Chapter 33: Good grief, right in front of his wife?
The three headed toward the Rose Hotel with different feelings. Ning Rongrong was excited and a little expectant, Jun Yi was looking forward to the entertainment, and Zhu Zhuqing was slightly nervous.
When they arrived at the Rose Hotel, they found a crowd gathered outside, seemingly watching something. It looked quite lively.
"What's going on? Did something happen?" Ning Rongrong asked curiously.
Looks like the plot has already started. If Zhu Zhuqing sees Dai Mubai with those twins-good grief, right in front of his wife?
Jun Yi's mischievous streak reared its head, and a faint, sleazy smile appeared on his face.
Finding his expression strange, Ning Rongrong asked curiously, "What are you smiling about?"
"Nothing. I remembered something happy. Ahem, let's go see what happened," Jun Yi said, looking at Zhu Zhuqing as he spoke.
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong both nodded.
With their agreement, Jun Yi led them to the Rose Hotel's entrance and looked inside, where two Soul Masters were fighting.
One was a plainly dressed boy who looked twelve or thirteen, standing around 1.7 meters tall in a neat, light blue martial outfit. A belt inlaid with twenty-four pieces of jade encircled his waist. Though his features were not particularly handsome, a stalk of Blue Silver Grass in his palm kept flickering with blue light.
Behind him, an exceedingly long scorpion braid hung past the calves of a girl dressed in pink, who glared angrily at the blond man opposite them.
The other man wore a white suit and had blond hair and unusual eyes. He looked several years older than the boy in blue, and two twins behind him were gazing at him affectionately.
Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, everyone's here. Fight, fight! Jun Yi inwardly fanned the flames.
Fight, fight! Ning Rongrong's thoughts were perfectly in line with Jun Yi's. After all, everyone loved a good spectacle.
"White Tiger, possess me!"
An intense layer of pale light suddenly burst from Dai Mubai. He stretched both arms out to his sides and thrust out his chest. His bones crackled all over, and his muscles abruptly swelled, stretching his clothes taut.
Three gleaming rings rose from beneath his feet in succession, ascending silently: two yellow and one purple, the standard Soul Ring Configuration.
"A Thousand-Year Soul Ring!"
Xiao Wu cried out, a trace of panic immediately entering her eyes. She wanted to step forward and fight alongside Tang San, but he stopped her.
"Dai Mubai. Martial Soul: White Tiger. Rank thirty-seven Battle Soul Elder. Please enlighten me." Dai Mubai looked thoroughly arrogant.
Just as he announced his name, Jun Yi deliberately looked at Zhu Zhuqing and noticed a clear change in her eyes, along with a fluctuation in her emotions.
"Tang San. Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass. Rank twenty-nine Tool Soul Master. Please enlighten me."
Two Yellow Soul Rings rose simultaneously from beneath Tang San's feet, circling his body.
The two exchanged another round of pointless talk before Dai Mubai struck first. He reached Tang San first, sharp claws springing from all ten fingers as he slashed at Tang San's body.
Tang San retreated swiftly, his footwork looking exceedingly strange. He evaded Dai Mubai's attack by a hair's breadth while the Blue Silver Grass he released spiraled outward, surging toward Dai Mubai from every direction.
So this is Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track? It looks pretty ordinary.
Jun Yi's Observation Haki could clearly detect Tang San's position. In his eyes, the strange footwork of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track looked like a child hopping about in place-not only slow, but also very simplistic.
Dai Mubai's tiger claws could only cut halfway into the Blue Silver Grass, unable to sever it completely. Seeing this, the first of his three Soul Rings suddenly blazed with light, forming a white barrier that kept the surrounding vines outside and prevented them from approaching.
Immediately afterward, his Second Soul Ring lit up as well. A tremendous white light condensed instantly, and with a tiger's roar from Dai Mubai, a milky-white ball of light shot from his mouth.
The vines formed from Blue Silver Grass instantly shattered and scattered. The powerful shock wave swept through the Rose Hotel's lobby, leaving it in shambles. Tang San's face immediately paled, and he had to take a step back before steadying himself.
