Winning Zhu Zhuqing's Affection

[Zhu Zhuqing's Affection for you increased by 10 points]

He opened the system panel to check.

After Zhu Zhuqing announced her decision to join him, her Affection for him had increased by another 10 points.

Her total Affection now stood at 20 points.

Just 30 more points would bring her Affection to 50, at which point he could bind Zhu Zhuqing as his Red Luan.

Closing the panel, Dai Chengqian smiled at Zhu Zhuqing.

"Welcome aboard. Believe me, this will be the best decision you ever make."

Zhu Zhuqing returned his smile.

"I hope so."

Then Zhu Zhuqing looked at her older sister, Zhu Zhuyun.

She noticed that Zhu Zhuyun's eyes seemed glued to Dai Chengqian, brimming with love.

Zhu Zhuqing marveled inwardly.

She wondered what kind of bewitching potion Dai Chengqian had fed her sister to make her so infatuated with him.

Zhu Zhuqing turned to look at Dai Chengqian's handsome face.

Something suddenly seemed to occur to her. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, she spoke.

"Sixth Prince, there's something I need to make clear beforehand.

Although I've chosen to join you now, I'm still nominally Dai Mubai's fiancée.

I can't possibly... do that... with you...

Do you understand?

Besides, you already have my sister.

If we win in the end, I'll leave you."

Dai Chengqian understood what Zhu Zhuqing meant.

The two of them were seated close together inside the carriage.

Dai Chengqian scooted closer to Zhu Zhuqing and turned to tease her.

"What? Don't you want to be my imperial consort?"

"No... that's not what I meant...

I just..."

Zhu Zhuqing hadn't expected Dai Chengqian to be so direct. At a loss for how to respond, she began stumbling over her words.

"All right, all right.

I'm only teasing. Don't be nervous.

Rest assured, once I ascend the throne, you can do whatever you want.

Neither I nor your family will force you to do anything then.

If I fail to keep that promise, may I never become a Titled Douluo in this lifetime."

Seeing Dai Chengqian make her such a serious promise, even swearing a dire oath,

Zhu Zhuqing felt a faint stirring of emotion.

Ever since childhood, all she had felt from her family was coldness.

She had experienced this kind of warmth very, very rarely.

[Zhu Zhuqing's Affection for you increased by 10 points]

Even that can raise her Affection?

Dai Chengqian was secretly delighted. Zhu Zhuqing really was quite easy to win over.

He wasn't worried about his dire oath in the slightest.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he could bind her as his Red Luan.

Once she became his Red Luan, her Affection would keep rising as they spent more time together.

By then, even if Dai Chengqian told Zhu Zhuqing to leave, she probably wouldn't go.

Dai Chengqian planned to train in the Star Dou Great Forest for at least a month.

It was still far too early to return.

Dai Chengqian looked at Zhu Zhuqing and said,

"Zhu Zhuqing, what level are you?"

"I'm level 27 now."

Dai Chengqian nodded. "Understood. Soul power is abundant in the Star Dou Great Forest. Over this month, do your best to raise your soul power level."

Zhu Zhuqing still had some way to go before reaching level 30.

Dai Chengqian himself wasn't far off. He was currently level 29 and would soon reach level 30.

He decided to reach level 30 in the Star Dou Great Forest and absorb a soul ring before returning to report.

The Star Luo Emperor had sent him here to train. If he returned without enough improvement in his strength, he would have trouble accounting for himself.

And so, over the following days, Dai Chengqian threw himself into meditation and cultivation.

Aside from that, he hunted soul beasts together with the two Zhu sisters.

Throughout their hunts, Dai Chengqian used his self-created soul skills.

He grew increasingly adept at wielding Purple Heaven Divine Thunder.

He found Arc Seed particularly useful.

All he had to do was plant it in advance along a soul beast's path, wait for the beast to pass, and then detonate it.

Caught unawares by the blast, those soul beasts would almost always be injured, if not killed outright.

Dealing with them afterward became much easier.

Just like that, Dai Chengqian raised his soul power while practicing his soul skills, even finding opportunities along the way to improve his connection level with Zhu Zhuyun.

A month later, his soul power level finally reached 30.

"Sixth Prince, this thousand-year Vajra Savage Bear suits you quite well. Why not choose it as your third soul ring?"

Zhu Zhuyun held the dying Vajra Savage Bear beneath her feet and looked up at Dai Chengqian.

Dai Chengqian glanced at the Vajra Savage Bear and slowly shook his head.

"No. Although this bear suits my martial soul quite well, he still isn't enough."

"Even a thousand-year Vajra Savage Bear doesn't satisfy you? Just what kind of soul ring do you want to absorb?"

Zhu Zhuqing asked in surprise from beside him.

She truly couldn't understand what soul beast's soul ring Dai Chengqian wanted.

Over the past few days, they had already killed seven or eight thousand-year soul beasts, but Dai Chengqian hadn't been satisfied with any of them and had chosen not to absorb their rings.

She had thought today's thousand-year Vajra Savage Bear would finally do, yet even it hadn't caught Dai Chengqian's eye.

"Let's go farther in. The quality of the soul rings from soul beasts near the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest is still a little lacking."

Dai Chengqian smiled without answering her question and headed deeper into the forest.

Zhu Zhuyun finished off the Vajra Savage Bear with a single slash and followed him.

Whatever decision Dai Chengqian made, she would support him unconditionally.

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head and followed behind Zhu Zhuyun.

In Douluo I, there were strict age limits on the soul rings a soul master could absorb.

For their third soul ring, soul masters could absorb one around seventeen hundred years old at most; for their fourth, the limit was around five thousand years.

Dai Chengqian knew that Tang San's third soul ring came from a Man Faced Demon Spider.

That Man Faced Demon Spider's actual cultivation had already exceeded two thousand years, so Tang San had absorbed a ring beyond his level.

The Man Faced Demon Spider's soul ring had greatly enhanced Tang San's combat strength and also provided him with an external soul bone.

It had helped Tang San considerably in the early stages.

The third soul ring he absorbed this time absolutely could not be inferior to Tang San's.

Most importantly, Dai Chengqian felt that after the system had enhanced him ten thousandfold, both his body and his martial soul were extraordinarily strong. He could definitely absorb a more powerful soul ring.

If he didn't try to absorb a stronger soul ring, he would surely regret it in the end.

He headed deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest, continuing his search for a suitable soul beast.

Suddenly, Dai Chengqian felt a sense of danger.

He stopped instantly and raised his right hand, signaling Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing behind him not to move.

"Stop. Neither of you move."

The instant he finished speaking,

A black shadow flashed past Dai Chengqian, heading toward Zhu Zhuqing behind him.

Dai Chengqian's expression changed drastically.

This is bad! It's so fast—it's a soul beast!

Dai Chengqian realized that his eyes couldn't even catch sight of the soul beast. He immediately understood that its level had to be extremely high, far beyond what he could handle now.

At that critical moment, rather than rushing to rescue Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Chengqian raised his head and shouted toward his surroundings.

"Stop hiding! It's your turn to act!"

Before Dai Chengqian's words had even faded,

a ray of light shot down from the sky toward the black shadow.

As though instantly restrained, the shadow froze motionless one meter in front of Zhu Zhuqing.

"Sixth Prince, how did you know I was here?"

A beam of light fell in front of Dai Chengqian.

Then a woman in pale blue and white robes appeared before his eyes, her bearing proud.