Trials in Star Dou

At night, all kinds of soul beasts that hid during the day emerged in the Star Dou Great Forest, making it extremely dangerous.

After reaching the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, Dai Chengqian stopped the carriage.

Then he gathered some dry wood into a pile and unleashed a bolt of Purple Heaven Divine Thunder, instantly setting it ablaze.

Dai Chengqian sat cross-legged beside the fire, preparing to meditate and cultivate.

Just then, the carriage door opened behind him.

Dai Chengqian looked over and saw Zhu Zhuyun draped in her black robe, her long legs bare beneath its hem as she walked barefoot toward him.

Dai Chengqian teased her:

"You're awake? As expected of a Soul Elder over level thirty. Your body really does recover quickly."

Zhu Zhuyun sat beside Dai Chengqian and wrapped her arms around his neck, speaking into his ear in a soft, seductive voice:

"Yes. What about you, Sixth Prince? Has your body recovered?"

"Shall we keep playing our... fun game?"

"Ahem. Sit properly, and keep your hands to yourself."

Dai Chengqian pushed Zhu Zhuyun away, rubbed his ticklish ear, and gave a dry cough before saying with a serious expression:

"This prince's body could handle playing that game a hundred times without a problem.

"But His Majesty sent us here to train, not to play games.

"Take advantage of the abundant soul power in the Star Dou Great Forest and meditate properly. No slacking off!"

"Yes, if the Sixth Prince wants me to cultivate, then that's what I'll do."

"Good. Let's do it together."

The two sat upright beside the fire and began meditating together, drawing in the soul power between heaven and earth.

As he cultivated, Dai Chengqian discovered his problem: his cultivation speed was too slow.

That was only natural, though, since the speed at which one cultivated soul power was tied to one's innate soul power.

Dai Chengqian's innate soul power was only level six, so naturally, he cultivated slowly.

Fortunately, he had the Emperor Red Luan System. Whenever a bonded Red Luan leveled up, she would feed soul power back to him.

Once he bonded with more Red Luans, perhaps he would not even need to meditate himself. The soul power they fed back to him would be enough.

As he was thinking about this, a system notification suddenly sounded in his ears.

[Red Luan No. 1, Zhu Zhuyun, has leveled up her soul power. You have received a large amount of soul power.]

Dai Chengqian felt a vast surge of soul power rush toward him and pour into his body.

Then Dai Chengqian's level instantly rose from twenty-eight to twenty-nine.

Just one more level, and he would reach level thirty and be able to absorb his third Soul Ring.

After experiencing this speed of advancement, Dai Chengqian instantly lost all desire to toil away at meditation.

If he bonded with thousands upon thousands of Red Luans now, wouldn't his level shoot up like a rocket?

For now, though, that was nothing more than a fantasy.

Never mind whether there were that many Red Luans for him to bond with.

Even if there were, he could not bond with so many. At present, he could only bond with two Red Luans at most.

He had already bonded with Zhu Zhuyun, leaving just one slot.

At this thought, a question suddenly occurred to Dai Chengqian.

Who should I bond with as my second Red Luan?

Xiao Wu?

That was unrealistic, even setting aside whether he could find her.

Even if he did, with Tang San around, getting Xiao Wu's Affection toward him to fifty points would be extremely difficult.

Without fifty Affection points, he could not bond with her as a Red Luan.

The same went for the others.

Bonding with the familiar beauties of Douluo, such as Hu Liena and Qian Renxue, as a Red Luan would not be easy right now.

Just then, Dai Chengqian's gaze fell on Zhu Zhuyun.

A cool, aloof figure appeared in his mind.

He knew who his next Red Luan should be.

Zhu Zhuyun's younger sister, Zhu Zhuqing.

Dai Chengqian walked over and embraced Zhu Zhuyun, who was still meditating.

Feeling the warmth of Dai Chengqian's body, Zhu Zhuyun opened her eyes.

"Sixth Prince, didn't you say we should cultivate properly?"

"Yes, but we're finished cultivating now. It's time to enjoy our game."

Dai Chengqian swept Zhu Zhuyun into his arms.

Zhu Zhuyun gave a soft hum and buried her face against Dai Chengqian's chest.

