Tang San, standing nearby, also furrowed his brow.
Though he didn't blindly believe everything his teacher said—after all, he was a cheat in his own right—he still didn't think a six-year-old could break such an outrageous limit.
"Teacher is right. This really is too risky."
"Choosing such an aggressive Spirit Ring for his first one, without considering defense or staying power—that's a sure path to death."
Meanwhile, in a corner.
Dai Mubai of the Black World listened to Yu Xiaogang's pronouncement. His face, previously ashen, suddenly flushed with a sickly red.
He smiled.
The smile was somewhat ferocious.
"Hahahaha!"
"Let's see how long you can keep gloating!"
"A genius? I'd say you're an idiot!"
"Self-important and arrogant!"
"Just wait until you explode! Then I'd like to see whether that world's emperor still treats you like a precious treasure!"
His gloating gave his shattered pride a twisted kind of comfort.
He wished that version of himself would hurry up and die.
As long as that Dai Mubai got hurt, it would prove he was right.
It would prove that mediocrity was the true way to survive.
White World, Spirit Hall.
Qian Daoliu stood with his hands behind his back, watching the scene on the Sky Screen. He raised an eyebrow slightly.
"A first Spirit Ring nearing a thousand years old..."
"What boldness."
Unlike Yu Xiaogang, he didn't dismiss the idea outright. At his level, his perspective had long since gone beyond so-called theories.
"The Radiant Holy Tiger has a powerful constitution, far beyond that of ordinary Martial Souls."
"For an ordinary person, it would mean certain death."
"But if it's him..."
A glint flashed in Qian Daoliu's eyes.
"Perhaps he really can create a miracle."
Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes shifted as she lightly tapped her scepter with her fingers.
"That good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang is always judging geniuses by ordinary standards."
"Since this Dai Mubai dared to choose it, he must have the confidence to back it up."
"I'm very interested to see what kind of surprise he can bring this world."
On the Sky Screen.
Dai Mubai paid no attention to the doubts from either world.
With two nervous attendants following him, he ventured deeper into the forest.
The light around them gradually dimmed.
The air was damp and musty, with a faint trace of blood.
This was the Soul Beast Forest.
A place full of danger and the unknown.
Dai Mubai walked steadily, his senses fully alert. His exceptional talent didn't make him careless.
Even a lion used all its strength to catch a rabbit.
Just then.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
The bushes ahead suddenly shook violently.
A thick stench of blood hit them.
Then came the hurried, panicked sound of footsteps.
Someone was running for their life.
"H-help..."
A faint, tearful little girl's voice rang out.
Dai Mubai stopped, frowning slightly.
The bushes ahead burst open.
A small, thin figure dressed in black tumbled out.
It was a little girl.
She looked no older than five or six. She wore a tight-fitting black outfit, but it was already in tatters, and her body was covered in cuts from thorns.
Her little face was filthy, smeared with dirt and blood. Only her eyes, though full of fear, still held a stubborn glint.
Behind her.
A pitch-black Nether Wolf, its body giving off a faint glow, was hot on her heels.
The Nether Wolf's jaws hung open, saliva dripping from its fangs. It had clearly already marked the girl as its prey.
The girl fell to the ground. She tried to get up, only to realize she had twisted her ankle.
Despairing, she turned to face the slavering jaws lunging toward her.
At that critical moment.
She saw Dai Mubai standing not far away.
In that instant.
It was like a drowning person grasping the last straw.
She reached out a small, bloodied hand toward Dai Mubai and made a feeble grab, her voice trembling.
"H-help me..."
It was Zhu Zhuqing.
The young Zhu Zhuqing, before she had grown cold and before family conflict had driven her into a desperate corner.
At that moment, she was battered, weak, and helpless.
The viewers in the Black World felt their hearts leap into their throats.
"It's Zhu Zhuqing!"
"Oh my god, Zhu Zhuqing is so young!"
"What's she doing at the Royal Soul Hunting Ground?"
"Right, the Star Luo Imperial Family and the Zhu Family have been marrying into each other's families for generations. It's not strange that she's here. She was probably training, then got separated from her family."
Everyone began talking at once.
Meanwhile, Zhu Zhuqing of the Black World stood behind the Shrek group.
Watching her desperate younger self on the Sky Screen, she couldn't help trembling slightly.
That memory had been the nightmare of her childhood.
Back then, she had faced danger like this, too.
She had hoped that her fiancé would come out of nowhere and save her like a hero.
But he hadn't.
Nothing had happened.
She had struggled on the brink of death by herself, surviving only after sustaining a body full of scars.
And what had Dai Mubai been doing at the time?
He'd met her, then chosen to abandon her!
The scene on the Sky Screen showed a moment of deadly peril.
The Nether Wolf's foul breath was almost on young Zhu Zhuqing's face.
There was no disguising the greed in its eyes. To the beast, this tender-skinned human child was a delicious meal delivered right to its doorstep.
Zhu Zhuqing closed her eyes in despair.
She was just a child.
Even though she had awakened her Martial Soul, she had no combat experience, and her ankle was injured. Facing a ferocious Spirit Beast, her fate seemed sealed.
Many viewers in the Black World couldn't bear to watch and turned away.
They knew this had happened in the past, and they knew Zhu Zhuqing in that world had survived, but witnessing the scene firsthand still made their hearts ache.
Only Dai Mubai of the Black World had a near-mad gleam in his eyes.
He stared fixedly at the Sky Screen.
Inside, he roared.
How could he save her?
How?
He hadn't even obtained his First Spirit Ring. He had no Spirit Skills, and not even a decent weapon.
Against a Nether Wolf known for its speed and offense, the slightest mistake could get his throat torn out.
Even with the White Tiger Martial Soul, he couldn't withstand a Spirit Beast's bite without Soul Power to empower him.
"Run! What are you standing there for, you idiot?"
Someone in the Black World crowd couldn't help shouting.
And yet.
Dai Mubai on the Sky Screen didn't run.
He didn't even release his Martial Soul.
Facing the Nether Wolf as it pounced at him, the six-year-old merely shifted to one side.
The movement was effortless.
It was as if he were strolling in his own backyard, casually swatting away an annoying fly.
There were no fancy movements.
No earth-shaking roar.
Dai Mubai simply raised his slightly childish right hand and clenched it into a fist.
Then.
He swung.
This seemingly ordinary punch produced a sharp boom as it cut through the air.
It was the sound of air being compressed by something moving at extreme speed.
Before you continue