Clearly, the damage the three of them were dealing now wasn't greater than the amount the Shield Bar was restoring.
Watching the three teammates on the right start to look worse for wear, and seeing Tang San pull Xiao Wu to his side, Lu Ma thought rapidly.
Should he treat this part of the story as a scripted defeat?
In the original, the four of them had also lost at first. Later, Tang San had fought Zhao Wuji one-on-one and won by using the Tang Sect's techniques.
In other words, even though he was weak now, that wouldn't stop the main story from progressing. But if he let things play out this way, would he miss some Easter egg?
Some games hid Easter eggs in all sorts of strange places.
Besides, Zhao Wuji had a health bar above his head.
That Evil Soul Master girl from earlier had entered the story without a health bar appearing over her head. This time, the story had started only after a health bar appeared.
Could it be...
That the key lay in his third Soul Skill?
Just as the story's CG was about to play, Lu Ma had a sudden idea. He chose ESC and returned to the save/load screen.
After thinking it over, he chose the save from when Ning Rongrong had left the sect.
His intuition told him this save had come with the update, so it must be useful for something, like—
Fixing the bug that prevented the main story from triggering automatically.
After all, he had mentioned the issue to Dolphin Head yesterday.
But in Ning Rongrong's eyes:
The sky was falling!
Four days had passed since she ran away from home—four whole days—before she was certain she wouldn't be controlled and came to Shrek Academy.
She had reached the fourth test without any trouble, only to run into this mess.
Her father had once told her that Soul Masters with the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul needed to protect themselves, but she hadn't listened.
Then the burly man in front of her had taught her a lesson. That shockwave had clearly been aimed at her. Her companions had all leapt over it, while she had been left standing there, frightened stiff.
That wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was that she realized her body had stopped obeying her again.
And time had stopped, confirming that the guy had returned!
Remembering his joke about driving out evil spirits, she couldn't utter a word.
As everything around her kept rewinding through time, she climbed into a carriage and returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Ning Rongrong's mind went blank.
"Um... Let's go to Suotuo City."
What was this? Wasn't this just starting over?!
Ning Rongrong was going crazy.
In her eyes, Lu Ma had simply made her repeat her actions.
In truth, Ning Rongrong had misunderstood.
Lu Ma had originally planned to find a forest and hunt Soul Beasts.
Weren't Soul Rings usually obtained by hunting Soul Beasts? Though Ning Rongrong, as a support-type character, would probably have a hard time doing that.
But sacrifices, divine gifts, condensing...
He figured he had even less chance of getting involved with those methods.
But when he happened to open the character screen again, he discovered that the Martial Soul tab could actually be selected.
Beside the first, second, and third tiers of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, there was a small orb, each glowing brightly.
He moved the mouse over them and saw:
Revert First Soul Skill (consumes 1/1 Holy Spirit Pill)
Revert Second Soul Skill (consumes 1/1 Holy Spirit Pill; insufficient)
Acquire Third Soul Skill (hunt a Soul Beast; or consume 1/1 Holy Spirit Pill; insufficient)
Oh, so that was how you used Holy Spirit Pills.
Curious, he immediately reverted his First Soul Skill.
Black wisps swirled around the newly transformed First Soul Skill orb.
[First Soul Skill: Strength Amplification] [Can increase a designated unit's Strength attribute by 45%] [Reverted First Soul Skill: Trapped Beast] [Can absorb 45% of a designated unit's Strength and enhance oneself. The absorbed Strength can be used up to twice; each hit consumes one use.] [Special Effect: Directly suppresses Soul Beasts whose Soul Ring age is no more than twice its own.] [Soul Ring age: 1,400 years (automatically disguised)]
Lu Ma was quite satisfied with this effect.
With this Reverted First Soul Skill, he'd have an easier time obtaining his third Soul Ring, and he'd also gain some offensive ability.
So he decided to head straight to Suotuo City and try fighting Zhao Wuji.
There was another reason, actually: Lu Ma had no idea where to go to obtain a Soul Ring. He didn't know how to get to either Sunset Forest or the Star Dou Great Forest. Looking through the sect's library would take far too long, so he might as well go to the Star Dou Great Forest with the Shrek group.
"Let's go to Suotuo City."
Ning Rongrong told the coachman. Although he seemed a little nervous, he still set off.
Ning Rongrong spent a long time wondering what the person controlling her wanted.
Only when she noticed herself taking out a pill and "feeding" it to her Martial Soul, then watched her First Soul Ring turn purple before disguising itself as yellow, did she realize what he had done.
-
After watching a roughly ten-second cutscene showing Ning Rongrong's journey from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to the fourth test, the computer screen went dark again. Then the familiar words appeared.
[Immovable Wisdom King, Zhao Wuji, Level 76 Soul Sage]
"Ning Rongrong will support the three of us. Xiao Wu will lead the attack, I'll control him, and Zhu Zhuqing will flank him."
Tang San organized them at the front.
Ning Rongrong hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
The allotted time for preparation—one incense stick—was up, and Ning Rongrong summoned her Martial Soul.
"Seven Treasures turn, and out comes the Glazed Pagoda. Seven Treasures Have Names, first is..."
It seemed the game's story differed from the original. Before Ning Rongrong had even finished releasing her two skills, Zhao Wuji's attack had already struck the ground. A massive shockwave spread from beneath his feet toward everyone.
Ning Rongrong leapt up and easily dodged the shockwave, then landed safely and finished releasing her Soul Skill.
Zhao Wuji's expression shifted slightly.
"Oh? As a disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, you actually dodged that attack on your own?"
Before he could continue, Xiao Wu had already used Tang San as a stepping stone to reach Zhao Wuji, planting both feet on his shoulders.
Zhao Wuji wasn't concerned. He knew the amplification ability of Ning Rongrong, a second-ring Tool Soul Master, was only 30%... right?
The force on his shoulders exceeded Zhao Wuji's expectations. He began to struggle to hold his body upright.
Just then, Xiao Wu's next round of attacks and Tang San's control both arrived.
Zhao Wuji was having a rough time. He gave a cold snort and stopped concealing his aura.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black—seven Soul Rings appeared around him. His body grew enormous, snapping the Blue Silver Grass and stopping Xiao Wu.
Zhu Zhuqing's attack arrived just as Zhao Wuji had forced the Blue Silver Grass apart, when his defense was at its weakest.
"Clang!"
Zhu Zhuqing's second strike sounded as though it had hit steel. She could barely pierce Zhao Wuji's clothes.
Lu Ma watched Zhao Wuji use Martial Soul Possession, his body turning as hard as steel.
Immovable Wisdom King.
After Martial Soul Possession, Zhao Wuji seemed nailed to the ground, unmoving.
Xiao Wu's soft techniques were useless, and Zhu Zhuqing's strength was useless too.
Only Tang San managed to lift Zhao Wuji into the air with the Tang Sect's techniques.
With Tang San's cheat-like abilities and Ning Rongrong's support, the three of them finally drove Zhao Wuji's head deep into the ground.
Just as the three of them were celebrating, Lu Ma saw Zhao Wuji's Shield Bar appear. Then Zhao Wuji pushed himself back up.
Before you continue