First Encounter with Zhu Zhuqing of the Seven Monsters

Douluo Continent, Soto City.

Six days passed in the blink of an eye. On the morning of the sixth day, Ning Yao finally arrived at the most important main city of the Barak Kingdom.

After passing through layer upon layer of security checks, he entered the city without issue.

Compared to the previous two worlds, the city was not particularly prosperous. Still, feeling the long-missed bustle of people, Ning Yao could not help but feel a trace of joy.

It had been a long time since he had felt such a dense human presence.

The last time he had seen so many people had been on a battlefield, but those countless soldiers had all been there to kill him.

Walking along the main road, Ning Yao began wandering aimlessly, savoring the long-missed feeling.

It was not until the afternoon that he finally thought of getting down to business.

However, Qian Renxue and Snake Spear Douluo probably had not arrived yet.

"Let's find a place to stay first."

He raised a hand and counted the gold soul coins on him, then nodded to himself.

With the money he had now, he should be considered fairly well-off within the city. Finding a temporary place to stay should not be a problem.

Yet as he walked, he failed to find lodging, while an enormous building appeared before him instead.

"Soto Great Spirit Arena."

Ning Yao read the name on the plaque.

He stood there and hesitated for a moment before ultimately stepping inside.

He had nothing else to do anyway, and even after finding a place to stay, he would only be wandering around outside.

He might as well watch a match for entertainment.

Before long, Ning Yao bought a ticket for the nearest match.

It was only an ordinary, simple spirit battle, but when he truly took his seat, he discovered that someone remarkable seemed to be sitting beside him.

She was a young girl with long black hair draped over her shoulders, her face slightly lowered. Dressed in fitted black clothes and a pair of thin high heels, she radiated an icy aloofness that kept strangers away.

Zhu Zhuqing?

It took Ning Yao only a moment to understand why she felt familiar.

Wasn't she Zhu Zhuqing, the Netherworld Spirit Cat and one of the Seven Monsters?

At the same time, she was the least afflicted of the Seven Monsters in his mind.

Ning Yao guessed that she had come to observe potential opponents and learn spirit battle techniques. All he could say was that she truly worked hard.

After half the match had passed, although they had not spoken directly, Zhu Zhuqing had noticed the young man Ning Yao sitting beside her.

An ordinary person with no soul power?

After sensing him briefly, Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat surprised. She had thought that everyone who came here should be soul masters.

Moreover, for some reason, she always felt that Ning Yao was not simple.

It was as if there were always an indistinct aura surrounding the young man.

Auspicious and tranquil, it made one unable to resist becoming immersed in it.

This was the first time Zhu Zhuqing had ever felt such comfort from another person.

Yet after observing him, she discovered that Ning Yao was actually an ordinary person?

To be honest, Zhu Zhuqing did not quite believe it.

Maybe she was simply too weak.

When she had been young, she had heard that the stronger a person was, the more they tended to hide their true abilities and return to simplicity.

Zhu Zhuqing could not help but begin thinking about it, to the point that she even stopped watching the spirit battle below.

It was not until the spirit battle ended that she came back to her senses.

By then, Ning Yao had already risen and was preparing to leave.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Zhuqing stood as well.

The two left the Great Spirit Arena one after the other and arrived outside it.

"Miss, may I ask why you've been following me?"

Ning Yao turned around curiously and looked at Zhu Zhuqing, who had been hesitating behind him as if she wanted to speak.

He truly had not expected Zhu Zhuqing to follow him.

He had not paid much attention to it in the first place, treating this encounter as nothing more than a chance meeting.

He had not expected Zhu Zhuqing to come looking for him instead.

Seeing that she had been discovered, Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly stopped.

She looked up at Ning Yao, a trace of hesitation flashing through her eyes.

Right now, she did not want to give up any opportunity to become stronger, no matter how slim it might be. Even she felt that perhaps she had gone mad.

What if Ning Yao really was only an ordinary person with something a little special about him?

Just as she still did not know how to begin, an angry roar came from the other side.

"Zhuqing!"

The next second, a figure ran swiftly over from the distance and soon arrived beside them.

A blond man with heterochromatic eyes stopped beside them, panting heavily as he glared at the two of them viciously.

Ning Yao: "..."

He felt as though he had somehow been dragged into trouble for no reason.

He recognized this person too.

The traits were far too obvious. There was probably not another person like him in all of Soto City—Dai Mubai.

He was someone Ning Yao had found utterly disgusting when reading the original work.

Cowardly and afraid of death.

"Zhu Zhuqing, didn't you say you came to watch spirit battles? Why are you fooling around with some wild man outside?"

As he spoke, Dai Mubai's sharp gaze landed on Ning Yao.

He questioned Zhu Zhuqing, his tone filled with fury.

He had not even gotten to have her yet, and Zhu Zhuqing actually dared to come here to meet another man in secret. She truly had no shame!

As soon as his words fell, Zhu Zhuqing's expression darkened at a visible speed.

After glancing back at Ning Yao, she turned to face Dai Mubai.

"I did indeed come only to watch spirit battles. This senior merely happened to sit beside me, and I wanted to ask him for some guidance."

"And why should I report my actions to you?"

"You just came out of a bed of pleasure, didn't you?"

The disgust in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes was undisguised. As the possessor of the Netherworld Spirit Cat martial soul, she could clearly smell the nauseating scent on Dai Mubai.

Whether in the past or now, she only felt that this man was disgusting beyond measure.

"You..."

Dai Mubai's face instantly turned red. He raised a hand to point at Zhu Zhuqing, but could not speak for a long while.

Yet in the next moment, he suddenly laughed.

"Senior?"

He looked at Ning Yao, who had remained silent at the side.

"Zhu Zhuqing, I think you're really desperate. You passed over someone as powerful as me, Dai Mubai, just to call an ordinary person senior?"

As he spoke, Dai Mubai's right hand clenched into a fist.

Zhu Zhuqing immediately knew what Dai Mubai intended to do, but before she could warn Ning Yao, a fist imbued with soul power had already shot toward him.

Dai Mubai wore a sinister grin.

An ordinary person wanted to steal a woman from him?

Soul masters bullying ordinary people was commonplace in this world. Not to mention someone like him, who had an academy backing him—he could kill this person right here, and no one would say anything!

Yet just as Dai Mubai indulged in his fantasy, he suddenly froze.

The scene of his imagined punch sending Ning Yao flying did not seem to have happened.

His fist, imbued with soul power, abruptly stopped mere centimeters from Ning Yao.

No matter how much force he used, he could not advance even the slightest bit.

"Hah!"

"So you're a soul master too!"