But deep in his heart, his lecherous soul was screaming wildly.
This feels amazing. A soft, sweet hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit on my left, and a cool yet smoking-hot Hell Spirit Cat on my right.
Especially Zhu Zhuqing-that figure outlined by her tight black leather outfit, those straight, slender legs...
Tsk, tsk. Just walking beside her, the visual impact alone is enough to set my blood boiling.
If I'm going to live off women, I have to do it with an emperor's grandeur. Hold it in. Whatever you do, don't break character laughing. Right now, I'm a proud, aloof God King.
After completing his registration and receiving the Iron Soul Badge that represented his status, Xiong Shaoqing was assigned to a one-on-one Soul Fighting match in Arena Fourteen.
In the stands.
Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu sat side by side. Zhu Zhuqing leaned forward slightly, her cool eyes fixed on the platform below, a barely perceptible trace of anxiety flashing through their depths.
He's only level sixteen and doesn't even have a decent weapon to defend himself. Will he really be all right?
Zhu Zhuqing worried inwardly.
On the platform, Xiong Shaoqing's opponent was a burly man whose Martial Soul was an Ironclad Rhinoceros. Two Soul Rings, one white and one yellow, rested beneath his feet-he was a level-twenty-two Soul Grandmaster.
"Boy, you've barely grown any hair, and you dare come to the Great Soul Arena? Today, I'll teach you the rules!" The burly man laughed wildly and charged at Xiong Shaoqing like a heavy war chariot, bearing down on him with the pressure of two Soul Rings.
Xiong Shaoqing stood where he was, without even fully releasing his Martial Soul.
An icy glint of murderous intent flashed through his deep black eyes. Just as the man charged to within a foot of him, Xiong Shaoqing stomped down with his right leg, shattering the platform's bluestone tiles. He drove power through his waist, his spine twisting like a great dragon.
A vast, terrifying presence of the primordial wilds instantly erupted from his body.
There was no dazzling Soul Skill, only a straight punch that compressed his physical strength and pure Soul Power to their limits.
Boom!
His fist slammed squarely into the Ironclad Rhinoceros's chest. With a crisp crack of breaking bones, the level-twenty-two Soul Grandmaster did not even have time to scream.
His massive body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the wall outside the fighting platform and losing consciousness on the spot.
One punch-an instant defeat of a Soul Grandmaster above his rank.
The entire arena fell utterly silent, then erupted in deafening cries of astonishment.
In the stands, Zhu Zhuqing's pupils abruptly contracted, and the hands resting on her knees clenched instinctively.
As an agility-attack prodigy from the Star Luo Imperial Family, she understood the true caliber of that punch better than anyone.
Without using a Soul Skill, relying solely on explosive physical strength and suppression from his Martial Soul Origin, he had instantly defeated a defensive Soul Grandmaster six levels above him who possessed two Soul Rings...
Zhu Zhuqing drew in a sharp breath, profound shock surging through her cool eyes.
He always says in his diary that he has lost all his divine power, that his body is broken...
But such terrifying combat instincts and explosive strength make him an extraordinary genius, one in ten thousand.
Just how much has he shouldered to force himself to develop such a ruthless killing move?
She looked at the black-clad youth on the platform as he slowly withdrew his fist, his expression still cold as frost. Her heart involuntarily skipped half a beat, and a feeling called "affection" quietly grew wild in her heart like vines in spring.
[Ding! Detected that Zhu Zhuqing personally witnessed the host instantly defeat an opponent above his rank. She feels immense shock and affection toward the host's combat talent and explosive strength. Bond points increased!] [System feedback mechanism activated. Host's Soul Power increased by one level!] [Current Soul Power: Level 17]
Hearing the notifications in his mind, Xiong Shaoqing nearly burst out laughing as he walked off the platform.
Level seventeen! The Great Soul Arena really is a blessed treasure land.
I can earn coins by punching a sandbag and flirt with a kitty to level up along the way. Fame and fortune in one go-what a total win.
Back in the Great Soul Arena's lounge.
Xiao Wu immediately came up to him, taking out a silk handkerchief and tenderly trying to wipe the dust from the back of his hand, only for Xiong Shaoqing to discreetly evade her.
"I'm fine. Collect the prize money at the front desk. We're heading back to the inn," Xiong Shaoqing said evenly.
Standing nearby, Zhu Zhuqing watched his awkward manner, keeping everything buried in his heart. She did not expose him, merely turning of her own accord to handle the formalities for him.
Late at night, at the Listening Snow Inn.
Xiong Shaoqing sat cross-legged on the bed. Recalling his performance at the Great Soul Arena that day and the repeated flashes of admiration in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, he began pouring his words into the Destiny Diary:
[The air in the Great Soul Arena was filled with the sickening stench of blood.]
