The wind blew past.
It stirred up a few fallen leaves.
Zhu Zhuqing stared blankly in the direction Dai Mubai had disappeared.
He was her future husband.
The comrade she had once wanted to entrust her life to and face life and death alongside.
But now...
That retreating figure looked so wretched, so ridiculous.
The light in her eyes dimmed little by little.
In the end, all that remained was a deathly stillness far beyond her years.
"So this is..."
On the Sky Screen, the young Zhu Zhuqing murmured to herself.
Her voice was soft, yet it carried clearly across both worlds.
"This is my fate."
She didn't cry.
She simply turned around in silence and walked in the opposite direction.
Her stubborn little figure was heartbreaking.
At that very moment.
Black World, in reality.
The anger that had been pent up for so long finally erupted.
"Damn!"
Someone cursed first.
Then a torrent of abuse, like a tsunami, swept over the entire Star Luo Square.
"Coward! A complete and utter coward!"
"Even a little girl dared to face her fate and thought about joining forces with you to fight the enemy!"
"And you? You're a grown man, and you left a little girl alone in the garden and ran off by yourself?"
"And you called her a burden? You're the biggest burden of all!"
"A piece of trash like you dares call himself the Evil Eye White Tiger? You might as well call yourself the Evil-Eyed Rat!"
Countless rotten eggs, spoiled vegetables, and even stones flew toward Dai Mubai, who stood in the middle of the crowd.
Though Dai Mubai was a Soul Saint now,
none of those things could hurt him.
But the humiliation hurt more than a knife wound.
Dai Mubai stood there, frozen stiff.
His face alternated between ashen and flushed.
He wanted to argue.
He wanted to shout, "You don't understand! If I hadn't run then, I would've died."
But when the words reached his lips, he couldn't bring himself to say them.
The scene on the Sky Screen was simply too clear.
That fleeing figure had looked far too wretched.
At that moment, any explanation would have sounded weak and hollow.
Zhu Zhuqing stood not far away, watching him.
Her gaze was calm.
Terrifyingly calm.
"So you didn't leave back then because you hated the family's power struggles."
Zhu Zhuqing spoke softly.
Her voice wasn't loud, but it reached Dai Mubai's ears with perfect clarity.
"You were just afraid of dying."
"You were just afraid I'd slow you down while you ran."
"Dai Mubai, you disgust me."
Those words were the final straw.
Dai Mubai jerked his head up, his eyes bloodshot.
"Zhuqing! I was still young back then!"
"And... and didn't I wait for you at Shrek later?"
"Didn't we fuse our Martial Souls afterward?"
It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned Shrek.
At the mention of it, Tang San's expression grew even darker.
Tang San was fiercely protective of his friends, but he also valued a sense of responsibility above all else.
Abandoning one's fiancée to save oneself was a grave offense—even in the Tang Sect, it would get someone expelled.
"Boss Dai."
Tang San sighed and shook his head.
"This time, I can't speak up for you either."
"As a man, there are things you should do—and things you shouldn't."
"What you chose to do back then... was truly wrong."
Even his closest brother had said as much.
Dai Mubai completely broke down.
He felt as though the whole world was against him, and everyone was laughing at him.
Above them, the golden ancient script on the Sky Screen slowly faded away.
The scene shifted.
This time, it didn't jump far ahead in the timeline.
It was still the same year.
Black World, Star Luo Empire, the prince's bedchamber.
The lighting was dim.
Twelve-year-old Dai Mubai hid in the corner of the room, clutching an Ink Jade Bottle tightly in his hand.
His breathing was ragged.
He was like a drowning man who had seized the last straw.
Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled out the stopper and poured several dark-red pills into his mouth all at once.
They were Tiger-Wolf Pills.
They burned through one's potential in exchange for a temporary surge in Soul Power.
As the pills took effect, an unnatural flush spread across Dai Mubai's pale face.
He felt the Soul Power in his body boiling.
He even had the illusion that he was invincible.
"Level twenty-six..."
Dai Mubai clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him. A slightly crazed smile spread across his lips.
"Level twenty-six at twelve years old!"
"Even Dai Weisi wasn't this strong at my age!"
"This time, I can win!"
He got to his feet. The exhilaration brought on by the pills drowned out the fear in his eyes.
Just then,
"Bang!"
A loud crash rang out.
Someone kicked the bedchamber door open from the outside.
The heavy wooden door slammed into the wall, sending splinters flying.
Dai Weisi strode in.
He wore fine clothes and had a mocking look on his face. Several expressionless guards followed behind him.
"My dear little brother."
"I heard you've been locked in your room for days. Are you practicing some kind of divine art?"
Dai Weisi looked at Dai Mubai's bloodshot eyes in the corner. His nostrils flared, and then he smirked.
"What's that smell?"
"Oh, so you've been taking banned drugs that burn through your potential."
That one sentence shattered Dai Mubai's illusions.
Dai Mubai roared.
"Dai Weisi! I'm level twenty-six now!"
"Don't get too cocky!"
After shouting, he immediately activated his Martial Soul. A White Tiger phantom appeared. It looked fierce, but its aura was terribly unsteady.
He lunged forward.
His movements were quick, and he attacked with desperate determination.
However,
reality was often far crueler than one's hopes.
Facing Dai Mubai's attack, Dai Weisi didn't even activate his Martial Soul.
He simply raised his leg.
A simple, direct, ruthless move.
"Thud!"
His foot landed squarely in Dai Mubai's stomach.
Dai Mubai, who had just been ready to fight to the death, flew backward like a rag doll and slammed into the wall before sliding to the floor.
The Soul Power he had just gathered dispersed instantly.
Dai Mubai clutched his stomach and retched violently.
What he threw up wasn't just stomach acid, but also undigested bits of the pills.
"Useless is useless."
"You can't even take drugs properly."
Dai Weisi walked over, planted his foot on Dai Mubai's face, and ground his shoe against it.
"Level twenty-six?"
"Even if you were level thirty-six, with a useless heart, you'd still be useless."
"Father has decreed that the royal family doesn't support idlers."
"Since you like playing around so much, you can go join the army."
Dai Weisi bent down and patted Dai Mubai's cheek.
"Go to the front lines and serve as a centurion."
"Don't say your big brother doesn't look out for you."
The scene shifted.
A military camp on the border of the Star Luo Empire.
The conditions were harsh, and sandstorms swept across the camp.
Dai Mubai wore ill-fitting armor and sat in the seat of honor inside the command tent.
Meat and wine covered the table.
Though he'd been sent to the army, he was still a prince. Even as a mere centurion, no one dared treat him like an ordinary soldier.
Dai Mubai's face was flushed from drinking.
Several ordinary soldiers knelt before him.
They were wounded, clearly fresh from the battlefield.
"I told you to pour the wine. Why are your hands shaking?"
Before you continue