You Little Glutton

"It's you!"

Dai Mubai broke out in a cold sweat as Danheng stared at him.

No way, he chased me all the way here?

Is he going to stab me to death with one spear in the next second?

Where's Zhu Zhuqing?

Question after question raced wildly through Dai Mubai's mind, leaving him frozen where he stood.

Danheng merely watched him quietly without saying a word.

"Contestant! Please leave the arena at once! The next match is about to begin!"

The host's shout jolted Dai Mubai out of his daze. Ignoring Danheng's gaze, he staggered off the arena.

"Am I really that scary?"

Only after Dai Mubai had left did Danheng mutter to himself.

Dai Mubai: Yeah, sure, sure, you're not scary. You just stand there like some precious wild boss monster. One touch from you and I'm dead. If you're not scary, who is?

"Forget it. I should head back."

With Dai Mubai gone, Danheng lost the last of his interest and returned to where Zhu Zhuqing was resting.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Zhuqing had not gone to sleep yet.

"Senior, you're finally back!"

The moment Danheng returned, Zhu Zhuqing's sleepy eyes lit up at once.

"You... why aren't you resting?"

"Um, I was worried about you, Senior..."

Zhu Zhuqing trailed off before she could finish.

Worried that Danheng might run into danger? Even she did not believe that!

Who in Suotuo City could possibly put Danheng in danger?

It would already be a blessing if Danheng did not put everyone in Suotuo City in danger!

"You still haven't absorbed that Soul Bone?"

Noticing that Zhu Zhuqing's Soul Power was still at level twenty-seven, Danheng frowned.

"I..."

Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head, resting her chin against her chest. Her hands overlapped in front of her, making her look like a child being scolded by an elder.

"Absorb it now. Aren't you going to register at Shrek Academy tomorrow?"

"If you need to hunt a Soul Beast, I can help you as well."

"Th-thank you, Senior."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded obediently, looking somewhat shy. She was practically a completely different person from how she had looked while speaking to Dai Mubai during the day.

"No need to be so polite. We traveled together, so we can be considered companions. Once we part ways, there may not be many chances for us to meet again."

Danheng said it as though it were only natural. Once he left this place, he would begin his Trailblazing journey across the continent. Who knew whether they would ever run into each other again?

"Mhm."

Zhu Zhuqing obediently began absorbing the Moonshadow Netherwolf Soul Bone, but because her strength was insufficient, something nearly went wrong.

The energy within the Soul Bone was far too immense for Zhu Zhuqing, and it even contained the Moonshadow Direwolf's Remnant Soul. It was far beyond what she could handle at her current level.

Fortunately, Danheng was watching over her. Though he had only inherited the Dragon Lord's Power of Destruction, harmonizing the energy of a Soul Bone from Douluo Continent was child's play for him.

As for the Moonshadow Direwolf's Remnant Soul, it was scared out of existence the instant it saw Danheng.

The power contained within the Soul Bone helped Zhu Zhuqing break through to level thirty in one go.

Zhu Zhuqing had a feeling that after absorbing a Soul Ring, she might be able to raise her Soul Power by several more levels at once.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it through. I nearly caused you harm."

After the Soul Bone was absorbed without any real danger, Danheng showed a rare look of self-reproach before Zhu Zhuqing.

"No, no, Senior. I didn't explain clearly why I hadn't absorbed it, and I was the one who acted rashly without thinking everything through. That's why this happened."

Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly comforted him. What status did she have? How could she deserve an apology from Danheng?

The Zhu Family? The Star Luo Empire's imperial family? How many strikes from Danheng could they withstand?

Besides, Danheng had acted out of kindness, and when something went wrong during her absorption, he had even stepped in to resolve the crisis for her.

No matter how she looked at it, she had no reason to blame Danheng.

At least, that was what Zhu Zhuqing thought.

"It's getting late. Rest first."

The next day, when Zhu Zhuqing woke up, she saw Danheng waiting beside her with a barely living leopard-type Soul Beast in hand.

"Senior, this is...?"

Zhu Zhuqing swallowed as she stared at the medium-sized leopard in astonishment.

"A seventeen-hundred-year Netherclaw Panther. Its age and attributes should suit you well."

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned. It had already been close to the latter half of the night when Danheng returned yesterday, and only three or four hours had passed since she finished absorbing the Soul Bone.

In such a short time, Danheng had caught a Soul Beast suited to her and brought it back?

Soul Beasts of this age are simply too weak. If this Netherclaw Panther hadn't been so quick-witted, it really wouldn't have been easy for me to capture one alive.

Danheng muttered to himself. Capturing a thousand-year Soul Beast alive really had been rather difficult for the Little Azure Dragon.

After all, without using Path power or the Cloud-Piercing Spear, even with only his physical martial skills, he could kill a thousand-year Soul Beast with a single blow.

Even when he deliberately held back, the Soul Beasts would usually breathe their last not long after taking one hit.

This Netherclaw Panther had only lasted until now because of its quick reactions after being injured.

"Senior, I... I'm not worth you going to such trouble for, am I?"

If not for the filter of respect she held for Danheng as a senior, Zhu Zhuqing would have dearly loved to say:

I have drifted through life alone for half my years, regretting only that I had not met you sooner, Senior!

"Trouble? Hardly."

Danheng paused, then shook his head. This truly was nothing to him.

It was only a matter of taking a few steps. If thousand-year Soul Beasts had not been so hard to capture alive, he could have returned before Zhu Zhuqing had even been asleep for long.

Compared to that spur-of-the-moment idea he had back then...

Forget it. It was all in the past.

Catching this Soul Beast could also be considered compensation for what had happened last night, when Zhu Zhuqing nearly ran into trouble absorbing the Soul Bone because of his oversight.

With his abilities, he could naturally ignore the rules of this continent.

But whether now or in the future, those by his side would be people of this continent. He would need to take more things into consideration in how he acted from now on.

"Absorb the Soul Ring first. Once you've registered at Shrek, I'll begin Trailblazing across this continent."

Danheng had already formed a few ideas and planned to put them into action as soon as possible.

At his speed, traveling across the entire continent would not take much time.

The question was whether such "Trailblazing" would allow the train carriage to solidify.

He would find out once he tested it.

Hopefully, this truly was Divine Power left behind by Akivili, rather than one of Aha's pranks.

"...I understand."

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment, then ended the Netherclaw Panther's life with a single slash, granting it a swift death.

After all, while Danheng had been carrying it around, it had not dared move even a little.

That casual strike of his had nearly blasted half its body apart!

After Zhu Zhuqing absorbed the Netherclaw Panther's Soul Ring, her level unexpectedly rose straight to thirty-four. She was only one step away from level thirty-five.

"I broke through that easily?"

Zhu Zhuqing felt dazed. Yesterday, she had still been a level twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster, yet today she had risen seven levels in a row and reached level thirty-four?

Was cultivation really this easy?

Then what had all the suffering she endured before been for?

Danheng: Guess you're quite the little glutton.

(I got too caught up having fun this afternoon and forgot to schedule the chapter. Sorry, everyone.)