Lightning Speed

Time ticked away, and Zhu Zhuqing's absorption of the soul ring went flawlessly. She felt no pain whatsoever, only her physical attributes steadily improving throughout her body. It was utterly incomparable to obtaining a soul ring through her own efforts.

From the Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger's purple soul ring, she learned that its age had actually reached 1,900 years. Fortunately, this had been a voluntary sacrifice, with no side effects at all.

The Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger's sacrifice had also given her a Left Arm Soul Bone. Its innate soul skill, Lightning Speed, granted Zhu Zhuqing a tremendous burst of speed that could last for five minutes.

In midair, the three soul rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-slowly faded. Zhu Zhuqing descended gently from the air and slowly looked around.

Her Third Sister was sitting on the ground, recovering her soul power, with several soul beast corpses lying around her. It seemed quite a few uninvited guests had arrived while she was absorbing the soul ring.

Sensing movement behind her, Zhu Zhulin immediately stopped recovering her soul power. She stood and quickly walked over to her younger sister. "How did it go? Did you succeed?"

Zhu Zhuqing smiled and nodded. She took a handkerchief from her Storage Soul Tool and carefully wiped the blood off her sister. She was grateful to her sister from the bottom of her heart. Without her protection, she might not have obtained all three of her soul rings.

Zhu Zhulin let her younger sister wipe the grime from her body, feeling proud of her. Her sister was only ten this year, yet she had already reached level thirty. Given time, she would surely become a Titled Douluo.

"What level is your soul power now?" Zhu Zhulin asked with concern.

Zhu Zhuqing paused, then took out a bottle of clean water. She opened it, rinsed the handkerchief, and resumed wiping her sister clean.

"Hehehe, I'm level thirty-four! How's that for a surprise, my silly sister?"

Zhu Zhuqing spoke cheerfully, watching the expression on her sister's face.

Sure enough, utter astonishment appeared on Zhu Zhulin's face. Her beautiful eyes widened, and even her little mouth fell open, her entire face filled with disbelief.

"Th-this..." Zhu Zhulin swallowed. She cultivated her soul power every day, yet at thirteen, she had only just reached level thirty-four. Her younger sister had caught up to her at just ten. What an extraordinary genius she was.

"Hehehe, let's go, Third Sister. Your mouth's open wide enough to fit an egg! It's only level thirty-four. Just a Soul Elder."

Zhu Zhuqing took out a radish biscuit and popped it into her Third Sister's mouth, then began adjusting her black robe.

She quickly took off the black robe and changed into another clean one. There was no helping it; she had too much blood on her to wipe it all away.

After eating a few radish biscuits and casually taking a few sips of milk, the two began making their way out of the Soul Hunting Forest at speed.

It was already getting late into the morning. Beyond the Soul Hunting Forest, faint strands of sunlight were visible. Thin mist drifted slowly through the gaps between the trees, and the rising sun painted the treetops a brilliant gold.

After an entire night, the clumps of Blue Silver Grass within the Soul Hunting Forest were covered in dew. Two figures ran past, sending the droplets flying.

Whoosh-

At the entrance to the Soul Hunting Forest, the Zhu sisters took out their entry tokens again as soon as they arrived. This was standard procedure: anyone entering or leaving had to present a token, or they would be treated as soul beast poachers.

The soldier captain responsible for checking the tokens said coldly, "Let them through!"

Hearing their superior's order, the soldiers surrounding the entrance immediately moved aside, opening a passage out.

Watching the two masked figures in black robes slowly disappear at the end of the passage, the soldier captain's eyes flashed. He seemed to have discovered an incredible secret just now. Those two were definitely women.

He had caught the scent of their bodies-the scent that arose after intense combat.

When they had entered earlier, they had clearly used something to conceal their scent. Someone had previously approached him and asked him to watch for two women and help stop them.

"Ah, forget it. What does it have to do with me? Those two are both three-ring Soul Elders. They're clearly not the girls that fellow said were here to obtain their first soul rings."

The soldier captain shook his head and dismissed the matter. He returned to his assigned post to carry out his own duties.

Passing through the bustling market outside the Soul Hunting Forest, the two young women sped toward the main road some distance away.

Only by reaching that main road could they take the shortcut back to Nuoding City.

A gentle morning breeze blew past. Crystal-clear dewdrops slid down the leaves, bouncing merrily. The lush grass beside the road awakened beneath the caress of the soft morning light, looking even greener after being washed by rain and dew.

After leaving the dark, damp Soul Hunting Forest, Zhu Zhuqing felt as though she had returned to nature's embrace, and her mood brightened considerably.

Since it was already daytime, both young women had relaxed their vigilance quite a bit.

In the rice paddies on either side of the main road, men in black exchanged hand signals. They were puzzled. They had been waiting for almost a full day, yet the two little girls still had not appeared.

Wasn't the journey from Nuoding City to the Soul Hunting Forest only two days? They had ridden quite a few horses to death to get here ahead of time and set up their ambush.

By all logic, once the two little girls appeared, their hundred-odd men could swarm them. Even a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster would be brought to their knees. Escape would be impossible.

These hundred-odd men were the City Lord's well-trained private guards, with vast amounts of gold soul coins spent on their training every month.

"Captain, don't those two people in black look suspicious? They're running this way." One man stared fixedly at the middle of the road and spoke quietly to the captain beside him.

The captain rolled his eyes and slapped his subordinate's thick skull, saying in a low voice:

"Are you stupid? Those two little girls might be about the same height as these two, but these are clearly assassins or something. Look at how they run. That definitely comes from extensive training in deadly combat."

The captain also threatened his subordinate with a gesture telling him to shut up. He had no need for foolish subordinates, especially ones this dim-witted.

"Oh..." The soldier felt deeply wronged. He had only wanted to earn some merit. The City Lord had said that anyone who captured them alive would receive 1,000 gold soul coins per captive, and whoever earned the foremost credit would receive a house in Nuoding City.

As she ran, Zhu Zhuqing sensed that something was wrong. When they had come yesterday, birds had been chirping in the rice paddies on both sides, or flying back and forth above them. Today, however, those same paddies were eerily strange.

She spread out her spiritual power. Over a hundred fully armed men in black were hiding in the rice paddies on either side. They held wickedly sharp short blades, and fierce looks kept flashing in their eyes. They were actually watching the two sisters.

Zhu Zhuqing said quietly, "Third Sister, it looks like an ambush!"

As she spoke, two sharp daggers slid from her wrists into her palms, one held in a forward grip in her left hand and the other in a reverse grip in her right.

Zhu Zhulin did the same, and the two young women accelerated, charging ahead.