Ning Rongrong's Ear Severed

!

"Heh, deserved to die?"

Qin Shiyuan laughed in extreme anger.

"If Soul Masters deserved to die for hunting Spirit Beasts, then none of you here would be spared, would you?"

"Since the eldest young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect says so, why not kill yourself first and set an example for everyone?"

"Y-You..."

For a moment, Ning Rongrong did not know how to refute him. After holding it in for a long while, she finally said with a flushed face,

"That's nonsense! Sister Xiao Wu is our teammate. It's different!"

"Oh? Taking a Spirit Beast as a teammate?"

"That means you... have already betrayed humanity, haven't you?"

"In that case, I'll play the good guy for once and clean house for the Soul Master world!"

As he spoke, Qin Shiyuan's eyes turned utterly cold. He no longer wasted words with them.

"Cheng Ying!"

With a lift of his sword fingers, a brand-new longsword flew from its sheath behind him.

Cheng Ying was a light sword, over four feet long and two fingers, five inches wide.

Its snowy-white, translucent blade reflected a dazzling silver gleam beneath the sunlight.

A green stone was set into the hilt, adding both elegance and a sense of lightness.

Before anyone could react, at his low shout, the longsword shot straight toward Ning Rongrong's face.

At the same time, the previously unsheathed Tai'a Sword also shot out.

Its target was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Sect Master, Ning Fengzhi!

"First Spirit Ability, Seamless Life!"

The slender sword blade streaked through the air at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Soundless and formless! Ultimate speed!

That was the brilliance of Qin Shiyuan's First Spirit Ability.

"Kid! Stop!"

A resonant voice rang out beside Ning Fengzhi.

The speaker was none other than the sect's consecrated elder responsible for protecting Ning Fengzhi—Bone Douluo.

He was also Gu Rong, the Peak Douluo with a cultivation of rank ninety-five, known as the continent's number one defense-type Soul Master!

Qin Shiyuan was only a Soul Saint, so naturally, his First Spirit Ability could not escape the notice of a Titled Douluo.

But when it came to speed, even a Peak Douluo would fall short before a Flying Sword.

Otherwise, how could Tang Hao have done nothing but watch as Xiao Wu was taken away?

Upon detecting the Flying Swords, Bone Douluo immediately controlled the white bones to form a shield.

Yet just before the defense could take shape, the Flying Swords had already arrived silently.

"Not good! Faster!"

Bone Douluo's expression changed drastically, and the bones surged forward even faster.

With a bang, the Tai'a Sword aimed at Ning Fengzhi slammed fiercely into the bone shield, helplessly revealing itself.

But what about Cheng Ying?

Within the fist-sized opening that remained, a slender sword flashed past in secret.

A protruding bone spike merely altered the Flying Sword's trajectory slightly.

In the end, Cheng Ying was not stopped.

"Rongrong! Watch out!"

Whoosh!

Bone Douluo's alarmed cry and the wind raised by Cheng Ying entered Ning Rongrong's ears at the same time.

Unable to see Cheng Ying, she had no idea what was happening.

Only when she felt heat against her cheek did she reach up to touch it...

With a soft plop, half a tender ear wobbled when she touched it.

Then it fell to the ground...

"Ahhh!!! It hurts!!!"

The piercing pain made Ning Rongrong let out an incomparably shrill scream.

Looking at the thumb-sized piece of flesh on the ground, a terrifying suspicion arose in her heart.

"No! No! No! That can't be! It can't be!"

She desperately denied the thought in her mind, yet her hands seemed to have betrayed her thoughts. Trembling uncontrollably, they reached for her face.

The moment her fingers touched her cheek, a warm, sticky sensation was instantly transmitted through her nerves to her mind.

"Blood!!! It's blood! What happened to my face?!"

The importance of one's face to a girl went without saying, especially for a vain, spoiled princess like Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong could no longer care about the agonizing pain. Her fingers frantically and roughly felt their way across her face.