Glancing down at Zhu Zhuyun's voluptuous figure, Dai Chengqian swallowed and walked toward the carriage.

"By the way, I remember you have a younger sister named Zhu Zhuqing, right?"

"Yes, Sixth Prince."

"Have you heard anything about her recently?"

Dawn broke.

Dai Chengqian had gained quite a lot that night.

Not only had he raised his Red Luan bond level to lv2,

he had also learned Zhu Zhuqing's whereabouts.

As luck would have it, Zhu Zhuqing was no longer in the Star Luo Empire, but she had yet to reach Heaven Dou.

A few days earlier, the subordinates Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun had dispatched had hunted Zhu Zhuqing down.

According to Zhu Zhuyun, the last place Zhu Zhuqing had disappeared was this very Star Dou Great Forest.

In other words, Zhu Zhuqing was very likely still here!

At this point, she probably had not entered the Heaven Dou Empire, joined Shrek Academy, or met Dai Mubai yet.

As long as he found her, his chances of bonding with her as a Red Luan were quite high.

The Star Dou Great Forest covered an enormous area, straddling the borders of both the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire.

Zhu Zhuqing certainly would not head toward the center of the Star Dou Great Forest. That would be courting death.

Her destination was probably the Heaven Dou Empire.

If she wanted to reach the Heaven Dou Empire, she would surely choose the route that was both short and safe.

With that thought, Dai Chengqian had all but pinpointed the direction where Zhu Zhuqing would be.

After marking the approximate area on his map, Dai Chengqian drove the carriage toward the location he had deduced.

The carriage moved quickly.

Along the way, Dai Chengqian encountered several hundred-year soul beasts and even some thousand-year soul beasts.

Dai Chengqian casually slaughtered a few hundred-year soul beasts.

These hundred-year soul beasts were pathetically weak before Dai Chengqian's Purple Heaven Divine Thunder.

A single bolt of Purple Heaven Divine Thunder was usually enough to end the fight.

Dai Chengqian felt that, with his current strength, killing soul beasts around three thousand years old would be no problem at all.

A three-thousand-year soul beast was roughly equivalent to a level-thirty Soul Elder among human soul masters.

With his Purple Heaven Divine Thunder, fighting opponents above his level should be no problem.

Unfortunately, the thousand-year soul beasts he encountered all fled like a wisp of smoke after seeing him unleash his Purple Heaven Divine Thunder. None had any intention of fighting Dai Chengqian to the death.

Dai Chengqian had no interest in chasing them either. Finding Zhu Zhuqing came first.

Several thousand meters away from Dai Chengqian,

Zhu Zhuqing was covered in wounds, half leaning against a tree trunk as she warily watched the four Black-Clad Assassins before her.

Her black leather outfit had several holes torn in it, and flecks of mud dotted her exposed thighs and face.

Though she looked utterly bedraggled, it still could not conceal her breathtaking beauty.

"You're my sister and brother-in-law's men, aren't you?

"Where are they? Tell them to come kill me themselves."

The Black-Clad Assassins exchanged glances, showing no intention of answering Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing looked at them and sneered.

"If you won't talk, then keep your mouths shut."

"Hell Stab!"

In an instant, Zhu Zhuqing accelerated, her claws slashing across the neck of the man at the front.

Blood gushed from the black-clad man's neck, and he collapsed.

Only then did the other three Black-Clad Assassins react, attacking Zhu Zhuqing together.

Zhu Zhuqing shifted her body slightly.

She intended to take two of their attacks head-on with the tougher, relatively safer parts of her body.

She would risk serious injury to finish off another black-clad man.

With one fewer pursuer, she was confident she could escape this group and flee to Heaven Dou.

Just as her claws were about to pierce the chest of the black-clad man before her,

a dazzling bolt of purple lightning suddenly struck him.

Immediately afterward, two more bolts of purple lightning struck the two Black-Clad Assassins behind her.

The two Black-Clad Assassins were instantly blasted into charred husks.

Zhu Zhuqing looked toward the source of the lightning and saw a tall figure who made her heart flutter inexplicably.

The newcomer was, of course, Dai Chengqian.

Dai Chengqian gazed at Zhu Zhuqing's cool, delicate face.

He could not help marveling inwardly.

So beautiful...