Severing the Shackles, Reborn Anew

Wherever the Atlas Spear passed, the claw glints vanished without a trace. The scene looked extremely bizarre. Yang Ming's Atlas Spear clearly had not struck many of the claw glints, yet everywhere the spear swept through, the claw glints above, below, and in all directions shattered completely, as though Yang Ming was wielding not an Atlas Spear, but a shield.

And in truth, that was not far from reality. Yang Ming's sweeping spear strike was merely a basic spear art. The key to breaking techniques with a single strike was that Space Prohibition had sealed the space above and below the Atlas Spear. The claw glints were not tangible objects; once confined and suppressed, their Soul Power structure had already been destroyed, so they dissipated directly.

Seeing Yang Ming so easily break the tactic he had believed would surely kill him, Dai Mubai was inwardly shocked. But this time, Yang Ming did not give him another chance. After sweeping away the surrounding claw glints, the Atlas Spear continued onward toward Dai Mubai's legs. Golden light also flared across the spear—it was Absolute Dominance!

Although ordinary Absolute Dominance was not as powerful as Royal Power, Absolute Dominance had its own advantage: it required no charging!

As Dai Mubai watched the Atlas Spear draw closer and closer, he initially wanted to resist. But just as he was about to move, he felt a force of resistance in the surrounding space restricting his movements. It was Space Prohibition again! Before he could break through that resistance, the Atlas Spear had already smashed viciously into his legs.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

Yang Ming's single spear strike directly broke both of Dai Mubai's legs. Even with the White Tiger Body Protection Barrier and White Tiger Vajra Transformation still enhancing him, Dai Mubai could not withstand the Atlas Spear empowered by Absolute Dominance.

The instant he was struck by the Atlas Spear, Dai Mubai's mental defenses, already on the verge of collapse from Yang Ming's attacks, were completely shattered. He fainted before he could even feel the pain of his broken legs. Of course, having his psychological defenses so brutally destroyed was even more painful than broken legs.

Watching Yang Ming deal with Dai Mubai so effortlessly, an astonished expression appeared on Zhu Zhuqing's cool face. She had known from the start that Yang Ming was very strong, but she was still somewhat surprised to see him defeat a Soul Master of the same rank as easily as eating or drinking.

After finishing the fight, Yang Ming turned around and saw Zhu Zhuqing's surprised expression. He found the contrast rather adorable, and the corners of his lips unconsciously lifted into a faint smile.

When Zhu Zhuqing saw Yang Ming smile at her, she realized why he was laughing and hurriedly composed herself. She turned her head to look at the scenery, as though the person from just now had not been her at all. If Yang Ming had not seen her ears turn red, he might truly have believed she could pretend nothing had happened!

Yang Ming did not expose Zhu Zhuqing. A Yellow Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet, and upon closer inspection, faint silver patterns could be seen on it. The Spirit Ring shone brightly as Yang Ming activated his First Soul Skill, Source of Void!

Although Yang Ming's three soul skills had seemed little more than decorations over the years, and he had rarely used them against anyone, when fighting opponents of the same rank, or even one rank higher, within his clan, Soul Power-enhanced spear arts alone were enough for him to crush them all! However, he had never neglected developing his soul skills, especially his First Soul Skill, Source of Void. By now, not only had he developed the Void God Leopard's two signature abilities, Space Rending and Voidification, from Source of Void, he had also developed others, such as the Space Element's representative soul skill, Teleportation!

After Source of Void was activated, silver light flickered over Yang Ming's body, and then he disappeared from where he stood.

Zhu Zhuqing caught sight of Yang Ming vanishing from the corner of her eye, and her heart skipped a beat. Though she did not know why, Yang Ming had clearly left of his own accord, so she could only wait with peace of mind.

Seeing that the fight was over, the surrounding spectators also dispersed. As for the pair of twins who had come to the hotel with Dai Mubai, when they saw that Young Master Dai, the famous Soul Master prodigy of Suotuo City, had offended that man and been dealt with in just a few moves, his legs even broken, they hurriedly tried to flee while Yang Ming had vanished. They were afraid Yang Ming would punish them as well.

Zhu Zhuqing saw them, but she did not pay them any attention.

