At that moment, the entire Douluo Continent fell so silent that not even a crow or sparrow made a sound.
On Shrek Academy's training ground, a cold wind swept up the fallen leaves.
The trademark smile on Flender's face froze completely.
Then, with trembling hands, he removed the Crystal Glasses from his nose, a faint redness gathering around his eyes.
That was Zhao Wuji!
The Immovable Wisdom King!
Though hot-tempered, he was unquestionably one of the strongest Soul Saints on the Douluo Continent.
With the defenses granted by his Martial Soul Avatar, even an ordinary Titled Douluo would have needed considerable effort to kill him.
Yet just now, the black-robed youth named Mu Chen in the Sky Screen's image had formed one obscure hand seal after another out of thin air.
They could only watch helplessly as black Spirit Seals blotted out the sky and descended.
Until they crushed the mighty Im moveable Wisdom King to death on the spot!
For a moment, even the Shrek Seven Devils felt a chill of fear.
If even Teacher Zhao Wuji, a Soul Saint, had ended up like that over there, then if they went...
For a moment, the atmosphere became stifling to the extreme.
Until Yu Xiaogang stepped forward and broke the silence:
"Don't let appearances deceive you."
Yu Xiaogang rose from the ground, brushed the dirt off his robe, and clasped his hands behind his back once more.
He first took a deep breath, then swept his gaze over the horrified teachers and students around him.
"Teacher Zhao's death is certainly heartbreaking, but theoretically speaking, it was entirely avoidable."
"Look closely. That youth named Mu Chen is clearly a core successor of some great power in the Great Thousand World."
"The method he used to conjure a black tower out of thin air should be equivalent to a Self-Created Soul Skill on our Douluo Continent, and one of no low rank."
"Teacher Zhao committed a cardinal military error."
"As a strength-and-defense-type Soul Master, facing natives with an entirely different energy system in an unknown environment, he actually failed to first create distance and probe them. Instead, he relied on his Martial Soul Avatar to withstand the attack head-on."
"That was an absolute tactical blunder!"
Having said this, Yu Xiaogang swept his sleeve and concluded:
"The Great Thousand World may have a higher energy level, but as long as we employ sound tactics and avoid the sharp edge of their strength, our Douluo Continent's versatile combinations of Soul Skills may still allow us to hold our own."
"A brute's courage is destined to take him only so far!"
Hearing the Grandmaster's analysis, delivered with citations and precedents, the previously terrified Shrek group regained some light in their eyes.
It seemed... the Grandmaster did have a point?
As long as they did not actively provoke the geniuses of those great powers and lay low while developing, perhaps they really would have a chance to seek opportunities.
But just then, the golden lettering on the Sky Screen flashed again, revealing the next Explorer.
[Selection successful: Shrek Academy, Dai Mubai]
Before anyone could react, a pillar of golden light descended from the sky, instantly enveloping Dai Mubai, who stood among the crowd, still dazed.
"Mubai!"
Zhu Zhuqing blurted out, a rare trace of panic flashing across her cool face.
Although she normally had little kindness to spare for this playboy, they were, after all, both members of the Star Luo Empire's royalty, and were further bound by a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Now, watching him being sent to that higher-dimensional world that was like a meat grinder, she could hardly keep her heart from tightening.
At that moment, bathed in golden light, Dai Mubai instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
The scene of Zhao Wuji's gruesome death was still replaying in his mind, and now it was his turn?
But he was a prince of the Star Luo Empire, after all. Even though he was panicking desperately inside, he still forced himself to stand straight.
"Don't worry, everyone!"
Dai Mubai took a deep breath and forced a confident smile onto his face, his uncanny double pupils surveying his surroundings.
"What the Grandmaster just said was absolutely right."
"Teacher Zhao suffered because he didn't understand the situation. I, Dai Mubai, am not some brainless fool."
With that, he turned toward Zhu Zhuqing, his tone becoming unusually earnest.
"Zhu Zhuqing, wait for me."
"I'll definitely find an opportunity in this Great Thousand World to defy heaven and change my fate, then return in glory to take you with me!"
The moment his words fell, the golden light abruptly contracted, and Dai Mubai vanished from the training ground into thin air.
The stars wheeled and shifted.
When Dai Mubai opened his eyes again, terrifying energy rushed at him, almost bursting his chest.
"Cough, cough..."
"The air here is so heavy!"
After arriving in the Great Thousand World, Dai Mubai coughed violently, clearly struggling to adjust.
He circulated the White Tiger Soul Power within him, trying to resist the pressure, only to discover that his Soul Power, which had once surged like thunder, now circulated with immense difficulty.
"What terrifying worldly energy. Is this the Great Thousand World?"
Secretly alarmed, Dai Mubai quickly reined in his aura and began examining his surroundings.
