Inside the Silver Dragon King Palace, by the Lake of Life.
The puppet had shed Ning Rongrong's appearance. Now, she wore knee-length silver hair and a magnificent silver gown, its hem faintly embroidered with dragon patterns. Worry showed in her clear purple eyes.
She sat on the crystal coffin.
Just before Ning Rongrong left, she had acted on her own and secretly fed the Eight Spider Lances a drop of Silver Dragon Essence Blood. Under its influence, the Eight Spider Lances would evolve. And when they were activated, she would be able to observe Ning Rongrong and everything happening around her. She could also use the Eight Spider Lances to speak with Ning Rongrong on a spiritual level.
Her true aim, however, was to use this opportunity to get closer to the Holy God. It was a form of overstepping her bounds, and she had no idea whether it would displease the Holy God.
"This should... be all right, shouldn't it?"
-
"Though there were a few minor mishaps on this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest, all in all, we came away with quite a haul."
"After Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong, our Shrek Academy has gained two more monsters at the Soul Elder level."
As they made their way back to the academy, Zhao Wuji relaxed and cheerfully summed up their trip to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiao Wu was surprised to hear this. She knew Oscar had broken through, but there was another one...?
She hadn't seen Tang San absorb his Soul Ring, and assumed the injuries he'd sustained were from fighting a Soul Beast while searching for her.
"Two?" she asked.
Zhao Wuji nodded without looking back. "Xiao Wu, shortly before you returned, Tang San absorbed a two-thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider's Soul Ring, too."
"A Man Faced Demon Spider! So it was the same as Rongrong's?" Xiao Wu's eyes widened slightly before she looked at Ning Rongrong.
She seemed to remember that Ning Rongrong's third Soul Ring had come from the same Soul Beast.
Ning Rongrong was still thinking about how to get involved in the Third Saintess Ritual. When she saw Xiao Wu looking her way, she nodded.
Tang San had of course noticed. Thinking of how Ning Rongrong's Soul Ring was a thousand years older than his, he felt a pang of jealousy. But soon, envy crowded the jealousy out of his mind.
Having absorbed a two-thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider himself, he knew just how difficult it was.
Even now, he still remembered the strange changes that had taken place on his back during the final stage of absorption.
He reached back to feel his spine. Nothing had grown there. He must have managed to suppress that vicious energy.
It seemed he really had come out a little stronger than the Man Faced Demon Spider.
Then jealousy crowded out his envy once more.
What gave Ning Rongrong the right to absorb a three-thousand-year-old Soul Ring? She must have relied on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind her.
Without realizing it, Tang San's gaze toward Ning Rongrong grew a little unfriendly.
"Third Brother, what's wrong?"
Xiao Wu noticed Tang San's expression shifting beside her and asked with concern.
"Ah, it's nothing, Xiao Wu." Realizing he'd let his feelings show, Tang San quickly shook his head and changed the subject. "By the way, Xiao Wu, why did you come back with Rongrong?"
Xiao Wu drew a deep breath. So the question had finally come.
She turned to Ning Rongrong, trying to ask her permission.
But Ning Rongrong had just come up with a plan: first, call her father and Grandpa Bone over, then have the three of them use the stone to enter the ritual site. She was still wondering how to explain where the stone had come from.
Then she suddenly noticed Xiao Wu looking at her.
Why was Xiao Wu looking at her again? Ning Rongrong was confused.
In Xiao Wu's eyes, Ning Rongrong's bewildered reaction meant she had no objections.
All right, then. Let's see how well Sister Xiao Wu can make up a story.
Xiao Wu steeled herself and turned to the others, who had grown curious about the question. "That Titan Giant Ape carried me off, and that head—uh, the Soul Beast with a bull's head and a snake's body—carried Ning Rongrong off. Wouldn't you know it, after they got where they were going, the two of them started fighting. That's how Rongrong and I got rescued. And there happened to be a Soul Beast nearby that had been caught in their battle. It was badly weakened, and I'd just reached level thirty, so with Rongrong's help, I killed it and absorbed its Soul Ring."
Ning Rongrong was a little surprised. Was she supposed to know about all that?
She didn't. But it didn't matter; at least she wouldn't have to explain her part of it. As for what had happened in the Silver Dragon King Palace... she still had some pride. She couldn't bring herself to talk about being beaten for six hours.
So she nodded to everyone looking her way. "That's how it happened."
"Strange. You'd think creatures at their level wouldn't turn on each other."
Zhao Wuji rested his hand on his chin and pursed his lips, clearly puzzled.
"Haha, Teacher Zhao, don't sweat the details. Soul Beasts have conflicts with each other, too, don't they?"
"They both seemed like overlords of the forest. It's not hard to imagine they clashed over who got to be the top dog. I once read about two heirs fighting over the throne in the books kept by our sect. I think Soul Beasts can be like that, too."
Ning Rongrong was making it all up on the spot. If her story was exposed, it would only bring her more trouble.
Xiao Wu gave her a thumbs-up.
Her lips seemed to say, "Not bad, Rongrong."
Zhao Wuji couldn't quite follow her logic, so he nodded and accepted it.
Then, a moment later, it dawned on him. "Xiao Wu, did you just say you absorbed a Soul Ring?"
"Yep! Sister Xiao Wu is a Soul Elder now, too!"
Xiao Wu lifted her chin proudly.
"Xiao Wu, you're amazing," Tang San praised.
"Hehe."
-
On the morning of the fourth day, after a full afternoon and night on the road, they finally returned to Shrek Academy.
Ning Rongrong panted softly as she looked at the others, all of them out of breath. She was a little excited.
After all, her current level of fatigue was second only to Zhao Wuji's, and about the same as Dai Mubai's and Tang San's.
When they'd set out for the Star Dou Great Forest, she'd been the one most prone to tiring out.
There was no doubt her physical fitness had improved, and it was all—
Thanks to the training.
Ning Rongrong grew even more curious about the Silver Dragon King, who hadn't shown herself, and the Holy God behind her.
After Zhao Wuji announced that they'd have two days off, Ning Rongrong returned to the dorm with Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing. The other two had barely hit the beds before falling asleep, and she lay down, too.
Unlike them, Ning Rongrong was only lying in bed. Perhaps she'd absorbed too much life force in the Silver Dragon King Palace; she wasn't sleepy at all.
She rolled over, trying to clear her mind so she could fall asleep...
It didn't work.
Her mind was full of the beatings during her training in the Silver Dragon King Palace and her plan to disrupt the Third Saintess Ritual.
It was the morning of the fourth day. All told, she had about a day and a half left.
Ning Rongrong rolled over again.
A little while later, she rolled over twice more, with pauses in between. Listening to the snores beside her, she sat up impatiently and scratched her head.
"I'm not going to sleep. I'll take care of this first."
After murmuring softly, she got up and left the dorm.
Her destination: Suotuo City.
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