After that meal, Yuan Yu stayed in the mortal world for another full three years.
In the spring of the first year, Dai Mubai led a team to clear out a wartime weapons pit on the Star Luo Empire's border. Someone there had been selling Spirit Guidance Crossbows to children as scrap iron. Dai Mubai cornered both buyer and seller in a warehouse, sent the children outside first, then kicked open the iron cabinet hiding the crossbows. By then, he had already obtained his ninth Spirit Ring. His White Tiger protected the patrol soldiers who had come with him while he charged in to subdue the warehouse owner. The final task of the God of War's Divine Trial was not about how many people he could kill, but what he would choose between weapons, military glory, and living people. Only that evening, once the children had been sent home and the crossbows destroyed according to the inventory, did Dai Mubai's Divine Seal shine to its fullest.
Zhu Zhuqing had likewise obtained her ninth ring herself. She had not accompanied Dai Mubai to the warehouse; she had another pursuit to handle. A Soul Master who used speed Soul Skills to traffic young beasts from Star Dou had fled toward the border overnight. Zhu Zhuqing pursued him for two days and two nights, finally getting ahead of him on a frozen River. She struck before he could shatter the ice, and her Hell Spirit Cat carried the young beasts out of the cart in its jaws. Her speed Divine Seal took shape as she landed for the final time. Dai Mubai arrived later. Only after handing the criminal over to the border guards did she agree to sit down and let him examine the injuries on her feet.
Once the two had