Zhu Zhuqing

Perhaps she had already awakened and simply wasn't showing it.

After all, even if a plant Soul Beast had gained consciousness, it couldn't speak without a mouth.

Nezha stared at the lush Blue Silver Grass before him for a long while. The golden patterns on its leaves glimmered faintly in the sunlight, making it look particularly lively, but he still couldn't tell whether it had consciousness.

"Forget it."

After thinking about it for a while, he temporarily put the matter out of his mind.

Plant-type Soul Beasts couldn't run around like animal-type Soul Beasts anyway. Even if Ah Yin regained consciousness, she wouldn't be able to escape.

Her roots were planted here. Where could she run?

Unless she cultivated into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and underwent Transformation again, she could only obediently squat outside his treehouse as a potted plant.

But transforming as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast wasn't that easy. She had cultivated for a hundred thousand years before transforming last time; even with the Lake of Life's boost this time, she wouldn't reach that threshold without several decades.

So there was no rush.

Xiao Wu, on the other hand, crouched beside the Blue Silver Emperor, looking it over from side to side. She reached out and gently touched a leaf. The leaf trembled slightly, as if dodging her finger.

"Is it avoiding me?" Xiao Wu's eyes widened.

"Maybe it dislikes you."

"Nezha!"

A few days later, early morning.

The sunlight had yet to fully shine into the forest, and a thin layer of mist drifted over the Lake of Life.

Xiao Wu had unusually gotten up early today and dragged Da Ming and Er Ming to pick fruit on the other side of the lake.

She said several new fruit trees had grown there and their fruit was especially sweet. She insisted on picking some herself for Da Ming and Er Ming to try.

Er Ming was so moved by her words that he nearly smashed the bluestone by the lake.

Da Ming said nothing, merely following silently behind Xiao Wu, the tip of his tail swaying back and forth.

Nezha hadn't gone with them.

"I'll head to the outer region and find a few Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts to practice with." He waved at Xiao Wu and turned toward the depths of the forest.

"Don't kill them!" Xiao Wu shouted at his back.

"Got it."

Nezha answered without looking back.

Soul Beasts were precious resources. Of course, he wouldn't kill them indiscriminately.

It was just that he had become used to sparring with Er Ming over the years. Fighting pure strength-types was what really got his blood pumping.

Most of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts near the Lake of Life knew him. They held back when fighting him, which wasn't satisfying.

He needed to go farther away and find ones he hadn't beaten up before.

The forest was dimly lit, and the rotting leaves beneath his feet felt soft and spongy.

From time to time, Soul Beasts poked their heads out of the bushes, only to pull back in after seeing Nezha.

After walking for less than half an hour, a furious roar suddenly rang out ahead.

A massive black bear emerged from behind a tree. It was covered in black fur, with a tuft of white fur on its chest. Two fangs curled up from its lower jaw, and drool dripped continuously from its mouth. Judging by its cultivation, it was at least twenty thousand years old.

The black bear noticed Nezha as well. It clearly didn't recognize this human and immediately rose onto its hind legs, bringing both bear paws down on Nezha's head with overwhelming force.

Nezha's eyes lit up.

"Perfect timing."

He neither dodged nor retreated. Crossing his arms above his head, he took the blow head-on.

Bang!

The ground beneath him exploded into a crater over three meters wide, with dirt and broken stones spraying in every direction.

Yet Nezha didn't budge. He steadily blocked the black bear's full-force strike in midair.

A flicker of confusion appeared in the black bear's eyes.

The next second, Nezha shook his arms and knocked its paws away. He lunged forward and drove a fist into the black bear's abdomen.

The punch bent the black bear's entire body. It staggered back seven or eight steps, crashing through two ancient trees thick enough for several people to encircle before finally stopping.

It shook its head, clearly dazed by the blow.

"Keep going." Nezha beckoned at it.

The black bear roared and pounced again.

Boom—boom—boom—

Dull impacts of flesh striking flesh and the roars of a beast continuously echoed from deep within the forest, startling flock after flock of birds into flight.

At the same time.

A slender figure was racing through the forest.

She wore a fitted black outfit that outlined the curves of her body, which had already begun to develop.

Her long hair was tousled by the wind as she ran, several strands sticking to her sweat-damp cheeks. A few drops of blood had splashed across her cool, delicate face; it was impossible to tell whether they were hers or someone else's.

She was Zhu Zhuqing.

The second daughter of the Zhu Family of the Star Luo Empire, and Dai Mubai's fiancée.

The Star Luo Empire's rules for succession were cold-blooded and cruel. Every generation of princes and their fiancées had to engage in a life-or-death duel. The victor became Crown Prince, while the loser's life or death was entirely at the victor's mercy.

Her elder sister, Zhu Zhuyun, had been betrothed to Dai Mubai's elder brother, Dai Weisi. Working together, their strength had always far surpassed that of Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai.

Three years ago, Dai Mubai had been unable to bear the pressure and fled. He escaped all the way from the Star Luo Empire to the Heaven Dou Empire, vanishing without a trace.

To survive, Zhu Zhuqing had also been forced to leave the Star Luo Empire and set out alone to find Dai Mubai.

But only days after leaving the Star Luo Empire's border, the assassins came.

There was no need to guess who had sent them. Her own elder sister, Zhu Zhuyun.

The Star Luo succession struggle had never cared for sisterly affection. The defeated had only one path: death.

After marrying Dai Weisi, Zhu Zhuyun had become even more determined to completely eliminate her younger sister.

As long as Zhu Zhuqing remained alive, Zhu Zhuyun would never sleep peacefully.

Zhu Zhuqing had fought desperately through several encirclements along the way before barely escaping into the Star Dou Forest.

She had intended to use the dense forest terrain to shake off her pursuers, but the two Soul Ancestor-level experts behind her clung to her like rabid dogs.

She couldn't run any farther.

Zhu Zhuqing stopped with her back against an ancient tree, her chest heaving violently as her hand reached for her Soul Tool.

Two figures emerged from the woods, one to her left and one to her right, sealing off her retreat.

They wore black and covered their faces, their appearances hidden, but the Soul Power fluctuations radiating from both were at the Soul Ancestor level.

Zhu Zhuqing raised her head and glared at them.

"If you kill me, the Zhu Family won't let you off."

Her voice was cool, carrying a stubbornness that did not belong to a twelve-year-old girl.

The two Soul Ancestors exchanged glances without answering.

In truth, Zhu Zhuyun's orders to them had not been to kill Zhu Zhuqing.

If Zhu Zhuqing died, Dai Mubai's fiancée position would become vacant. The royal family would then assign Dai Mubai another, stronger fiancée, which would be even more disadvantageous to Zhu Zhuyun.

So the order from above was—cripple her.

Destroy her cultivation, or break her legs. As long as she remained alive yet could never rise again, that would be enough.

A crippled fiancée occupying the position was more valuable than a dead one.

The assassins withdrew their gazes and slowly closed in.

One of them revealed a narrow-bladed dagger in his hand, its edge coated in dark green poison.

Zhu Zhuqing watched as the blade drew closer and closer. Gritting her teeth, she clenched her fists.

Just as she prepared to make a desperate final stand, footsteps sounded from the woods.

They were light, rustling across the fallen leaves. They didn't sound like a Soul Beast, but more like a human.

The two assassins stopped at the same time and turned toward the source of the sound.

A young man stepped out from behind a tree.