Afterward, Zhu Zhuqing finished treating the wounds on Zhu Zhuyun and placed the bandages to one side. Tang Qinghe said, "Young Master, don't tell my sister about what happened today. If she wakes up and asks, just tell her that Young Master beat me and sent me running."
"I don't have the habit of taking advantage of someone's misfortune." Tang Qinghe nodded, then returned to the bonfire. He urged the two Nether Spirit Cats to circulate their Spirit Power and began cultivating.
Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing also followed Tang Qinghe away from the scene. They entered the cultivation state.
Zhu Zhuyun watched them leave. She could only cough softly before remaining where she was, waiting until Zhu Zhuqing finished cultivating and Tang Qinghe showed signs of recovery. Then she silently dragged herself away.
After a while, Zhu Zhuqing ended her cultivation beside Zhu Zhuyun. The simple knife wounds on her body had already been pulled out, and the wounds had been treated. Even the bloodstained clothes had been replaced. Her heart suddenly felt complicated.
She hurriedly looked around. Sure enough, she saw Zhu Zhuyun sitting beside the bonfire with the three people cultivating.
Zhu Zhuqing glanced at her, then stood and walked over to her. She asked, "Was it you who saved me?"
She wanted to ask whether Zhu Zhuyun's clothes had been torn by her. If Dai Mubai had been there, it would not have mattered much even if he saw her body. But if it had been another man, she would probably have wished she were dead from embarrassment.
At the same time, she could not help feeling somewhat awkward as she looked toward Tang Qinghe.
Since Zhu Zhuyun and Tang Qinghe had been able to sense the resonance of their Spirit Essences, they had clearly obtained a great deal of insight into martial spirits.
Dai Mubai was the same as Zhu Zhuyun. Zhu Zhuqing naturally felt the resonance between their Spirit Essences as well.
It seemed that even the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire possessed a White Tiger martial spirit.
However, Zhu Zhuyun had seen a strange woman beside the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire.
"Whether you call me sister or not is up to you. But, Qinghe, don't blame me. I've never appeared here, and your younger sister won't kill you. As for your wounds, they were all caused by you yourself."
Tang Qinghe choked for a moment. He stared at Zhu Zhuyun.
Zhu Zhuqing revealed a suspicious look. How had Zhu Zhuyun saved her?
Clearly, Dai Mubai had wanted her dead first.
Yet she had unexpectedly turned around to save her.
Dai Mubai was caught between two people.
"If your sister wants to kill you, then even if you raise your Spirit Power by ten ranks, you still won't survive. What you have now are only flesh wounds. With the recovery power of your Spirit Body, you'll recover in three to five days."
After Tang Qinghe finished speaking, he raised his eyes again and continued cultivating without another word.
Those words made Zhu Zhuqing fall silent as well. Seeing that Tang Qinghe no longer spoke, she could only cough softly, find a place, and sit down. She began cultivating and recovering her wounds.
Dai Mubai, however, seemed to have thought of something. He raised his eyes and asked, "You said that Tang Qinghe had been helping you remove your Spirit Essence. Besides Tang Qinghe, had she ever helped another woman like this?"
She looked toward Tang Qinghe and Zhu Zhuqing. Her gaze was somewhat unusual as she said, "Apart from Tang Qinghe, she has never removed another woman's Spirit Essence."
Zhu Zhuqing sat nearby, looking at Zhu Zhuyun's back. In particular, she stared at her chest. It was so full and shapely that it was enough to hook any man's soul.
At the same time, she noticed that Zhu Zhuyun's gaze toward Tang Qinghe was different from the way she looked at Dai Mubai and Dai Mucheng.
It seemed that Zhu Zhuyun had come here because Tang Qinghe had saved her.
Could it be that the two of them had already looked each other in the eye?
Clearly, these past few days, she had been trying to seize her little sister's man.
What did she care about?
Dai Mubai had decided to investigate to the very end.
Feelings were private matters.
She did not want to see Tang Qinghe one day become like her father, surrounded by women.
After some time, the sky gradually brightened. The three of them left the cultivation area, and Tang Qinghe opened his eyes.
He took out some water and dry food from his storage soul tool and began eating.
Tang Qinghe also woke Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai. Zhu Zhuqing was not willing to part with them, while Tang Qinghe silently wiped his knife.
