Your Majesty, the Fiancée You Ordered Has Fled!

Star Luo City.

Deep within the imperial palace, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive.

"Useless!"

A roar shook the palace, causing the very beams and pillars to hum.

A white jade wine cup, carved with intricate patterns, was smashed violently against the mirror-smooth marble floor, shattering into pieces instantly.

Dai Mubai's handsome face was twisted with extreme rage.

His chest heaved violently, and his evil, heterochromatic eyes burned with a raging fire.

Zhu Zhuqing had gone missing.

His fiancée had vanished without a trace on the eve of their final assessment.

This was no simple case of fleeing a marriage.

This was a naked trampling of the Star Luo Royal Family's honor!

"Your Highness, please calm your anger."

A soft, alluring voice tinged with sorrow echoed through the hall.

Zhu Zhuyun knelt not far away, her beautiful face streaked with tears, her body trembling as if still in shock.

"I... I had no idea this would happen."

"Zhuqing only said she wanted to go to the Star Dou Forest to obtain a stronger soul ring to prepare for the final assessment."

"I tried to persuade her, but she wouldn't listen..."

She recounted the events in broken sentences.

"We encountered a terrifying soul beast. I... I used all my strength to escape, but Zhuqing, she... she stayed behind to cover me..."

At this point, she broke into uncontrollable sobs, appearing overcome with grief.

Dai Mubai's fury did not subside in the slightest.

He stared fixedly at Zhu Zhuyun, the oppressive aura of a superior making her tremble even more violently.

He did not care whether Zhu Zhuqing was dead or alive.

What he cared about was his own face and the dignity of the royal family!

"The Star Dou Forest?"

He squeezed the words through his teeth.

"Yes!"

Zhu Zhuyun answered firmly.

Dai Mubai turned abruptly and strode toward the exit.

"Assemble the entire Royal Soul Master Corps! I want to see her alive, or see her corpse!"

"Even if you have to turn the entire Star Dou Forest upside down, you will find her for me!"

His command echoed through the empty palace, filled with an unquestionable madness and obsession.

Zhu Zhuyun slowly raised her head behind him, watching his retreating figure.

On that tear-stained face, a trace of imperceptible coldness and triumph flashed by.

Soul Beast Paradise.

The golden beam of light that had pierced the sky did not ultimately strike the valley.

It halted abruptly in the air several kilometers away, then transformed into countless specks of light and dissipated without a trace.

It was as if it had been nothing more than an illusion.

But Medusa did not relax her guard in the slightest.

She stood by Li Hao's side, her emerald snake-like eyes fixed on the direction where the light had vanished, her soul power coiled and ready.

"Master."

She spoke suddenly.

"A powerful soul master's aura is approaching our direction rapidly."

"It is very overbearing, and also... familiar."

Familiar?

Li Hao had no time to ask for details.

Beside him, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly stirred.

The girl's body, which had been as still as an ice sculpture, stiffened imperceptibly for a moment.

For the first time, an emotion other than reliance and focus appeared in her cold, golden vertical pupils.

It was disgust.

It was a disgust and repulsion that originated from the depths of her soul, impossible to conceal.

Deep within that disgust, there even lurked a trace of fear stemming from the past, one she hadn't even noticed herself.

Subconsciously, she took another half-step closer toward Li Hao.

This tiny movement spoke louder than a thousand words.

She was seeking shelter.

Li Hao's heart skipped a beat.

A golden pillar of light.

An overbearing aura.

Zhu Zhuqing's abnormal reaction.

A name surfaced instantly from the depths of his memory.

Dai Mubai!

The fiancé of Zhu Zhuqing from the original story!

Had he really tracked them down here so quickly?

A wave of immense irritation surged into his heart.

His social anxiety radar emitted a shrill alarm in his mind.

Trouble.

Massive trouble had arrived at his doorstep!

Was his wish to simply be a quiet, lazy landlord really that hard to achieve?

"Paradise, activate the highest level of concealment."

Li Hao issued the command in his heart without hesitation.

[Received.]

[Ecological Concealment System activated; performing spatial folding and aura masking...]

Hum!

The entire valley was gently enveloped by an invisible ripple.

From the outside, the cliff walls, the forest, and the stream here became blurred, merging completely with the surrounding environment until no anomalies could be detected.

Only after doing all this did Li Hao feel that sense of irritation subside slightly.

As long as the other party couldn't find this place, they should... just leave on their own, right?

On the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest.

Dai Mubai had been searching for three full days with a team of elite Soul Masters.

They had found nothing.

Aside from a few messy traces of battle and a faint, lingering trace of soul power belonging to a Hell Spirit Cat, there were no other clues.

It was as if Zhu Zhuqing had evaporated from the face of the earth.

"Your Highness, the people from the Zhu Family have arrived as well; they have also dispatched search parties," a subordinate reported in a low voice.

Dai Mubai's expression was so dark it could drip water.

The situation was escalating.

With the Star Luo Royal Family and the Zhu Family both involved, if he, the Crown Prince, couldn't even find his own fiancée, he would only become an even greater laughingstock in the future.

Zhu Zhuyun's claims began to swirl in his mind.

Was there really such a powerful soul beast that could leave a speed-type Soul Ancestor without even a chance to escape?

Just as he was feeling agitated, he felt his foot step on something.

He subconsciously moved his foot away.

A palm-sized scale, emerald green throughout but with edges shimmering in a strange purple-gold, lay quietly among the dead leaves.

Dai Mubai bent down and picked up the scale.

The scale felt ice-cold to the touch, yet it contained a vast and ancient aura.

This did not belong to a Hell Spirit Cat!

The intensity of this aura was far beyond his own!

Dai Mubai's breath hitched.

Zhu Zhuyun was lying!

Or rather, she had concealed the most crucial part!

There was absolutely a third party at the scene, perhaps an even more powerful existence!

He gripped the scale tightly in his hand, closed his eyes, and sent his White Tiger soul power surging wildly through his body.

A secret technique unique to the royal family, used for tracking bloodlines, was pushed to its absolute limit.

Hum!

In his sensory world, everything around him dissolved into nothingness.

Only a few faint auras remained, guiding the way.

One of them belonged to Zhu Zhuqing, that familiar Nether aura.

But here, it had grown incredibly weak, as if it could be severed at any moment.

However.

Right where that aura cut off.

Another aura, completely distinct yet originating from the same source, suddenly flared up!

That aura was countless times more powerful and pure than Zhu Zhuqing's original bloodline!

Noble, icy, and filled with a lethal sense of severance.

But the core bloodline imprint could not be mistaken!

It was Zhu Zhuqing!

She wasn't dead!

She was still alive!

And... it seemed she had undergone some unknown transformation!

Dai Mubai snapped his eyes open, ecstasy and confusion intertwining within his Evil Pupil.

He looked toward the depths of the Star Dou Forest, following the direction of that new, powerful aura.

The aura was faint and intermittent, as if deliberately masked by something.

Yet, the resonance stemming from their royal bloodlines acted like an invisible thread, pointing firmly toward a single coordinate.

A seemingly unremarkable valley, cradled by mountains.

A strong, ominous premonition seized his heart without warning.