The Wilful Ning Rongrong, Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast

The air in the central Star Dou Great Forest was humid and heavy.

Giant canopies overlapped, blocking out the sky's light and casting only mottled, broken shadows on the ground.

Ji Feng hadn't come to trouble her these past few days, and Ning Rongrong felt a sense of triumph almost overflowing her chest.

Indeed, she was the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Across the entire Douluo Continent, how many sects could rival them in terms of wealth?

They had been so aggressive before, and now they had cowered, not even daring to show their faces.

The more she thought about it, the more magnificent she felt, and even her steps on the forest path became lighter.

She hadn't taken Flender's Heart Separation Control training seriously at all.

Left hand drawing circles, right hand drawing squares – utterly boring.

Who was she, Ning Rongrong?

The jewel of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the future heir to the sect master. Did such a basic training even require her personal effort?

She'd just go through the motions. She thought carelessly, glancing sideways at the dense forest around her, bored and a little picky.

Suddenly, Ning Rongrong's steps halted.

Not far ahead, in a clearing in the woods, a strange plant was quietly blooming.

The entire plant was a translucent, ethereal blue. Its petals were layered, like a lotus blooming in the mortal world. The edges of each petal glowed faintly, like a dim blue lantern in the dim forest.

At the center of the flower, a fist-sized ball of light hovered, shifting with seven-colored streams of light, so beautiful it seemed plucked from a dream and placed before her.

"Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast..."

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up instantly. She clasped her hands together unconsciously at her chest, her voice carrying the sweet, girlish tone, "Oh my, it's a hundred times more beautiful than in the illustrations!"

The Ghost Lotus seemed to sense human eyes upon it. Its petals trembled slightly, and the light ball at its tip swirled, like a startled little beast hesitating whether to flee.

Ning Rongrong was completely captivated by the stunning scene, her mind filled with only one thought.

This flower was too beautiful; she had to have it.

"Oscar!" She turned, tilting her chin at the boy not far behind her, her tone stating the obvious, "Go pick that flower for me."

Oscar froze, his gaze passing over her to the Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast. His brow furrowed slightly.

He recognized it.

The Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast, while resembling a plant in appearance, was actually a genuine soul beast, and not of low rank.

"Rongrong,"

Oscar's voice was soft, tinged with a pleading tone.

"That's a soul beast, not an ordinary flower. I can't judge the Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast's age. If we offend it, there could be danger. Besides, we're here for training. Harming a soul beast without reason... Grandmaster would know..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear enough.

The smile on Ning Rongrong's face instantly turned cold.

"You're unwilling?" She tilted her head, looking at Oscar.

Her gaze was like that of someone looking at a toy that had suddenly become disobedient. "I'm just asking you to pick a flower for me, and you're making excuses and lecturing me?"

Oscar opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but Ning Rongrong had already turned away, no longer looking at him.

She walked towards Tang San, her expression, which had been icy moments ago, changing rapidly. Now, she put on a wronged look.

"Tang San, you be the judge."

Ning Rongrong's voice carried a coquettish lilt at the end.

"I just want to pick a flower; it's not an excessive request. Oscar is unwilling to help me. Does he not care about me at all?"

Tang San leaned against a tree trunk, his gaze calmly sweeping over Ning Rongrong's face.

He then glanced at Oscar, who remained standing still in the distance, and the corner of his mouth curved upwards slightly.

"Rongrong is right," Tang San said, his voice gentle and firm.

It was as if he were stating the most ordinary of things.

"It's just a flower. Oscar, what's the harm in helping Rongrong pick it? Although support system soul masters aren't good at combat, they should at least have the courage to pick a flower."

Oscar looked at Tang San, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

Tang San met his gaze, his smile undiminished, but his eyes were cold.

No one knew better than him how immense the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's wealth was.

He would need to rely on this young lady Ning a great deal in the future.

As for what Oscar thought, that was unimportant.

As for whether the flower was a soul beast or a plant, that was also unimportant.

What mattered was making Ning Rongrong feel that he was on her side. That was enough.

To dote on her, to go along with her, to make her happy, and to let her remember this favor from Tang San.

Ning Rongrong was indeed satisfied. Her chin lifted again, and she cast a sidelong glance at Oscar, her face clearly displaying, "See? Tang San is speaking up for me too."

Oscar was silent for a few breaths, but eventually took a step forward.

He walked towards the Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast, his steps light, but his unease climbed with each one.

As the owner of the food-type spirit, "Sausage."

His perception of spirit beasts wasn't particularly strong, but as the distance closed.

The spirit power fluctuations emanating from the Ghost Lotus became clearer and clearer.

This was not the fluctuation of a three-hundred-year spirit beast, nor a thousand-year one.

A six-thousand-year Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast would have faint black-purple patterns on the edges of its petals at close range, traces of its long years. He could see them now.

Oscar's internal alarm bells rang, and his steps faltered subconsciously.

But Ning Rongrong behind him impatiently urged, "Hurry up, what are you dawdling for!"

He gritted his teeth.

If he turned back now, what would Ning Rongrong say, what would Tang San say? He didn't even need to think to know.

Perhaps if he was careful and just touched a petal, he wouldn't alarm the spirit beast's main body?

Clinging to a sliver of hope, he reached out, slowly and cautiously extending his hand towards the flower bathed in flowing, ethereal light.

The moment his fingertips touched the petal, all hope was shattered.

The Ghost Lotus Phantom Beast erupted violently!

Its layered petals exploded outwards in a fraction of a second.

The ball of seven-colored light at its core suddenly expanded, transforming into a scorching beam that shot directly towards Oscar's chest.

Oscar's pupils constricted, his body instinctively recoiling, while he rapidly chanted a spirit incantation.

"Sausage!"

His spirit manifested instantly, but it was already too late.

The beam struck his chest squarely.

Oscar was sent flying backward, his back slamming heavily against a thick tree trunk.

The crisp sound of bone cracking mingled with the muffled groan from his throat.

He coughed, and a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed onto the ground, a stark, crimson sight.

His chest felt as if it were stuffed with a red-hot iron, and every breath sent a searing pain through his bones.

"Oscar!"

Ning Rongrong shrieked, but she didn't rush to check his injuries.

Instead, she instinctively took two steps back, her face filled with terror, "My god, how could that thing..."