Apprentice had been taken away.
Fragrant Branch's final words had not been a victor's taunt, but an objective fact.
Zhuri sat beside the wooden hut, one leg bent and the other dangling in the air. The hand resting on her knee toyed with a dagger, but its owner was clearly lost in thought.
After dealing with her business and getting no response in the group chat, Huang Jin hurried over to find this scene.
Black Panther nimbly leaped up the tree, transforming into a Moon Bear as she landed beside the elf. Huang Jin first went inside to look around before returning to sit beside Zhuri and asking, "Who took her away?"
Probably not a player from Quiet Mountains, or Zhuri would not have worn that expression-something like wistfulness, with a hint of having suffered a blow. That was a rare sight indeed.
Zhuri pressed her lips together. The first thing she said was, "I can't beat her anymore."
This outcome had been foreseeable from the start. Once they learned that she was using Time Stop to enter the Demon Game repeatedly, they could guess whom she had gone to find-Mountains Xunge. That was the new teacher Apprentice had found for herself.
Not long ago, she had still been a cub who relied on and admired her. Her dreams had been closely tied to Zhuri, and her usual weapon had been a dagger. Yet in the blink of an eye, she had become an Arbiter, representing Zai Jiu in negotiations with Isolated Island.
Then, in what felt like another instant, Zhuri had stood aboard the War Cruise Ship and witnessed Apprentice lead an entire world in breaking free of fate, making Godly Game history.
Before Zhuri could get used to the fact that Apprentice was no longer an apprentice, her