South of Suotuo City, the plains and wilderness on both sides of the official road followed the terrain's undulations, gradually turning into rolling hills and increasingly dense woods.
The morning light tore through the thin mist at the edge of the sky, and golden shimmering light filtered through the tall tree crowns along the road, casting mottled patches all over the dirt official road.
Two scale horses pulled a carriage whose carriage side was inlaid with the dark patterns of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and a faint dragon's-breath incense drifted in the air, along with the crisp, sweet scent unique to young maidens.
Su Chen sat upright in the master seat, while beside him Zhu Zhuqing sat cross-legged with her eyes half-closed.
The jolting of the long journey caused a few drops of fine sweat to faintly emerge on the young maiden's smooth forehead, and a few strands of dark, soft side hair stuck messily against her fair, cold cheeks, her breathing slightly rushed.
Su Chen raised his right hand, his fingertips sliding past Zhu Zhuqing's temple, gently tucking those few strands of messy hair behind her ear, and a wisp of extremely pure primary yang dragon qi silently slipped into the young maiden's body.
Zhu Zhuqing's delicate body trembled slightly, her cheeks flushing as she looked at the youth before her.
"Many thanks, Young Lord."
"Brother Su Chen is biased!!" Seeing this, Xiao Wu at the side puckered her pink, tender cherry lips and rubbed over.
"Xiao Wu has also traveled for most of the day, and my legs are even sore. Why didn't Brother help Xiao Wu massage them??"
"That's right, Brother Su Chen."
Ning Rongrong blinked her expressive, bright eyes, cupped her chin, and bantered, "This carriage was specially requisitioned by this young lady from the sect's chamber of commerce; even without credit, there was hard work, right?? Someone cannot just take care of Zhu Zhuqing alone."
Seeing the two maidens act with naive and lovable spoiled pets' jealousy, Su Chen couldn't help but laugh.
"Zhuqing and Xiao Wu are just a step away from the thirtieth-rank soul elder. Adjust your states well, and this time we will definitely find you the most compatible, supreme soul ring."
"All right! Brother is the best!" Xiao Wu smiled sweetly, obediently leaning against Su Chen's shoulder.
Meanwhile, in the gloomy woods a few miles behind the carriage, another team was miserably following on foot.
Tang San draped a large gray cloak, his two soft, limp forearms fixed to his chest by splints, Yu Xiaogang's face was haggard with his lips tightly pressed, and beside him Flender's face was ashen, silently and vigilantly guarding the surroundings.
This battered Shrek team closely bit at the heels of the Dragon God Team's tracks.
At noon, a large supply town built against the mountain appeared at the end of the official road.
This was the last human settlement before heading to the Star Dou Great Forest, and shops selling detox herbs, refined iron cuirasses, and all kinds of field supplies lined both sides of the street.
The passing pedestrians were mostly soul master teams with sharp blades hanging at their waists and vigilant expressions.
Su Chen led the three maidens into a fairly large stone and wood tavern in the center of the town.
Pushing open the heavy oak door, the clamoring and noisy wave of sound mixed with the aroma of ale and roast meat rushed over his face.
As Su Chen's group of four walked into the main hall, the originally noisy hall abruptly quieted down by several beats.
The youth was in white surpassing snow, his bearing unfathomable.
The three maidens beside him were even more peerlessly beautiful. Zhu Zhuqing was cold and aloof, Xiao Wu was lively and pretty, and Ning Rongrong was poised and regal. No matter which one of them was placed in ordinary times, they would be the focus of everyone's attention, but gathered here right now, they drew countless stunning and covetous burning gazes.
Su Chen led the three maidens to sit down at a window-side table, ordering some light meals and drinks.
At several joined tables in the center of the tavern's main hall, seven or eight young soul masters wearing moon-white soul master robes with silver "Canghui" characters embroidered on their chests were gathered around in a circle.
Catching sight of the peerless appearances of Zhu Zhuqing and the three maidens, undisguised frivolousness welled up in the youths' eyes.
"Yo, which family's young master ran out to sightsee, and even brought three such dainty maids??"
A tall, thin Canghui Academy student with a frivolous expression on his full face held a wine glass and swayed to his feet, walking toward Su Chen's table amidst his companions' jeers.
Relying on wearing the uniform of a high-tier soul master academy, his gaze swept unscrupulously across Zhu Zhuqing's tight leather outfit and Ning Rongrong's delicate, pretty face.
"Kid, the Star Dou Great Forest is not a place for you to dally with women. If you know what's good for you, hand these little sisters over for us brothers to take care of, lest you get snatched away by soul beasts once you enter the woods later!"
As soon as those words fell, the tall, thin youth's companions burst into a wave of vulgar catcalls and whistles.
Zhu Zhuqing's gaze turned cold, her fingertips bending slightly as she prepared to erupt.
Ning Rongrong frowned, her entire face filled with disgust.
Xiao Wu clenched her pink fists even tighter.
Su Chen frowned slightly, and the pure yang dragon qi dormant within his body slightly vibrated.