[Ordinarily, I would disdain setting foot in such a gladiatorial arena built for others' amusement. But things are different now. I must regain my strength as quickly as possible, even if I have to squeeze out my body's potential through this beastlike slaughter.]
[Standing on the platform today, facing that two-ring Soul Grandmaster, this incompletely recovered shell of mine was actually suffering.]
[But the instant before I threw my punch, I caught sight of Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu in the stands out of the corner of my eye.]
[Looking at Zhu Zhuqing's cool yet focused eyes, seeing the worry hidden within them, I suddenly felt an inexplicable, savage strength surge through my body.]
[As long as they are watching behind me, I cannot lose, much less retreat. To protect this hard-won peace, I will shoulder the murderous air of this arena; I will wash away the blood staining these hands.]
As he finished the final stroke, Xiong Shaoqing swiftly severed his connection to the Destiny Diary in his sea of consciousness with a snap.
The deep affection and resolve on his face instantly crumbled, replaced by a fierce, teeth-aching cringe. His entire shoulders shuddered uncontrollably.
Hiss, what the hell did I write? This is so fucking embarrassing.
Xiong Shaoqing rubbed the goosebumps that had instantly sprung up on his arms. He did not dare look back at what he had just written, afraid that even another half second would cause intense physical discomfort.
This old-school Mary Sue flavor hits you right in the face. Absolutely no bottom line-my dignity is plummeting.
If I'd posted this online in my previous life, the commenters would have torn me to shreds.
But the girls of the Douluo Continent just eat up this melodramatic routine of silently suffering and risking your life for them.
Xiong Shaoqing sighed helplessly.
To grow stronger, to raise his strength as soon as possible and crush Tang San, he could only tearfully play a shameless "devoted drama king."
However, the moment he thought of Zhu Zhuqing's stunning figure in the Great Soul Arena's stands that day, the lecherous side of Xiong Shaoqing instantly took the upper hand again, throwing that little scrap of dignity and embarrassment beyond the highest heavens.
Chapter 31: Tang San, Full of Wicked Schemes
Those straight, long legs wrapped in black leather pants-when she sat upright in the stands, the visual impact was simply incredible. Who could withstand that?
Xiong Shaoqing stroked his chin, an irrepressible wicked grin curling his lips. Burning ambition for the future gleamed in his deep black eyes as his thoughts drifted toward longer-term plans.
Once I make it to level forty, unlock the system shop, and redeem the Spirit Pagoda and the equal contract's magic formation-that'll be the real unbeatable hand.
He had already constructed a clear and magnificent blueprint in his mind.
Once this contract system emerged, Soul Beasts would no longer have to face the deadly impasse of being slaughtered to extinction.
After a contract was established, a Soul Beast's soul and self-awareness would be perfectly preserved within its Soul Ring, forming an equal partnership with its Soul Master.
They would follow their host, and if that host became a god one day, the Soul Beast could share the divine seat-even the chickens and dogs would ascend to heaven.
Even taking ten thousand steps back, if the host lacked talent and died along the way without reaching godhood in this lifetime, the Soul Beast's soul would remain completely uninvolved. It could withdraw entirely unscathed, dust off its backside, and find its next contractor.
Soul Beasts commonly lived tens of thousands of years. Spending a mere few decades on a grand gamble alongside a human genius was a deal with guaranteed gains and no losses. What high-ranking Soul Beast with awakened intelligence could refuse?
With this peace contract system that struck from a higher dimension, he could not only completely resolve the blood-deep hatred between Soul Masters and Soul Beasts spanning hundreds of thousands of years, but also legitimately recruit all those peerless Ferocious Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest as his die-hard enforcers.
Xiong Shaoqing leaned back comfortably, pillowing his head on his hands as he gazed at the mottled wooden ceiling.
When the Soul Beast army gives me its allegiance, along with the devoted help of peerless beauties ripe for the picking like Zhu Zhuqing and Qian Renxue...
Heh heh, Tang San, just keep playing with your scrap metal down in the gutter. I'll be calling the shots on the Douluo Continent's chessboard.
Late that night in Suotuo City, although the wind and snow had stopped, the chill had deepened.
Inside a shabby, cheap inn in the west of the city, Tang San sat cross-legged on a hard wooden bed, a dozen or so Gold Soul Coins he had just won at the Great Soul Arena scattered before him.
He had spent all his traveling money during the day, leaving him no choice but to make some quick money at the Great Soul Arena that night.
After securing consecutive victories with the Tang Sect Secret Arts, he had initially felt fairly pleased. But when he went to collect his winnings, he overheard several gamblers and an attendant discussing something in the corridor, spittle flying.
"That newcomer in Arena Fourteen, Xiong Shaoqing-he's fucking uncanny!"
