In an instant, countless streams of gray air poured madly from Zhongli Tian's chest. As he lay half-dead, he let out a shrill scream. But as a human pincushion pinned to the ground by the Angel Holy Sword, all he could do was wail and howl.
Qian Yuhan's eyes shone as he let the Angel Holy Sword continuously feed golden light back to him.
Zhongli Di wailed for a full ten seconds in the holy flames wrapped around the Angel Holy Sword's blade before he was burned to ash.
His older brother, Zhongli Tian, was slightly stronger than him and struggled for two more seconds.
And so, Zhongli Tian, Zhongli Di, and Zhongli Ren—the three Evil Soul Master brothers who mainly fought by controlling beast souls—successfully unlocked the hidden achievement of being born on the same day, month, and year, and dying on the same day, month, and year.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. They died far too quickly."
After speaking, the Rakshasa Phantom turned to look at Qian Yuhan, whose aura was now incomparably focused after he had "purified" three Evil Soul Douluos in succession, and asked with a smile, "How does it feel?"
"Not bad," Qian Yuhan answered honestly.
"Then let's go."
"Okay."
After putting away his Soul Rings and successfully purifying three eight-ring Evil Soul Masters, Qian Yuhan kept a low profile, concealing his merit and fame, then turned to head deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Realizing that she would definitely regret it if she didn't do something now, Xu Tianzhen's mind raced. In a rare moment of cleverness, she came up with a perfect excuse.
"Auntie..." Xu Tianzhen lifted her head and tugged hard on Xu Yu's clothes. "Did you see? My lifesaver is leaving! Our Xu family is, after all, part of the honorable Sun-Moon Royal Family. How can we not repay someone who helped us? Say something, do something, and keep him here so we have a chance to repay him!"
"?"
At that, Xu Yu's old face twitched slightly. She opened her mouth, her lips moving a few times, trying to speak but stopping herself.
In the end, with ironclad self-control, she managed to choke back the whole string of words that would earn her a hundred strokes of the cane when they got home.
Instead, she silently grumbled to herself:
Ber, Princess, maybe take a look at your expression right now. Are you trying to keep your lifesaver here so you can repay him?
You clearly think the young man's handsome and talented, and you're lusting after his... Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'd be embarrassed to call you out to your face...
Of course, grumbling was grumbling, and teasing was teasing.
If it was a reasonable request from their little princess, they still had to do their best to fulfill it if they could.
Besides, she was genuinely interested in this exceptionally talented young man.
If they could forge a good connection here, it would be a wonderful thing, both for the empire and for herself.
Thinking this, Xu Yu nodded to Xu Yan and made a subtle expression that meant, "Go ahead."
Xu Yan understood at once. He raised his hand and called out to Qian Yuhan with an imposing air, "Young friend, please wait!"
"!!!"
The moment Xu Yan said, "Young friend, please wait," Qian Yuhan shivered several times.
To him, that sudden, bizarre feeling was like someone pulling open his collar in the middle of winter and stuffing a huge snowball down it.
"?"
Qian Yuhan slowly turned halfway around and looked suspiciously at the muscular man behind him, who had a pair of striking, alluring eyes. He couldn't help wondering, What in the world is going on? Why does something feel... off?
Suppressing the strange feeling that had suddenly come over him, Qian Yuhan paused to collect himself, then said softly, "Is there something you need?"
"Just now, my princess was in danger. If you hadn't stepped in to help, I'm afraid she would have..."
"Stop right there."
Before Xu Yan could finish his pleasantries, Qian Yuhan, who hated trouble, cut him off. "I think you've misunderstood. I wasn't trying to save anyone. I was simply eliminating those Evil Soul Masters who deserved to be killed by everyone!"
"It was a trivial matter, nothing worth mentioning. There's no need to talk about thanks or repayment."
"Young friend, you certainly are... frank."
Xu Yan had reached the Soul Douluo rank ten years ago, and it had been a long time since a younger generation had spoken to him like this. He was now feeling rather embarrassed.
He gave an awkward grin and grumbled inwardly:
Good grief... This kid... sure knows how to talk! You've shut down the conversation so completely—what am I supposed to say now?
"Princess... maybe we should..." Xu Yan had just started to suggest that they give up when he looked down and saw Xu Tianzhen staring at him with her bright, watery eyes, puffing up her cheeks in anger.
In those shining, agate-like eyes, there was no frustration or anger, nor the hurt or sulking that was so common from her. What they held was a feeling called: You're so useless. You can't even handle such a simple task... Disappointment.
That was right. Disappointment that said: You're already this old—how can you be so unreliable? I'm so helpless.
"I still have things to do. I'll take my leave."
After saying this, Qian Yuhan turned to leave. But Xu Tianzhen, who had been guarded behind Xu Yu and Xu Yan all along, suddenly darted out. She scampered over and spread her arms to block his way.
Qian Yuhan: "Hm?" ಠ_ಠ
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Qian Yuhan let out a quiet breath and asked softly, "Is there something else?"
(✪ω✪) Wow! He's looking at me! He's talking to me!
At that moment, Xu Tianzhen's mind went blank. She had just been imagining several different ways to phrase what she wanted to say, but it took her a long while to stammer out, "Um... I... well... My name is Xu Tianzhen. I'm a princess of the Sun Moon Empire."
"Mm." Qian Yuhan nodded noncommittally and replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "I already knew that from your conversation earlier."
"You saved us just now." Xu Tianzhen lowered her head, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.
"I already said that I didn't intend to save anyone. I was simply killing Evil Soul Masters."
"But you still saved me." Xu Tianzhen suddenly lifted her head again, her eyes full of determination. "The motto of the Sun-Moon Royal Family is that kindness must be repaid."
Huh!?
What? Repay kindness?
Since when did the Sun-Moon Royal Family have that motto?
And... My little princess, did you forget that your branch seized power through rebellion? You don't follow any family mottos at all!
Listening to Xu Tianzhen's self-righteous claim about repaying kindness and her family motto, Xu Yan and Xu Yu—who knew the royal family's dirty laundry best—exchanged a glance, then silently lowered their heads, as if searching for a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Embarrassing. This was so damn embarrassing...
Before you continue