Beauty in Peril? Impossible!

"Bang, crack..."

By the time Zhuang Xingyu arrived, he saw Dugu Bo attacking a young, beautiful woman. Her looks were actually comparable to Zihan's.

Especially the way she persisted in resisting despite her severe injuries—she possessed both Lin Daiyu's sickly beauty and Hua Mulan's heroic spirit, giving her a unique charm.

Zhuang Xingyu remained unmoved and had no intention of intervening. He continued hiding in the shadows and observing silently.

If this were an ordinary protagonist, he would definitely rush in to save the beauty, and the woman would be endlessly grateful and declare that she wanted to repay him.

If the man looked ordinary, she would say she would repay him as an ox or horse in her next life.

If he were handsome, she would say, "A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring," "welcome him with open arms," "give him everything she has," or "impart teachings and fluids."

In this kind of setup, the man would surely be born a commoner while the woman had a noble status, and the two would develop feelings for each other. The woman would definitely have a fiancé, and her family would oppose it, taking her away.

The woman's fiancé would send people to suppress him. Like idiots, they would leap out one after another, from cannon fodder to experts, delivering experience points to the man. The man would gradually rise, then snatch the bride at the wedding, bringing the plot to its climax.

Afterward, he would gain the woman's family's approval, and together they would crush her fiancé, wiping out even his entire clan.

In the end, the woman would abandon the fiancé who had devoted himself to her and foolishly become one of some wild brat's harem. Following this template, the man would continue on to the next storyline.

Everyone would rejoice, except for the cuckolded fiancé, Green Hat Bro, and his family, who would be left hurt.

He would be sitting at home, having done absolutely nothing, when a green hat fell from the sky. His fiancée ran off with a wild brat! He himself got killed, and his family was exterminated too.

Green Hat Bro had treated his fiancée so well, even more devotedly than Boiling Goat. He had even given her betrothal gifts more than ten years in advance. Whatever she wanted, he gave her. He had invested so many resources in her, and the key was that she had agreed to it herself back then!

If you didn't agree, then say so earlier! Break off the engagement in advance! Clearly, your food, clothing, housing, travel, and cultivation resources were all paid for by Green Hat Bro. Even your family's rise had depended entirely on his support, yet you enjoyed all of it with a clear conscience.

And then you had to claim you were forced into it, that Green Hat Bro's power had forced you to agree. Playing the whore while erecting a chastity arch—what a joke!

With Green Hat Bro's family background, talent, and looks, what kind of woman couldn't he find?

Sure enough, it proved that saying: Accepting your betrothal gifts and presents ≠ agreeing to marry you; being engaged to you ≠ being unable to "deepen" relations with other men.

But Zhuang Xingyu was no ordinary protagonist!

His karmic ties with Dugu Bo had long since been severed. He did not know this woman, and he had no conflict of interest with either side. Helping either of them would bring him no benefits, so there was no need to create needless karma for himself.

Wasn't it much better to sit back and watch the tigers fight?

Besides, Zhuang Xingyu had come here because he had vaguely sensed a fortuitous opportunity, not for anything else.

Zhuang Xingyu remained as steady as an old dog, continuing to observe from the shadows.

When he saw Dugu Bo leave without going down the cliff to continue pursuing the woman, Zhuang Xingyu was greatly puzzled. That shouldn't be right!

Was Dugu Bo an idiot? In this situation, he should at least see her alive or see her corpse! What if she wasn't dead? Wouldn't that leave future trouble behind?

It seemed Dugu Bo still was not cautious enough.

Zhuang Xingyu pondered inwardly. This woman only has the cultivation of a Soul Ancestor, yet she managed to exchange several moves with Dugu Bo. She must have some treasure, perhaps even a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Dugu Bo even seems to have suffered serious injuries. Could it be that one of this woman's elders fought him earlier, severely wounding him before dying as a result?

This woman most likely has already died. After all, there are very few people who can survive jumping off a cliff and still gain a fortuitous opportunity. Only a few can emerge in an entire world.

