Douluo: I, Unrivaled Thief, Explosive King Returns

Zhu Zhuqing did not fall behind either. With her talent lacking, she could only work even harder to make up for it and catch up.

Meanwhile, at the Rose Hotel, Dai Mubai had just recovered from his severe injuries and was busy plowing the twin sisters, indulging in pleasures of the flesh.

As a result, he did not clash with Tang San and Xiao Wu, missing the chance to meet them.

Although, in the original story, the Rose Hotel clerk claimed that only one vacant room remained.

The Rose Hotel was a couples' hotel. As long as a man and woman arrived together, the staff would claim that only one vacant room remained.

Thus, just as in the original story, Xiao Wu and Tang San still checked into the Rose Hotel.

Little did they know that someone was watching them.

Mighty Lion Douluo appeared above the Rose Hotel, his gaze blazing as though he could see through the entire building.

His gaze landed on Xiao Wu, and his pupils suddenly contracted. "It really is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast Transformation!"

Yet the next moment, a furious shout came from behind him. "Who are you, daring to covet my prey?!"

"Die!"

In the darkness, a black figure wielding a Clear Sky Hammer shot straight at Mighty Lion Douluo like lightning, radiating murderous intent.

However, as a level ninety-seven Titled Douluo, Mighty Lion Douluo had long since noticed someone watching him.

"The Clear Sky Hammer? So it really is Tang Hao!"

He had learned from Unrivaled Thief that Tang Hao was watching over the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast Transformation, but he had not expected Tang Hao to be so reckless.

Without even figuring out his opponent's strength, he attacked directly.

"Although Tang Hao is only level ninety-five, I have no way to take him down without making a sound. If I act and let him escape, it may affect that brat's plans."

From his previous conversation with Unrivaled Thief, Mighty Lion Douluo had guessed that the latter seemed to have an even greater scheme in mind.

The Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast Transformation was certainly tempting, but the only thing truly useful to him was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Moreover, Unrivaled Thief had discovered it. Even if he obtained the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, it would not count as his spoils.

After pondering for a moment, Mighty Lion Douluo restrained the Soul Power around him and did not reveal the pressure of a Titled Douluo.

To avoid alerting the enemy, he pretended to panic and fled into the distance with a whoosh, leaving only an afterimage behind.

The next moment, the afterimage left behind exploded with a bang beneath the Clear Sky Hammer.

Tang Hao stood in the air, his black robe snapping in the wind. His eyes flashed like lightning, but he did not give chase.

"Someone from Spirit Hall?" His brow furrowed tightly, vigilance rising in his heart. No. If Spirit Hall had discovered Xiao Wu, they would not have sent only one person.

Because Mighty Lion Douluo had deliberately concealed his strength, Tang Hao could not detect his true level and secretly speculated.

"This man can walk through the air, so he must be a Titled Douluo. But he fled the moment he saw me. Perhaps he is a level ninety quasi-Titled Douluo or a Soul Douluo. But one thing is certain: he has set his sights on Xiao Wu."

For Soul Douluos and Soul Masters on the verge of breaking through to Titled Douluo, a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast Transformation was a deadly temptation.

After all, hunting a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast Transformation was far easier than hunting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

"Hunting Soul Beasts and absorbing Soul Rings is not something one person can accomplish. It requires teamwork." Tang Hao sneered as he swept his gaze around, thinking he had figured something out. "Trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain? You can't fool me with that!"

The phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand flashed in his palm before vanishing. He descended near the Rose Hotel, leaving only a sentence in the air.

"As long as I am here, no one will touch Xiao San's future Soul Ring and Spirit Bone!"

In Tang Hao's heart, Tang San, with his Twin Martial Souls, was his weapon for taking revenge on Spirit Hall. Nothing could be allowed to happen to him.

The next day, outside Suotuo City.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the forest, four figures were sent flying backward at once!

Rebel Son crashed heavily into a dirt pit, his face covered in mud as he clutched his chest and coughed up half a mouthful of stagnant blood.

Thief Father slammed sideways into a tree trunk as thick as a vat, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell to the ground groaning in pain.

Shifty-eyed Thief smashed into a mud wall spread-eagled, stuck so firmly he could not even pull himself free.

Zhu Zhuqing was no better off. The sleeve on her right arm had vanished, exposing a large patch of bruises, while several tears had appeared in her tight leather outfit.