"Tang San, a Beast Martial Soul's attack power will always be stronger than a Tool Martial Soul's. Although the strength of your Blue Silver Grass exceeded my expectations, it still can't hold me."
Tang San smiled calmly. "Not necessarily." Suddenly, his Second Soul Ring lit up, and Dai Mubai's body abruptly stiffened. A dense layer of fine vines had appeared on him at some unknown point. As Tang San's Second Soul Ring shone brightly, they grew instantly, binding Dai Mubai firmly within them.
Tang San then adopted an extremely showy expression, controlling the Blue Silver Grass with both hands as he explained:
"My Blue Silver Grass is poisonous. You should already have inhaled some earlier, and then you used Soul Power to unleash a powerful attack skill to break through my Blue Silver Grass Entanglement. That would inevitably speed up the circulation of your blood and Qi, making the poison act faster. So, you've lost."
"Good. What impressive Blue Silver Grass. If I only had two rings like you, I would indeed have lost. My body is already numb, and it's difficult to break free of the Blue Silver Grass binding me. But I do, after all, have one more ring than you. I'll just have to show you my Third Soul Ring's skill."
The purple ring instantly lit up. The air around Dai Mubai warped, and his unusual eyes suddenly turned blood-red.
Immediately afterward, the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around him suddenly swelled. With a thunderous bang, all the Blue Silver Grass binding him, including the parasitic Blue Silver Grass seeds, exploded into powder.
Dai Mubai's body expanded again, his muscles bulging to an exaggerated degree. His shirt burst apart completely, exposing the terrifying contours of his muscles. Strangest of all, black horizontal stripes appeared across his skin.
"Wow, his clothes tore all by themselves!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
The onlookers discussed it among themselves.
After using his thousand-year Soul Skill, Dai Mubai did not attack. Instead, he too began showing off, explaining the effects of his Third Soul Skill to Tang San.
"My Third Soul Skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation, lets me stay transformed for half an hour. During that half hour, my resistance to abnormal conditions, attack power, defense, and strength all double. With my rank thirty-seven Soul Power under this amplification, your poison isn't enough to hurt me. Even if your Soul Skills are ingenious and your control-type Martial Soul works quite well, you're still no match for me. This is the absolute difference in strength."
With that, Dai Mubai withdrew his Soul Power, and his swollen body returned to normal.
He gave Tang San and Xiao Wu a meaningful look. "I think we'll meet again very soon. Once you're at Shrek Academy, if anyone gives you trouble, tell them my name: Evil-Eyed White Tiger Dai Mubai."
After speaking, he beckoned to the beautiful twins and took the lead toward the exit. The two twins kept cooing, "Young Master Dai, you're so handsome! Young Master Dai, you're so amazing!" They sounded exceedingly intimate as they linked their arms through his and left together.
Following Dai Mubai's departure, the crowd at the Rose Hotel's entrance dispersed.
"How boring. That's all the fighting we get? Zhu Zhuqing-hey, where's Zhu Zhuqing?" Ning Rongrong turned and found that Zhu Zhuqing
had already vanished, and hurriedly asked Jun Yi beside her.
"She's not in a very good mood. Let her have some time alone first."
Jun Yi had noticed when Zhu Zhuqing left, but he had not disturbed her. After all, this was her family business, and he understood her circumstances very well. She needed time to calm herself down.
Jun Yi sighed inwardly. Since ancient times, heroes have often been romantics; on the Magpie Bridge, their longing lingers. Normally, this should have been the day Niulang and Zhinü reunited. Who would have thought Zhinü would catch Niulang fooling around? Dai Mubai, I'll feel sorry for you for one second.
"Then hurry up and find her. It's not safe for a girl to be out alone. I'll go ask whether there are any rooms left."
With that, Ning Rongrong gave Jun Yi a push, urging him to find Zhu Zhuqing, before walking into the Rose Hotel...
(End of chapter)