If that's the case, then the treasures on this woman will belong to me! When the time comes, I'll dig a pit and lay her to rest. That way, I won't be taking her belongings for nothing. Zhuang Xingyu thought happily.

If there's nothing else to do afterward, I'll perform a little shamanic dance for you, send you on your way, and recite a passage from the Supreme Mysterious Numinous Treasure Scripture of Salvation! Dust to dust, earth to earth. Go in peace!

After watching Dugu Bo walk away, Zhuang Xingyu removed his disguise and stepped forward. Using the Chaos Bead to scan the cliff before him, he discovered a natural formation near its upper section. It seemed to be a Bewildering Formation, along with a Killing Formation.

The Killing Formation was not weak, roughly equivalent to the mid-stage of the Yuqing Eighth Layer. At this point, Douluo Continent had no systematic knowledge of formations—there was only an Awakening Martial Soul formation with no offensive power. They did not know how to locate a formation core and break a formation, nor did they know how to avoid a formation's attacks.

Thus, this Killing Formation combined with the Bewildering Formation could unleash power around Rank 94 on Douluo Continent, far beyond what Dugu Bo could withstand.

No wonder Dugu Bo did not dare go down!

However, in Zhuang Xingyu's eyes, these formations were merely rudimentary. The Qingyun Sect inheritance contained relatively detailed records on formations, and Zhuang Xingyu could easily dismantle this one.

Furthermore, according to the information relayed by the Chaos Bead, there were no other dangers on the cliff—not even a single soul beast.

Suddenly, the Chaos Bead in his sea of consciousness began to tremble, guiding Zhuang Xingyu toward the bottom of the cliff as though it had encountered something exciting.

The Chaos Bead sent him a message: "At the bottom of the cliff is a tiny bit of origin that was lost when the Chaos Bead shattered! However, treasures conceal their own brilliance. To outsiders, it will look like nothing more than a hard stone."

What? It was actually a tiny bit of the Chaos Bead's origin! Although it was only a tiny amount, if the energy contained within were released, it would be enough to rival the origin of Douluo Continent and the God Realm Origin.

It would be immensely beneficial for repairing the Chaos Bead! It would work even better than absorbing God Realm Origin.

Zhuang Xingyu hesitated no longer. He recalled the Puppet Zhuang Shushen into the Chaos Bead's space, then rode his ruler through the air and flew toward the bottom of the cliff.

At first, the upper portion of the cliff was covered in sharp rocks and tangled brambles. Occasionally, a few ordinary pine trees stubbornly survived in cracks between the stones.

At 150 meters below the cliff top, he entered the range of the Bewildering Formation and Killing Formation.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!" Several streaks of blue light, carrying the imposing force of a Soul Douluo, tore through the air as they shot toward Zhuang Xingyu!

Zhuang Xingyu did not panic in the slightest. He first activated the Shift Stars function of the Primordial Merit Domain, reflecting part of the attacks. Then, with a flash, he ducked behind the main formation core. The formation sensed Zhuang Xingyu's movement and immediately surged with attacks in the direction he had turned.

"Bang! Crack!" All the attacks struck the formation core, and the stone supporting the formation was instantly blasted apart. Zhuang Xingyu had already fled on his flying ruler a second earlier.

"Rumble, rumble, clatter, clatter." Broken stones rolled down the cliff face toward the bottom.

"Bang." "Clang." The sounds of rocks hitting the ground drifted up from the bottom of the cliff.

Once the main formation core was destroyed, the formation naturally failed. A naturally formed formation would naturally lose its power once the natural environment was severely damaged. When the lips were gone, the teeth would grow cold; the Bewildering Formation was broken as well.

This formation had no living being or formation spirit controlling it. It only had the function of detecting and attacking intruders. Once one found the trick, it could be broken rather easily. There was no need to summon Zhuang Shushen. After all, as a battle soul master, he should still gain more actual combat experience.