Even with all his experience and knowledge as a rank ninety-six Peak Douluo, he could not identify the source of this power at all.
Yet he was utterly certain that this was a divine opportunity capable of defying heaven and rewriting fate, allowing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to break its ten-thousand-year destiny!
Su Chen calmly withdrew his hand and said evenly, "The Seven Treasures are flawed, but I possess a method to mend the heavens. This substance was born of heaven and earth's own creation. Senior swordsman, is this arrogance of mine enough to earn Rongrong a place at my side?"
Silence.
Across the vast main soul fighting platform, the only sound was the soft rustle of fallen leaves swept up by the night wind.
Chen Xin stared at the composed young man before him. Only after a long while did the terrifying sword intent shrouding the entire dome of the Great Soul Arena quietly recede like a tide and dissolve into nothingness.
The scrutiny and murderous intent deep in the eyes of this swordsman, renowned as the greatest on the continent, had long since vanished. In their place were an unprecedented gravity and heartfelt wonder.
Under a Titled Douluo's life-and-death pressure, he had neither bowed nor swaggered, refusing to yield an inch and swearing to protect the companions behind him even at the cost of his life.
And he possessed an unprecedented ten-thousand-year fourth ring, casually holding a divine blessing that could drive the Upper Three Sects utterly mad!
This boy was no creature destined to remain in a pond!
"Good... what a young man you are, Su Chen." Chen Xin let out a long, weary breath. A rare warmth softened his lean face.
Chen Xin let out a long, weary breath, a rare, gentle smile appearing on his lean face. He turned toward Ning Rongrong, whose face was already drenched in tears, his eyes filled with affection and reassurance. "Rongrong, your judgment is ten times better than your father's was back then. With this young man beside you, the sect master and I... can finally rest easy."
Then Chen Xin looked back at Su Chen, nodded slightly, and solemnly promised, "Boy, I owe you a favor. The doors of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will always stand open to you. I'm leaving this girl in your care. If some old monster from another sect ever tries to bully you with his seniority and strength... the Seven Kill Sword will be ready to leave its sheath for you at any time."
As his words faded, Chen Xin's figure dissolved into the faint afterimage of a sword's gleam in the night wind, crossing ten thousand miles in an instant and vanishing into the boundless darkness.
Only after that vast sword intent had completely dissipated did the frozen air around the platform begin to flow again.
"Brother Su Chen!"
With a sweet cry choked by tears, Ning Rongrong could no longer contain her feelings. Like a frightened swallow fledgling, she threw herself into Su Chen's arms and buried her lovely face deep against his warm, firm chest.
"I'm sorry... sob... I'm sorry! It was all because Rongrong was so willful. I nearly let Grandpa Sword hurt you..." Ning Rongrong locked both arms around Su Chen, her body trembling violently, her heart filled with lingering fear and self-reproach.
At that moment, when Chen Xin's peerless sword energy had pointed straight at Su Chen's brow, the young man could clearly have stepped aside. He could have pushed her forward to resolve the crisis.
Yet he had chosen to shield her with his own flesh and blood, his towering back blocking every deadly ray unleashed by a rank ninety-six peak expert!
That resolute step across her path had crushed the last trace of Ning Rongrong's aristocratic pride to dust. From then on, she was willing to give him everything and follow him through life and death!
Su Chen lowered his gaze to the girl in his arms, her tear-streaked beauty like pear blossoms drenched in rain. He raised his slender right hand and wiped the glistening tears from her fair cheeks.
"Silly girl, why are you crying? I told you, as long as you're by my side, no one will get past me to hurt you in the slightest. Not even that Grandpa Sword of yours."
Ning Rongrong sniffled, feeling his warm fingertips brush her cheek. A shy blush spread across her face, and she nestled even more obediently against him.
Su Chen turned and gave Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder a gentle pat, smiling warmly. "All right, go back and get some proper rest tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll leave Suotuo City."
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head obediently and said softly, "As you wish, young master."
Xiao Wu smiled through her tears as well and nodded firmly.
After comforting the three girls, Su Chen turned around and clasped his hands behind his back, gazing toward the boundless, dark sky to the south. His Purple-Gold Double Pupils flashed fiercely in the night.
By now, after the tempering of Pure Yang Dragon Qi and actual combat, the soul power within both Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu had firmly reached the bottleneck at the pinnacle of rank twenty-nine.
All they needed was a compatible soul ring, and they would naturally break through to Soul Elder. Ning Rongrong's [Nine-Colored Divine Marrow] also required an utterly secluded place where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered before she could perfectly refine and absorb it.
Next stop: the sacred land of soul beasts spanning the border between the two great empires, the Star Dou Great Forest!!
According to his plans, that ancient, primeval forest, with danger lurking on every side, held more than opportunities involving exceptional soul beasts such as the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.
It also held that ferocious beast capable of completely transforming a soul master's combat strength-the Man Faced Demon Spider with two thousand years of cultivation-and the core trump card that had allowed Tang San to defy heaven and rewrite his fate in the original story: the divine external soul bone, [Eight Spider Lances]!!
In this life, he, Su Chen, would mercilessly pocket every last shred of fortune and every blessing that belonged to Tang San!
Meanwhile.
In the southern district of Suotuo City, inside a crude, dark, damp house that reeked of pungent mold and rot.
Beneath a flickering, yellow oil lamp, Tang San lay on a battered wooden bed, his face ashen. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the patchy cobwebs on the ceiling, while harsh, labored breaths rasped from his throat like those of a dying beast.
The Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night had been destroyed. The Tang Sect Hidden Weapons he had taken such pride in were no better than scrap iron before Su Chen. Now he had even been reduced to a sewer rat, permanently struck from the Soto Great Soul Arena's rolls!
Beside the bed, Yu Xiaogang, pushing a wheelchair, looked equally pale as a ghost, dried black blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth.
The crushing defeat at the Soul Fighting Arena earlier that day had not only left Shrek disgraced, but had also torn away the last scrap of cloth concealing this "Grandmaster's" shame.
"Teacher... my hands... my meridians..." Tang San's voice was hoarse and broken, bloody tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.
The hatred and despair filling his heart threatened to devour what remained of his reason.
Yu Xiaogang gripped the wheelchair's armrests, his ruined face twisting like a vengeful ghost beneath the dim lamplight.
He clenched his teeth and lowered his voice. "Little San... don't give up! Flender has already learned that Su Chen will set off for the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow morning! Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu are nearing rank thirty. They must be going to hunt for their third soul rings!"
An almost sickly gleam of madness flickered in Yu Xiaogang's eyes. "The Star Dou Great Forest is a nest of countless beasts, and its terrain is incredibly treacherous! I've studied Spirit Hall's ancient records. At the boundary between the forest's outskirts and its core region lives an exceptional mutated soul beast that can reshape meridians and devour life force! As long as we follow them... we can use Flender and Zhao Wuji's strength as two Soul Saints to launch a covert ambush and seize that opportunity. Not only will your hands recover completely, but you'll rise from the ashes in the depths of despair!!"
"The Star Dou Great Forest... Su Chen..." Tang San bit his bloodstained lower lip as an utterly twisted murderous intent flared anew. "You stole my Xiao Wu, crippled my arms, and robbed me of my opportunities... I, Tang San, swear that the Star Dou Great Forest will be your burial ground!"
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