Queueing Up for Dual Cultivation! Tang Hao Blocks the Road!

Zhu Zhuqing, standing to the side, nodded seriously at those words.

"Indeed. After meditating last night, my Soul Power directly reached level twenty-eight."

"If I can continue receiving Ning Ze's martial soul assistance on the road, I might truly reach the threshold of level thirty before entering the Star Dou Great Forest."

Hearing the two women openly fantasizing about "sticking close to Ning Ze every day for dual cultivation" right in front of her, Ning Rongrong immediately bristled.

Ning Rongrong crossed her arms, shot them a sidelong look, and snorted sourly.

"Hmph! Dream on! Ning Ze is mine. Do you think you can just have him because you want him?!"

She glared fiercely at Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu, puffing out her cheeks as she warned them vigilantly.

"Especially you, Zhu Zhuqing!"

"You secretly slipped into Ning Ze's room in the middle of the night and stayed there all night. A lone man and woman together—what kind of behavior is that?! I haven't even settled the score with you yet!"

Having her "night raid" exposed to her face, Zhu Zhuqing's delicate body stiffened slightly, and a flush rose across her cool, pretty face.

But when she thought of her blood-deep vengeance and Dai Mubai's betrayal, the embarrassment in her eyes quickly turned into resolve.

She took a deep breath, raised her pair of stubborn, beautiful eyes, met Ning Rongrong's gaze, and replied coolly.

"Rongrong, I admit it... I want to continue meditating with Ning Ze! If Ning Ze does not mind, I will never back down!"

"You... you shameless little cat thief!" Ning Rongrong's small chest heaved with anger.

On the other side, the carefree Xiao Wu did not sense anything improper at all. Instead, she blinked her innocent big eyes, clapped her hands, and interjected with perfect righteousness.

"That's right, Rongrong. Zhuqing makes sense!"

"Getting stronger is not some shameful bad thing! Besides, Brother Ning Ze does not belong to you alone. Even if we have to queue up, I want to meditate next to Brother Ning Ze every day too!"

"Ha?!"

Ning Rongrong was so furious that her vision went dark, but seeing the attitudes of the two before her, she knew it was impossible to monopolize Ning Ze's dual cultivation time.

Rather than let these wild cat and wild rabbit steal her home turf, she might as well lay down the rules in the open.

Taking a deep breath, Miss Ning gritted her teeth and made the decision.

"Fine! Since everyone wants to cultivate, then we compete fairly!"

"From now on, we take turns every day! Each person can have at most one shichen of dual cultivation time per day! No one is allowed to monopolize Ning Ze all night! And..."

"This young lady must be first every day! Do you hear me?!"

Seeing Ning Rongrong's angry yet helpless little expression after her compromise, Zhu Zhuqing nodded with a blush. "All right, I agree."

"Yay! Great! Taking turns is fine!" Xiao Wu readily agreed.

Ning Ze, who was driving the carriage outside, had no idea that he had just been divided up among the three women.

However—

Just as the carriage entered a desolate, shadowy forest valley—

"Neighhh—!"

The fierce horse pulling the carriage suddenly let out a shrill whinny as though it had encountered a natural predator. Its front hooves reared high, and it came to an abrupt stop.

Boom!

The powerful inertia made the carriage compartment shake violently. The three women, who had been bickering over jealousy, were instantly tossed about, their expressions changing dramatically.

"What happened?!"

Ning Ze lowered his body slightly to steady himself. His eyes narrowed as his icy gaze pierced through the carriage window toward the middle of the forest road ahead.

In the center of the dim mountain path stood a tall, slovenly black figure radiating overwhelming hostility.

The person wore a filthy, tattered black robe. Though his face could not be seen, Ning Ze had already guessed who he was.

Tang Hao, you really couldn't hold back after all.

"Ning Ze, what happened?"

Ning Rongrong was the first to lift the curtain from inside the carriage, immediately spotting the slovenly figure ahead in his ragged black robe, reeking of alcohol.

"Who are you? Why are you blocking our carriage?!"

The unkempt man did not even lift his eyelids.

Boom—

A pressure burst forth without warning.

The mud, stones, and trees throughout the valley trembled in unison, and the entire world seemed to sink into an Asura hell.

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu, who had just poked their heads out, went weak at the knees. Their faces drained of all color, their Soul Power congealed within them, and they could not move at all.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz—

Nine Soul Rings rose in sequence from beneath the unkempt man's feet.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black... red.

When that scarlet Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring lit up, the dim forest was illuminated in a sea of blood-red.

"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?!"

"Nine Soul Rings... a Titled Douluo!"

The three women froze in place, unable to utter a single word.

A Titled Douluo was a godlike existence on the continent, capable of destroying heaven and earth at a whim.

They could never have imagined that, in broad daylight, a Titled Douluo would personally block their path to intercept and kill them.

Only Ning Ze, seated steadily on the carriage shaft, did not move. He simply observed the other party in silence.

The black-robed man pulled back his hood, revealing a weathered, sinister face covered in stubble. His voice was low and hoarse.

"Little ones, there is no need to be afraid. I bear you no ill will."

Ning Ze smiled.

"No ill will? A dignified Titled Douluo releases his martial soul pressure and all of his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, then blocks the official road. You call that no ill will?"

The black-robed man's gaze darkened slightly. "I came to resolve a misunderstanding between my son... and you."

"Your son?"

Ning Rongrong's slender brows rose sharply. Though the Titled Douluo's pressure made her chest feel tight, she still held her head high.

"We do not know your son! What misunderstanding could we possibly have with him?"

The black-robed man was silent for a moment before uttering several words. "I am from the Clear Sky Sect. My son is called Tang San."

Dead silence fell before the carriage.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's expressions changed at once.

Xiao Wu looked as though she had been struck by a heavy blow.

Tang San—the plain, wooden Tang San who had called her brother at Nuoding Academy—his father was actually a Titled Douluo?

She knew all too well what a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast meant in the eyes of a Titled Douluo.

It was the supreme treasure every Soul Master on the continent dreamed of: a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, and a guaranteed Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Tang San had kept her by his side all this time.

Tang Hao had watched from the shadows for so long.

Had the father and son regarded her as livestock from beginning to end, as a "spare Soul Ring" for Tang San to use when he broke through to become a Titled Douluo?

At that thought, Xiao Wu's back turned cold layer by layer.

At that moment, Ning Ze's clear voice broke the silence.

"There is no misunderstanding between Tang San and us. Fists and feet have no eyes on the arena. He was simply inferior in skill, nothing more."

Tang Hao slowly shook his head, his voice flat. "You broke both his hands in public and humiliated his pride."

Ning Rongrong laughed from anger.

"Ha? What a protective old bastard!"

"It was clearly Shrek's unfair favoritism that established a four-against-one rule! Tang San brought three Soul Grandmasters to gang up on Ning Ze!"

"He lost the duel because he was inferior in skill, and you still have the nerve to come seek revenge for him? You have no respect for your age. What a disgrace!"

"Hmph."

Tang Hao snorted coldly, and the airflow uprooted several ancient trees.

"You two juniors from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I did not come today to argue right and wrong with you!"

"You look down on Shrek and withdrew with sour faces. This old man cannot control that, but you... should not have lured away students who originally belonged to Shrek!"

After saying that, his gaze passed over Ning Rongrong and landed on Xiao Wu, who was trembling inside the carriage.