"No kidding. A level-sixteen One-Ring Soul Master didn't even release his Martial Soul and outright knocked out a level-twenty-two Ironclad Rhinoceros Soul Grandmaster with one punch. Broke more than a dozen of his bones!"
"That kid is no creature destined to stay in a small pond..."
Hearing the name "Xiong Shaoqing," Tang San's hand froze as he collected his money, and his mind buzzed.
The humiliation he had suffered outside Hanmo Publishing House that day had yet to be washed away, and now that brat had gone to the Great Soul Arena and stolen all the limelight.
Impossible. How could a piece of trash in his teens instantly defeat a Soul Grandmaster above his rank?
Tang San clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. He must have secretly used some vile, underhanded trick, or concealed some shameful hidden weapon for a surprise attack.
Unquenchable jealousy surged through Tang San's eyes. What drove him even crazier was that while the brat was showing off on the platform, Xiao Wu and that cool, smoking-hot girl in black must both have been watching below.
Why should every stunning beauty flock around this destitute attention-seeker?
Xiao Wu is innocent by nature. She must have been deceived by his fraudulent tricks.
Tang San found a high-sounding excuse for his jealousy, and his expression gradually filled with compassion for the suffering of the world.
"As her true Brother San, I absolutely cannot stand by and watch a reputation-stealing fraud like him ruin her life."
"To save Xiao Wu, even if I have to bear some infamy and employ unconventional methods, I'll still be upholding justice."
Killing intent took complete shape in Tang San's heart.
But he was not reckless. Xiao Wu was almost inseparable from that brat. If he rashly made a move and alerted her, he would not only destroy his perfect image in her heart, but might even force her to break with him completely.
I can't do it myself. I have to kill him with a borrowed blade.
Tang San recalled several desperadoes he had seen backstage at the Great Soul Arena that night. Those people would do anything for coins, used brutal methods, and certainly would not concern themselves with any code of honor.
Doesn't Xiong Shaoqing like showing off at the Great Soul Arena?
Then he would spend a hefty sum to bribe a few bloodthirsty thugs and set a death trap outside the fighting platform.
Blades had no eyes. If a piece of trash in his teens died horribly in a street vendetta, no one could trace it back to him.
When Xiao Wu personally witnessed Xiong Shaoqing's miserable death in the street, she would naturally recognize the reality of his weakness and incompetence.
She would understand that only he, Tang San, and only the Tang Sect's hidden weapons could protect her for a lifetime.
Thinking of this flawless, vicious scheme, Tang San curled his lips into a cold smile, sweeping away all the frustration of the past few days.
In the south of the city, at the Listening Snow Inn.
Inside the girls' room on the second floor, the charcoal fire burned brightly.
Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing leaned side by side against the headboard. Neither felt sleepy, their minds completely occupied by the diary entry brimming with passion and deep affection they had just read.
[As long as they are watching behind me, I cannot lose... I will wash away the blood staining these hands.]
Looking at those lines, Xiao Wu's tears fell one after another, splashing onto the backs of her hands.
"Sister Zhu Zhuqing, did you see..." Xiao Wu choked, her voice filled with boundless tenderness and love. "Big Brother hasn't even recovered yet. How much pain must he endure with every punch he throws on that platform?"
"But to protect us, to give us a safe place to stay on this cruel continent, he forced himself to fight in such a bloody place."
She hugged the corner of the quilt tightly, her love for Xiong Shaoqing surging like floodwaters bursting through a dam and completely drowning all reason.
"I swear, if anyone dares harm a single hair on his head, even if I have to exhaust my origin as a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, I'll annihilate that person's soul!"
Beside her, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes likewise churned with waves she could not calm.
Xiong Shaoqing's devastating straight punch at the Great Soul Arena that day replayed endlessly in her mind. That punch had shattered not only his opponent's breastbone, but also all her former wariness and prejudices toward men.
He has such astonishing talent, yet insists on pretending to be cold and unapproachable.
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her eyes, her heartbeat involuntarily quickening. Others cultivate to gain fame and fortune, but he fights only to shelter the women behind him more securely. How can there be a man in this world who inspires such tenderness and awe?
She reached out and gently wrapped an arm around Xiao Wu's shoulders, a trace of warmth entering her cool voice. "Sister Xiao Wu, I, Zhu Zhuqing, will remember Brother Shaoqing's kindness in my heart. If that hypocrite called Tang San truly dares come against us, the blade in my hand will slit his throat before Brother Shaoqing can act."
Chapter 32: What's a Little Lost Dignity?
At the very moment the two girls were confiding in each other and forging an alliance of life and death.
In the room next door, Xiong Shaoqing had just lain down to catch up on sleep when a string of dazzling system notifications suddenly exploded in his mind.
[Ding! Detected that after reading the diary, Xiao Wu feels extreme tenderness, and her love has erupted like a gushing well! Bond points have reached a new peak!]
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