Qian Renxue Arrives

The silver-purple radiance of the Soul Ring sank completely into Zhu Zhuqing's body, and the violet Nether mist around her slowly settled. When she lifted her eyes and rose, everyone sensed the change in her.

The shadow of her Nether Civet Martial Soul had once been pitch-black from head to tail. Now the edges of its fur gleamed with a faint, almost translucent halo of frosty silver moonlight.

The cat was no longer pure black, either. Delicate lunar markings shimmered across its body beneath the cool daylight filtering through the trees. Its movements had grown lighter and more ethereal, with a hint of the noble bearing unique to feline Soul Beasts.

Favored by the moon, Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul had transformed completely after she absorbed the Soul Ring of another Hell Spirit Cat.

Zhu Zhuqing flexed her fingers. She could feel that her Martial Soul had undergone a fundamental change. Her old Nether Civet Martial Soul had made her an agility-type Soul Master, but before this, she had only Extreme Speed Stealth and Shadow Hunt.

Now a cool, gentle lunar power flowed through her meridians, Martial Soul, and Soul Power, carrying a tiny trace of mysterious spatial energy. A breeze brushed the hem of her clothes, and her figure turned faintly insubstantial for an instant, as though she had slipped out of the present world.

"Your Martial Soul... evolved?" Jiang Baiyu was the first to notice something amiss. The others turned toward her too, their eyes full of wonder.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded. Even her usually expressionless face showed excitement. After taking a moment to feel the changes, she explained them to the group. She looked up at the sky hidden by the dense canopy and spoke evenly, though she could not conceal her excitement:

"After absorbing the Hell Spirit Cat's Soul Ring, my Martial Soul transformed into a Moon Nether Cat, greatly increasing my affinity with the moon. Under a moonlit sky, my speed, stealth, and ability to hide in shadows are doubled. Moonlight nourishes my Soul Power, so I can fight longer and recover faster."

Her fingertips stirred, and a thread of silver-white Soul Power flowed between them. The space around her fingers rippled faintly. "I also awakened a very weak spatial attribute."

Everyone was stunned. An agility-type Soul Master's greatest strengths were speed and mobility, and a spatial attribute was something every agility-type Soul Master dreamed of possessing.

"Then what about your Soul Skill?" Yu Feng asked, curious as a fellow agility-type Soul Master.

Zhu Zhuqing held nothing back. Her Soul Ring flashed behind her, and the purple light of the thousand-year ring flared. Pale moonlight and dark shadows surged together, enveloping her.

"Third Soul Skill—Moon Nether Shadow Split!"

Three duplicates appeared among the trees, identical to Zhu Zhuqing in face, figure, and clothing. Unlike the illusory afterimages of ordinary Soul Masters, these duplicates had solid bodies, steady breathing, and clear, stable Soul Power fluctuations. Even the shadow of the Moon Nether Cat behind them had been perfectly reproduced. It was impossible to tell them apart!

Zhu Zhuqing explained, "Each duplicate has sixty percent of my combat strength. They can act independently and use Soul Skills on their own. They also give me a powerful ability: Temporal Space Swap.

"I can instantly exchange places with any duplicate. Even if one is destroyed, I only lose ten percent of my Soul Power. And when a duplicate is defeated, it doesn't simply disappear. It detonates the lunar Nether Soul Power stored within it."

As soon as she finished speaking, a spatial ripple flickered and vanished. Zhu Zhuqing instantly exchanged places with a duplicate a hundred meters away, moving like a ghost and leaving no trace to follow. The three duplicates scattered at once, filling the forest with dazzling afterimages.

Everyone stared in amazement. Osler and Yu Feng looked especially grave. As agility-type Soul Masters themselves, they understood better than anyone how difficult Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul and Soul Skill would be to deal with.

Osler's gaze sharpened. "The duplicates' auras are so solid that you can't tell which one is real. No, it's more like any of them could be the real you. And you can even swap places through space... Among agility-type Soul Masters at the same rank, you're definitely at the top now." He had to admit that at the same level, he would be no match for her.