The next moment, her hand froze.

A Sword Mark so deep that bone could be seen ran straight from her cheekbone to her scalp.

As for the ear in its path, a portion had been sliced off. The upper half was now left with an unmistakably empty gap.

"My face! My ear! No! No! No! How could this happen?!"

Ning Rongrong's emotions completely collapsed. Looking down at her blood-covered hands, her lowered eyes were filled with terror.

She did not dare imagine what she looked like now.

"Daughter!"

"Rongrong!"

Only then did Ning Fengzhi and the other Shrek Seven Devils cry out in alarm.

Beside himself with anxiety, Ning Fengzhi rushed straight to Ning Rongrong's side in a single stride.

The sight of his daughter's face covered in blood made his heart violently tremble.

But because Ning Rongrong's hands and long hair tightly covered the wound, he could only ask anxiously,

"Rongrong, what's wrong?"

"Are you all right? Where are you hurt? Let Father take a look."

Yet after several questions in a row, Ning Rongrong remained like a wooden doll. She kept her head lowered and said nothing.

"You..."

Ning Fengzhi was frantic and helpless, just about to continue questioning her.

But Ning Rongrong moved...

Her deeply lowered head slowly lifted, stiffly, inch by inch, like a puppet on strings.

The first thing Ning Fengzhi saw was the pair of beautiful eyes he had once loved most.

But now, he sharply noticed something.

The pearl-sized pupils had lost all their light, becoming dim and hollow.

Sensing that something was wrong, Ning Fengzhi hurriedly asked,

"Rongrong, what is wrong with you?"

"My face... is ruined..."

Her bewildered voice sounded like a murmur to herself, devoid of any emotion.

As Ning Rongrong's final word fell, Ning Fengzhi finally saw what was hidden behind his daughter's long hair.

"Rongrong! Your face!!!"

At the sight of the savage, horrifying wound, Ning Fengzhi cried out in terror.

Everyone nearby turned to look. The instant they saw it clearly, they covered their mouths in disbelief.

"Rongrong!"

"Uncle Ning, hurry and heal Rongrong!"

Among the Shrek Seven Devils, Oscar was undoubtedly the one who cared most about Ning Rongrong.

Seeing Ning Rongrong's miserable state, Oscar immediately sprinted over.

With an angry roar, he snapped Ning Fengzhi out of his daze.

"Right, right, right! Healing! Healing!"

"Rongrong! Father will definitely heal you. There won't be the slightest trace left behind."

However, just as the Soul Power of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda surged forth to forcibly heal the wound, something terrifying happened.

Another powerful energy seemed to be attached to the surface of Ning Rongrong's facial wound.

Whenever the healing energy released by the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda was about to touch the wound—

In an instant, it was devoured completely by that unknown force and collapsed without resistance.

The healing energy could not touch her skin at all. That meant the wound could not heal!

"No! How could this be?!"

Unwilling to accept it, Ning Fengzhi carefully picked up the piece of flesh from the ground and placed it back where it had been.

"Heal!"

All the Soul Power in the body of the rank seventy-nine Soul Saint erupted. The life-filled green light of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda flared to its utmost brilliance.

In the blink of an eye, healing energy completely enveloped Ning Rongrong's entire ear.

The dazzling light formed into a cocoon, preventing everyone from seeing the changes within.

Only dozens of seconds later did the light fade.

Under everyone's expectant gazes, Ning Rongrong's delicate ear was finally whole again.

"Wonderful! Daughter, your—"

Perhaps Ning Fengzhi's voice was too loud. The faint breeze it stirred drifted past Ning Rongrong's hair.

Several strands were lifted, lightly brushing across her pretty ear.

With a plop, before anyone could celebrate for even three seconds, that small piece of flesh fell off once more...

"Sect Master Ning, don't waste your effort. That is Qin's Sword Intent. With just you... you cannot erase it."

"Unfortunately, you have a tough bone at your side. Consider this a lesson for your daughter—and for you..."