Cupid's Sigh

On the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, ancient trees towered into the sky.

In just two days, with the level ninety-five Bone Douluo Gu Rong escorting them, the soul hunt had gone exceptionally smoothly.

Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong had each hunted a Millennium Soul Beast best suited to them. After absorbing and refining their Soul Rings, their Soul Power broke through, and they steadily entered level thirty-one.

Xiao Wu also broke through level thirty. Under Ning Ze's cover, she secretly fused with a Millennium Soul Ring as well.

Only Ning Ze had yet to make a move, calmly picking out his target.

When they reached a rocky ravine, a muffled roar rolled out from the shrubs ahead.

"Roar—!"

Gravel flew everywhere.

A colossal beast the size of a medium truck smashed through a rock wall. Thick bone plates like bronze armor covered its entire body as it stepped into view.

It resembled a mammoth fused with a violent bear, with a blade-like horn atop its head and a savage, primordial aura surrounding it—the Armored Mad Rock Bear, a rare Soul Beast even within the Star Dou Great Forest, outstanding in both strength and defense.

The dark-gold patterns on its bone armor glimmered. It was around twenty-eight hundred years old, a tough opponent nearing the absorption limit of a Soul Elder.

"Damn, a Mad Rock Bear over two thousand years old? That shell of its is so hard even ordinary Soul Ancestors can't cut through it with blades."

Gu Rong folded his arms and grinned, raising one withered hand halfway.

"Ze'er, want Grandpa Gu to handle it for you? I'll slap it half to death, then you can go finish it off. Saves you from getting your white clothes dirty."

Any ordinary soul master would have been overjoyed if a Titled Douluo offered to do the work for them.

But Ning Ze merely smiled and shook his head.

"Grandpa Gu, there's no need. You can't raise the strong in a greenhouse. It's rare to find such a sturdy punching bag. I want to test my recent progress and gain some combat experience while I'm at it!"

"Good lad! You've got guts! Just like I was when I was young!"

Gu Rong stepped back half a pace and laughed loudly. "Fine! Go all out. I'll hold the line for you. I guarantee this beast won't be able to cause any trouble!"

"Thank you, Grandpa Gu."

Before his words had even faded, Ning Ze's expression darkened, and his entire body tightened like a drawn bow.

"Buzz!"

His second deep-purple Millennium Soul Ring lit up, and a pink-gold glow poured over him, flooding into every limb and bone.

"Second Soul Skill—Cupid's Blessing: Raging Tide!"

Divine power enveloped him. A surge of air rose around his body, sweeping the scattered stones across the ground backward.

Sensing a pressure far beyond its expectations, the Mad Rock Bear showed fear in its scarlet beast eyes for the first time and turned to flee.

Ning Ze gave it no chance.

"Boom!"

The ground collapsed into a web-like crater.

Pink-gold light flashed. When he appeared again, he was already right before the Mad Rock Bear's forehead.

Ning Ze was unbelievably fast, so fast that even his afterimages lagged behind.

"Take this, punching bag!"

Ning Ze did not bother with fancy tricks. He threw punch after punch, every fist wrapped in Armor-Breaking Divine Power.

"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Like a war drum being beaten.

The dark-gold bone armor that even Soul Ancestors could not cut through was as brittle as crackers beneath those fists.

The crisp cracks of shattering bones rang out in rapid succession.

The Mad Rock Bear did not even get to swing a paw before its sternum and skull shattered. Its massive body flew backward and collapsed into the crater like a lump of mud, blood spilling from its mouth as it was left with only its breath.

"Gasp... That physical burst of power is ridiculous, isn't it?"

Zhu Zhuqing's beautiful eyes widened as she sucked in a cold breath.

She herself was an agility attack-type soul master, yet the sudden change of direction and burst of speed just now surpassed her by more than eight streets.

For a moment, she suspected Ning Ze had taken the wrong script—wasn't he the real assassin?

Xiao Wu's rabbit ears trembled as she clenched her fists. "Brother Ning Ze's strength... is even more domineering than the Titan Giant Ape in the forest!"

Ning Ze withdrew his fist and flicked his sleeve.

He had no intention of torturing it for fun. With a flick of his finger, his first Millennium Soul Ring lit up.

"First Soul Skill—Arrow of Love: Sky-Piercing!"

"Pfft!"

