First Meeting with Zhu Zhuqing

The registration line was still inching forward as Dai Mubai casually glanced at the long queue outside the academy gates.

He soon spotted a particularly conspicuous young man and woman in the crowd.

It was Tang San and his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. Oh, no, Tang San and his Xiao Wu.

Tang San was about twelve years old, dressed in a faded blue training outfit. He was lean and stood around 1.7 meters tall.

Though his looks were ordinary, his eyes held a steadiness no boy his age should possess.

Xiao Wu was about the same age as Tang San. She wore a pink short-sleeved top and a pink skirt, with long, straight legs clad in white stockings.

A long scorpion braid hung down her back, black and glossy, while her two rabbit ears looked lively and adorable.

She was tugging on Tang San's arm and chattering away about something, her pretty pink face full of curiosity and excitement.

Dai Mubai narrowed his eyes and sneered inwardly.

This Hundred Thousand Year rogue rabbit really had some nerve, wandering openly through the human world. He did not know whether to call her innocent or stupid.

Was she here in the human world for revenge, or sightseeing?

Still...

Dai Mubai's gaze paused briefly on her long legs before he casually looked away. He had to admit, she did have some assets.

As his gaze shifted, another figure caught Dai Mubai's attention.

She was a girl of around twelve, a little over 1.6 meters tall, wearing a light blue short skirt. Her skin was exceptionally fair, her features delicate, and her figure slender.

There was no need to guess. It was Ning Rongrong.

She stood out completely from the plainly dressed commoners around her, dripping with jewelry as though afraid no one would know her family was rich.

Those jade earrings alone were probably enough to feed everyone at Shrek for a year.

Dai Mubai raised an eyebrow slightly.

The little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect really did look like a porcelain doll. Her appearance was beyond reproach.

He had once thought only of her spoiled nature, but now that she was quiet, she actually possessed a little of a noble young lady's grace. Worthy indeed of being the Douluo Continent's greatest actress.

His gaze continued down the line. At the very end of the queue, a figure entered his sight, and Dai Mubai's pupils abruptly contracted.

She wore tight black leather clothing that perfectly outlined her explosively curvaceous figure.

Her waist was slender, yet breathtaking curves rose above and below it.

Her long legs were straight and slender, carrying a distinct sense of elegance and strength.

Her long black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, gently fluttering in the breeze.

Her face was fair and exquisite, her features beautiful enough to take one's breath away, but her eyes were so cold that no one dared approach.

She gave off an aura that warned strangers to stay away, yet she was so beautiful that it was impossible to look away.

It was Zhu Zhuqing.

At last, he had waited for this stubborn girl.

Dai Mubai sat up straight, a hint of softness appearing in his eyes as his heartbeat suddenly quickened.

Immediately afterward, he clearly felt his White Tiger Martial Soul stir with uneasy agitation. It was the mutual attraction between Martial Souls that complemented one another.

At the same time, Zhu Zhuqing below seemed to sense something as well. Her gaze swept around before finally locking onto Dai Mubai's face in the crooked old tree.

Their eyes met. Zhu Zhuqing's brows furrowed slightly, and her gaze grew even colder before she quickly looked away without expression.

Clearly, Zhu Zhuqing had already recognized him.

Dai Mubai's heart tightened, and he could no longer remain calm. This time, what kind of ending will the two of us have?

Below the tree, the registration line moved forward slowly.

"Soul Power Level 18. Unqualified. Next."

"Over the age limit. Unqualified. Next."

"Martial Soul quality is insufficient. Unqualified. Next."

Li Yusong's mechanical voice rang out again and again.

The rejected applicants left with their heads hanging low, while their parents either sighed heavily or cursed under their breaths.

Just then, a fierce argument suddenly erupted near the front of the line.

"Why won't you refund it? This is obviously a scam!" A dark-skinned middle-aged man flushed red, the veins on his forehead bulging.

The boy beside him was around twelve or thirteen. He kept his head lowered, his eyes red, yet he did not dare make a sound.

Li Yusong did not even raise his eyelids. He merely tapped the wooden sign on the table, which read, "Registration fee: ten Gold Soul Coins. No refunds for failed applicants."

Ten Gold Soul Coins had gone down the drain just like that. For most commoner families, it was practically half a year's savings.

"Rules are rules. Your child is unqualified. Go home."

"You!" The middle-aged man trembled with rage, on the verge of exploding.

Li Yusong frowned and called out, "Mubai, someone wants his registration fee back. Deal with it."

Up in the tree, helplessness flashed through Dai Mubai's eyes.

This rule... honestly, he thought it was unreasonable too.

Shrek's tyrannical no-refund policy was, bluntly put, just that profiteer Flender's way of making money.

He had tried bringing it up with Flender before, but it had been useless.

"Ah!"

Dai Mubai sighed softly, then leaped down from the old tree and landed lightly before the registration booth.

"You can have your registration fee back. Beat me, and you'll get every coin refunded."

As his words fell, Soul Power suddenly surged through his body.

Roar!

A low, majestic tiger roar erupted from within him and swept in all directions.

The next instant, the phantom of a White Tiger appeared behind Dai Mubai. A character meaning "king" lay between its brows, and its pale golden vertical pupils radiated a heart-palpitating pressure.

Then, yellow, yellow, purple, purple—four Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet.

The powerful pressure of his Soul Power, along with the White Tiger's imposing aura, instantly silenced the surrounding crowd.

"A... Soul Ancestor!"

"Four Soul Rings! How old is he?"

The crowd erupted in uncontrollable gasps. The parents who had been complaining all backed away, their gazes toward Dai Mubai shifting from curiosity to awe and fear.

At the end of the line, surprise had replaced Zhu Zhuqing's originally icy expression.

Her lips parted slightly as she stared fixedly at the four floating Soul Rings, her heart seeming to be fiercely clenched by something.

"He's already a Soul Ancestor..."

Zhu Zhuqing murmured inwardly, her fingertips unconsciously digging into her palm.

She had endured countless hardships and fled all the way from the Star Luo Empire just to find this fiancé of hers. On countless cold nights, she had hated him—for abandoning her and fleeing alone, for being cowardly, useless, and irresponsible.

But now, when she saw Dai Mubai's strength with her own eyes, that resentment suddenly became complicated.

"It seems... I was right to come find him."

The moment that thought arose in her mind, it was replaced by a deeper bitterness and grievance.

"Then... if he was already so strong, why did he cruelly leave me behind all alone?"

Tang San, standing in the line, was inwardly shocked as well. He subconsciously activated his Purple Demon Eyes to confirm whether what he was seeing was real.

"A Soul Ancestor! He's clearly about the same age as me, yet he has already reached the Soul Ancestor realm! It seems Teacher was right to send me to Shrek Academy. An academy capable of nurturing such a monster cannot possibly be as simple as it looks on the surface."

Xiao Wu muttered softly, "So strong... Third Brother, can you beat him?"

Tang San fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head without saying anything.

Before the registration booth, the middle-aged man had long since gone pale.

"Let's... let's just count ourselves unlucky!"

The middle-aged man swallowed with difficulty, grabbed his son, and hurried away.