine Star Begonia Family was another.

In fact, because they could heal themselves even when injured, their research into Heart Separation Control could be said to surpass even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

But these secret techniques were the result of generation after generation of optimization by her family. Now Zhu Zhuqing wanted to take them with a single sentence.

Impossible. Even if she died, she would never allow this secret technique to leak out.

With that thought, Ye Lingling's eyes gradually became firm.

Seeing the girl before her, eyes red yet gaze incomparably resolute, Zhu Zhuqing fell silent.

Would this be less exhausting if she had an illusion-type Soul Skill?

Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought. Bewitching-type Soul Skills suited those seductive women. That was not the path she intended to take.

"I won't let you suffer a loss. I'll trade an attack-type Self-Created Soul Skill for it!"

After a moment of silence, Zhu Zhuqing spoke.

"No..."

...??

Hearing that Zhu Zhuqing was still coveting Heart Separation Control, Ye Lingling instinctively wanted to shake her head. But then she processed what Zhu Zhuqing had said.

"What did you say?"

Ye Lingling felt that she must have misheard. An attack-type Self-Created Soul Skill in exchange for Heart Separation Control.

Th-this was rather tempting.

But she was not sure whether Zhu Zhuqing was telling the truth. Besides, not every Soul Master could use a Self-Created Soul Skill. What if she traded it away and could not use it herself?

"I need the Nine Star Begonia clan's Heart Separation Control method. In exchange, I'll give the Nine Star Begonia Sect a Self-Created Soul Skill that can give you Combat Power!"

Zhu Zhuqing intended to exchange the Rasengan for the Nine Star Begonia clan's Heart Separation Control.

The Rasengan might look simple, but if no one took the first step, no one on Douluo Continent would ever develop it.

Moreover, the Rasengan had tremendous potential for growth. If used well, it could be used for an entire lifetime, right up until death.

And the Nine Star Begonia clan possessed powerful healing abilities. If they were willing to put in the effort, Zhu Zhuqing truly had no idea how far this Self-Created Soul Skill could develop.

"The Rasengan is a Self-Created Soul Skill that can grow. The higher your Soul Power, the greater its destructive power. In theory, even a Titled Douluo could use it!"

A small black sphere instantly condensed in Zhu Zhuqing's hand. Its pure blackness prevented Ye Lingling from seeing the flow of Soul Power within.

However, as a healing-type Soul Master, she could clearly sense the danger that little sphere posed.

"A Titled Douluo!?"

Looking at the sphere in Zhu Zhuqing's hand, Ye Lingling was somewhat doubtful. Could such a tiny ball truly possess that much destructive power? Could its growth limit really be that high?

Seeing the hesitation and distrust in Ye Lingling's eyes, Zhu Zhuqing raised her hand and pressed the Rasengan in her palm against the marble tea table.

Whoosh!

When she raised her hand again, the Rasengan had vanished. At the same time, a pit the size of a ping-pong ball had been left in the tea table beneath her hand.

The small crater was incomparably smooth, as though it had been carefully polished.

Ye Lingling's pupils slightly widened as she watched Zhu Zhuqing's demonstration.

The marble used for this tea table was not the fragile kind of marble.

It was an astonishingly sturdy stone slab capable of resisting Soul Master attacks to a certain extent.

She was certain that Zhu Zhuqing had truly only condensed a small ball from Soul Power just now. She had not released either her Soul Rings or Martial Soul.

"Well? Shall we trade?"

Seeing the faint hesitation flash through Ye Lingling's eyes, Zhu Zhuqing asked again.

Ye Lingling was already somewhat tempted, but she was also hesitant. Though she was the next heir of the Nine Star Begonia Family, this was the first time she had encountered a decision like this.

If she traded, she feared her family would punish her after learning about it.

If she did not trade...

Leaving aside whether she could bear to refuse, there was still Zhu Zhuqing's blade...