This was an enormous ancient city, more prosperous than he could have imagined.
The streets were wide enough for dozens of elephants to walk abreast, and the blue paving stones gave off a faint, gentle luster. They were actually all Qi-Gathering Warm Jade, enough to spark a scramble on the Douluo Continent!
From time to time, enormous exotic beasts radiating terrifying pressure swept across the sky, pulling magnificent spirit carriages, yet they elicited not even a trace of amazement from the passersby.
"The Grandmaster was right. I must keep a low profile and absolutely mustn't stir up trouble."
Dai Mubai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cautiously followed the flow of people toward the edge of the street.
Just as he was calculating how to gather some information here, while also seeing whether there were any lone soft persimmons he could squeeze.
His gaze was soon drawn to a lovely figure not far to his side.
It was a girl who looked only fifteen or sixteen.
She wore a simple, elegant blue-green dress, her long black tresses casually pinned up with a jade hairpin, a few unruly strands falling beside her fair, slender neck.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, with an ethereal, lively air about her brows, like a spirit of the mountains untouched by worldly dust.
At that moment, the girl was crouching before a street stall selling spirit pets, holding a fluffy, palm-sized, snow-white kitten.
Her large, luminous eyes brimmed with affection as she teased her with a blade of grass.
At this lovely sight, Dai Mubai's uncanny eyes instantly lit up.
He had known countless women, but even if he searched the entire imperial harem of the Star Luo Empire, he could never find such an exceptional girl, whose innocence carried an innate nobility and who showed not the slightest wariness.
Most importantly, Dai Mubai carefully sensed her.
There were no fluctuations from Soul Rings.
Nor did she exude the kind of pressure that made him feel suffocated.
"It seems that even the Great Thousand World has ordinary people."
At this thought, a familiar, wicked smile curled Dai Mubai's lips.
An exquisite girl without backing or strength-here in this unfamiliar place, wasn't she the perfect opening for him, Young Master Dai?
As long as he used his methods and charm, playing a little trick to win this girl over.
Then, in this Great Thousand World, he would at least have a guide, and might even use her to swindle some low-grade resources.
With that thought, Dai Mubai straightened his collar, then slowly walked over with what he considered his most elegant and confident stride.
"Beautiful miss."
Dai Mubai stood behind the girl, his voice warm, mellow, and magnetic, displaying just the right measure of the breeding and bearing of a Star Luo prince.
"Beasts from roadside stalls like this are the hardest to tame, their wild nature difficult to curb. If it were to injure such flawless white-jade fingers as yours, it would truly be a wanton waste of heaven's treasures."
Hearing this, the girl stopped what she was doing.
She turned and looked Dai Mubai up and down with her clear, wide eyes, a trace of puzzlement flashing through them at his rather strange clothes and double pupils.
"Are you talking to me?"
Her voice was crisp and pleasing, like pearls large and small falling onto a jade plate.
Meanwhile, countless people watching this scene on the Douluo Continent's Sky Screen were already silently applauding Dai Mubai's "pickup techniques."
Even Yu Xiaogang nodded slightly. "Mubai's move of retreating to advance, first displaying his manners to lower the other party's guard, is indeed wise."
"Obtaining information from native commoners is the safest tactic."
Meanwhile, the girl blinked, looking at this strange man before her, whose body contained a faint, utterly murky energy, yet who insisted on posing like an expert.
"Uncle, who are you?"
Hearing the girl's somewhat innocent and puzzled question, the smile on Dai Mubai's face paused almost imperceptibly.
Uncle?
How old was he this year? Even if he was a little tall and well-built, surely that didn't warrant calling him uncle?
But Dai Mubai did not lash out. After all, what kind of wild mare had he not tamed in the Star Luo Empire?
The more inexperienced such a little girl was, the more susceptible she would be to his routine.
At this thought, Dai Mubai's smile deepened. He bowed slightly, adopting what he considered a flawless gentlemanly posture.
"My apologies. I forgot to introduce myself."
"My name is Dai Mubai, from the Star Luo Empire. You can also call me Young Master Dai."
"You seem very fond of this white kitten?"
Dai Mubai glanced at the palm-sized ball of snow-white fur in the girl's hands, whose eyes had not even fully opened, a trace of indifference flashing through his eyes.
"A beast like this, without the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Energy, wouldn't even qualify as a ten-year soul beast where we come from."
"If you really like pets, I'll take you hunting for a truly exceptional Spirit Beast another day."
"Not only will it look beautiful, it'll also keep you safe. What do you think?"
Dai Mubai delivered these words with a finely modulated cadence, wielding both favor and authority.
First he belittled what the other person liked, then offered his own promise, thereby highlighting his strength and knowledge while also establishing the image of a dependable powerhouse.
