Bone Douluo's Rush and Ning Rongrong's Enrollment

The three fell silent again.

The same question ran through all their minds.

What kind of force could cultivate such a monster?

The Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family? Unlikely. Spirit Hall? They had never heard of anyone like him. The Clear Sky Sect had long since gone into seclusion. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was even less likely; their path did not align with this at all.

They could not make sense of it.

Ning Fengzhi was the first to emerge from his thoughts.

"Is there more?"

The young soul master raised his head.

"Yes."

His voice began to tremble again.

"After the young lady was won over by those displays of soul skills, she agreed to continue being that person's disciple. Afterward, he helped the young lady deduce a method for evolving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

The three pairs of eyes focused on him once more.

The young soul master's throat tightened.

"The result of his deduction was that she needed to find an immortal herb."

He forced the name from his mouth.

"Qiluo Tulip."

After a brief pause, he continued.

"He said that consuming it could directly improve one's aptitude and evolve the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

He was done.

This time, the hall sank into a silence longer than any before.

Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.

No one spoke.

Ning Fengzhi slowly raised a hand.

"You may leave."

The young soul master felt as though he had been granted a pardon. He bowed and withdrew from the hall. The heavy doors closed behind him with a dull boom.

Only the three of them remained.

"Qiluo Tulip." Ning Fengzhi repeated the four words. "Have either of you heard of it?"

Gu Rong shook his head.

Chen Xin shook his head as well.

"Nonsense." Gu Rong was the first to state his position. He folded his shockingly long, skeletal arms across his chest, his gaunt face full of disdain. "What immortal herb can evolve a martial soul? Someone's setting up a scheme right under our noses. I've lived for over ninety years—never mind seen one, I've never even heard of such a thing."

"Neither have I." Chen Xin rarely agreed with Gu Rong, but this was one of those times. His silver hair swayed slightly, his tone certain. "No record has ever stated that an external object could cause a fundamental transformation in a martial soul. If such a thing existed, word would have spread across the continent long ago."

Ning Fengzhi did not respond immediately.

His fingers tapped the armrest three times, slowly and deliberately.

"Qiluo Tulip." He said the name again. "Those four words do not sound like something made up on the spot."

Gu Rong frowned. "You believe him?"

"I didn't say I believed him." Ning Fengzhi narrowed his eyes slightly, and a glint flashed through them in the candlelight. "I said it doesn't sound fabricated. When ordinary people make up lies, they either speak vaguely and avoid giving a specific name, or use a known treasure to bluff others. He gave us an extremely specific name that none of us has ever heard before."

He tilted his head slightly.

"Scammers usually do not do that, because specific things are easiest to verify."

Chen Xin's eyes narrowed faintly.

Ning Fengzhi continued, "Later, I will search through the ancient texts. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's library contains many incomplete scrolls passed down from ancient times. Perhaps I can find some clue."

Then his tone shifted.

"But that is not the urgent matter."

His gaze swept over Chen Xin and Gu Rong.

"The most pressing issue is how we handle Rongrong's newly accepted master."

Gu Rong snorted coldly. "What's there to handle? Go drag him here, make him tell us which force sent him, and if he refuses, beat it out of him."

"Reckless old bones," Chen Xin said blandly.

"Who are you calling reckless?" Gu Rong glared at him.

Chen Xin ignored him and looked toward Ning Fengzhi. "What do you think, Fengzhi?"

Ning Fengzhi's fingers stopped.

"That young man's origins are unknown, but his abilities have already been proven to be considerable. He approached Rongrong on his own initiative, and his motives are unclear."

His voice lowered.

"But one thing is certain. Whatever his background, Rongrong now has a master-disciple relationship with him. If some major force truly stands behind him, acting rashly may only alert them."

"So we just watch?" Gu Rong's voice rose again.

"Of course not." Ning Fengzhi tapped the armrest one final time. "We need to move quickly. Before he has time to react, we must meet him face-to-face and learn the truth about him."

He turned toward Gu Rong.

"Uncle Bone, you go."

A faint, unreadable smile appeared on Gu Rong's withered face.

"Head to Soto City overnight." Ning Fengzhi's voice held no emotion. "Meet that young man in person. Probe him if you can; see through him if you can. If you find ghosts and demons behind him, eradicate them immediately."

He paused.

"Rongrong's safety comes first."

Gu Rong stretched. His two-and-a-half-meter body unfolded, his joints crackling in a rapid series of pops.

"You should've said so from the start."

He tilted his head and rolled his neck, a nearly bloodthirsty excitement surfacing on his gaunt face.

"Perfect. This old man's hands have been itching for a while."

"Don't hurt Rongrong," Chen Xin added with his eyes closed.

"Obviously." Gu Rong rolled his eyes at him and turned toward the hall doors.

That shockingly skeletal body took its first step.

His foot had not yet touched down.

"Uncle Bone." Ning Fengzhi's voice came from behind him.

Gu Rong paused for a moment. He turned his head slightly, revealing only half of his gaunt profile.

Ning Fengzhi stood before the sect master's seat. Candlelight shone from behind him, casting his face along the boundary between warm light and shadow. His eyes were so calm that their depth was impossible to read.

"What if that young man is telling the truth?"

Gu Rong froze for a moment.

"Then all the more reason to find out exactly who he is."

He grinned. That smile would probably frighten a young man into fainting on the spot.

"Anyone capable of turning the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is either our friend."

He pushed open the doors.

The night wind poured into the hall, making the curtains flap wildly.

Gu Rong's two-and-a-half-meter figure stood in the doorway, his back to the hall's candlelight. His voice scattered somewhat in the wind.

