Although Shrek had withdrawn from the tournament, Ming Zhao had no plans to leave Star Luo City.
Having just played a bargain-bin but bloodier version of the Slaughter City battle royale, he only wanted to relax.
He cultivated to grow stronger, and grew stronger to enjoy life. Now that he no longer had to worry about being hunted down or scrape by without knowing if he would see tomorrow, Ming Zhao had no desire to whip himself into making progress and growing stronger.
Experiences like this one-strolling through the streets and enjoying good food without a care, without the slightest sense of urgency or vigilance-were ones Ming Zhao had only had a few times in his previous decade and more of life.
Besides shopping and eating, he also intended to watch the Soul Fighting Tournament and enjoy the sight of other people his age, a bunch of weaklings pecking at each other.
After all, Ming Zhao was only nineteen at the moment. His Level 94 cultivation did not change the fact that he was still under the age limit and eligible to compete.
He would not enter, but watching weaklings peck at each other now and then was actually quite entertaining.
After finishing a skewer of grilled meat, Ming Zhao frowned and circulated his Soul Power, reducing the bamboo skewer in his hand to fine powder. Then he turned his head and cast a cold glance in a certain direction.
According to his senses, that ant, whose presence was only at the Soul King level, had been staring at him for over ten minutes. Such an undisguised stare was an affront to an expert, so he wanted to see just which ant was bold enough to do it.
Then he saw a girl with long, silver-white hair tied in a side ponytail. She wore a short, white-and-gold dress of fine fabric, paired with white stockings that rose above her knees and little leather shoes. Her lovely, delicate face bore an expression of infatuation and longing. Was she... a lovestruck girl obsessed with good looks?
Ming Zhao frowned, a trace of disdain appearing in his eyes.
He had wondered what kind of ant dared stare straight at him, only to find it was a romance-addled girl obsessed with looks.
What rotten luck.
But his disdainful gaze, as though he were looking at trash, only made the silver-haired girl swoon harder. She cupped her cheeks in both hands, her pupils turning into hearts.
"Ah~ so handsome! That cold, aloof bearing, that gaze that looks down on the world, that perfect face that outshines every beauty-he's the dream man the heavens have bestowed upon me!" Meng Hongchen was beside herself with excitement. Her long legs in white stockings had gone a little weak, and even the air she breathed out was unusually hot.
She had only meant to go out for a stroll and experience the sights of Star Luo City, so different from those of Mingdu. She had never expected to encounter her ideal chosen son of destiny!
Meng Hongchen immediately prepared to go over and introduce herself, so she could meet the perfect match heaven had destined for her.
But someone walked past her, blocking her view for just a moment. When she looked again, the man was no longer there.
She immediately grew anxious and hurried to where Ming Zhao had been standing, looking around in every direction. But she could not see the spirited, handsome young man who, like her, had a head of silver hair.
Meng Hongchen was utterly dejected, her once-buoyant spirits sinking in an instant. A small, dark cloud drifted over from somewhere and stopped above her head, where it began to drizzle.
With the little dark cloud over her head, she walked back toward the hotel, looking utterly despondent.
On a rooftop in another direction.
Ming Zhao stood at the edge of a balcony, arms folded, looking coldly down below.
Fire amid ice, white hair and blue eyes, a Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy uniform, and a romance-addled obsession with looks-this had to be Meng Hongchen, the Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad. He could only say that she certainly lived up to her reputation.
In terms of looks, Meng Hongchen's face was even a notch above Zhang Lexuan's.
Even Ming Zhao had to acknowledge her charm.
Unfortunately, Ming Zhao had very little physical desire. He had no interest in the push and pull of some childish game of house called romance, nor in letting a woman become his weakness.
Even if he did take an interest, he would do things his own way.
Either he would lay his plans carefully, find a top-tier cup and enjoy himself before disposing of the body and erasing the traces, or he would suppress his physical desires with the pleasure of a mad slaughter.
He would not fall in love.
In that respect, Ming Zhao held both Zhongli Wu and Tang San in high regard.
Those two were truly clear-eyed men who understood that working with women would never accomplish great things. Ming Zhao had always measured himself against these two seniors, setting them up as proper examples for himself.
Meng Hongchen's affection would not stir any tender feelings in Ming Zhao, nor would her beauty make his little head rule his big one.
Ming Zhao would only wonder whether he could make use of the girl's affection.
Her status was no ordinary one. She was the biological granddaughter of Jing Hongchen, master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall. In many respects, her standing in the Sun Moon Empire was no lower than that of an imperial princess; she was even more exalted than a princess.
That being the case, Meng Hongchen's status was what made her most useful.
Perhaps he could use this vague, inexplicable affection of hers to lay some plans in Mingdu...
The ultimate weapons of the Douluo Three Kingdoms were powerful Level 99 Soul Masters known as Limit Douluo. The Sun Moon Empire's ultimate weapon was the Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell, the crowning achievement of Soul Guidance Technology.
Ming Zhao had to admit that he did have shortcomings.
Against Soul Masters, both his Ghost Bride Martial Soul and Water Vengeful Spirit Martial Soul were immensely powerful, with terrifying lethality in battle.
But Ming Zhao truly could not unleash an attack with the terrifying, wide-area destructive power of a Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell on his own, especially when it came to devastating terrain and cities.
Using Meng Hongchen might give Ming Zhao a chance to steal a few Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells from Mingdu.
Even he could not disregard weapons of that level, and they could serve him to great effect in his hands.
Take forcing Mu En off the board, for example. Before this, all Ming Zhao could think of was borrowing a knife to kill by using the Holy Spirit Cult. But if he had a few Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells on hand, he could damn well toss a couple at him first.
A Limit Douluo's senses would let Mu En detect the threat the moment a Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell locked onto him, but his duty to protect Shrek would leave him no choice but to swallow his frustration and stand his ground to take the attack head-on.
If he disregarded the human souls destroyed by the Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells and gave up the improvement that nourishment could bring him, then the shells would certainly be a safer bet than borrowing the Holy Spirit Cult's knife to kill.
But...
"A bit troublesome." Ming Zhao shook his head.
Once he raised his cultivation another few levels and deepened his understanding of spatial power a little more, he would be able to come and go freely in Mingdu and steal Fixed Soul Cannon Shells himself. There was no need to spend time playing games with Meng Hongchen.
But on second thought, Ming Zhao had nothing to do right now. He had so much time on his hands that he had gone to play a bargain-bin version of Slaughter City. It was all relaxation either way, so what did it matter what he did?
"Who says toying with a girl's feelings isn't fun? I'm already a beast, so what's wrong with playing with a woman?"
He wanted to give Jing Hongchen a great-grandson!