"Is this your limit?" Unrivaled Thief planted one foot on a boulder, looking as though iron had failed to become steel. "The four of you cannot even force out fifty percent of my strength. No wonder you lost today's Soul Battle!"

During today's Soul Battles, the Great Soul Arena's officials had rigged the matchmaking, giving Rebel Son and the others powerful opponents. As expected, they all lost.

Rebel Son and Thief Father had already been defeated twice. If they lost once more, Unrivaled Thief would have to enter the Soul Ancestor division for Soul Battles at level forty.

They knew that once he entered the Soul Ancestor division, the Great Soul Arena officials would no longer target Rebel Son and the others.

At that point, the Great Soul Arena officials would no longer arrange opponents each of them was particularly ill-suited to face.

Then everything Unrivaled Thief had done would have been wasted.

In a fit of anger, he dragged them into the outskirts and personally served as their sparring partner.

"Boss, did you get stronger again?!" Shifty-eyed Thief pried himself out of the wall, his face full of resentment. "You were already stronger than us, and now your Soul Power is so much higher than mine. How are we supposed to fight?!"

Unrivaled Thief's expression was cold as iron as he said icily, "By your logic, if you encounter an enemy stronger than you, will you just wait to die?!"

He was truly angry. He had protected them too much in the past, making them overly dependent on him or the help of the masters behind them.

Sensing Unrivaled Thief's rage, Shifty-eyed Thief wisely shut his mouth and did not dare complain further.

Over the past six years, Rebel Son and Thief Father had been dragged out for sparring more often than anyone else. They had long understood that when taking a beating, one had to stand at attention.

Arguing would only lead to even more brutal sparring.

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned as she stared in disbelief at Unrivaled Thief atop the boulder, who seemed like a completely different person.

This was nothing like what she had imagined!

Unrivaled Thief had no time to deal with her now. He glared at the four of them and said in a deep voice, "Since you can still stand, then continue! If you lose again tomorrow, even if I do not participate in the Soul Battles, I will still spar with you separately."

Before his voice faded, his figure had already vanished from the boulder.

Before Rebel Son and the other three could react, they were sent flying one after another without the slightest ability to fight back.

In an instant, screams mixed with the sounds of trees collapsing and dirt spraying through the air.

At the same time, Shrek Academy in Suotuo City officially began its admissions.

Flender stared at the sparse line at the registration booth, his eyes twitching behind his lenses.

"Damn it. Because I knelt in public half a month ago and ruined Shrek Academy's reputation, the number of commoners coming to register has plummeted. In previous years, there would have been a long line by now, but today there are only a handful of people."

Moreover, someone had just been scammed out of their registration fee. The commoners behind them, who had not held much hope to begin with, left immediately rather than continuing to linger.

At the sight, Flender's heart bled.

In previous years, they would usually have the teacher in charge of registration display his strength. Those commoners would be dazzled and obediently get scammed out of their registration fees.

But times had changed. No one would willingly be taken for a fool.

Just then, a blue-clothed youth and a girl in a pink skirt arrived before Shrek Academy's gate.

Looking at the dilapidated Shrek Academy, the girl in pink furrowed her delicate brows and complained, "Xiao San, this is the academy your teacher told you about? Isn't this place far too run-down?!"

Tang San forced himself to say, "Teacher told me to take the test, so it must have something special. Besides, I never asked you to come. You insisted on following me."

"Sigh, as long as I can be with Xiao San, it does not matter if the academy is a little shabby." Xiao Wu seemed to have exhausted all her means and resigned herself to it.

The two arrived at the registration booth.

Li Yusong, the teacher responsible for accepting registrations at the gate, pointed lazily at a wooden box beside him. "The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Just put them in the box."

Tang San looked at the old man, who paid him no attention, and a trace of displeasure flashed through his eyes. Still, he obediently took out twenty Gold Soul Coins and placed them into the wooden box.

Seeing someone pay the registration fee, Li Yusong said, "Hold out one hand."

"Joining some lousy academy is this troublesome? What bad luck!" Xiao Wu huffed and held out her arm, her face full of displeasure.

Li Yusong said nothing as he pinched her fair hand twice. Finding that she met the admission requirements, he was about to announce that she had passed.

However, Flender happened to hear Xiao Wu's earlier words.