Before long, silver light appeared once more where Yang Ming had disappeared, and he reappeared in the same place. Seeing that his clothes were still neat and unchanged, just as before, and that he did not appear injured, Zhu Zhuqing felt somewhat relieved and asked aloud.

"Did something happen?"

Yang Ming answered casually.

"Nothing."

Zhu Zhuqing frowned slightly. She felt that something was off, but before she could ask again, Yang Ming wore a gentle smile and spoke to the hotel receptionist, who was still in shock.

"Hello?!! Could you help me with something?"

Hearing Yang Ming ask for help, the receptionist finally came back to her senses. She cautiously sized up the handsome young man before her. Who would have thought that this gentle, smiling youth could be so ruthless? He had said he would break someone's legs, and he had done exactly that! She replied respectfully.

"Please, go ahead?"

Yang Ming spoke calmly.

"Send someone to deliver a message to Shrek Academy. Tell them to send someone to collect him. I'll wait for them here."

That was right. The moment Yang Ming saw Dai Mubai recklessly provoke him, he had already decided on this plan—to have Shrek Academy come find him. Why not make use of such a ready-made opportunity? It even saved him the trouble of looking for them himself.

Hearing Yang Ming speak so arrogantly, sitting here and waiting for Shrek Academy to come collect their person, the receptionist was startled and hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Sir, the people from Shrek Academy are... not very easy to get along with!"

"Oh?"

Yang Ming was surprised to see that the receptionist seemed to know something about Shrek Academy. Was his luck really this good? He had just arrived in Suotuo City and already encountered Dai Mubai and someone who knew about Shrek Academy?!!

In truth, although Yang Ming's luck was indeed good, the chances of encountering Dai Mubai at the hotel entrance and meeting someone familiar with Shrek Academy were both fairly high.

Shrek Academy had been rooted in Suotuo City for twenty years and was so unconventional. To the locals of Suotuo City, regardless of whether its reputation was good or bad, it was still quite well-known. As for running into Dai Mubai at the entrance of a grand hotel, considering how often Young Master Dai visited hotels, there was nothing strange about it—especially since Yang Ming was currently at Soto City's famous couples' hotel.

After his surprise passed, Yang Ming continued.

"It's fine. Go make the arrangements."

After saying that, Yang Ming placed down a small pouch of Gold Soul Coins as payment.

Seeing Yang Ming directly offer money, the receptionist did not say anything further. She hurriedly had someone carry Dai Mubai to his usual room, then arranged for someone to deliver the message.

For a time, only Yang Ming and Zhu Zhuqing remained at the entrance of the Rose Hotel. Yang Ming asked Zhu Zhuqing.

"Now that you've seen him, how do you feel?"

As Zhu Zhuqing recalled everything that had happened these past days, the frost and snow on her cool face melted away, revealing a radiant smile. This was the first time Yang Ming had seen Zhu Zhuqing smile after knowing her for so long. She spoke sincerely from the bottom of her heart.

"Very good! Very relaxed!"

If Dai Mubai had truly fled to cultivate properly, Zhu Zhuqing would still have felt somewhat conflicted. If she really left, would that be selfish of her? But the truth was that Dai Mubai had been indulging in pleasure. Judging from what the receptionist had said, he even had a permanent room at the hotel. What was such a room used for? From everything that had just happened, the answer was already obvious. Thus, now that her obsession had completely dissolved, Zhu Zhuqing truly felt relaxed and free from the bottom of her heart.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's smile bloom like a flower, Yang Ming's lips also curved into a pleasant arc. He smiled softly and said to her.

"Zhu Zhuqing, congratulations..."

"You have severed the shackles and been reborn anew!!!"

P.S. Zhu Zhuqing was one of the most marginalized members of the protagonist group in the original work, and one of the few female characters in the Douluo series that Guantou did not dislike. It was just that later on, she was completely reduced to a tool character, with pitifully little screen time. But honestly, that was both disappointing and fortunate. Otherwise, if she had been written about any more... ahem, ahem~ Those who understand, understand.

The reason for choosing Zhu Zhuqing to connect Yang Ming with Shrek Academy was also to give the strong and independent Zhu Zhuqing from her first appearance a new future!

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