Boom! Terrifying Dragon Emperor Pressure abruptly erupted from within three chi of Su Chen's body!
Crack! The frivolous smile on the tall, thin youth's face instantly froze, his knees went soft, and with a "thud" he knelt onto the hard bluestone slabs.
The entire tavern hall instantly fell into dead silence.
"Where did this arrogant junior come from, daring to injure the students of my Canghui Academy!"
An angry shout exploded from the private room inside the tavern, followed closely by a short, stocky, and heavy figure striding out.
It was a middle-aged man over fifty years old. His face was gloomy and his figure short and solid, and his whole body emitted a deep and heavy soul power fluctuation like a boulder.
The director of the external affairs department of Canghui Academy, fifty-third-rank defense system battle soul king, Ye Zhiqiu!!
Catching sight of his own student kneeling on the ground, murderous intent was fully revealed in Ye Zhiqiu's eyes as a dense and heavy dark-green light soared upward from beneath his feet!
White, yellow, yellow, purple, purple!!
A full five soul rings accompanied a huge black tortoise phantom bearing heavy armor that emerged from behind him.
Following the Martial Soul Possession, a thick and hard dark-green tortoiseshell instantly bulged on Ye Zhiqiu's back, and his arms were also covered in tough scales, exuding the heaviness and oppression unique to a defense system soul king.
"Ignorant and arrogant madman, kneel down for this old man and apologize!!"
Ye Zhiqiu shouted angrily, and his third soul ring suddenly lit up. The dark-green black tortoise chill merged with the thick armor, carrying tens of thousands of catties of violent charging force straight toward Su Chen's face to ruthlessly grind down!
Facing the angry strike of a soul king above rank fifty, the surrounding tavern patrons screamed and scattered in all directions.
Su Chen, sitting in the wooden chair, still had a face as calm as still water.
He didn't summon his martial soul, simply rising calmly. His right foot stepped forward half a step steadily, and the pure yang dragon aura gathered on his right fist within a breath, a layer of deep and restrained dark-gold flowing light faintly emerging on his originally white-as-jade fist surface.
God-Level Self-Created Combat Technique... Dragon Emperor Void-Shattering Fist!!
"Break."
Su Chen spat a single word lightly from his mouth, facing the dark-green heavy armor crashing right up to him without dodging or evading, and punched straight out with a level strike!!
Thud!!
A muffled, giant roar violently exploded inside the tavern, and the violent gale transformed into a visible ring of air pressure, shredding the surrounding tables and chairs into a sky full of debris!!
The instant Su Chen's plain-looking dark-gold fist edge touched the heavy tortoiseshell armor, the sneer in Ye Zhiqiu's pupils completely transformed into endless shock and despair!!
Crack! Crack!
That layer of black tortoise heavy armor-which claimed to be able to block the full-strength onslaught of a same-rank power attack system soul king-had spiderweb-like cracks crawl all over the entire tortoiseshell, and then with a "bang" sound, it completely shattered into a sky full of dark-green soul power light fragments!!
A single punch, instantly killing a fifty-third-rank defense system battle soul king!
The Shrek remnant force that had just pushed open the door and attempted to secretly pry dropped their jaws entirely.
"That... that is Ye Zhiqiu of Canghui Academy? A fifty-third-rank black tortoise battle soul king?"
Flender's fingers pushing his glasses trembled. As an old hand in the pugilistic world, he knew far too well just how difficult a soul king above rank fifty famous for defense was to deal with.
Even if he himself made a move, it would be utterly impossible to shatter the black tortoise armor into pieces with just a single heavy punch!!
No! This was simply not power that a human soul ancestor could possibly possess!
In the wheelchair, Yu Xiaogang emitted a "gurgling" wheeze from his throat.
The strict soul power grade barriers and defense restraint theories he had spent his entire life studying were just like mud trampled underfoot before Su Chen's plain, unremarkable punch-as laughable as they were absurd.
Meanwhile, Tang San in the corner bit down hard on his blood-stained tongue, unspeakable despair and jealousy gnawing at his soul like ten thousand venomous insects.
Why?? Both awakened at six years old, yet the opponent could shatter a black tortoise with his physical body and cover the heavens with his palms. As for himself, he had degenerated into a cripple unable to even trigger a hidden weapon??!!
A intense sense of powerlessness and humiliation almost completely crushed Tang San's martial heart.
Su Chen fished a gold soul coin out from his sleeve, tossed it onto the surviving counter, and said indifferently, "Proprietor, pay for the tavern's damages."
"Ah... ah!! Thank you, noble lord!! Thank you, noble lord!!" The proprietor, who had long since been frightened paralyzed behind the counter, stutteringly accepted the gold coin.
"Let's go."
Su Chen turned around, naturally reaching out his hand to grasp Zhu Zhuqing's icy, soft hand. On the other side, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong were filled with adoration and pride, closely following behind.
The four of them walked out the door of the dilapidated tavern amidst the terrified and reverent gazes of the entire room.
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