Already full of anger and with nowhere to vent it, he had been worrying about that very thing.

With a flash, Flender appeared at the gate, pushed up his glasses, and said, "You do not respect Shrek Academy. Leave. I will not admit you here!"

Xiao Wu also had a fiery temper. She snapped, "The admission requirements written here say that applicants must be no older than twelve and have Soul Power of at least level twenty-one. I meet both requirements, so why won't you admit me?!"

"Why?" Flender recalled kneeling before Unrivaled Thief, and his stomach filled with anger. "Because I am the dean of Shrek Academy!"

The pressure of a Soul Saint suddenly swept outward. Unable to withstand it, Xiao Wu staggered back several steps.

Tang San reacted swiftly and stepped forward to support Xiao Wu. As he looked at Flender, intense killing intent flashed in his eyes.

"You dare hurt Xiao Wu. You have already earned the right to die!"

Chapter 24: The Growth of Rebel Son and the Others, the Flaw in Wind Domain

Outside Suotuo City, the setting sun dyed the entire forest crimson.

Four figures attacked Unrivaled Thief from different angles, each displaying their own methods.

Rebel Son's Thunderous Ghost Whirlwind Dart tore through the air, and ancient trees snapped wherever its violet lightning passed.

Thief Father slammed a Diamond Ice Dust Fist into the ground, and icy spikes burst from the earth like a sword formation, sweeping toward him.

Shifty-eyed Thief's Fire Cloud Blade summoned lightning from above. Three bolts of lightning blade energy sealed off every route of retreat, making the air hum.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhuqing lurked like a phantom in the blind spot of the assault, silently charging forward.

"Now that's more like it!"

Unrivaled Thief burst into laughter as he watched the unending barrage of attacks.

He raised his right foot and stomped fiercely on the ground. In an instant, a large cluster of stone spikes surged upward and crashed into the incoming ice spikes, filling the air with dust.

Yet the dust did not confuse Unrivaled Thief. It was as though he had some kind of tracking lock on them.

When the Thunderous Ghost Whirlwind Dart sliced through the air toward him, the lion head on his right fist clamped down on the dart in a single bite.

Then he shifted sideways, and three blade lights swept past him, cleaving a vacuum through the air.

"Hm? Why did Wind Domain suddenly fail?!"

Unrivaled Thief froze. For an instant, Zhu Zhuqing vanished from his perception.

But by the time he sensed her again, she had already appeared behind him.

Unrivaled Thief felt a sudden chill at the back of his neck and leaned backward to evade.

With a hiss, a strand of hair drifted down before his eyes.

Zhu Zhuqing managed to seize the opening in the three-person combined attack and strike at me. That combat instinct truly deserves praise. She really is someone who survived her way out of the Star Luo Empire. The others' coordination is not bad either, but it is still not enough!

Unrivaled Thief praised them inwardly and began his counterattack.

In just a few minutes, Rebel Son and the other two were beaten to the ground. Zhu Zhuqing, unable to endure such high-intensity training, fainted outright.

Looking at the three people lying on the ground, Unrivaled Thief shook his wrist. "If you lose tomorrow's Soul Battle too, your extra training will double."

"No!" Rebel Son and the other two mournfully howled at the sky, yet they could do nothing about it.

Unrivaled Thief ignored them, picked up the unconscious Zhu Zhuqing, and walked back to the Wooden Cabin.

By then, a large barrel filled with medicinal bathwater had already been prepared in the new Wooden Cabin.

Unrivaled Thief had prepared this medicinal bath before sparring with them.

Otherwise, after beating them black and blue, how could they still participate in Soul Battles?

"I have truly worried myself sick for you people."

Unrivaled Thief reached out and removed Zhu Zhuqing's bloodstained leather outfit. He did not take advantage of her helplessness; he saw no evil and heard no evil as he slowly lowered her into the medicinal bath.

He had removed her clothes because it would speed up the absorption of the medicine, ensuring that even these superficial wounds would heal by tomorrow.

The instant the medicinal liquid submerged her wounds, Zhu Zhuqing unconsciously curled up like a startled kitten.

Unrivaled Thief also felt deeply moved by Zhu Zhuqing's circumstances.

Born into a family where she could not decide her own future, bound to a fiancé who fled and wallowed in decadence, neglected by her family, targeted for assassination by her sister, and so on.