Boss Dai, Take It Easy-They're Just Training

A secluded stretch of forest.

A man and a woman, alone together.

Faced with Zhu Zhuqing's request, Qin Xiao fell silent for a moment before asking, "How do you want me to help you?"

"J-just like when we traveled to and from the Star Dou Great Forest..."

At this point, Zhu Zhuqing's pretty face flushed crimson. Then she uttered the final words: "Shock me."

Huh?

Something's wrong with you!

After hearing Zhu Zhuqing's words, Qin Xiao's gaze instantly turned strange.

Could this girl standing before me have some peculiar fetish?

Cold as an iceberg on the outside, blazing with passion within, and fond of a little excitement?

Dai Mubai, Oscar, and the others avoided his lightning like the plague. Even Ning Rongrong, that Little Demoness, had been shocked into endless complaints...

Something was seriously wrong with Zhu Zhuqing!

Zhu Zhuqing seemed to notice Qin Xiao's strange gaze. Though her pretty face remained crimson, her eyes filled with resolve, and she finally summoned the courage to face him directly.

"Your Holiness, I don't know what you think of me, but I know what I want..."

"Tempering my body with lightning is painful, but it can awaken my potential and help me cultivate faster. That alone is enough!"

"It's not that I have some peculiar fetish. I want to become stronger. I want to defeat Dai Mubai. I want to make that faithless man pay the price he deserves!"

"Relying on my own cultivation alone, fulfilling that wish would be far too difficult!"

"Please help me!"

As Zhu Zhuqing spoke, tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes.

Grievance, helplessness, pain...

All those emotions erupted at that moment.

Dai Mubai, that coward, had fled in the face of his domineering elder brother.

But what about her?

She had endured more than a decade of torment in the Star Luo Imperial City. Every passing day brought her one step closer to death. Nothing was more despairing than waiting to die.

At long last, she had learned of Dai Mubai's whereabouts and come to this remote little city, hoping to find him so they could fight their wretched fate together.

Yet what had Dai Mubai done after fleeing to this secluded little city?

He had drowned himself in glittering excess, living in a drunken dream of pleasure and freedom.

He had long since forgotten her-the person whose fate was bound to his.

Deep disappointment and hatred took root in Zhu Zhuqing's heart. Making that faithless Dai Mubai pay the price he deserved was her only wish before death!

I never expected Zhu Zhuqing to be so strong-willed...

Qin Xiao was somewhat surprised.

In the original story, Zhu Zhuqing had never particularly stood out.

Average talent, an average Martial Soul, average strength.

Aside from her icy personality and her baby-faced, large-breasted figure, it was hard to name anything particularly special about her.

Today, however, Zhu Zhuqing had revealed a side of herself to Qin Xiao that no one knew.

For revenge, she was even willing to endure the agony of lightning tempering her body. Qin Xiao had no choice but to see her in a new light.

Leaving everything else aside, Dai Mubai had also experienced the benefits of lightning body tempering and faced the threat of Dai Weisi, yet he had never come begging for help. That already said everything.

Thud!

Seeing that Qin Xiao did not answer immediately, Zhu Zhuqing dropped to her knees. Looking at him through tear-filled eyes, she pleaded, "Please grant my wish, Your Holiness!"

"I could agree to help you. But I have one condition!"

"A condition?" Zhu Zhuqing froze, then immediately nodded. "As long as it doesn't cross my bottom line, I'll agree to anything within my power!"

"Hm?" Qin Xiao raised an eyebrow, then laughed in surprise. "I think you've misunderstood. I only wanted to tell you that you get one chance. If you can't keep going someday, don't come begging me again. That's all."

"Th-that..." Zhu Zhuqing's pretty face instantly turned crimson. She stammered, completely at a loss for words.

"Sit down where you are. We'll begin now."

Qin Xiao spoke in a low, firm voice.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded gratefully at him, then shifted from kneeling to sitting.

Crack...

The next instant, a flash of lightning streaked past and struck Zhu Zhuqing.

"Ahh..."

The lightning brought both pain and a tingling numbness, making Zhu Zhuqing let out one moan after another.

"Y-Your Holiness, why... is it so much... stronger this time..."

Zhu Zhuqing barely managed to force out the broken words.

Qin Xiao said with a perfectly serious expression, "With the previous intensity, your cultivation would progress slowly. How long would it take you to surpass Dai Mubai? Only by increasing the intensity can you rise quickly."

"Don't talk. Hold on! Here comes another!"

As Qin Xiao spoke, another bolt of lightning descended.

Zhu Zhuqing cried out even louder.

"Boss Dai, what's wrong with you? We agreed to go unwind. Why did you change your mind?"

Not far away, Ma Hongjun grumbled unhappily.

Dai Mubai and Oscar stood in front of him.

"Fatty, if you want to unwind, go ahead. It's not like I insisted that you come back with me."

"Besides, I already told you. I can only enjoy myself once we've found Zhu Zhuqing and made sure nothing's wrong."

Dai Mubai spoke with a frown.

Just moments earlier, the more Dai Mubai thought about it, the more wrong it had felt.

What was his fiancée doing slipping into the woods with another man?

He had thought that enduring it for a moment would let the wind die down and the waves settle.

Instead, the more he endured, the angrier he became...

Hearing this, Ma Hongjun sheepishly shut his mouth. Afraid of further angering Dai Mubai, he no longer dared to speak carelessly.

"Boss Dai, looks like you've developed real feelings for Zhu Zhuqing."

Beside him, Oscar's eyes flickered as he spoke quietly.

"Real feelings?"

"I suppose so."

Dai Mubai gave an ambiguous answer.

In truth, he had no feelings for Zhu Zhuqing at this point. It was merely his possessiveness and desire for conquest at work.

After all, wouldn't conquering a girl as proud as a little wildcat give him a great sense of accomplishment?

"Fatty, stop standing there in a daze. Let's split up and help Boss Dai find her. It'll be faster that way."

Oscar spoke to Ma Hongjun behind him.

Huh? Why is everyone picking on me? Who did I offend? Ma Hongjun grumbled inwardly, but his body obediently got moving.

Before long.

A hundred meters away, Ma Hongjun suddenly cried out, "Boss Dai, Oscar, come here! Listen to that sound..."

Had he found something?

Dai Mubai and Oscar hurried over and listened carefully.

"Is that Zhu Zhuqing's voice?"

Dai Mubai's eyes lit up. "Come on, let's go take a look!"

However.

Oscar grabbed him. "Boss Dai, don't you think the rhythm of those sounds is familiar?"

A familiar rhythm? Dai Mubai froze and thought carefully. Suddenly, his face turned deathly pale!

"Could they already be..."

"Ah, I can't take this..."

As Dai Mubai spoke, his eyes nearly blazed with fire, and he was about to charge out.

But Oscar and Ma Hongjun reacted swiftly, grabbing him from either side.

"Boss Dai, impulsiveness is the devil! If you rush over now, His Holiness the Thunder Emperor might split you in two with lightning!"

Ma Hongjun spoke urgently.

Oscar hurriedly chimed in, "That's right, Boss Dai. Maybe things aren't what we think. Maybe they're... right, they're training!"

Training?

Did training require cries that loud?

Did they think he'd never trained before?

Dai Mubai's eyes were bloodshot, his whole body trembled, and he clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.