He had honed this combination of moves to perfection on the Douluo Continent.
Outside the Sky Screen, Ma Hongjun of Shrek Academy could not help slapping his thigh.
"Brilliant move, Boss Dai!"
"With an opening like that, won't that native girl from another world be completely taken in?"
Yet the girl in the image looked at Dai Mubai as though he were an idiot.
She slightly wrinkled her delicate, upturned nose, seemingly trying to determine whether the person before her was not quite right in the head.
"The Star Luo Empire? Never heard of it."
The girl muttered, then reached out a pale finger and gently scratched the white kitten's chin in her arms.
"Besides, Xiao Bai isn't some ten-year soul beast. She's a Void Thunder..."
Halfway through, the girl seemed to remember something. She playfully stuck out her tongue and swallowed the rest of her words.
She could not be bothered to pay any more attention to this man whose speech was even stranger than his clothes.
Turning her head, the girl looked at the seemingly ordinary old man behind the stall.
"Shopkeeper, I'll take this little one. How much?"
The old man stroked his beard with a smile, not even glancing at Dai Mubai beside them, and said amiably:
"If you like her, Miss Lin Jing, just take her to play with. Consider her a gift from this old man."
Lin Jing?
Hearing the old man's form of address for the girl, the people of the Douluo Continent showed no reaction.
After all, the name was completely unfamiliar to them.
But if the true pinnacle powerhouses of the Great Thousand World had been present at that moment, they would probably have broken into a cold sweat instantly!
The Martial Realm!
That was one of the Great Thousand World's foremost superpowers, renowned alongside the Endless Fire Domain!
And Lin Jing was the beloved daughter of that legendary Martial Ancestor, Lin Dong, who had single-handedly overturned heaven and earth and whose very name struck terror into countless evil demons!
Unfortunately, Dai Mubai knew nothing of this.
At this moment, he merely felt somewhat embarrassed by Lin Jing's dismissive attitude.
But he quickly adjusted his mindset.
Playing hard to get. Women were all like this.
But just then, Lin Jing shook her head.
"How could I do that? Daddy said I can't just take other people's things when I'm away from home."
As she spoke, she casually brushed a hand over an exquisite cloth pouch at her waist.
A drop of liquid, radiating a rich halo and as pure as colored glass, floated gently down onto the old man's stall.
"This drop of spirit liquid will be the payment for Xiao Bai."
The instant that drop of liquid appeared, Dai Mubai felt his mind buzz.
Even without actively sensing it, he could feel pure energy within that unremarkable drop of liquid, enough to destroy heaven and earth!
That energy was far too terrifying. Even all the Soul Power of a Titled Douluo combined probably amounted to less than one ten-thousandth of that single drop!
Dai Mubai's eyes instantly reddened.
This was absolutely a heaven-sent opportunity!
In this Great Thousand World, even a commoner girl without the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power could casually produce such an unparalleled treasure?
"Wait!"
Seeing that the old man was about to put away the drop of liquid, Dai Mubai acted in a rush of blood to the head, stepping forward to block Lin Jing.
He puffed out his chest and looked at Lin Jing with the condescending air of a protector.
"Miss Jing'er, was it?"
"You're still young. You have no idea how treacherous this world is."
"Your jade makes you guilty simply for possessing it. Walking around these streets, where dragons and snakes mingle, with treasures like these on you is far too dangerous."
Dai Mubai put on an earnest, solemn air.
"How about this? Hand these treasures over to me for safekeeping."
"As a rank thirty-seven Battle Soul Elder with the top-tier Beast Martial Soul, the Evil-Eyed White Tiger, I absolutely have the strength to keep you safe."
"As long as I'm here, no one will dare touch a hair on your head."
Hearing this, Lin Jing finally stopped walking.
Holding the seemingly docile white cat in her arms, she looked Dai Mubai up and down several times as though she were looking at a freak.
"Uncle, did you forget to take your medicine before leaving home?"
Lin Jing took half a step back in distaste, afraid of catching some strange disease.
"With that little bit of impure aura inside you, so weak it doesn't even measure up to the Spirit Movement Realm, you're saying you'll protect me?"
"Do you know that, judging by that whatever-it-was aura you just released, even the big yellow dog that guards my home could swat a hundred of you dead with one paw?"
At these words, the confidence on Dai Mubai's face instantly froze.
He felt as though someone had pinned his pride to the ground and stomped hard on it twice.
Before the Sky Screen on the Douluo Continent, quite a few people's faces alternated between green and white.
Yu Xiaogang's brow furrowed even more tightly; he simply felt that the girl's words were far too arrogant.
Yet for the next hour, Dai Mubai followed Lin Jing the whole way like a piece of sticky candy she could not shake off.
Before you continue