Feng Zailong dared not let his guard down, swinging his black greatsword to block by instinct.
He dared not stray even half a step from his students, for his daughter and several promising students stood behind him.
A bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky, accompanied by countless rocks and clods of earth that hurtled toward Feng Zailong.
The lightning dragged the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger's small body rapidly into the air.
With tears filling his eyes, Feng Zailong squinted and saw a streak of lightning and a black silhouette beneath it. He dared not pursue. Although his opponent had not revealed their martial soul, that did not mean they were weak.
After all, anyone who dared attack him, a Soul King, surely had something else up their sleeve.
As the smoke slowly dispersed, Feng Zailong and his students were exposed once more in the Star Dou Great Forest. They looked rather bedraggled, covered in dirt from head to toe.
Feng Zailong's expression darkened. He felt as though he had been tricked, but he could not explain exactly how. All he could do was sigh inwardly to console himself.
"Daddy, my soul beast! My Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger is gone! Give me back my soul beast! Give me back my soul ring!" The little girl burst into tears.
"Don't cry, sweetheart. Daddy will find you another one just like it. Be good-"
Meanwhile, atop an enormous tree, Zhu Zhuqing was concentrating on absorbing her soul ring.
Her older sister, Zhu Zhulin, stood guard nearby with a wary expression, holding several blue beads in her left hand and a sharp dagger in her right.
She had never expected her little sister to produce so many blue beads earlier. Her sister must have lied. How could she possibly have picked up so many from the ground?
Most likely, her little sister had bought them from the clan with Gold Soul Coins.
The absorption of her second soul ring had reached a critical stage. While snatching the soul beast earlier, Zhu Zhuqing had exhausted all the lightning within her martial soul's pair of lightning wings.
She probably would not be able to fly that fast again anytime soon. Besides, the Star Dou Great Forest was home to many flying soul beasts. If she flew that high and ran into them, she would surely be in trouble.
As the power within the soul ring continuously washed through and tempered her body, Zhu Zhuqing felt a surging, mighty force, far greater than that of her first soul ring.
The little Chaos White Tiger behind her changed again. Its body gradually grew larger, losing its chubby appearance, and the character for "king" on its forehead was now faintly visible.
An intense pressure spread from Zhu Zhuqing's body once more.
Destiny System, withdraw this pressure and delay the martial soul's release too. I'll let you know when I need it.
Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly recited those words in her mind.
Perhaps the system had heard Zhu Zhuqing's call, for the intense pressure around her instantly vanished, as though it had never appeared.
Zhu Zhulin, who had been diligently standing guard, nearly fell from that great height. As she swayed unsteadily, a small hand caught her.
Zhu Zhulin carefully grabbed a branch, then leaned close to her little sister and asked, "Did it work?"
"Yes, it worked. Snatching a Soul King's prey really is sweet," Zhu Zhuqing said happily behind her mask.
Absorbing her second soul ring this time had brought Zhu Zhuqing's soul power straight up to rank twenty-five. After all, she had stored up an entire year's worth of soul power beforehand. This had turned out perfectly.
"Oh, you little rascal. That Soul King had to protect his students this time. Don't take risks like that again, understand?" Zhu Zhulin tapped her little sister's forehead with a finger.
"Hehehe, I understand, my dear big sister," Zhu Zhuqing said happily.
Zhu Zhuqing pointed at the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger's corpse atop the tree. "Shall we see whether this Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger dropped a soul bone?"
The sisters exchanged a glance and immediately began their treasure hunt.
A few minutes later, the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger's corpse had disappeared, stored inside Zhu Zhuqing's Storage Soul Tool.
Meanwhile, Zhu Zhulin stared blankly at the golden soul bone in her hand. She had never imagined that the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger would actually yield a soul bone. It was simply unbelievable.
Beside her, Zhu Zhuqing was smiling happily. She had just used Destiny Points to make a wish, and it had actually come true. However, this wish had directly deducted her last three Destiny Points, so it had come at something of a loss.
In this short span of a little over a year, she had obtained only five Destiny Points in total, along with one reward for increasing a soul ring's age.
She had already used that hundred-year soul ring age increase just now, raising her second soul ring's age directly to 859 years from its original 759.
"Little sister, this is a hundred-year Right Arm Soul Bone. You should absorb it. I'm sure it will work well with your second soul ring." Zhu Zhulin's voice trembled slightly as she spoke, because she, too, desperately wanted a soul bone of her own.
Soul bones were something countless Soul Masters yearned for. Even Titled Douluos might not possess one, so Zhu Zhulin's reaction was not exaggerated in the slightest.
Zhu Zhuqing did not care about this soul bone at all. With the Destiny System, obtaining soul bones in the future should be easy. Ten-thousand-year and hundred-thousand-year ones would be difficult, but a hundred-year soul bone should be easy to obtain through a wish.
"Big sister, why don't you absorb it? It's only a hundred-year soul bone. Honestly, it doesn't really catch my eye."
So she pushed the soul bone straight toward her older sister, Zhu Zhulin.
Yet although Zhu Zhulin stared fixedly at the soul bone, she still refused to accept it. She spoke with heartfelt earnestness:
"Little sister, you're younger than I am, and you have more talent. I believe you have a chance of becoming a mighty Titled Douluo someday. The clan needs you to lead it toward change."
At this point, Zhu Zhulin paused, then continued, "As for me, my heart died long ago. Even if I escape the clan and reach the Heaven Dou Empire, I only want to be an ordinary person, run a small business, and see you happy every day. That would be enough."
An aching tightness rose in Zhu Zhuqing's throat, leaving her deeply distressed.
Her older sister had actually been tormented by the clan to this extent. She swore that she would become a god as soon as possible, then help her sister by resurrecting her brother-in-law.
With difficulty, Zhu Zhuqing accepted the soul bone and quickly fused it into her body.
The instant the golden soul bone entered her body, her second soul ring suddenly appeared, as though resonating with her bloodline. Then it began to flash continuously.
Zhu Zhuqing knew that her second soul ring wanted her to try its soul skill.
Through some unseen connection, Zhu Zhuqing learned a little about it. This Right Arm Soul Bone could actually enhance her spirit-summoning skill, allowing the summoned soul beast to reach the same rank as her. That was equivalent to gaining a powerful helper.
"Soul Bone Skill: Spirit Summoning!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
An imposing Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger appeared before the two girls. Golden and purple fur intermingled across its body, and its bright, piercing eyes radiated a fierce, biting aura, along with the dominance of one that looked down upon all.
It seemed as though a single roar from the tiger would make the entire Star Dou Great Forest tremble of its own accord, and all living creatures bow before it as subjects.
"You stupid husky, what are you yelling for?" Zhu Zhuqing smacked the tiger on the head, and the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger immediately went still, looking aggrieved.
The little treetop nearly collapsed beneath the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger's weight. Fortunately, Zhu Zhuqing withdrew her pet in time.
"Little sister, did your soul skill evolve?" Zhu Zhulin asked happily.
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