Ning Fengzhi: I Will Declare War on the Evil Soul Masters

While Lu Ma played the game, time passed at a 1:1 ratio in the game and in reality, but there were a few exceptions.

One was story cinematics. Even if a cinematic said that thirty years had passed, only a few seconds might pass in reality.

Another was Lu Ma pausing the game. Even if thirty years passed, not a second would pass in the game.

So by the time Chen Xin and Ning Rongrong returned to the main hall of the sect, less than half a minute had passed in reality.

Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong paced back and forth inside the main hall.

"Uncle Bone, what if something really happened to Rongrong? How could I ever face anyone again?"

"Fengzhi, there's no need to worry. Sword said Rongrong was fine. Besides, don't you send her life-saving treasures every day?"

"But your legs are shaking nonstop, too!"

As soon as they received Chen Xin's message, they dropped what they were doing and rushed to his location. They only turned back after they got the next message—"Rongrong is fine"—and had been anxiously waiting for Chen Xin in the main hall ever since.

Creak—

The door opened. Chen Xin hurried in and set Ning Rongrong down.

"Rongrong is fine. I failed to protect her. It was my mistake."

"No, no, Uncle Jian, this isn't your fault. Who could've expected a remote outpost to have a barrier that could keep out a Titled Douluo, let alone a Titled Douluo guarding it?"

"Exactly. If you ask me, the people from Spirit Hall can't be trusted. They talk about how all evil soul masters should be killed on sight across the continent, but I say they're just using this as an excuse to strengthen Spirit Hall's position."

Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong comforted Chen Xin, but in truth, they had already hurried over to Ning Rongrong to check on their little princess.

To their relief, aside from a change in her Soul Power aura, Ning Rongrong was practically unhurt.

"Thank goodness!"

Ning Fengzhi let out a long breath, then widened his eyes and turned to the two men.

"Uncle Jian, Uncle Bone, do you remember what level Rongrong's Soul Power was before she left?"

"Fengzhi, how can you have such a bad memory? Even these old bones remember Rongrong was level 26—"

Before he could finish saying "level," Gu Rong sensed something was off and widened his eyes, too.

"That's right. When I went in, Rongrong was already level 30. That was one of the reasons I didn't go any farther."

"Level 30!"

Ning Fengzhi sucked in a sharp breath and immediately summoned the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's best healer to give Ning Rongrong a full examination.

Ning Rongrong, meanwhile, had a blank look in her eyes and hadn't spoken since returning, but every aspect of her physical condition was normal. Her mental strength was stable, too.

Her Soul Power had simply jumped up four levels.

"Rongrong!"

Ning Fengzhi stepped forward and held Ning Rongrong tightly.

"Daddy let you down..."

Feeling her father's embrace, Ning Rongrong's heart was a jumble of emotions.

She wanted to react, but the person controlling her had suddenly gone silent, and she still couldn't control her own body.

She felt as if she were still dreaming, as though she simply hadn't opened her eyes yet. Once she opened them, a new day would begin, and everything would go back to normal.

But that was only how it felt.

"Fengzhi, Rongrong may just be busy stabilizing the Soul Power in her body... Didn't they say that a sudden increase in Soul Power could destabilize one's foundation?"

Gu Rong searched for a way to reassure Ning Fengzhi.

"Right. It's all those evil soul masters' fault that my Rongrong ended up like this. Write a letter to the whole continent and tell them: I will declare war on the evil soul masters!"

Ning Fengzhi nodded firmly, then grew serious and changed the subject.

"Speaking of evil soul masters, the outposts Uncle Bone and I investigated were all very weak. Three or four Soul Grandmasters was the most any of them had."

"On our side... apart from an unexpected Titled Douluo, there was one Soul Elder, one Soul Grandmaster, and twelve Soul Masters. Rongrong defeated all the rest. Maybe she had a breakthrough after gaining some insight during the fight..."

"That's right. She was probably just scared witless. Rongrong, it's all right..."

Ning Fengzhi sighed and tried to comfort Rongrong, only to realize that his daughter had disappeared again.

"Where's Rongrong?"

"She went out."

Chen Xin and Gu Rong pointed toward the door.

"Ah..."

Ning Fengzhi let out a long sigh, returned to his seat, and began writing a mission report.

Ning Rongrong was strolling through the liveliest marketplace in the sect.

She wasn't shopping. She was gathering information.

The game had no quest markers, so every quest had to be discovered by asking around. With so many people in the marketplace, it seemed like the best place to find one.

An hour later, Lu Ma had memorized the map of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, including all the teleportation points marked on it.

The teleportation points in this game were silver-white rings carved into the ground. As long as he poured in Soul Power, he could teleport to another point.

He was disappointed that he hadn't heard about any worthwhile quests, but the treasure chests along the way more than made up for it.

