As the saying went, even the strongest defenses would eventually fail. No one could keep going forever.
Under the unrelenting rain of arrows, the girl was soon covered in wounds.
Just then, another arrow shot straight at her from the front. She leaned backward, and it skimmed past her nose. Catching it, she spun horizontally through the air, rotating several times to bleed off its momentum, then hurled it back in the direction it had come from.
A scream rang out. A masked man in black had been struck by the arrow and fell from a tree.
Before the girl could catch her breath, a bewitching melody suddenly echoed through the forest.
Her mind reeled. In an instant, an arrow shot at her from behind. Unable to dodge in time, she was pierced through the right shoulder. Enduring the pain, she pulled out the arrow and hurled it back, killing another archer Martial Soul Soul Master.
At that moment, the graceful black figure who had been hiding in the shadows could no longer hold back. Seizing her chance, she released the same Martial Soul as the girl. There was one difference, however: four Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, and purple—shone beneath the first woman's feet. She was clearly a Soul Ancestor.
The graceful black figure struck with a claw, sending the girl flying and splattering blood everywhere.
"Zhuqing, my dear little sister, this time you won't escape my grasp." The graceful black figure slowly emerged from the shadows. Moonlight spilled down, revealing a charming face that bore a three- or four-tenths resemblance to the girl's.
"So it really was you, Zhu Zhuyun." The girl called Zhuqing took a deep breath. Her dark eyes grew even colder as she swung the claws of her Hell Spirit Cat and attacked Zhu Zhuyun.
Zhu Zhuyun evaded with ease. Zhu Zhuqing was already at the end of her strength. Dodging as she went, Zhu Zhuyun teased with a smile, "Dear sister, if I could, I truly wouldn't want to kill you. Come back with me, and I promise you can live out the rest of your life in peace."
"Go back? So you can imprison me and then cruelly kill me? Zhu Zhuyun, your face makes me sick." As she spoke, the two Soul Rings around Zhu Zhuqing lit up at once. Her first Soul Skill, Hell Stab, and second Soul Skill, Hell Hundred Claws, burst forth.
Her perfect body glowed with a cold purple light as she spiraled through the air toward Zhu Zhuyun.
Meanwhile, as the Zhu sisters fought each other in a deadly struggle, another scene was unfolding in a different corner of the Dark Forest.
A young man had pitched a tent and sat by a campfire, happily roasting a Soft Bone Rabbit he had just caught.
He was a refined-looking boy, dressed in fine clothes and appearing around twelve or thirteen years old. Over a meter and seventy centimeters tall, he wore a fitted black outfit. A blue gemstone bracer on his wrist stood out. The heat rising from the campfire stirred his short black hair. He had fair skin, a calm bearing, and handsome features. Unfortunately, every so often, his face would take on a displeased expression.
He was none other than Lan Si, who had just broken through to level thirty and was preparing to enter the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain his third Soul Ring.
More than five years had passed, and Lan Si had finally graduated from Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
Given his talent, Nuoding Academy had planned to recommend him directly to an intermediate or even advanced Soul Master Academy. Many schools had sent him invitations, but Lan Si had turned them all down.
Yu Xiaogang in particular had sought him out every so often ever since Lan Si had defeated Xiao Wu with his first Soul Skill.
He would either promote his own theories and hint that Lan Si should take him as a master, or shower Shrek Academy with praise. He claimed it had abundant teaching resources, was a gathering place for monsters, and had more than two Soul Saints and several Soul Emperors as instructors. He even boasted that its most outstanding student had become Spirit Hall's youngest elder. Yet he never mentioned the teaching environment.
In short, he was trying to persuade Lan Si to attend Shrek Academy.
Eventually, Lan Si got so fed up that he put on an admiring expression and casually asked, "Shrek Academy only accepts students who are twelve years old, and it's been around for barely over twenty years. To become an elder of Spirit Hall, you have to be a Titled Douluo. So even if that student graduated in Shrek's first class, he'd only be a little over thirty now. Who is this Titled Douluo under forty?"
Yu Xiaogang had gone completely blank. Under the contemptuous gazes of the students and teachers, his old face flushed red, and he fled in humiliation.
After that, Yu Xiaogang never bothered Lan Si again.
There was no way Lan Si would take him as a master—not in this lifetime. Most of his theories were wrong, and the useful ones were things Lan Si already knew. Why would he ever become his disciple? Whenever Lan Si remembered how, while he was hunting his first Soul Ring, Yu Xiaogang had condescendingly urged him to take a support path and absorb some trash like Soul Power Holy Wood, he could barely stop himself from pulling out his Semi-automatic Pistol and shooting him.
As for Shrek, apart from Little Kitten, who interested Lan Si, it had little else to offer. Its teaching quality was nothing special; it had no resources and no facilities, and its students were simply left to fend for themselves. If they accomplished anything afterward, Shrek took the credit for teaching them well. If they faded into obscurity, the blame fell on the students' incompetence. Once they left, they weren't even allowed to say they had studied at Shrek.
Good grief, wasn't that just like a pyramid scheme back on Blue Star?
Lan Si wasn't interested in the other small-time academies, either. Skywater Academy was worth considering, ahem, but unfortunately, they wouldn't accept him.
After weighing his options, Lan Si finally chose Blue Tyrant Academy and secured a place there.
Why Blue Tyrant Academy?
There was only one reason: it was close to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in the Sunset Forest.
Lan Si, who knew the original story of Douluo well, remembered that when Shrek first arrived in Heaven Dou City, Prince Xue Xing had asked Dugu Bo to stand up for Xue Beng and teach Shrek a lesson. Dugu Bo then learned from Dugu Yan that Tang San had cured the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison. He set his sights on Tang San, attacked him that very night, and took him back to the Sunset Forest.
In other words, during that period, Dugu Bo would be away from the Sunset Forest for at least a full day.
Lan Si could take advantage of that opportunity to loot the place.
By the time Tang San came back, it wouldn't have anything to do with him, Lan Si.
Let Tang San do whatever he wanted.
Lan Si's first choice had originally been Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but unfortunately, it only accepted nobles. That path was closed to him.
During his six years in Nuoding, all sorts of things had happened.
Lan Si had lived a very full life. Every morning, he did a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats, and ran ten kilometers to train his body. Afterward, he practiced the techniques of the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art.
He spent the morning in class, the afternoon at Nuoding Academy's library, and later sneaking into the blacksmith shop to learn Storm Cloak and make firearm parts.
At night, he cultivated the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art to increase his Soul Power. He had almost no free time.
PS: Extra update! Please collect and vote! First update.
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