Jing Shanshan's little white robe was spotless, his golden hair combed straight back. His golden eyes swept over them impartially, his gaze passing over the three children without lingering or wavering, as though he were looking at three wooden stakes by the roadside.
Without the slightest pause in his stride, he walked straight through the middle of the three children.
He touched none of them, yet Zhou Ding and the other two instinctively took half a step back at the same time, as though unconsciously submitting to him.
Jing Shanshan stopped before Hu Liena and raised his head slightly.
"Let's go."
Two words. No pleasantries, no introduction, not even a second glance at the three children.
Zhou Ding froze in place, then came to his senses.
Blocking the way, glaring, making threats-all the displays of dominance he had prepared had gone unused, and it was already over?!
What a joke!
No one his age had ever treated him like this!
The three children stood rooted to the spot like three ignored wooden stakes.
Yan could not hold back a snort of laughter, looking thoroughly unafraid of stirring up more trouble, his long fiery-red hair swaying with it.
"Hahahaha!"
Hu Liena sighed helplessly.
She glanced at Jing Shanshan. The child had already walked ahead, his back straight and his steps unhurried, as though nothing had happened.
She glanced at the three children again. Zhou Ding was clenching his fists and glaring at Jing Shanshan's retreating figure, Chen Feng had his head lowered, his thoughts unknown, and Liu Yaya's lips were pressed into a thin line.
"You, stop right there! Do you know how long we've been waiting here for you?"
Zhou Ding reached out to grab Jing Shanshan's shoulder, only to grasp empty air.
"It's still within the agreed time."
Jing Shanshan looked back coldly and aloofly, as though facing someone utterly uninteresting, and said nothing more.
"You!"
Zhou Ding's hackles rose instantly-in the literal sense.
His great strength vajra bear martial soul possessed him.
"Great strength vajra bear, possess!"
Zhou Ding's body began to swell. His nails turned black and hard, curving slightly into hooks, their tips gleaming with a cold, hard metallic sheen. Brownish-black hair sprouted over parts of his body.
Possessed by the great strength vajra bear, Zhou Ding's physical strength rose another level.
Zhou Ding punched at Jing Shanshan, stirring a faint whistle through the air. One could imagine how much damage that punch would inflict on a person!
Jing Shanshan's expression abruptly turned solemn, and a crown appeared above his head.
Struck by overwhelmingly powerful gravity, Zhou Ding dropped directly to his knees facing Jing Shanshan's back, unable to move.
Seeing this, Chen Feng and Liu Yaya immediately tried to help Zhou Ding, but overlooked one problem.
Even Zhou Ding, whose body was stronger than theirs, was kneeling on the ground. How could they avoid the same fate?
There were no surprises. The two attacked Jing Shanshan, but before they could even get close, they were kneeling on the ground just like Zhou Ding.
Hu Liena and her two companions looked astonished. The knowledge they had learned flashed rapidly through their minds, and soon, information about a tool martial soul from long ago surfaced.
The kingship crown, a top-tier tool martial soul that had received mixed appraisals.
Its effect was simple: it controlled gravity with the martial soul as its center. The closer one came to the kingship crown, the heavier the gravity became.
It could be said to suppress everything with absolute gravity, forcing all things to submit and kneel in exchange for a chance to breathe!
Hu Liena immediately understood. This did match the kingly majesty those present had felt when Jing Shanshan awakened.
But was it really the kingship crown?
"What's going on? Didn't the records say that the kingship crown's effect was heaven-defying, but even its user would be affected by the gravity? Being at the center, the user would actually suffer its effects the most."
The utterly untroubled Jing Shanshan before them did not look affected by gravity at all.
The knowledge Xie Yue had learned was clashing with the facts before his eyes, leaving him uncertain for the moment.
"Maybe it's a mutated version of the kingship crown. Surely martial soul mutations can't all be detrimental, like that theoretical Grandmaster's."
