Tang Hao

Dai Mubai had been completely captivated by Zhu Zhuqing's voluptuous figure. All he could think about now was ending the fight as quickly as possible and making her his.

And then there was that pink-haired girl beside her. Her figure was nothing special, but her face was pretty enough. He could have them take turns serving him later...

As he fantasized about the steamy scenes to come, he reached out with his tiger claw and grabbed for Zhu Zhuqing.

"Look out, Zhuqing! Dodge!"

Ning Rongrong had been watching the fight from behind. The moment Dai Mubai made his move, she tried to warn Zhu Zhuqing to get out of the way.

"Trying to dodge?"

Dai Mubai flashed a wicked smile. Before the person in front of him could retreat, he seized her arm with pinpoint accuracy.

With her wrist clamped in his grip, Zhu Zhuqing was like prey caught in a trap. No matter how hard she struggled, it was useless.

[Second Soul Skill: White Tiger Intense Light Wave]

As if he wanted her to feel despair, a blazing white ball of light slowly gathered energy in Dai Mubai's mouth. The moment it reached its limit, he would unleash it.

Watching the light about to burst forth, Zhu Zhuqing turned her head away and squeezed her eyes shut.

The tears at the corners of her eyes evaporated in the heat before they could run down her cheeks.

At that moment, she truly felt a little desperate.

The person she had fought through the crowd and traveled a thousand miles to find was right there before her...

"Stop!"

Terrified by the sight, Ning Rongrong covered her eyes with both hands and screamed.

Xiao Wu wanted to rush over and help, but Tang San stopped her.

"Brother, she's in danger!"

"Stay out of other people's business!"

Xiao Wu could be unreasonable at times, but she was always kind at heart.

Tang San's cold attitude left her feeling even more resentful toward him.

As the light wave was about to fall, Zhu Zhuqing could already picture what would happen to her next.

But anger and indignation filled her heart. She turned to look at Dai Mubai, her beautiful eyes fixed on him, her face etched with humiliation and despair.

Just as the energy was about to pour out, a pure aura of darkness appeared from nowhere and instantly enveloped everyone.

A black figure had appeared between the two of them. A powerful, domineering pressure followed, knocking everyone present to the ground.

"What's going on?"

A cool voice rang out, laced with anger. It made everyone who heard it feel afraid.

It was Xia Ran, who had come to watch the commotion. The system had alerted him that Zhu Zhuqing's dislike of Dai Mubai had skyrocketed, so he'd assumed the two had argued. He hadn't expected them to start fighting.

If he'd arrived a moment later, Dai Mubai's White Tiger Intense Light Wave would probably have blasted Zhu Zhuqing right in the face. The man really had no qualms about hurting her.

The people on the ground recognized the newcomer and saw the anger on his face. Not one of them dared to speak.

The Soul Power pressure had been aimed mainly at Dai Mubai. He had been knocked unconscious on the spot.

"Oscar! Explain!"

"Boss Dai took a liking to Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, and then..."

He didn't dare continue. Xia Ran had never thought much of Dai Mubai, and the two barely spoke even once in half a year.

"You didn't tell him they were new students?"

Under Xia Ran's questioning gaze, Oscar hunched his shoulders like a quail and kept quiet.

By now, Xia Ran had a general idea of what had happened.

There was no need to guess. That lecherous tiger had seen two pretty girls and gotten the wrong idea.

Neither girl was a pushover, especially Ning Rongrong. She had clashed with Dai Mubai in the original story, which showed just how little she could stand him.

"Xia Ran, kill that bastard for me!"

Chapter 7: Tang Hao

Ning Rongrong got to her feet after the blast's shockwave subsided. When she saw Xia Ran, she looked extremely agitated.

It was as if she'd suddenly found someone she could rely on. She no longer cared about hiding her identity. After being humiliated so badly, she was determined to make Dai Mubai pay.

"I'm the daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's leader. If you help me kill him, you'll be an honored guest of my sect from now on."

"I'll give you a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. No! Five hundred thousand..."

But Xia Ran didn't want to hear the Little Demoness ramble on. She wasn't even a character in his system quests, so he couldn't be bothered to waste time on her.