As he went, he watched the Gold Soul Coins in his inventory climb from more than twenty thousand to more than thirty thousand. He'd also picked up plenty of Little Blue Bottles and Red Potions, which made him quite happy. Of course, he hadn't opened the chests for the Little Blue Bottles, Red Potions, or Gold Soul Coins. Nor had he opened them for the rarer Experience Potions inside. He was after something even rarer, something he'd never heard of before: Holy Soul Coins.

According to the description, Holy Soul Coins could buy treasures that unlocked a Second Martial Soul. But he needed a lot of them—ten in all.

He'd opened over a hundred chests on the way, but only got seven Experience Potions and a mere two Holy Soul Coins.

Before the sky darkened, he stepped onto a teleportation point and returned to the little house.

Though he'd only played for a little over an hour, Lu Ma was already sleepy. He had other things to do that night, so he quickly saved his game and logged off.

Ning Rongrong watched the whole time in boredom, not knowing what to say.

An hour ago, she'd heard a voice say, "Finally finished the noodles," and her body had started moving again, taking her out to wander the streets.

From her point of view, all sorts of treasure chests had suddenly appeared in the sect, which was usually perfectly normal. They were in strange places, too. Some were hidden in bushes, others sat on rooftops. She had no idea who'd put them there.

Whenever she opened a chest, someone nearby would say in surprise, "Why do I feel like I have less money?" Of everything inside, she only recognized the Gold Soul Coins. She knew what the bottled potions did, though. After drinking seven of them, she felt her Soul Power reach the peak of level 30.

Every time she stood on a silver-white ring, she was baffled when she appeared somewhere else the next moment.

In her twelve years of memories, she'd never known anyone who could do such a thing. So naturally, she assumed it was a power of the person controlling her, just like how he could completely evade those strange people's attacks.

Lying in a soft, comfortable bed, she felt numb by now. And after the whole day, she was tired and sleepy. All she'd eaten was bread...

"Yaaawn..."

She stretched...

Wait?

She could move?

Looking at her familiar fingers and legs, Ning Rongrong sat bolt upright, hope flaring in her eyes once more.

"I can move?"

Her surprised voice came from her mouth, and it sounded so beautiful to her.

She immediately got out of bed and rushed toward the main hall.

Whether she could break free of the control once and for all depended on this.

In the main hall, the three of them were still discussing the evil soul masters while coordinating with the other factions.

"When we analyzed one of the outposts afterward, we found something very strange about it."

"There were signs of a fight at the scene. One side was Ning Rongrong from our sect, and the other was the twelve Soul Masters and one Soul Elder we found there."

Ning Fengzhi spoke to the three people beside him: representatives from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Clear Sky Sect, and Spirit Hall.

Most of the grudges between the various factions meant nothing in the face of the evil soul master crisis.

"You're saying your Ning Rongrong defeated a Soul Elder and so many Soul Masters? Isn't her Martial Soul the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda? Could a support-type Soul Master really beat that many people?"

The Clear Sky Sect representative voiced his doubts.

"I find it hard to believe, too, but that's what the evidence suggests. Perhaps the treasures we gave Rongrong came in handy." Ning Fengzhi nodded.

"I've heard the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is fabulously wealthy and spoils Ning Rongrong rotten. Now I see it's all true."

"Cough. That's not the main point. There were two others at the scene. One was presumably a victim. Her Martial Soul was... Dark Blue Silver Grass. She's being treated at our sect and should recover soon. The other was a Spirit Hall spy. He's dead."

"Indeed. He was the one who told us about the five outposts. We didn't expect it to be a trap." The Spirit Hall representative nodded in agreement.

"An Evil Martial Soul? Sect Master Ning, you should think this through. She's a menace."

"We saved her for a reason. There were signs that another person had been there, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. But for some reason, he left before the battle began. Our people are still investigating."

"A Four-Ring Soul Ancestor? An evil soul master? Maybe he was just a rogue cultivator."

"Indeed." Ning Fengzhi nodded. "We have a theory, and I'm sure you all have the same one."

"You mean... the Holy Spirit Cult? That sect that suddenly rose to prominence? After staying quiet for so long, are they active again?"

The Spirit Hall representative looked surprised. As one of the members of the campaign that had once wiped out the Holy Spirit Cult, he knew they'd lost almost all their fighting strength in that operation. Only three months had passed, and he found it hard to believe they'd already regrouped.

But there was no other answer. Rather than believe a second Holy Spirit Cult had appeared, he'd sooner believe the remnants of the first had managed to rise again.

"Yes, I agree. To prevent the Holy Spirit Cult from making a comeback, I suggest—" The Clear Sky Sect representative slapped the table. "We should send Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings after them. We must catch this fish that slipped through the net."

"Agreed!"

After they finished discussing the evil soul masters, all that remained was a simple exchange of information.

They talked about everything from their sects' finances to the rising young talents. A while later, Ning Fengzhi gathered his things and saw the three representatives out.