"Or he doesn't get to live."

The doors closed behind him.

Only Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin remained in the hall.

Chen Xin had his eyes closed, a faint curve resting on his lips.

"Fengzhi."

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in that immortal herb?"

Ning Fengzhi did not answer. He returned to the sect master's seat and sat down, leaning back into the chair. His hands were folded before him, fingers slowly tapping the armrests.

The candlelight reflected off his face, making the deep, settled look in his eyes even clearer.

"Uncle Sword, let me ask you something."

Chen Xin lifted an eyelid.

"If it were you, how would you trick a twelve-year-old girl into taking you as her master?"

Chen Xin said nothing.

"A few flashy soul skills would be enough," Ning Fengzhi answered himself. "I know Rongrong's personality best. As long as something is novel enough and powerful enough, she will take the bait. There would be no need to bring up transforming the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Ning Fengzhi paused, his gaze sharpening.

"That young man had already won Rongrong over with his display of soul skills. Yet after that, he still took the initiative to help her deduce a method for evolving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Ning Fengzhi tapped the armrest with his index finger.

"An unnecessary move. Unless he truly knows."

Chen Xin's silver brows moved slightly.

"Or perhaps he was trying to lure you out."

"That is possible." Ning Fengzhi admitted it readily. "But if he truly meant to lure me out, then what he offered could not be fake. Bait that is too fake catches no fish."

The hall fell quiet again.

The candle flame flickered twice.

Chen Xin suddenly chuckled softly.

The laugh was brief, like a thin sheet of ice cracking.

"Interesting."

He rose to his feet. His snow-white robe fell straight, and his silver hair swayed gently.

"Whether it's true or false, once old bones makes the trip, we'll have our answer tomorrow."

He headed toward the hall doors. As he passed Ning Fengzhi's side, he paused for a moment.

"Don't worry. Rongrong will be fine."

Ning Fengzhi looked up at Chen Xin's profile. The candlelight cast half of that baby-smooth face in light and half in darkness.

"Uncle Sword."

Chen Xin tilted his head slightly.

"If Uncle Bone finds that young man isn't an enemy, then what?"

Chen Xin did not turn around.

"Then we'll see whether he is worthy of being Rongrong's master."

His figure vanished beyond the hall doors.

Ning Fengzhi was left alone in the great hall.

He leaned against the chair, his gaze passing through the empty chamber and falling upon the painting hanging on the opposite wall. It depicted a seven-story glazed pagoda, its body radiant with flowing light, but its peak was blank.

That painting had hung there for a thousand years.

Every generation of sect masters had looked at it and thought of the same thing.

Ning Fengzhi tapped the armrest one last time.

"Qiluo Tulip."

He said those four words for the third time, so quietly that only he could hear them.

Then he rose and headed toward the library behind the sect master's hall.

His footsteps echoed through the empty hall for a long time before fading away.

Meanwhile, in Soto City a thousand miles away.

Inside a bedroom in a three-courtyard residence.

Yang Xing turned over amid sixteen maids, and the gold credit card beneath his pillow jabbed the back of his head.

Half-asleep, he pulled out the card and moved it elsewhere, mumbling something incoherent.

Then he went back to sleep.

He had no idea that at this very moment, a withered, skeletal figure standing two and a half meters tall was racing through the night toward Soto City at the terrifying speed of a Titled Douluo.

When Ning Rongrong arrived at Shrek Academy, the registration line was already extremely long.

She truly had not expected this so-called academy to be nothing more than a village. A shabby wooden fence surrounded several crooked wooden houses. If not for the old man sitting at a table by the entrance, she would have thought she had come to the wrong place.

But Ning Rongrong did not disdain it for long.

Ever since leaving Yang Xing's shabby house and setting out on the road, she had been using Wind Empress Qimen to explore how to alter the friction beneath her feet and the air resistance around her. It was as though she were speeding along the ground on an invisible slide, nearly twice as fast as an ordinary carriage.

Though she was still clumsy with it and the consumption was not small, the feeling of controlling the changes of all things was simply exhilarating.

While waiting in line, Ning Rongrong watched a boy's father demand his money back because he thought the ten gold soul coin registration fee was too expensive. A tall blond young man with wicked eyes released three soul rings, frightening the man so badly that he fled in a panic.

She curled her lips.

Such a poor academy, yet it still gouged people for money.

But what happened next did pique her interest. The old man handling registration was actually a Soul Emperor above level sixty, and the admission requirements he announced were outrageously harsh: under thirteen years old, with soul power above level twenty-one.

They accepted only monsters, not ordinary people.

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up.

Interesting.

When it was her turn, the old man squeezed her hand and let out a surprised sound the moment he sensed the fluctuation of her soul power. She then summoned the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and two hundred-year soul rings rose beneath her. A rare look of surprise appeared on the old man's face.

"May I ask if I've passed the preliminary test?"

Ning Rongrong smiled with gentle composure.

The perfect refined-lady persona, professionally maintained.

Everything afterward went smoothly. The blond young man named Dai Mubai led her into the academy. Along the way, she met three other applicants who had likewise been exempted from the second and third rounds.

One was a black-haired boy named Tang San, with Blue Silver Grass as his martial soul, at level twenty-nine.

One was a girl named Xiao Wu, with a rabbit martial soul, also at level twenty-nine.

The last was Zhu Zhuqing, a girl who radiated an icy aura. Her martial soul was the Netherworld Spirit Cat, and she was at level twenty-seven.

Four monsters had gathered for the fourth round.

"Teacher Zhao, I've brought people for the fourth-round assessment."