The next day, Luo Yan slowly woke up.
They had gone to bed early the night before, so the sun had just risen when they got up.
When Zhu Zhuqing woke, she realized she was once again cuddling Luo Yan, and her little face turned bright red.
This time, though, she was clearly more accustomed to it than before and didn't immediately jump out of bed.
"Come on, get up early. Yesterday, I told Da Ming and Er Ming to take you to hunt for a Soul Ring. Don't keep them waiting too long!"
Luo Yan had already sensed Da Ming and Er Ming's presence outside the door.
They were clearly waiting for Zhu Zhuqing to get up.
"Mm."
Zhu Zhuqing didn't object to Luo Yan's arrangement. She simply got out of bed obediently.
After waking Xiao Wu, Luo Yan freed himself from her grasp and got up too.
Only Xiao Wu stayed in bed, sleeping in.
After tidying up a little, Luo Yan led Zhu Zhuqing out of the room.
"Big Brother!"
When Da Ming and Er Ming saw Luo Yan come out, they hurried to greet him.
Luo Yan nodded in response.
Then he continued with his instructions:
"Da Ming, find Zhuqing a Soul Ring of around three thousand years. Any attribute related to speed will do."
"After refining my essence blood, Zhuqing should be able to withstand it."
"If her Soul Power breaks through level forty after she absorbs the Soul Ring, find her a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring too. Try to keep its age as low as possible."
He had thought this arrangement through carefully the night before.
According to the original story, under normal circumstances, a third Soul Ring should be around 1,700 years old.
Before absorbing an Immortal Herb, Tang San had already broken the limit by absorbing a Man Faced Demon Spider that was over two thousand years old.
With Zhu Zhuqing's current physique, absorbing a Soul Ring more than a thousand years old shouldn't be a problem.
After all, refining the Jiaolong Essence Blood would improve Zhu Zhuqing's physique the most, followed by her Soul Power and cultivation speed.
Although Zhu Zhuqing didn't have the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the improvement to her physique from that drop of Jiaolong Essence Blood was surely many times greater than what Tang San had gained from the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
Luo Yan had examined Zhu Zhuqing's physical condition the night before. A three-thousand-year Soul Ring should be within her limits.
The improvement to her physique after absorbing her third Soul Ring would make absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as her fourth one even less of a problem. The key was the third Soul Ring.
Hearing Luo Yan's words, Da Ming nodded.
None of this would be a problem for him.
When Da Ming nodded, Luo Yan turned to Zhu Zhuqing and asked with a smile, "Zhuqing, do you have confidence in yourself?"
"Mm. If it's what you say, I believe you!"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded firmly. Then she added, "I won't let you down!"
"Don't push yourself too hard. You still have me to back you up. If you can't beat Dai Mubai, I'll crush him with one hand!"
Luo Yan didn't want Zhu Zhuqing to feel too much pressure, so he patted her shoulder.
"Wait for me to come back!"
Zhu Zhuqing didn't respond to that.
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Luo Yan said nothing more.
After all, his plan might be somewhat risky for Zhu Zhuqing, but it definitely wouldn't put her life in danger.
Then Luo Yan took them out of the city.
"Luo Yan..."
Looking at Da Ming, who had transformed into his true form, Zhu Zhuqing hesitated.
And when she heard Luo Yan say they would fly there, she felt apprehensive about flying, having never been in the air before.
"Don't worry. Da Ming will keep you safe!"
Luo Yan saw that she was worried and comforted her with a hug.
In the end, encouraged by Luo Yan, she followed Er Ming onto Da Ming's back.
Da Ming carried them into the sky, then disappeared over the horizon.
Luo Yan glanced in the direction where Da Ming had vanished, then returned to the hotel.
With the contract in place, Luo Yan wasn't worried that Da Ming and Er Ming would harm Zhu Zhuqing.
After returning to the hotel, Luo Yan took another nap with Xiao Wu. Only after that did he set off with her once more for the Great Soul Fighting Arena.
As soon as they arrived at the Great Soul Fighting Arena in Suotuo City,
Luo Yan noticed that there were even more people there today than the day before, and most of the Soul Masters who had come were clearly stronger.
They had probably come after word spread about the challenge bounty.
A hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins were certainly worth the trip.
What's more, just forcing Luo Yan or Xiao Wu to use their Martial Souls would earn them ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.
The temptation was simply too great.
As yesterday, You Chunping was already waiting at the entrance.
As soon as she saw Luo Yan and Xiao Wu, she led them straight to the arena.
Today, the arena had been expanded to twice its original size by the Great Soul Fighting Arena's staff, and the stands had been enlarged to match. As a result, even more people had come to watch.
Although 99.9 percent of them wouldn't step into the arena,
they still wanted to see powerful fighters battle each other.
"Your Excellencies, today's challengers are all at least Soul Saints. There's also someone who has just broken through to Soul Douluo."
Once they reached the side of the arena, You Chunping began introducing the challengers to Luo Yan.
Although Luo Yan had said anyone could step into the arena whenever they wanted, the Great Soul Fighting Arena still had those who wanted to challenge them sign up in advance.
That was to avoid wasting time.
In a corner of the stands,
Dai Mubai, his face still somewhat pale, stood beside Flender and Ma Hongjun.
When he saw Luo Yan and Xiao Wu walk straight into the arena, disbelief filled his eyes.
He remembered Luo Yan's face perfectly.
Although Luo Yan had gravely injured him with his presence that day, Dai Mubai had never imagined that Luo Yan, who looked about as young as he was, would be the one the challengers had to defeat today.
Ma Hongjun had told him that a Soul Saint had been defeated by Xiao Wu the day before.
And Xiao Wu had won by a landslide.
Anyone could see that Luo Yan was definitely stronger than Xiao Wu.
In other words, Luo Yan was at least a Soul Douluo.
At the thought, Dai Mubai's already pale face grew even paler.
"Boss Dai, what's wrong? Did your injuries flare up again?"
As Dai Mubai's underling, Ma Hongjun was good at reading people. He immediately noticed something was off.
"It's nothing. I just saw my enemy."
Dai Mubai calmed himself and slowly shook his head.
"Is that the person who injured you?" Flender asked, curious.
Dai Mubai pointed to Luo Yan in the arena and replied in a low voice, "Mm. It's them!"
Flender frowned at that.
If Luo Yan was the one who had injured Dai Mubai, there was nothing he could do to help Dai Mubai get revenge.
Xiao Wu had already displayed strength above Soul Saint level the day before, and with Luo Yan on top of that, even Flender, a Soul Saint, and the teachers from Shrek Academy wouldn't stand a chance.
There was no way they could get revenge.
"Mubai, don't act rashly. We'll deal with your problem later!"
That was all he could do: calm Dai Mubai down for now.
If Dai Mubai acted on impulse and did something irreversible, they might have trouble getting out of the Great Soul Fighting Arena.
Still, Flender hadn't given up on the idea of entering the arena.
He figured that although Luo Yan had seen Dai Mubai, he probably hadn't seen Flender.
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