Yu Feng shook his head in envy. "That's ridiculous. You recover Soul Power under the moon, have three duplicates to cover you, and can swap places with them. Who could ever catch you? You were made to be an agility-type Soul Master! Now my Soul Skills feel useless." He was exaggerating, but his reaction made it clear just how troublesome Zhu Zhuqing's new skill was.

After marveling at her abilities, the group set out again to find suitable Soul Beasts for the Shi Brothers.

Their luck held. Before long, Yu Feng called down from the air, "Look! There's a herd of Scale Armor Beasts up ahead." Scale Armor Beasts had formidable defenses and were a large, widespread group in the Star Dou Forest. They were naturally suited to the Black Tortoise Shield Martial Soul.

There were too many powerful Soul Beasts in the herd, so the group had no intention of fighting them. Instead, they relied on Dugu Bo and Su Wu, the two Title Douluo, to subdue the herd outright.

The Shi Brothers each chose a beast: a nine-thousand-two-hundred-year Scale Armor Beast King and an eight-thousand-six-hundred-year Mutated Diamond Scale Armor Beast. With a strike from each shield, two deep-purple Soul Rings emerged. The brothers channeled their Soul Power and drew the rings toward themselves.

Before long, both brothers' auras surged, and their Martial Souls grew sturdier. As everyone had expected, the two Scale Armor Beasts granted them powerful Soul Skills that could pull in enemies and reflect attacks.

With everyone's Soul Ring successfully acquired, the group packed up and prepared to return. They had gained plenty from this hunt. Not only had each of them obtained a top-tier Soul Skill, but their Martial Souls had also transformed. They walked with light steps through the dense forest and out of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Back in the carriage, they were still too excited to settle down. They spent the journey testing the strength they had just gained. Before long, the grand outline of Heaven Dou Royal Academy came into view in the distance.

"We're finally back!" Yu Feng jumped from the carriage as soon as they entered the academy. "Ah! The academy's ground! The academy's air! Hahaha! I'm a whole new man!" Yu Feng had always been exuberant, and after his Martial Soul's transformation, he was eager to tell the world.

"That's enough!" Yu Tianheng was excited too, but he grabbed Yu Feng. The group exchanged glances, thanked one another, and went their separate ways. They all needed time to absorb what they had gained from the hunt.

Yu Tianheng turned to Jiang Baiyu and bowed. "Thank you for your help. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan will reward you generously. I'll be going now." Then he hurried off, though Jiang Baiyu had no idea where he was headed.

Seeing that Yu Tianheng and the others had matters to attend to, Jiang Baiyu did not keep them. He returned to his own courtyard.

He relaxed as he stepped into the familiar little courtyard. It was quiet and elegant, with blue bricks underfoot, pale green moss in the corners, and the few remaining stalks of bamboo swaying gently in the evening breeze. The heat had faded, leaving only peace and stillness. He took a moment to regulate his breathing.

Su Wu was catching up with the three academy board members, leaving Jiang Baiyu alone in the courtyard. He lay back in a chair, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the solitude.

The sky darkened. A bright moon hung high above, its clear light spreading across the world.

The cool evening breeze brushed the bamboo branches with a soft rustle. Moonlight pooled in the courtyard like water, laying a pale frost-white sheen over the stone steps, bamboo shadows, and walls.

A slender figure in an elegant snow-white dress approached silently beneath the moon. Qian Renxue stood outside the courtyard in its light, her golden hair stirring in the breeze. Her beautiful face was cool, her eyes gentle, and she seemed almost beyond this world. Her angelic presence was held so deeply in check that she appeared untouched by mortal life, like an immortal descended beneath the moon and blended into the night.

Jiang Baiyu slowly opened his eyes. He had sensed that unique, pure, boundless angelic aura long ago. At the same time, his Shennong Cauldron had begun to tremble faintly, as though answering it.