A Lecture

Once the Stone Armor Bear died, a purple soul ring slowly rose from its corpse.

"Great, getting this soul ring was way too easy!" Long Jie smiled in satisfaction. Sure enough, defense was just waiting to die.

He hurriedly dragged the Stone Armor Bear into the cave, gathered some grass to conceal the entrance, and began absorbing its soul ring.

Though this soul ring was not the offensive type he had originally hoped for, a defensive one was still pretty good.

At the very least, he could beat it.

Calming himself, Long Jie sat on the ground and began absorbing the soul ring. The ring was a deep purple, and the moment Long Jie absorbed it, all kinds of power began flowing into his body...

Streams of warmth flowed into him, washing through every meridian in his body. His strength became unprecedentedly powerful, while his bones, muscles, and skin all strengthened at the same time.

Just then, a commotion suddenly came from outside the cave!

"Young Lady, come back with us. Your fate is to marry the Third Prince. Stop resisting!"

Upon hearing this while absorbing the soul ring, Long Jie instantly concocted a love story about a prince and princess in his mind. The two had been betrothed since childhood, but the princess seemed unwilling to marry him and had run away?

Sure enough, another voice came from outside. "No! He's nothing but a coward. He doesn't deserve to be my husband!"

Long Jie could hear the trace of tears in the girl's voice, along with the resentment she held toward the other party.

From that one sentence, Long Jie came up with another story. The prince the princess was engaged to seemed to be a complete coward. When faced with disputes between princes, he had chosen to hide...

???

Why did this story sound so familiar? Wasn't this Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing's story?

Suppressing his curiosity, Long Jie did not dare move at all. He hurriedly activated his Soul Power and accelerated the absorption of the soul ring.

Outside, the girl in a princess's dress was covered in wounds. Her face was filled with stubborn determination as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

"I don't care! I'll tell Father and make him annul this engagement!"

The girl was filled with unwillingness and resentment. Why could that man run away without caring about anything, while she could only remain in the family and let others bully her?

"Young Lady, stop making trouble!" The Old Guard standing opposite her was helpless. She could be willful, but he could not indulge her willfulness.

"All of you, take the Young Lady back!"

"Yes!"

The two guards on either side hurried forward and seized the girl. She struggled with both hands and feet, but no matter how hard she fought, she could not break free.

"Let go of me! What right do you have to arrest me? I'll tell Daddy! You're finished!"

The girl jumped about wildly, still possessing the innocence of youth and believing that others would listen to her.

Unfortunately, the guards only obeyed her father's orders, not hers.

"Young Lady, stop struggling. Come back with us!"

Under the girl's desolate gaze, she was helplessly carried away.

"In broad daylight, under the open sky, you dare to... seize a girl in front of the forest's countless soul beasts? You're courting death!"

A shout echoed through the forest. Having just finished absorbing the soul ring, Long Jie burst out of the cave. Journey of the Wind instantly brought him before the Old Guard, and the Seven Stars Blade came crashing down.

Then...

Crack. The Old Guard caught the blade with one hand!

"At such a young age, you already possess the strength of a Great Soul Master? Your talent is decent, but unfortunately, I am a Soul Ancestor."

The Old Guard smiled and casually hurled Long Jie away. A grin spread across his aged face. "With that little strength, you dare come to the Star Dou Great Forest? You even dare play the hero and save a beauty? I do admire your courage, but unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately what?" Long Jie smiled. Facing a Soul Ancestor, he showed no fear whatsoever. Wind rose beneath his feet, and in an instant, he flashed before the other two guards.

The Seven Stars Blade spun around him and thrust straight at their faces. The guards raised both hands to block it, releasing the girl at just the right moment.

But Long Jie's attack was a feint. Turning one into zero, he withdrew the Seven Stars Blade, grabbed the girl's hand, and activated Journey of the Wind once again.

Flash, vanish—done in one fluid motion!

Long Jie flashed back to his original position, then dragged the girl and ran madly in one direction!

"What? A teleportation ability? Damn it!" the Old Guard shouted. One moment of carelessness had allowed that brat to succeed.

"Chase them! No matter what, we cannot let the Young Lady get away!"

"Yes!"

The group chased after the direction in which Long Jie had vanished. Once they had all left, Long Jie's figure appeared within the cave once more.

"Phew... that was close. Good thing I kept one Wind Imprint!" Long Jie let out a tense breath. That had truly been a close call. If he had not prepared three Wind Imprints beforehand, he would probably have been done for.

Turning toward the girl beside him, the first place Long Jie looked was her chest. Don't misunderstand—he only wanted to see whether she was Zhu Zhuqing.

The result was obvious. She was not!

Because it was too small.

"Thank you for saving me. If I went back with them, I'd definitely suffer again!" The girl wore a pained expression. Not noticing Long Jie's gaze, she continued speaking to herself.

"You have no idea how frightening they are. All they know is how to bully me. Even Older Sister..."

At this point, the girl could not help looking dejected. Even the Older Sister who had once been closest to her had changed. Would anyone still treat her well in the future?

"I have to tell Father. He'll stand up for me!"

Hearing this, Long Jie could not help smiling. This little girl was so naive. Though he did not know who her father was, if that father truly intended to help her, he would have done so long ago instead of allowing her to come here.

"I don't understand..." Long Jie said. The girl looked at him curiously. "What?"

Long Jie smiled. He decided to make the girl face reality. "I don't understand why you don't resist on your own."

"If you don't like your fate, then resist.

If you don't like your fiancé, then resist. As long as you have strength, would he dare refuse to annul the engagement?

If you don't want others to bully you, then resist! As long as you have strength, no one will be able to bully you!"

Hearing this, the girl fell silent. Only after a long while did she say, "But my talent is weak..."

"Excuse!" Long Jie shouted, startling the girl. Her tears began falling again, making her look especially pitiful.

But Long Jie did not feel the slightest pity. Instead, he spoke even more sternly. "So-called talent is merely an excuse for not working hard. In my opinion, a true genius is one percent talent and ninety-nine percent sweat.

If you don't even have that one percent, then go fight for that ninety-nine percent!

Heaven does not fail those who persevere; three thousand armored warriors can swallow Wu. As long as you work hard, you can obtain everything you want, instead of doing nothing but crying. Is that useful?"

Every word Long Jie spoke pierced deeply into the girl's heart. Tears fell from her eyes, and her sobbing gradually grew louder...

"Shut up!" Long Jie shouted again, frightening the girl into stopping immediately. She stared blankly, not daring to say a word.

Seeing her eyes red from crying, Long Jie felt a little pity as well. He had to admit that the girl before him was very cute. Other than her undeveloped chest, everything else about her was quite lovely.

But in order to make her understand, Long Jie forced himself to remain stern and said fiercely, "Remember this: only the weak have tears. The strong make others shed tears. Your fate is in your own hands. Only through hard work can you make it become what you want!"