"Enough. Settle down."

"If you want him dead, get someone from your own sect to do it. I don't take jobs like that."

"Why?"

Ignoring Ning Rongrong, who was still worked up, Xia Ran turned to Zhu Zhuqing.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

The girl's answer was as brief and decisive as ever, but her eyes darted away.

He gave everyone a quick check with his Spiritual Power and found that Dai Mubai was the only one who had passed out. The others were all right.

"Carry Dai Mubai back."

"Give these people a few sausages."

"You three girls, pick a wooden cabin for your dorm. Xiao Wu, go look after the injured."

"And you, pick a dorm yourself."

Tang San's heart tightened when Xia Ran suddenly addressed him. He didn't dare meet his gaze, and slunk off to pick a dorm.

The enormous crisis had been resolved the instant Xia Ran appeared. Everyone found it a little hard to believe.

Xia Ran was honestly fed up with these people. He'd been gone for just a little while, and they'd already caused such a commotion.

The key was that none of those old guys had come out to deal with it. In the end, he'd had to step in himself.

If he'd arrived a little later, Zhu Zhuqing might have been disfigured.

"I Have a Big Sausage!"

As everyone stood there dazed, Oscar recited his lewd Soul Skill incantation.

Even Tang San was taken aback. He looked at Oscar strangely.

"Don't worry. The incantation for my Soul Skill is just a little weird. The effect is great~"

Oscar scratched his head awkwardly as he held out a dark brown sausage to Ning Rongrong.

He'd offered it to her first. He couldn't help it—he liked her.

"Ah!!!"

Ning Rongrong looked horrified, as if she'd just seen something terrifying. She screamed even louder than before and kicked Oscar between the legs.

"Ugh! Aaaah!!!"

His outstretched hand clenched in pain, crushing the sausage to bits on the spot.

The shrieks of a man and a woman echoed through the air, making Xia Ran lose his patience.

"Ugh, I can't with you people..."

Xia Ran was exhausted. Less than half a day had passed, yet more had happened than in six months.

He didn't even want to deal with them anymore. Why did the road to becoming stronger have to be full of so many idiots?!

Watching the scene descend into chaos, he turned and left to find those old guys.

Zhu Zhuqing watched Xia Ran's retreating figure, her thoughts in turmoil as a complicated look came over her face.

"He's so strong! And he's about my age."

"If only my fiancé were him..."

[Zhu Zhuqing's dislike of Dai Mubai: 99%]

[System Reward: Darkness Domain evolved into Void Domain]

[Void Domain: Consumes Soul Power to deploy the domain. Increases Dark Attribute by 100% and Spiritual Power by 100%. Reduces enemies' Dark Attribute resistance by 100%. Within the domain, you can Devour your enemies' Soul Power to replenish your own.]

The system notification rang out. Xia Ran, who had his back to everyone, smiled.

"And it still hasn't reached 100%. No wonder they're part of the protagonist group. They really are hard to split up!"

That night, Xia Ran lay in bed, thinking about the system and the future.

There were only a handful of known female powerhouses on the Douluo Continent. Almost all of them had troubled love lives, so he figured that meeting them would trigger the system's corresponding quests.

What surprised him was that Zhu Zhuqing's dislike of Dai Mubai had skyrocketed in less than a day of contact. That last 1% would probably come within a few days at most.

He wondered what reward he'd get in the end. A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone would be ideal...

As he daydreamed, a deep, resonant voice exploded in his Sea of Consciousness. Even the considerable boost to his Spiritual Power from his Mysterious Cat Martial Soul nearly drove him to the brink of collapse.

"Back Mountain!"

Those two short words felt like a needle being driven into his brain.

His hearing had completely failed. Only an irritating ringing remained.

He hurriedly activated the Void Domain, enveloping the rooms of Flender and Zhao Wuji and using the two of them as charging stations.

He sealed his Sea of Consciousness with Soul Power and slowly organized his Spiritual Power. Only after more than ten minutes did his condition begin to improve.

"What's going on? It's the middle of the night! What are you playing at?!"