Yan did not think so much about it and simply voiced his thoughts.
They had accomplished part of what they needed to do and tempered the dispositions of this year's academy prodigies along the way. It was time to end this farce.
"You?!!"
The moment Yan stepped within five meters of Jing Shanshan, his expression changed abruptly.
The gravity acting on him was stronger than he had imagined.
Something was very wrong. It felt as though this blond child had more than a dozen enhancement effects on him. Otherwise, how could it possibly affect a soul master of Yan's level!
But how was that possible!
There were only eight of them around-three older ones and five children. Where could those enhancements have come from?!
The last child to shock him this much had been Shi Lang, who countered all fire-type soul masters.
Yan betrayed nothing and continued slowly forward.
Four meters. The gravity acting on him had already reached 1.5 times normal.
Three meters, two meters, one meter...
By the time he stood face-to-face with Jing Shanshan, Yan was enduring more than five times normal gravity. Under the external pressure, the soul power inside him was passively circulating at high speed.
"As a reward for passing the trial, you are permitted a chance to speak."
Jing Shanshan's pride was undisguised. The crown above his head dissolved into golden motes of light, and Zhou Ding and the other two regained the right to stand. All three stared at Jing Shanshan in terror, not daring to draw even an extra breath.
"You arrogant little brat!"
Yan grinned, a hint of appreciation in his smile.
A brat with the ability to back up his arrogance unexpectedly suited his tastes!
Looking back to find Zhou Ding and the other two huddled beside Hu Liena and trembling, his mouth twitched. In the end, he sighed helplessly.
"They'll be your traveling companions for a while. Know when to hold back."
"Heh!"
Yan said nothing to Jing Shanshan's disdainful laugh and returned to Hu Liena's side.
Jing Shanshan continued walking ahead of everyone, his body pausing for an instant without anyone noticing.
"Yan is no soft persimmon. Even a Soul Emperor whose soul power level is two whole ranks above his won't get the better of him.
"To suppress him, you used quite a few martial souls and expended a lot of soul power, didn't you? Didn't you say that damage to your martial soul slowed your soul power recovery? If you expend so much soul power now, will you be relying on others to obtain your first soul ring later?"
Qian Renxue's voice quietly sounded in Jing Shanshan's mind.
Qian Renxue's current state was extremely unusual. As a consciousness residing within a martial soul, she could use it as a channel to communicate with Jing Shanshan himself in something akin to mental communication.
"No need. My martial soul recovered two days ago. This king has long since returned to peak condition!"
"That impressive, huh!"
"Heh, watch this dazzling figure of mine from behind!"
Flattery was well received, at least by Jing Shanshan in his king persona!
Qian Renxue silently noted the span of five days.
"All right, let's put the unpleasantness behind us. Everyone's here, so it's time to set out. The journey to the Star Dou Great Forest will take at least close to a week. We'll have plenty of time together."
Hu Liena clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention back.
As she spoke, she took the hand of "Shi Lang," whom Qian Renxue was playing, and started walking first.
Yan followed with a loud laugh. Zhou Ding and the other two children silently ignored Jing Shanshan, clearly intending to isolate and exclude this person who was even prouder than they were. Xie Yue walked silently at the rear.
Jing Shanshan did not care in the slightest.
There would only be more and more people who did not understand his kingly path, and naturally, more and more people who hated the king.
The group left Spirit City through its north gate and followed the main road toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
Above a rooftop, the air distorted, and a figure quietly appeared.
His skin was as delicate as a baby's, his features bewitching, with a feminine softness that made his sex difficult to distinguish.
His feet did not touch the roof; he was actually hovering in midair. A faint, ambiguous smile curved his lips as he swept his gaze down over Hu Liena and the others.
His gaze lingered longest on "Shi Lang" and Jing Shanshan in particular. His lips moved slightly, releasing a voice whose age could not be discerned.
"Are these the two children Bibi Dong mentioned?"