Zhu Zhuqing's Shock: A Monster!

Ye Feng smiled faintly as a wisp of crimson-gold flame danced between his fingers.

"For example, the way I kill people, or how my Soul Power suddenly jumped by a whole level—you tell me, what should I do if someone sees secrets like that?"

Shui Bing'er stood to one side and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but Ye Feng stopped her with a glance.

Zhu Zhuqing bit down on her lower lip. After two seconds of silence, she suddenly sneered. "Then what are you planning to do? Silence me permanently?"

"Hmm... good idea."

Ye Feng stroked his chin and looked her over from head to toe, his gaze appraising.

Every muscle in Zhu Zhuqing's body tensed. Her martial soul was already silently circulating within her, ready for her to flee or fight for her life at any moment.

But when she thought of how the youth had killed a Soul King in an instant, she felt utterly powerless.

Perhaps she really was going to die here today.

Ye Feng stared at Zhu Zhuqing, then suddenly smiled. That smile sent a chill down her spine.

"Alright, stop looking like you're about to die a hero's death."

He put away the flame at his fingertips and crossed his arms. "I'm not interested in killing you. But you need to tell me honestly who you are, why you were being chased, and what your name is."

Zhu Zhuqing froze for a moment, clearly not expecting his attitude to change so quickly.

She was silent for a while before speaking coldly. "Zhu Zhuqing, of the Zhu Family in the Star Luo Empire. They were sent by my family to capture me and take me back."

After hearing the girl's introduction, Ye Feng raised an eyebrow.

He had never expected that, by sheer coincidence, he had saved Zhu Zhuqing.

After a pause, his gaze fell upon Zhu Zhuqing's defiant eyes, and his smile gained a hint of teasing. "You escaped from Star Luo, didn't you? Those people chasing you means you've got a story. And I happen to love hearing stories."

Zhu Zhuqing's pupils contracted slightly. "What do you want?"

"Simple."

With his hands in his pockets and a casual posture, Ye Feng said, "I'll give you two choices. First, I knock you out right now and hand you over to that Zhu Family of yours for a reward. I'm sure they'd be happy to pay."

Zhu Zhuqing's face turned pale, but she said nothing. She only glared at him.

"The second option..."

Ye Feng deliberately dragged out his words. "You swear upon your martial soul that you will never tell anyone about what you saw today. If you do that, I might just let you go."

He had no choice. The ability he had displayed just now was indeed rather sinister.

Killing people to increase Soul Power—no matter how one looked at it, it resembled the methods of an evil Soul Master.

If he had not sympathized with Zhu Zhuqing's fate in the original story, she would already be a corpse.

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned.

She had imagined many possible endings.

Being hunted to death, being captured and taken back to be punished, even fighting to the bitter end.

But she had never imagined that a stranger would offer her such terms.

After several seconds of silence, she asked, "Why should I trust you?"

Ye Feng sneered. "Do you have a choice?"

Zhu Zhuqing opened her mouth, but found herself speechless.

She looked at the smoking corpse on the ground, then at Ye Feng. Finally, she gritted her teeth.

"Fine. I swear upon my martial soul that I will never tell anyone of what I saw today. If I break this oath, my martial soul will shatter and all my Soul Power will be lost."

The oath was made.

"That's more like it."

Ye Feng nodded in satisfaction, clapping his hands together with a brilliant smile. "Wouldn't it have been better if you'd done that from the start? Saved me the trouble of talking so much."

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Shui Bing'er finally spoke. "What are you planning to do with her?"

"Do with her?"

Ye Feng turned to Zhu Zhuqing and looked her over again. "This girl's pretty, and she's got a nice figure too. How about—"

Zhu Zhuqing's face went pale. She instinctively took half a step back, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him warily. "Y-you, what are you trying to do?!"

"Relax, I'm joking."

Ye Feng waved a hand, looking utterly innocent. "I may not be a gentleman, but I'm not low enough to take advantage of someone in trouble."

He paused, then abruptly changed the subject. "But you're alone now, and you're a fugitive from the Zhu Family of Star Luo. Do you think you can make it out of this forest alive by yourself?"

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent.

Of course she knew.

The outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest were manageable, but the deeper one went, the higher the ranks of the soul beasts became.

She was only a three-ring Soul Elder, wounded and with more than half of her Soul Power depleted.

Forget ten-thousand-year soul beasts—even if several thousand-year soul beasts appeared, she might not be able to escape unscathed.

"So..."

Ye Feng grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. "Want to team up with us?"

Zhu Zhuqing was taken aback. "You... want to help me?"

"I'm not helping you. We just happen to be heading the same way."

Ye Feng pointed at the corpse of the Blazing Flame Phoenix in the distance. "I came here to hunt a soul beast, and now that I've got my Soul Ring, I was about to head back. If you're willing, come with us. Once we reach Heaven Dou City, you can go wherever you want. I won't stop you."

Zhu Zhuqing stared at him, scrutiny filling her ice-blue eyes.

She seemed to be searching Ye Feng's face for traces of a scheme, but after watching him for a long time, she found no flaw.

"...What do you gain from this?"

"Something to amuse myself."

Ye Feng spread his hands. "Look, I saved you, so you owe me a favor. If you ever make it big in the future, I can collect a little interest. Pretty good deal, right?"

Zhu Zhuqing: "..."

She took a deep breath and finally nodded. "Fine. I'll go with you."

"Alright. Bing'er, give her some healing herbs."

After giving the instruction, Ye Feng turned and walked toward the Blazing Flame Phoenix. He raised a hand, and crimson-gold flames condensed in his palm into a short blade, which he cleanly drove into the Blazing Flame Phoenix's neck.

"Pfft."

The Blazing Flame Phoenix convulsed one last time and went completely still.

A deep black Soul Ring slowly rose from the corpse, casting a dim halo over the crimson, magma-like ground.

Zhu Zhuqing's pupils suddenly shrank.

Black!

A ten-thousand-year Soul Ring!

She instinctively took half a step back, her breathing stopping for an instant.

How was that possible?

As far as she knew, only Soul King-level experts could withstand the violent energy of a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.

A Soul Ancestor—even if his method of instantly killing a Soul King had been strange—trying to directly absorb a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring was no different from courting death.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, only to see Ye Feng already sitting cross-legged. His hands formed seals as the crimson-gold flames around him slowly drew inward, pulling the black Soul Ring down toward him.

She watched as the black Soul Ring slowly settled around Ye Feng's body, her heart rising into her throat.

Then, by chance, she caught sight of the Soul Rings slowly appearing behind Ye Feng.

Purple, purple, black.

Her mind instantly went blank.

His third Soul Ring was a ten-thousand-year one?!

She stood frozen in place, her eyes fixed on that black Soul Ring for a long time, unable to look away.

What kind of monster... was this guy?

Shui Bing'er glanced at her, her tone calm. "You'll get used to it. He's always had a sense of proportion in what he does."

At the instant the Soul Ring entered his body, a sharp phoenix cry suddenly exploded in Ye Feng's mind.

The scene before his eyes abruptly changed.