Dai Mubai figured that this was probably his only chance to ask questions. After investigating Tang Qinghe and Zhu Zhuqing's mutual glances for a long while, he coughed softly and said:
"This is the young miss of the Zhu family. Since we've already met, let me introduce everyone. Yesterday, the one who spoke with you was Tang Qinghe. His martial spirit is the Nether Spirit Cat, with twelve spirit abilities and a thirty-six-rank control-type Spirit Master. The other one is his younger brother, Dai Mucheng. His martial spirit is the White Tiger, with eighteen spirit abilities and a twenty-one-rank agility-type Spirit Master. As for me, I'm Dai Mubai. My martial spirit is the White Tiger, with nineteen spirit abilities and a forty-one-rank control-type Spirit Master, already at the Spirit Master realm. You can call me Brother Mubai, or, like little Tang Qinghe, call me Brother."
Hearing the cultivation levels and ages of Tang Qinghe and Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing's heart skipped a beat. Dai Mubai was only nineteen, yet he had already surpassed his older sister by a great deal. His White Tiger martial spirit was also a top-level martial spirit that surpassed the Nether Spirit Cat by far.
Tang Qinghe became even more frightening. He was only twelve years old and already possessed nineteen spirit abilities. He was only slightly weaker than Zhu Zhuqing, yet his twenty-six-rank agility-type Spirit Master cultivation made it impossible for ordinary people to compare with him. How exactly did he cultivate?
Even with innate full Spirit Power, this was still terrifying, wasn't it?
With the Nether Spirit Cat martial spirit, Zhu Zhuqing could not help thinking that perhaps she could resonate with Tang Qinghe's martial spirit. It turned out that this was an extremely rare martial spirit resonance.
It seemed that he could defeat his younger sister.
As for Dai Mucheng, he had completely ignored Zhu Zhuqing's warning.
She coughed softly, then opened her mouth and said, "Zhu Zhuqing, martial spirit: Nether Spirit Cat. Eleven spirit abilities, twenty-one-rank agility-type Spirit Master."
"Twelve years old, twenty-one spirit abilities. Zhu Zhuqing, your natural talent is truly excellent. So what are you planning to do next? I'm going to establish Tang Qinghe and Dai Mucheng's entrance into the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. We'll also participate in the academy's elite competition held every five years. What about you?"
Dai Mubai spoke, and the two of them looked at Zhu Zhuqing. They seemed to intend to invite her to join Tang Qinghe.
However, Zhu Zhuqing's answer left Tang Qinghe stunned for a moment. "I'm planning to go to the Historical Archives Academy."
"Historical Archives Academy? You're not joking, are you?" Dai Mubai asked in disbelief.
During the three years he had spent in Star Luo City, Tang Qinghe had frequently heard of that so-called academy from him.
"You've heard of the Historical Archives Academy?" Zhu Zhuqing revealed a suspicious expression.
Dai Mubai said, "I've been there before, so I'm rather familiar with it. Although it is technically an academy that only accepts students who collect relics, it's called an academy in name only. In reality, it's merely an orphanage."
"They accept children regardless of their background and require applicants to be under thirteen years old. Their Spirit Power must be between twenty and twenty-five ranks to qualify. They take in all kinds of children, but they still can't find a second academy like the Great Spirit Hall Academy."
"Their partial education and poor resources can't compare with the others, and they have no martial-spirit cultivation system. The teachers' resources are also insufficient. The old dean judges people based on their status. If you have a powerful background, he'll flatter you; if you don't, he won't care whether you live or die. The group they recruit is already the worst among the academies. Those who succeed become academy staff, while those who fail become useless. They aren't even comparable to the students at the Historical Archives Academy."
"As for the graduation requirements, a student must reach twenty spirit abilities, possess forty ranks of Spirit Power, and hunt one's own fourth Spirit Essence."
"Since the Historical Archives Academy was established, it has recruited only five or six hundred students. Without exception, those students were all outstanding talents. Those able to meet the academy's conditions possessed at least seven or eight ranks of innate Spirit Power. Yet only a dozen or so managed to graduate. More than forty died while trying to obtain their fourth Spirit Essence. Their circumstances were pitiful. Because they had no good teachers, they often died in the process of obtaining their fourth Spirit Essence."
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