Used as a Shield!

"Shut up!"

Dai Mubai suddenly roared, his voice filled with barely suppressed agitation and panic.

The two girls shuddered at his shout, their lips trembling as they no longer dared make a sound.

The entire lobby fell silent in an instant.

The innkeeper cowered behind the counter, scarcely daring to breathe. Tang San and Xiao Wu looked at each other, their faces full of confusion. These two clearly knew each other, and their relationship seemed far from ordinary.

Yun Tian stood to one side with his hands in his pockets, watching the scene with great interest.

He had long known this would happen. At this moment, he was like a spectator watching a show, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Dai Mubai took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his throat and the turbulent emotions in his chest. He stepped forward twice until he stood before Zhu Zhuqing, then asked in a lowered voice, "Why are you here?"

His gaze swept over Yun Tian and Tang San behind her. "Who are they? You're going to stay in the same room as them? Zhu Zhuqing, have you ever considered—"

"Why should I consider you?"

Zhu Zhuqing cut him off, her voice as cold as ice.

She lifted her face and looked directly into Dai Mubai's panicked, flickering heterochromatic eyes. Enunciating each word, she said, "Did you ever consider me? Holding two vixens in your arms—you disgust me. From the moment you ran away, there has been no relationship between us anymore."

As she spoke, an unhealthy flush suddenly rose to her pale cheeks.

Then, under everyone's shocked gazes, she made an unexpected move.

She turned around and hooked her arm around Yun Tian's, pressing her cold little face close to his shoulder. Her long black hair gleamed with a deep luster beneath the lights.

Gritting her teeth, she spoke softly, yet her words carried clearly throughout the entire lobby, filled with a desperate resolve.

"This is my man. My affairs have nothing to do with you."

Dai Mubai's pupils abruptly contracted.

Xiao Wu's jaw nearly hit the floor.

Tang San even forgot to retract his Purple Demon Eye, his eyes widening in disbelief.

With Zhu Zhuqing clinging to his arm, Yun Tian could feel her slender fingers gripping him tightly, as well as the grievance, anger, and stubbornness conveyed through her faint trembling.

He lowered his head and glanced at the upturned profile of the black-haired girl beside him, then sighed inwardly.

Well, damn.

He had only met her for the first time, yet he had already been used as a shield.

Dai Mubai was no fool.

Of course, he could tell that Zhu Zhuqing was trying to provoke him.

How could such a proud girl possibly offer herself to a strange man?

She was clearly putting on a show for him—deliberately hooking her arm around another man's, deliberately pressing herself so close, deliberately saying the words "my man" in such a resolute tone. Every word was a thorn stabbing into his heart.

Yet even though he knew it was fake, he still could not suppress his anger.

Because the man Zhu Zhuqing was holding was indeed a man, and he was not bad-looking, either.

The way she leaned against his shoulder was far too natural, so natural that Dai Mubai's chest tightened in waves.

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as his jaw muscles tensed into sharp lines.

"You think you can provoke me just by finding some random man?"

Dai Mubai's voice was low, but it carried a blade-like chill.

His gaze passed over Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder and fixed firmly on Yun Tian. "Kid, I don't know who you are, and I don't know what she told you. But now, in the name of a Soul Master, I challenge you. Do you dare accept?"

As he spoke, soul power was already surging around him.

The aura of the Evil Eye White Tiger seeped out from his body, carrying a chilling pressure that made the innkeeper behind the counter curl into a ball in terror.

Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed slightly, and her fingers around Yun Tian's arm tightened further.

She had only meant to use Yun Tian to anger Dai Mubai. She had never intended to drag him into a Soul Master duel.

Dai Mubai was the third prince of the Star Luo Empire. He had received the finest resources since childhood, and his strength far surpassed that of his peers. Moreover, the Evil Eye White Tiger was exceptionally powerful.

But when she remembered Yun Tian's formidable strength and his four purple thousand-year soul rings, she was no longer worried.

Still, after thinking it over, Zhu Zhuqing felt that this was a matter between Dai Mubai and herself. She should not drag Yun Tian into it.

"Yun Tian, you don't need to pay attention to him."

Thus, gritting her teeth, she released Yun Tian's arm and tried to stand in front of him. "This is between him and me."

But Yun Tian had already raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder.

His movement was gentle, yet it carried an undeniable force as he lightly moved Zhu Zhuqing behind him.

Then he stepped forward, directly meeting Dai Mubai's blazing heterochromatic eyes.

"Since you're looking to die."

Yun Tian's tone was as calm as if he were commenting on the pleasant moonlight tonight.

"Then I'll grant your wish."

The instant his words fell, he took a step forward with his right foot.

It was only a light step, yet the floor of the entire Rose Hotel lobby trembled.

Fine, web-like cracks spread out from where his foot landed. The chandelier swayed three times, the oil paintings on the walls tilted, and teacups on the counter clinked against each other.

Then, four purple soul rings rose from beneath his feet at the same time.

Purple.

All purple.

Four thousand-year soul rings slowly revolved around his body, releasing dense, heavy waves of soul power, as though the weight of the entire earth had been gathered within those four halos.

An earthy yellow glow emerged from the surface of Yun Tian's skin, covering his entire body at a visible speed.

First his limbs, then his torso, and finally his head.

Brown tiger-head armor reflected a cold metallic gleam beneath the dim yellow lights of the hotel lobby. Shoulder guards, chest armor, and arm guards layered over one another, completely encasing the young man in an imposing, domineering suit of armor.

From Dai Mubai issuing the challenge to Yun Tian completing his possession, only three breaths had passed.

A deathly silence filled the lobby.

The two sisters huddled in a corner with their hands over their mouths, their legs trembling.

"Four purple thousand-year soul rings!?"

"He's a four-ring Soul Ancestor!!"

The sisters were terrified beyond measure.

Zhu Zhuqing once again saw those four dazzling purple thousand-year soul rings.

She could not help recalling how, outside the Star Dou Great Forest during the day, Yun Tian had only used his second soul skill to send that group of pursuers fleeing in utter panic.

If he had revealed these four purple soul rings at the time, those people probably would not even have dared to run. They would have fallen to their knees on the spot.

Dai Mubai's face could no longer be described as merely pale.

His lips parted slightly, his heterochromatic pupils shrank violently, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

He was the third prince of the Star Luo Empire and had seen all kinds of geniuses since childhood. Yet a four-ring Soul Ancestor with four purple soul rings—

Even among the elite circles of the imperial capital, such a person did not exist.

Just what was the background of this young man, who was about the same age as him?

How had he absorbed thousand-year soul rings as his first and second rings?

But Dai Mubai was Dai Mubai, after all.

The blood of the Star Luo Imperial Family ensured that, even when facing an opponent far beyond his expectations, he would not yield an inch in presence.

He gritted his teeth, swallowed back the curse in his throat, and abruptly tore open his white suit jacket. A violent white tiger aura erupted from within his body.