Zhu Zhuqing Takes a Beating

"Slap—"

Yu Xiaogang swung a palm across Zhu Zhuqing's face, his expression icy and his breathing ragged. "Why didn't you follow my plan? Why didn't you use the Zhuge Crossbow? You could have won!"

In the empty lounge, Flender and the others had already gone to pursue Qiankun Mingxin, leaving only Yu Xiaogang behind.

With no one else around, he finally stopped suppressing his anger and struck Zhu Zhuqing.

Though her face had been heavily slapped, Zhu Zhuqing's expression remained cold and numb. "I apologize."

What she wanted was to defeat her opponent fair and square.

"Go back and reflect on your actions. You won't need to participate in the final team battle," Yu Xiaogang said coldly.

He saw no reason to waste time on a student who wouldn't listen.

After all, only Xiao San was his true disciple.

"I apologize." Zhu Zhuqing bowed deeply, then turned, pushed open the door, and walked out.

"Little sister?"

As soon as Zhu Zhuqing stepped out, she bumped into Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong looked at the slap mark on Zhu Zhuqing's face, a flash of shock crossing her eyes before she erupted in anger. "Who hit you? Was it Qiankun Mingxin?! That is too much, I'm going to kill her!!"

Ning Rongrong turned to rush out, but Zhu Zhuqing grabbed her arm. "Don't... it wasn't her."

"Then it was..." She turned back, looking at the large handprint on Zhu Zhuqing's face, an incredible answer forming in her mind. "Was it... was it... Grandmaster?"

She could hardly believe the words leaving her own lips. How could it be Grandmaster? He had always valued their group of students the most; even when he was furious, he had never gone beyond corporal punishment.

Ning Rongrong's eyes shimmered with a fractured light as she looked at Zhu Zhuqing, hoping for an answer.

But as Zhu Zhuqing remained silent, her gaze gradually dimmed, then shifted to fury. "No, I'm going to find Grandmaster and have it out with him! It's just one lost match, how could he hit someone!"

"Rongrong." Zhu Zhuqing pulled on Ning Rongrong's hand. Let's not let others know about such a humiliating matter.

"It really was Grandmaster!" Ning Rongrong's eyes widened as she looked at Zhu Zhuqing's swollen cheek, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

She couldn't believe that the usually taciturn Grandmaster would actually strike a woman.

"Please keep this a secret for me." Zhu Zhuqing's voice was low; it would be a lie to say she wasn't disappointed.

Her childhood sweetheart had abandoned her in the Star Luo Empire to face everything alone.

Now, she had traveled thousands of miles to follow him here, only to find that he had long since become a philanderer, filthy to the core.

And now, the teacher she thought could lead her to greater strength was treating her this way simply because she lost a match.

Zhu Zhuqing let go of Ning Rongrong's hand and walked toward the exit, feeling a sense of disillusionment.

"Where are you going?" Ning Rongrong grabbed Zhu Zhuqing's hand, terrified that she might do something rash.

"Just going out to clear my head. Don't worry, I'll be back soon." Zhu Zhuqing waved a hand behind her without looking back.

On the other side, Flender and Zhao Wuji had followed Qingxi for a distance, only to eventually lose her trail.

Soto City Auction House.

At one in the morning, the auction had just concluded, and a sparse crowd was making their way out.

Qingxi moved against the flow of the crowd, slipping in silently until she found the familiar scent in the room at the very top.

Inside the presidential suite.

Drell wore a loose bathrobe, revealing a large expanse of sturdy muscle, his wheat-colored skin looking even more rugged under the candlelight.

He slumped in his chair, nodding off occasionally before forcing himself to stay awake.

On the pear-yellow desk sat several bulging storage soul tools, and the indicator on the wall pointed to one in the morning.

Drell couldn't help but yawn again, looking at the rice paper on the desk with sleepy eyes.

Today was the final day of their agreement; surely that person wouldn't have forgotten, would she?

"Duke, do you have what I asked for?" Qingxi emerged from the shadows. She wore a wide black robe, and her voice, androgynous and impossible to pin down, made Drell jump.

"My Lady, you've arrived." Drell scrambled to his feet and bowed, pointing to the storage bags on the table. "There... there are a few items I couldn't find, but the rest are here."

"And this... this is the remaining payment." He pulled a black card from his clothes and carefully handed it to Qingxi.

"Which ones were you unable to find?" Qingxi sat by the desk and inspected the contents of the soul tools. With ten cubic meters of space, there were eleven bags of metal materials alone, plus two bags of medicinal herbs.

"Dark Element Silver, the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King, and the Soul Awakening Grass..." Drell's voice grew quieter as he spoke; he hadn't forgotten what this person had said earlier—that if he couldn't find everything, it would cost him his life.

A flash of surprise crossed Qingxi's eyes; she hadn't expected only three items to be missing.

She calmly waved her hand to store the soul tools away and glanced indifferently at the black card in Drell's hand, not taking it. Instead, she pulled out a pale green medicine bottle and placed it on the table.

Drell looked at the bottle, his eyelids twitching; it was identical to the pill bottles sold to Spirit Hall previously.

After that day, Spirit Hall hadn't caused any trouble for the auction house; instead, they had sent people to inquire about the source of the pills, so the items must have been genuine.

"Keep the remaining money as your reward. Continue to help me inquire about the whereabouts of the Soul Awakening Grass. As for the Dark Element Silver and the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King, you don't need to worry about them. If you get any information, just crush this jade, and I will come to find you."

Qingxi placed a piece of golden jade into Drell's palm and turned to leave.

"My Lady, if you are looking for metal materials, you might want to check Gengxin City. They trade in all kinds of raw metal ores year-round; you might find the Dark Element Silver you need there," Drell's voice called out from behind her.

"I'll go when I have the time." Qingxi nodded and walked away without looking back.

Once she had left, Drell hurriedly grabbed the medicine bottle from the table, uncorked it, and took a sniff, his expression immediately shifting to one of astonishment.

It was a pill for evolving one's martial soul.

Recalling the promises previously made by Spirit Hall, Drell forcibly suppressed the desire rising within him and sealed the bottle shut once more.

He never imagined that such a priceless treasure would be gifted to him so casually by that person.

He sat back down in his chair, staring at the medicine bottle and the golden stone in his hands, lost in thought as he debated whether or not he should report this matter to Spirit Hall.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Once she stepped out of the auction house, the streets were devoid of pedestrians, save for a few scattered streetlamps and the patrolling guards.

Qingxi hummed a little tune, skipping along as she walked, clearly in high spirits.

She had held back her laughter inside the auction house, and with the immortal herbs she had gathered earlier at the Ice and Fire Spirit Pool, combined with these new materials, she had enough to refine a Soul-Splitting Pill.

Just thinking about it made her happy, though it would be even better if she had some Soul Awakening Grass.

There were also those metal materials; they were more than enough for her to forge a peerless weapon, with plenty left over.

Qingxi was walking along happily when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, took a few steps back, and fixed her gaze on the exterior of a hotel at the end of the street.