A pink-gold divine arrow pierced through its heart.

The Mad Rock Bear twitched twice, then stopped moving.

A moment later, a deep-purple Soul Ring rose from the bear's corpse. Its color was incredibly rich as it hovered in the air.

Ning Ze sat down cross-legged and guided the Soul Ring into himself.

The power of the God of Love surged like a whale drawing in water, grinding apart that violent power, swallowing it, and refining it...

More than an hour later.

"Boom!"

A clear, ethereal chime rang out.

The accumulated Soul Power burst through like a breached dam. The level thirty barrier shattered at once, and his aura steadily rose to level thirty-three.

Beneath his feet, three deep-purple Millennium Soul Rings revolved and shone. The old configuration of one yellow and two purple was now a thing of the past.

The first of its kind on the continent—an "All-Purple Three-Ring Soul Elder."

"Ning Ze! You succeeded!"

Ning Rongrong was the first to rush over. Tilting up her little face, she said, "Quick, quick, quick! What's your third Soul Skill? Let me see it!"

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu gathered around as well, their eyes shining.

Even Gu Rong, leaning against a tree trunk, craned his neck forward.

Three pairs of eyes and one Titled Douluo were all staring at him.

Ning Ze smiled.

"Then you'd better be careful... Third Soul Skill—Cupid's Sigh!"

"Buzz—!"

The Soul Ring he had just absorbed exploded with pink-purple light.

With his feet as the center, the air within a radius of twenty meters twisted all at once.

Pink mist rose from the ground, carrying a sweet fragrance so dense it seemed almost tangible.

As the mist descended, the surroundings abruptly fell silent.

The instant Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong were touched by the mist, all three pairs of eyes lost focus, and they stood rooted to the spot.

Within the mist, the person each of them could not bear to let go of most appeared vividly in their hearts...

Yet the most exaggerated reaction did not come from the three girls.

It came from Gu Rong at the edge of the area.

"Hm?! This mental fluctuation is..."

Before he could finish, the old man's pupils unfocused.

He froze in place, as if he had seen something from a very, very long time ago.

"Break!"

The mental power of a level ninety-five powerhouse erupted. Gu Rong shuddered and forcibly broke free.

Covered in cold sweat, he looked at Ning Ze differently.

"A mental domain-type Soul Skill?! Heavens! Ze'er, this is actually an area-wide mental control skill that ignores defenses?!"

The old man's chest rose and fell, and his voice trembled.

"I am a dignified level ninety-five Titled Douluo! Yet I actually lost focus under the domain of your Soul Skill!"

This was simply unreasonable.

A Soul Elder who had just broken through could make a Titled Douluo lose focus with his third Soul Skill—even in a life-or-death battle, that instant could likely cost an opponent their life!

"Ze'er, what exactly do people see after entering your domain?" Gu Rong asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Ning Ze touched his nose and coughed lightly.

"Ahem... This skill is called [Cupid's Sigh]. It creates a mental illusion realm."

"Anyone inside sees the person they... care about most, the person they like most. Then all their fighting spirit and vigilance vanish, and they become immersed in it, unwilling to come out."

"The person they like most?"

Gu Rong froze for a moment, then his skeletal old face broke into a grin. Pointing to the side, he laughed.

"Hahaha! Then take a look, kid—Rongrong and the other two are very satisfied with your divine skill!"

Ning Ze turned his head to look.

The moment he did, he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Within the pink mist, the three pretty faces were red enough to drip blood, their breaths hurried and shallow.

What was even more fatal were their movements—

Ning Rongrong pouted and tightly hugged the air with both arms, speaking in a dreamy, coquettish voice. "Ning Ze... hold me tight... You're not allowed to touch other women..."

A large flush had spread across Zhu Zhuqing's usually cool face. Her legs were pressed tightly together, one hand clutching the front of her clothes over her chest as she bit her lower lip and murmured a name indistinctly.

Xiao Wu was even more direct. She threw herself forward, her rabbit ears drooping limply as though she had grabbed hold of something. Her burning little face nuzzled against the air.

"Ning... Brother... Your embrace is so warm... Kiss me..."

"Ahem, ahem! Dismiss!"

If he did not stop it now, something would happen.

Ning Ze hurriedly dispersed his martial soul, gathering all the pink mist across the area back into his body in one sweep.